Litchfield Hills Road Race - RunOther


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Litchfield, Connecticut
United States
65F / 18C
Sunny
Total Time = 1h 04m 36s
Overall Rank = 694/1267
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at 8:30am (race is at 1pm), had couple glasses of water, glass of milk, coffee and a plain bagel with cream cheese. Just putzed around makeing sure I had everything I needed.
Event warmup:

Walking from the car to packet pickup, portopotty lines and then just a very short jog to make sure my shoes where tied right.
Run
  • 1h 04m 36s
  • 7.01 miles
  • 09m 13s  min/mile
Comments:

Almost 1300 people lined up on main street to run the race, I seeded myself in the only shaded spot which was about halfway back.
The race is started with a cannon, and since the announcer plugged his ears I did too, good thing b/c damn it is loud!

I start off slowly mainly because I have a long way to go and no were to go as we're all packed in tight.
By the first mile we're spaced out enough so that you can run without too much trouble.
My quads were already hurting by mile 2 so I knew this was going to be a tough day with two little hills followed by a nasty steep hill at mile 6. Just tried to settle into a rhythm.

At the top of the second smaller hill was greeted by the site of a teen puking up something off the side of the course, always a pleasent site.
Was feeling pretty crappy by mile 5 and with the span from 5-6 is nothing but sun it really beat down on me.
Im thinking to myself, "Self you feel this bad in a 7 mile race, what the hell are you thinking wanted to do a half marathon let alone a triathlon!"
Then came the hill, a short walk with a squirt from my bottle and then I attacked. I was really going to try to run the whole thing, Im passing all the walkers but about halfway up my run pace was barely that of the walkers pace so I gave in too, walked almost to the top and then took off running again down the final stretch.
I forgot how long the final stretch was from the top of the hill. The whole time I'm wondering to myself when is this going to end, but I could back down or shuffle b/c I knew my family was there somewhere with camera in hand!
A good loud cheer from my wife and parents about .1 miles from the finish and it gave me the boost I needed to sprint the downhill finish.
What would you do differently?:

Hill training, hands down the biggest limiter of this race.
They call it the Litchfield HILLS road race for a reason.
Next time I race this course I will be training with hill repeats.
Post race
Warm down:

Crossed the timing mats, walked around for a little bit to get the heart rate down, took off my chip, then made my way to the food tent (mmm watermelon) then found my family.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Probably pushed a little to hard in miles 2+3, plus no specific hill training. I ran some hilly training runs but to be succesful at this race Hill repeats are going to have to be a must.

Event comments:

Great race with long heritage. Tons of volunteers and supporters, the whole course is closed to traffic. Only grip, 10 pottys, 1300 races plus easily another 2000 spectators. Need more places for pre-race potty!




Last updated: 2009-06-03 12:00 AM
Running
01:04:36 | 07.01 miles | 09m 13s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/1267
Performance:
Course:
Keeping cool Average Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 2
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Ok
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4