The 'Mother of All Hills'

One of my 'friends' wants to do a so called marathon. I refrain from calling it a 'real' 'thon because I suspect it to be short by at least a mile. The guy has not run more than 9 miles at a time, so I suggested to him that he needs a LONG run to get a taste of the distance, even if it's not a real marathon and it's only 25 miles.

Now, the course where this wanna be marathon is taking place is monstrous. It's four loops and change. Each loop includes a hill that, in my mind, is the mother of all hills (MOAH). It is about 1/3 0.21 [see what I mean, thought it was 50% longer; I run it at 11 to 12 mpm ace and my legs and lungs are spent when I summit it] of a mile and it's STEEP.

For the long training run I have suggested we do a short loop (~4 miles), 'THE' loop, where I point out that we WILL walk the MOAH, then another short loop, and 'THE" loop where once again we will be walking the MOAH.

The run went better than I expected. He was real tired for the last three miles but he survived with a just over 9 mpm pace. We ran 17.5 miles according to my Garmin 205. Not too shabby.

I have also agreed to do a 15.5 march with him where each of us will carry a minimum of 22 lbs and the route has a significant gain in elevation. I am hoping to jog parts of it. This march will take place in May.

Oh and the 25 mile race will take place on Patriot's Day.