Confidence in Hills

I mentioned before how this elevation chart for the Marine Corps Marathon was freaking me out:

So I needed to get one somewhat hilly run in to at least know whether I could do it or not.  Yesterday, I met Karl in Clarendon after work, as I had to pick back up one of my bad habits:  tanning.  I know it’s bad for me and all that jazz, but I want some contrast between my white dress and my pale skin!  But mostly, whoever said a base tan is a myth has never traveled to a tropical country…  If I show up with a base tan and wear sunscreen, I’ll be tanned and slightly pink.  If I show up in Brazil pale, no amount of sunscreen will prevent me from looking like a lobster (and that’s not the kind of contrast I want with my wedding dress, or the kind of pain I want to endure).

Anyway…  I told Karl to meet me in Clarendon, and instead of running home, I’d run there and get some hills in.  I had no idea how it was going to be like, or even if I could do it, but I had to try.  My foot hurt horribly through most of the run, which didn’t help, but after stopping a couple of times to try to stretch, I sucked it up and ran most of the way.  My first mile was actually at an 8:59 pace, which is super-fast for me (of course, the downhill helped…).

All in all, I was tired, I wanted to quit at some points, but I finished the whole 4 miles without giving up.  It helps that I wore my Chicago Marathon shirt on my run too — I couldn’t forget I had it on, and I kept telling myself “this distance is nothing!”

This was the elevation chart:

So it took me 2 miles to go from zero to about 260 feet — that’s 100 feet more of elevation than the MCM.  Could I have run another 22 miles after that?  Probably not.  But I was also not concerned with my pace, but with finishing the run instead, and it was after a full day of work, with humid weather (again!  Why is it so muggy on the last week of October?), and a temperature of 78 degrees (WTF, really).

Luckily, if all goes to plan, the temperature is supposed to drop again (and I certainly hope so — our building’s AC has been turned off and I can’t seem to get any sleep), and Sunday is supposed to be a sunny day, with the high temperature of 63.   (Perfect running weather, no?)

And how does one look like after running in these conditions?  All I can say is that my face matched my shirt…

I’m ready for the MCM!  Horrible medal and all!  Bring it!