Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams.
My favorite poem. I believe the meaning of the poem is that it speaks of someone who loves someone so strongly that they would give the heavens' embroidered clothes to their Love. However, the person has little but their dreams. Yet this individual is still willing to offer their most precious possession, their dreams, to their Love.
I found these a while ago and had them stashed in my "quotes" draft email in gmail so decided to put all of my hill running quotes together. A couple weeks ago I had done some hill repeats since now that school is out I no longer have "free" access to the treadmills at the Wellness Center. This was the first time all year that I had gone out of town and climbed a hill that takes more then 30 seconds, so I was inspired a bit by the view and the effort to write this post.
Doing a good hill workout is my favorite, it's by far the most satisfying. You reach the top and look back. "I did that" you can say! Short term goals are great in running, they help break up a workout. "Just get up this hill." Plus I am a big advocate of hills over speedwork. You run them slower, so they are much easier on your body. Yet you are forced to put out a lot more power to do so at the same time.
On Thursday I was out of town doing this stretch of three shorter steep hills and I saw this gravel road go pretty much straight up, off to the side. I took a detour and attacked the thing. I'm so glad I did, it was an incredibly satisfying hill to conquer. Going up it just felt so good and strong. When I reached the top to turn around there was a truck coming up as well. I waved as I ran down and went on my way. A few minutes later he came up along side of me and asked if I was looking for something up at the top. I said, "nope, I just wanted to run up the hill....its a great hill!" He smiled and nodded in agreement, said have a great day, I said you as well, and we were both off :)
Below the quotes, I also searched around from the great articles and readings on hills.
1. "If the hill has its own name, then it's probably a pretty tough hill."
- Marty Stern
2. "Running hills breaks up your rhythm and forces your muscles to adapt to different stresses. The result? You become a stronger runner."
-Eamonn Coughlin
3. "Hills are speedwork in disguise."
-Frank Shorter
4. "Love hills and they will love you back."
-Author unknown
5. "You can never run a hill too hard; you will collapse before hurting it."
-Adam Born
6. "It's easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top."
-Henry Ward Beecher
7. "I've always found it effective to make a move just before the crest of a hill. You get away just a little and you're gone before your opponent gets over the top."
-John Treacy
8. "It's a hill. Get over it."
-Seen on the back of a runner's T-shirt
9. "I see you hill!"
-Coach Bret, Zentri
10. "Attack the hill before it attacks you."
-Unknown
