Okay, so this takes a bit of explanation:
When I first started canicrossing with other people (3-ish years ago) there was a beginner group run every Monday evening. The route was always the same, start outside the tea room (shut by the time we got there) run up what felt like a fairly vicious hill - it’s one of those with a bend in, which you get to and hope there’s some level running beyond it, but when you get there you find that, No, it’s just More Hill. A lovely central, level/gently down hill run along a wide path through the woods then out into a field for a fairly easy downhill...
...across a road...
...then up a gentle incline to bring us almost back to the tea room again.
I grew to hate that final slope. It didn’t matter how fit I thought I was, or which dog(s) I was running, I ALWAYS had to take at least one walk break to get up it. There was even one very memorable night as I got towards the end of the C25K plan that I actually finished (I’d had to give up previously due to minor injuries) that I could barely walk up it!
It just always drained whatever energy I had in me.
Today, dear reader, I conquered it. I set my eyes on the big tree at the top and told myself I wasn’t going to stop till I got to it.
Yes I was canicrossing, yes I know a lot of people think that it’s cheating, and yes my Merlin actually does help me up hills, unlike some dogs I could mention (*loves the girls anyway*).
But we actually went round the route quite briskly today as there were just 4 of us - all experienced runners (& just one novice dog) so it was still flipping hard work - for me - when we got there.