I haven't been running much this week (though I have been working out to get my heart rate up), and just wanted to talk a little about hills. Call me crazy, but I LOVE running hills, especially on a trail, but also on the road. Hills FORCE you to go harder than you might otherwise. I know that I can keep up a higher heartrate for longer on a hill than on the flats. I think it's because on the flats, I have to push myself to go harder, but on hills, I feel like I'm battling the hill itself. Kinda weird, but it works for me.
My only advice on hills is that sometimes it's faster to walk the hill than to run it. For me, that's certainly true for steep or long hills. I've found, for example, that my driveway takes about 6 1/2 minutes for me to run (at a slow pace to ensure I can actually make it to the top) or just 5 minutes to walk. And when I walk it, I feel much better at the top; I'm still winded and my heart rate is up, but not as much as when I run.
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