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Black Hawk Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Golden Gate Canyon, Colorado
United States
80F / 27C
Sunny
Total Time = 3h 25m
Overall Rank = 104/127
Age Group = F 30-39
Age Group Rank = 10/14
Pre-race routine:

I was paranoid about parking, so I got there at 5:30 am, when the park opens. I was the first one, thus, got the best spot. I barely slept that night, so I was super tired already. After packet pick up I just went to the car for an ahour nap.
After napping, I went to the restroom and did some stretching while waiting in line. Ate banana on my way to the start.
Event warmup:

I had a plan to do some warm up, but I was too tired from sleepless night, so I only stretched a little bit and decided I would start with the last group, take it slowly as a warm up.
Run
  • 3h 25m
  • 13.1 miles
  • 15m 39s  min/mile
Comments:

First of all - I have not trained for this race for many reasons, so I was prepared that it may go really bad and that I should take it very easy, run and walk.

I decided to start with the last (slowest group) and it was the best idea ever - I am planning to do that in future races too. Because most of the race was singletrack, including the first several miles, we were like a line of ducks or goose just walking uphill. It was great, because I was not forcing myself to start hard and run. I got the warm up, and started easy. The elevation hot me - we started over 8K high, and even though I was walking (uphill), I had a hard time brathing. I was well acclimated, as I've been hiking a lot and completed two 13ers a week later. But the initial go was taking my lungs out of me...
Eventually, the pack spread out and I even had some moments when I thought I was lost or went off the trail... I figured going uphill was my big strength - I had no problem climbing, and passed tons of people while ascending. They would pass me going down or on a plat terrain, but i would catch them again on the uphill ;) So we had a group that we would sort of run together - passing each other eaither up or down, supporting one another, laughing and joking, and enjoying the views. Oh the views were incredible! That's the biggest reasons to run the trail - the views!!!

I walked everything that was uphill, and run everything down and flat. That strategy worked really well. Around mile 9 I started to feel some pain in my right groin, which is something that has started two years ago during my 50K. I took some ibuprofen, as I knew I still had 4 miles to go. At mile 11 my legs started to feel jelly. I took the hammer gel, so that I would finish. Mile 12 was brutal! So steep! Cherry on the top.... Last mile was a long downhill, and knowing it was the very end I found lots of strength (or maybe the hammer gel kicked in...) I finished strong and happy :)

Overall, that race had a lot of uphill, which means lots of walking... considering how much I walked, I consider myself a very fast walker/hiker ;)
What would you do differently?:

I would've (and should've!) train - even a little bit more. I do not care about the time, I just want to feel well while running. I felt good, especially considering lack of training, but I could've felt better :)
Post race
Warm down:

Walked to get some beer and snacks :)

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Again, not enough preparation.




Last updated: 2021-07-06 12:00 AM
Running
03:25:00 | 13.1 miles | 15m 39s  min/mile
Age Group: 10/14
Overall: 104/127
Performance: Good
Course:
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 5
Physical exertion [1-5] 3
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2021-07-19 11:55 AM

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1731
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Denver, Colorado
Subject: Black Hawk Half Marathon


2021-07-21 1:49 PM
in reply to: #5277162

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Master
9705
500020002000500100100
Raleigh, NC area
Subject: RE: Black Hawk Half Marathon

Congratulations! It sounds like you had a good time!

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