People's reaction when....

[missmissy234]

you tell them what race you are running.  Does anyone else get nervous or intimidated by other people's reaction to an upcoming race that you are doing?

I'm running my first half in September and when I mention which one I'm doing, some people feel the need to tell me how hilly it is or how hard it is or whatever is bad about it.  

So then I start second guessing myself and feel like I won't be able to do it. 
I guess I just need to train like I have been and get over it!  I think the best way is for me to just go check out the course and then I'll know for myself if it is truly hilly or not.

One runner's hill is another runner's mountain, right???  

[sassystace]

Are these other people runners who have run this "hilly" course? If not, I definitely wouldn't worry too much. A lot of the time people like to have something to say, like "oh, I heard that's hilly" or "I heard that's a hard race." If they are runners that you 'know' run races, I'd take a look at the race's website and study the elevation changes (usually it will tell you that info when they describe the course) and if it's hilly -- go run some hills for practice as part of your training. You'll be fine! Have fun, I had a blast at my 'hilly' first half even though people made me a little scared beforehand.

[Wines Not Whines]

Don't be scared! I admit to warning people about hilly races, but it's because I'm trying to be helpful in case they don't know there are a bunch of hills. I'm not trying to freak people out. Your friends are probably doing the same thing. Do a few training runs on hills and you'll be fine.

[shauni27]

I think you will be fine, it is going to be scary and probably overwhelming no matter what since it is your first half, right? So just go with it! And if the course isn't too far from you, I would go run it (or part of it) at least once before your race. Where I live, hills are inevitable. The half I have next week has a few really big hills, and having run this race multiple times, and using the course as my training runs, I can tell you I will STILL have to walk some of these hills. I just go with it!

[wildfloweragain]

If I comment on the difficulty, it's in admiration for the runner!