Heartbreak Hill

It begins! This morning I woke up at an entirely uncivilized hour to attend the first team training run for the Boston Marathon. Before setting out, we met as a group and went through a workshop on running efficiency, led by our coach, Rick. Our home base is out in Newton Centre, right on the marathon course. We took to the streets around mile 20 of the route, running 5 very hilly, very chilly miles before reconvening over chocolate milk.

As we ascended Heartbreak Hill, I tried not to think about tackling it after having already run 20 miles. It's a beast, coming late in the race and last in a sequence of Newton hills. Rick told us how Heartbreak Hill got its name in 1936, when defending champ John Kelley passed up-and-comer Tarzan Brown. Kelley patted Brown's backside as he overtook him, saying "nice job!," apparently in just douchey enough a tone that Brown rallied and won the marathon, breaking Kelley's heart. (Don't know how Kelley ever thought he could beat a dude named Tarzan.)

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