I hate hills. I’m a lazy runner. I avoid hills at all costs. Until last summer that was pretty easy to do. We lived in the suburbs of a major city where there were beautifully paved (and mostly flat) trails everywhere. Oh yes, of course, there were same major hills here and there, but they were easy to avoid. I even checked the elevation of races before I signed up just to make sure I wouldn’t have to deal with too many hills.
And then my husband announced that we were moving because of his work. There was no question about whether we’d go. It was a big promotion for him and an opportunity to further his career. I knew I’d miss my favorite running trails. They’d become like trusted confidants. But I was excited about the prospect of discovering new trails and running routes in our new city.
What I didn’t take into account was that we’d be living in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. We arrived in late June. The weather was hot but not too hot. Perfect for an early morning run. After a few days in our new home, I’d gotten all eight kids reasonably settled in their new lives. It was finally time to lace up my running shoes and explore my new surroundings. I could hardly contain my excitement.
I left our house and quickly discovered that there were only two safe routes from our front door. Our old house had an infinite number of directions to run, and I could choose based on my mood that day.
I tried the first route only to find a very long, steep hill. I chugged up it but decided I wouldn’t run that route again. Surely the other route would be better.
I doubled back to try the second route. In less than a mile, I rounded a corner and there it was. Looming in front of me…another massive hill. This one was steeper and longer than the one before. I felt like a caged animal hemmed in by two giant predators.
Gone were the days of being able to walk out the front door and enjoy a leisurely run in any direction. I grieved.
Over the following weeks I found the local running store and asked for some advice to find the best running routes. The employees pointed me toward the local greenways….right toward more hills.
There isn’t a running route anywhere in this town that isn’t chalk full of hills one after another.
I quickly came to a realization that I had three choices: 1. Stop running. 2. Keep running while cursing and complaining about the hills. or 3. Learn to love the hills.
I knew the first two choices would make me miserable. The third one might make me miserable as well, but at least there was hope in it.
Maybe, just maybe I could learn to love the hills? Maybe I could keep putting one foot in front of the other day after day on those hills until they didn’t feel so bad? Really?
Maybe I could learn that in life there will be hills. And life isn’t about avoiding the hills. Life is about embracing the hills. It’s about taking them one step at a time day after day.
It’s about digging deep and facing fears head on. It’s about standing at the bottom of an insurmountable obstacle and saying, “I got this.”
If it were up to me our family would still be living in our old community with it’s beautiful, flat trails. But, instead, we’re living in the hills. And I’m learning to love them. They’re making me stronger, bolder, and tougher every day.
So what hill are you facing today? Are you going to let it defeat you? Or are you going to embrace it, get to the top one step at a time, and in the end find that you’re stronger than you ever thought possible?
For me, this move has required me to face a lot of fears and frustrations. Our whole family has struggled to adjust to our new community. We miss our friends, our church, and all the familiar things. It’s been a grieving process for all of us. We’re taking it one day at a time. But next weekend I’ll be facing some of those fears head on by running one of the hilliest races in America. It’s known as “America’s Toughest Road Race.” I don’t know if I’ll be able to finish, but I’m going to give it everything I’ve got. If you’d like to know how it goes, subscribe to our email updates. I’ll post an update as soon as possible after the race.
How you approach the hills mentally is often how you approach everything challenging in life! Glad to see you’ve embraced them. 🙂
That is so true!
I am not a runner – I have tried several times, but I can’t seem to make it work for me 🙂 I think that your metaphor works perfectly for motherhood though, sometimes we are running up mountains that never seem to end, but they eventually do, and we are better for it as we run down the other side. Good luck with your new community!
Yes, it definitely applies to motherhood. We have eight kids, and there have been many times through the years that I thought I’d never get to the top of a hill. We still have lots of ‘littles’ at home, so we’re still climbing some hills. But now we also have some ‘bigs’ and I can look at them and realize it was worth all the effort to climb those hills!
I have been a runner for more than 20 years. I have found so many parallels between running and living life. I still hate hills, both running and in life, but when you come down, there is no feeling like it. We must run the hills in order to reach the peaks.
Well said, Jennifer. I think one of the reasons I love running so much is because it teaches me so many important life lessons. I also love the lessons I’m able to teach my kids along the way.