I’m not yet ready to submit to the mile-long hill (I’ll start tackling that about 10 weeks before the race when my legs are tougher) but what I did do is revisit the scene of much discomfort during the Philly Half Marathon, the evil hill at Lansdowne Ave.

I remember dying during that hill and surprise! it was as annoying as I remembered it to be. It’s .3 of a mile with a 5% grade – not killer but long enough to be a useful addition to my running arsenal. So a new route with a good hill…I’m a happy camper.

Other than that, I did another Pilates DVD yesterday, got a posture book from the library and am becoming obsessive about improving upon it. Lara turned me on to a couple posture tools that I ordered immediately; one is an IMAK backrest and the other is the Disc O’Sit, (a.k.a. a wobble cushion). The wobble cushion is cool because the only way to sit on it is with proper posture, it uses your core muscles just to stay on it, so I’ve a feeling it’s going to be my favorite item. Meanwhile, that ShouldersBack thing should arrive today so it remains to be seen how much torture it’ll inflict.

Hydration-wise, I had taken my 20oz. hand-held which I refilled at a fountain on the return 2.5 miles from home, scarfing the whole refill down in that last 2.5. So 40 oz total, more than if I’d had my 4-bottle belt on. I’m so glad the hand-held is working for me. Curious to see if the additional one I bought so I could take one in each hand during longer runs will be a pain or not, though seeing as how those runs will be in the thick of July and August, I’m guessing not.

I will admit now that yesterday’s 12 was the longest run I’ve done in 7 weeks due to my injury and vacation, so my main worry beyond reaching the proper pace was how my legs would feel during and after the run. Happily, felt completely comfortable, no twinges of any sort, so I’m back on old familiar ground.

Later in the afternoon, I bit the bullet and pulled out my dusty Pilates DVD. My nefarious plan is to mix Pilates and Yoga 2 or 3 times a week so I can get that core of mine strong for posture and improved running form. I figure that with 17 weeks till Steamtown, I can make an appreciable difference in my carriage as well as helping to injury-proof my legs, feet and ankles, which cracks me up because that was one of my excuses for not doing yoga, that I might hurt myself for running. Lame, huh?

Last night I started looking over the plan and figuring out where I could add in some miles. The 55 plan has three 20s, whereas the 70 plan has five, including a 21 and 22, so I added a 20, enlongated another to 22 and fattened up some other runs including the mid-week mid-longs. Love it!

And now, I must tend to the evil that exists for self-employed souls like myself; getting estimated taxes in for today’s deadline. Sometimes I just hate being a grownup.