Hook Mountian Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

Wore long sleeve wicker and that was a mistake. Did wear my FB w/ two 8 oz bottles of Gatorade and got my water from the course. That worked out well.

Matt and I ran the first 4 flat miles together in 32 minutes. HR was a little high (168 ish) but I felt pretty good. It's great running w/ someone and the first 4 went quick. As we hit the rollers Matt decided to back off a little. I thot I wud too but managed to slow just a little. I maintained a good pace but couldn't get my HR to Zone 2 and I knew I wouldn't hold this pace the entire time.

Mile 6 is down the Hook and man, it is steep. I prolly fought it too much as the group I was w/ pulled away. Just cudn't get comfortable so I erred on the side of caution. The next mile and a half is along the Hudson River and is just beautiful and my favorite part of the run. Once my quads mellowed out I settled in. BUT, at the turnaround, at mile 7.5, there is another serious hill and it took a lot out of me.

Saw Matt going up it and he looked better than I felt. Still, I was able to enjoy the 1.5 back to the Hook. Rob saw me on the way back but I was already feeling the hill effects so barely muttered a retun hello. Managed to run the first part of the Hook to the plataeu but as I was chugging up the steepest part I decided to walk. A guy next to me said "I can walk just as fast as this." I agreed, and we walked together, prolly 200 yds. Last year I ran up the whole thing and imploded soon after and I wasn't gonna make that mistake again. Started to run before the top (yeah, there are spectators there). My walk/run strategy seemed to work as I passed two women who passed me going up. That friggin hill (uh, Mountain!) takes it out of you tho. My legs started to tighten and those last 3 miles are a battle for me. All of a sudden the rollers seem to turn into long uphills. Those two ladies passed me back and I coudn't keep up with them as I just cudn't get into the zone. Pretty much 1 foot in front of the other at this point, fighting the walk deamons. I felt some hammi cramps coming on and my pace slowed but I didn't want to risk a complete breakdown so I resisted the urge to pick it back up.

I was playing cat and mouse w/ another guy though. We were neck and neck and at the last 100 yards I releaized I had a little left in me so I decided to sprint it in. As I pulled along side him, he out kicked me (like bad). That was cool though as it made the finish fun. He thanked me after for pushing him and I told him I enjoyed it as well.



wear short sleeves and out kick the guy at the end :) He's got 9 years on me so I don't feel so bad!!!

some light stretching and hanging w/ Matt but I had some family stuff to get on home to,


uh, the Mountain!


Weak post race amenties and really weak T-shirt. Rockland Road Runners usually does a better job but the money goes to the local Hospice so hopefully that is where it all went. I don't really care about swag for a local run.

A great early season race. Given my early winter injuries I'm real happy w/ my effort and results. I was a little faster than last year and it's a tougher course than Timberman so that bodes well. I like doing challenging stuff, maybe one day I'll run a flat course and try to break 1:50 but, really who cares. This will be great prep for Harriman, which I know wb tough. And, it's all about the journey to Timberman II.