Hills are my life....

I am so happy it is Thursday and that the cold rain has stopped!

This week has been the beginning of what seems to be the routine for the next few months for me. Let me start from the beginning...

So, lucky for me, Nashville=16 miles of hills, so I have been told. Oh what fun! Because most of our long runs are on flat trails, with the exception of my favorite Mount Vernon 16 mile trail, I have to do all my hill training during the week. That began last night. I walked out of my house to drizzle, and then by the time I was up the street, it was complete downpour. So, for 4 miles, running hills, I was in the pouring, cold rain. Surprisingly, I wasn't miserable. I think something takes over when you are outside in the elements, because you feel too much like a bad-ass, you can't complain. The hills I ran were not very nice to me, and I look forward to the day that I don't have to walk for a moment when I get to the top. But, as I told myself last night, it's nothing that is going to come to me all at once. Little by little, I will kick those hills in the ass.

After I ran, I took a long, hot shower and got ready for out Team In Training get together at a bar downtown. Earlier in the week, us captains were exchanging emails saying that something was not right. We had been paying too much attention to running and were not having enough fun. So, in attempts to unite the teams, we are doing weekly Happy Hours. It's nice to be around normal people that are fit, but know the balence of being able to let loose and have fun. In fact, one of my captains Sam was saying, yeah, we really need to keep ourselves in check. Anytime running has overtaken our social abilities, we need to fix that. Everyone is just a great time! One of our teammates Heather told her captain Tricia on Saturday 'I like running and all, but I like beer a whole lot more.' Thus, our TEAM motto for the season was born.
It's so amazing to get involved with a group and feel immediately like you have a whole new set of friends. These people have such great hearts, amazing stamina and are probably the funniest people I have ever met. Life is pretty awesome.

So tonight, I will be back, running more hills. From here on out, Saturdays are the long runs, then Monday night I hit a spin class, Tuesday morning at 6:30am I am at my next spin class. These classes kick my ass, but I'm confident it's the best way to build up my thigh and ass muscles, which is great for the hills----yup told you my ass would be growing this season. Then on Wednesday/Thursdays or Fridays I will be out running hills. One of my hill workouts will be straight intervals--aka, sprinting up the hill, and then going back down to sprint up again and again. The other day of hills will be what I did last night, which is just running up them as normal. Are you all jealous?

That's it from me for now. Saturday we have a 6 mile run along Lee Highway in Virginia. This entire run is hills. So, while you all are staying warm in bed, you can think of me going up and down on rolling hills in the cold--and what do you know? the forecast is calling for rain!
After this run, we have our Honored Teammate picnic, so I am excited for the rest of the TEAM to get to experience that! I will report back then!

See you out on the trails! Don't forget to smile!