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Well, not really but I’m employing the method of positive thinking to eventually get to the point of liking hills 😉  Our minds are very powerful creatures and it’s amazing how our thoughts can really empower us to do the impossible!  I’m trying to train my mind as well as my body to make it up those dang (lovely) hills.  

This morning was glorious because I didn’t have to go into work and I was able to sleep in till 7am!  Hallelujah!  It makes all the difference since I can’t seem to get to bed before 10:30 or 11.  I started out the morning with a simple and quick bowl of cereal before my little hill training.  I had Kashi Warm Cinnamon Cereal, the new Kashi Crisp I’m loving, and TJ’s Shredded Wheat, topped with 1/2 naner, handful of pistachios and frozen blueberries.  Refreshing and sits easy on my tummy 🙂

I spent some of the morning reading these two articles regarding hill training and positive thinking, but I’m still trying to figure the training all out.  There are many articles out there that I’m trying to compile and come up with the main message.

7 Tips for Climbing to the Top

Mental Tips for Climbing

After breakfast I did about 30 minutes and 5.4 miles around our house on this pretty good hill.  I think it’s about 3-4% grade, which isn’t that much, but from what I’ve been reading that’s actually better at first?  I also didn’t want to kill my legs since I did weight training yesterday (and upped my squat weight, yay!)

It’s so funny because as I approach the little hill my pace is doing great and then slowly but surely I get slower and slower grrrr  I tried to keep my cadence fast and drop it to an easy gear.  I kept my cadence to the 8 counts of dance; that’s the only way I can concentrate and zone out.

I try to make the hill like my little dance show.  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 . . . . 1, 2, 3, 4 . . . and so on 🙂

• Avg pace:  14.6mph
• Avg cadence:  90rpm

Not too bad!  I like hills, I like hills, I like hills yes I do! . . .

I kind of had a ‘holy crap’ moment in body pump last night too . . . I have just about 3 months before I will be riding 100 miles for the LiveStrong Race.  It made me super pumped and motivated to step it up.  The ride doesn’t look too hilly, but there is one steep hill that literally looks like it’s straight up with a 17% grade. . . eek!

Now I’m off to shower, have a snack and head to class.  Hope you guys are having a nice day!

Any climbing tips?