>>>>>Well, we have Mount Trashmore a few miles away.
>>>>
>>>>Really?! There is one of those in Evanston, IL, as well. And it is indeed used for sledding in the winter.
>>>
>>>Sledding on garbage? Crazy.
>>
>>You would never know you were on garbage if you didn't know the story behind it (possibly bogus). It looks like any other hill. Green grass, no stench. Whatever garbage is in there is well buried if not completely decomposed.
>>
>>Here in Illinois we take our hills where we can find them.
>>
>>FoxFolk trivia: when I was running marathons Whil Hentzen gave me a lot of great advice, gratis. Among that advice was to run hills at least once a week. The first year I ran the marathon, leaving nothing to chance, I went to Mt. Trashmore once a week, Thursdays, and ran it until I was close to puking. I played sports throughout my youth and never sweated or tested my endurance like that. It must have helped because I finished the race in decent time and then did it again the next three years.
>>
>>If anyone here is interested in running a marathon, you could do far worse than asking Whil for advice. His PR in the marathon is something like 2:50, which is really, really good.
>
>When I was a teenager growing up in San Francisco, we had a neighbor who was a world class marathon runner. He could be seen running up the 18th Street hill to Twin Peaks every day at about 9 PM. Most people could not walk that route! :)


I'll say. Anyone who can do that is in kicka*s shape.

I misspoke slightly in my reply to Jay earlier. There is one part of running training that is pretty much pure misery: hills. (A close second: intervals). You do it only because you know it will make you a stronger runner, not because it's enjoyable in any way. And downhills are just as dangerous as uphills. Letting yourself rip downhill may feel great at the moment but is a recipe for shin splints.

This discussion is inspiring me to get off my butt and start running again. Between running up and down soccer fields with teenagers and a little biking I am not completely out of shape, but nowhere near where I was a few years ago. If I do so it's going to be a matter of gutting out the first couple of weeks or so when your body feels like crap from beginning to end. Plus my knees aren't what they used to be. Stay tuned....