I met my new pal Fab for hill repeats at Edworthy Park on Friday. I haven’t explored the park yet (even though it’s super close to where I live). About a month ago, I found the park after some misguided GPS directions and directions from pedestrians. However I didn’t run in the park because it was very snowy and I couldn’t figure out the trails.
Here’s the thing. When you are not familiar with a new city, it can be challenging finding the good trails especially if you have to go by what’s out there on websites and Facebook groups. And even more challenging when you are not very good with directions. Guilty.
So I jumped at the opportunity for a personal running tour of the park and a few hill repeats thrown into the mix.
We met on the bridge spanning the Bow River before walking over to the hill. It’s a hill you can see from the parking lots and across the train tracks. I noticed a few people on the hill. Fab pointed to say that’s where we are going. It didn’t look so bad.
But it sure was. I think I was huffing and puffing after the first climb. As I reached the top, I wondered if I could even do a second one. Going down was enough time for recovery. I felt fine on the next five repeats. This hill was deadly.
But I think it’s going to be a great training option going forward. You can never have too many hills to climb.
Fab decided to give me a tour of the trails around the top of the hill. We ran to a single track trail hugging the cliff overlooking the road. It showed a lot of promise. It also showed a lot of snow, ice and mud. I should mention I was not wearing the right shoes for icy terrain. We had to make several detours because I kept slipping and sliding. (I think I fell twice.)
Finally we gave up and headed over to the Bow River pathway for a few more kilometres. That provided to be harder than running up the damn hill. We were both not feeling the asphalt trails or the people dodging. We probably should have stuck to hill repeats.
I had fun though! I love getting tours of new-to-me trails. We didn’t get to go into other areas because of the snow and ice. So I am super excited for when things dry up again. Also I know what to expect the next time we meet for hill repeats.
No doubt we will up the ante. I can’t wait.
Edworthy Park is located in south west Calgary along the Bow River. Great for hill repeats and getting muddy this time of year. Lots of picnic spots and washrooms. Find out more here.