General Discussion Race Reports! » Billy Goat's 1/2 Marathon Hill Climb Rss Feed  
Moderators: k9car363, alicefoeller Reply

Billy Goat's 1/2 Marathon Hill Climb - RunHalf Marathon


View Member's Race Log View other race reports
Corona, California
United States
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 15m 17s
Overall Rank = 15/57
Age Group = male
Age Group Rank = 13/30
Pre-race routine:

Nice to have a race not start that early so woke up around 6am. Had light breakfast than FIL drove me to race site about 45 minutes away. We were on vacation from FL and I was just looking for a fun race to do. We got there arounf 7:30am so hit porta potty and had some water, checked in etc.
Event warmup:

I saw some people warming up, but I was not up for it:) 13.1 miles with a mountain climb was just fine for me, I would warm up first mile or so.
Run
  • 2h 15m 17s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 10m 20s  min/mile
Comments:

This run was strictly for fun as I have never done a race with such elevation change. I had no idea what to expect and that was probably a good thing. After the first mile, I knew I was in trouble. This is where my flat Florida running doesn't help. I was counting on my overall fitness and heat tolerance to help justify the climbing, but yeah, it doesn't work that way.

After 1.5 miles I had to start taking walk breaks on the steeper parts of the hills. Didn't feel so bas as my pace wasn't far off from those still trotting up. The runners spread out pretty quickly and there were 2-3 people I could see in front of me and not many behind. The top 10 folks were way ahead early. My goal was just to keep the few runners in front of me in sight. Made me feel better when I saw them walking as well. I heard there was a water stop at mile 3 so kept waiting for it around every corner. Finally got to it and I was well past 30 minutes which wasn't good. I was only carrying a 10oz fuel belt bottle in my hand and refueled it with water. Took a gel after about 45 minutes. The next 2 miles were really more of the same, compromised with myself on when to run/walk. The views were amazing as you climbed and wish I had a camera with me. There were quite a few times though that I was getting too comfortable with the scenery, trail etc and had to remind myself it was a race after all, it should hurt a little. from mile 5-6.5 it flattens a bit so I ran most that way to the turnaround point.

Since it is a up and back trail you get to see all the runners coming back down. I spent a few minutes up top catching my breath and refueling, the coke tasted great! Then another 1.5 miles and up and down and then came the downhills... I never really ran downhill let alone on a trail. It was definitely harder than I imagined. Because of the trail having rocks, holes, etc I had to keep close eye on footing and have to admit I am not a fan of hieghts and looking over edge of the trail with no guardrails had me hugging the turns! (Very safe course though)

My legs were taking a pounding and I stopped at water stop at mile 9. I saw 2 guys about 100 yrds in front of me with about a mile left so tried to make a go at it. Made up ground but I was not into a sprint going downhill. Still had a decent finish and not too unhappy with time.

What would you do differently?:

I think in time the downhills would get faster with confidence. Also would either run bridges to acclimate to the hills or use treadmill climbs etc.
Post race
Warm down:

Just crossed the line and tried to catch my breath. My lungs were burning which never happened before. It wasn't cold, but had that feeling you get when you breath in cold air, weird. It went a way after 5-10 minutes and I drank some water. I will admit now that I was very sore for 2-3 days after thsi race which tells me to inject some hill work into my weekly routine.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Running in flat SE Florida!

Event comments:

Very nice race and the minimalist approach fit the director and the course. No timing chips or fancy finishers medals, the point was just to do the race. They did have a great after race BBQ and since my FIL was patient to wait the whole time, we just took off towards home after the race. If I am back in the area next year I would do this again in a second. I think I could run it in 2:00:00 if I worked on it and pushed harder going up and had more confidence racing fast downhill. We'll see!




Last updated: 2011-05-10 12:00 AM
Running
02:15:17 | 13.1 miles | 10m 20s  min/mile
Age Group: 13/30
Overall: 15/57
Performance: Average
Course: The course is on the Indian Truck Trail in Corona, CA. Nice crushed granite paths. The first 5 miles or so are pretty much all climb and mile 5-6.5 tends to level off with slight variance. After that you are headed all downhill to the finish.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Too hard
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4

{postbutton}
2011-06-28 11:50 AM

User image

Master
1795
1000500100100252525
Boynton Beach, FL
Subject: Billy Goat's 1/2 Marathon Hill Climb
General Discussion-> Race Reports!
{postbutton}
General Discussion Race Reports! » Billy Goat's 1/2 Marathon Hill Climb Rss Feed