My goals for this race was to complete it in 5:00 hours, not walk, and pace well. I had no idea what to expect never running something like this before. I really wanted 4:30 finish time as a goal but needed to be realistic. I didn't have a lot of long runs under my belt but have been doing hill work which paid off. Honestly, I don't know what part of my brain keeps wanting to do climbing races either on the bike or run. The fact that I'm weighing in at 197 lbs and I keep trying to defy gravity. I just don't understand. Anyway, to be on the safe side I would stay in zone 2 HR, which for me is 150-160. The start of the race was smooth; with only 400 runners the road cleared in a half mile. I knew early on that I should keep a low zone 2 HR and was good about that. My first self doubt kicked in at mile 6 wondering if I could keep this up for another 20 miles. Not much I could do about it so I started my nutrition which consisted of a pack of Shot Blocks. I ate one cube every couple of miles and didn't seem to need anything else. I've come to like them but on one of the higher grade climbs I took a block but also desperately needed air which caused the block go down unchewed. Strange sensation but oh well. The early part of the race I was heating up so I kept splashing water on myself until we got higher and the temperature started to drop. By mile 10 the road cleared to the point of a runner every 100 yards or so. There was some passing both forward and backward but I kept focus on my HR monitor. After the half way point my HR jumped up to zone three and there was nothing I could do except walk and that wasn't an option. I figured I could recover at mile 20 where the road finally goes downhill for a few miles. So my goal at this time wasn't the finish line but mile 20. Sure enough the downhill helped a lot. I could have gone faster at this point but my knees recommended against it. At mile 22 the road goes back up and I thought that since my HR recovered there shouldn't be a problem but my legs went a bit wobbly. I think a lot of people had the same feeling with a lot of people walking that hill. It was only another mile climb and knew the finish wasn't too far away. Almost to Summerhaven I see Kim which made me smile but that quickly turned into a frown when a volunteer was pointing right up Ski Run Rd. You've got to be kidding me. After all this I wasn't yearning for another mile at at 8% grade. At this point I said to hell with HR and went for it. That was a very ugly mile and the trip back downhill was painful. The nice part was the finish line was at the end of the road. Yippie!

Nothing significant. It turned out like I thought it may.

I tried to get a massage but my calf and quads started cramping so bad that I needed to just wonder around a bit until taking the bus back down. Rick and Shelly also ran the half and it was good to see them.


Weight


For an inaugural race I think it was very well done and I would highly recommend it, if you like this sort of thing.