Best. Run. Ever.

Today I learned that treadmills have an even greater purpose than I previously thought.

So, as you may know, I run up two crazy hills in my 3 mile neighborhood loop. (I actually mapped it using the MapMyRun website, and it actually gives me an elevation associated with it.) Here's a picture of the elevation, with the key to grade percentage below it:

You can kinda see (on these tiny pictures....I can't quite figure out how to get these things any bigger...[that's what she said]) the 4% (red) hill of death around 1.25 miles, and the second 3% grade (dark orange) around the 2 mile point. Also, the scale ranges between 4800 ft. at the lowest point and up to 5100 ft. at the high point, which is awesome because if you compare these hills to the crazy run I'm doing on Sunday, the elevation range is similar (note: the scale btw. graphs is different-the crazy run shows more detail):

So, in previous run up these denoted "hills," I've always dreaded them. Hills have power because at the bottom you can see how far up they climb (and consequently how far you'll have to run to get up them). Thus, when I see this hill (or any hill in general) I begin to dread the run up. But, the great thing about the dread is that its mental, not physical. To get up the hills today, instead of dreading them, I pretended I was on a treadmill run, like two nights ago. On the treadmill, to get up the fake "incline" (and to get through a treadmill run in general because there isn't scenery going by to distract me) I focus on my feet and the ground (this also avoids eye contact with the distance counter in front of me) and just keep telling myself "keep running, keep running." So, today instead of looking at the dauntingness ahead of me, I looked down and told myself "keep running keep running," and it worked! That hill was my bitch (and the second one too.) I felt calmer and so much stronger that I made it all the way back to the complex without stopping, and kept going an additional 2k, all the while laughing to myself at how much better the hills AND the entire run felt.

Another note: once I get passed the 3 mile mark, my breathing falls into a pace that allows me to just keep running and all the mental hindrances fall away. Its kind of crazy how much more free mile 3.2 feels, like I could run all day long. And it is THIS feeling I think I'll get addicted to.

Last little nugget of joy: my foot has gotten a massive blister that freaked me out when I took the blister bandage off today. Sandy bought me some amazing wool socks that keep my feet dry and help prevent future blisters, but this one was there before and will just have to heal up before the sockpower can take full effect. Anyway, now you can be freaked out too. Enjoy!