Punk in Pittsburgh

I spent Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh with my mom's family, which is always fun; however, there are 14 of us crammed into very tight quarters. It tends to make a person antsy, so obviously I had to go for a run the day after the big feast.

I had checked the weather before I packed and Wunderground said it would be 38 degrees and cloudy. What the forecast failed to mention was that it was also really, really windy and of course I forgot to bring a hat. Normally I wouldn’t need a hat (I usually dress as though it is 20 degrees warmer out than it actually is) but I was a big punk on Friday morning and only did three miles. For some reason my body still thinks three miles is just a warm up, so I was freezing the whole run.

And, the whole time I was running I was thinking that Pittsburgh hills are so much steeper than Cincinnati’s. (the streets all had names like Mt. Hood and Rainier which didn’t help) In reality, Pittsburgh hills are not that much worse. They’re just more straight up and down with small breaks between, while Cincinnati hills are a bit more gradual. I pulled some elevation charts from Map My Run, and the total ascent isn't that different between the two:

My three-mile route in Pittsburgh

My standard four-mile route in Cincy

I’m not even going to say how long it took me to do the three miles, it’s too embarrassing. In my defense, I’m a little tired from two weeks of traveling AND I have a cold.

Putting me to further shame were my cousins, ages 7 and 12. Even though the girls are super well behaved, they have a lot of energy so my aunt kept sending them outside to do hill repeats. I think we have some future track stars on our hands here! It seemed to work and the girls didn’t complain. Note to self if I ever have children…