hills and stench.

As the beginning of my "official" training starts, I get nervous thinking about all of the obstacles that could be put in front of me once I get to San Francisco. I had a conversation with one of the other girls and we were talking about the hills in San Fran. A lot of the articles I have read about the course say there are only 3 or 4 major hills and that they aren't even that bad. Other articles I have read, which are mainly reviews from women who ran the race, say that they are killer hills. So who do you believe?? I think I am going to side with the women who have been there, done that. Here's what the Nike website says about the course, "San Francisco has been voted one of the top running cities in the country. Why? The scenery, the cool weather and the challenging yet confidence-boosting hills!" Confidence-boosting hills, huh? We'll see about that.

So running in Greenville is definitely going to prepare me for the hills. I'm not sure if I'll actually find a hill around here that will be as bad (yes, the pessimist in me is talking) as the ones on the course, but I'll definitely be prepared to take them on. I've been basically forcing myself to find hills and run them, although I hate them with a passion. This morning as I was running and came upon a hill at about mile 4, with tired and achy legs, I remembered the saying from my teammates, "Just run right through it." It made me giggle and made the hill less of a daunting task. I think I probably mumbled "bite me" at some point in the trek up the hill.

Another thing I am going to be prepared for is any horrible stench that I might encounter on the course. Although running next to the river in downtown Greenville is very scenic and peaceful, it also comes with the awful smell of the sewer line that runs parallel to it. (Well I am assuming it is a sewer line.) Every so often I will be running along and the smell just hits me like a ton of bricks. I usually have my mouth wide open getting a nice big breath and as I inhale, I get a mouthful of this awful smell. It never ceases to make me gag. The good thing is that it only lasts for a couple of steps, but still it's nasty to think about where that smell is coming from. So, I am prepared for any stench that may come my way on race day. It's not going to knock me down! I will "run right through it!"