Master of the Mountain Train Half Marathon
Well I'm not sure I mastered the mountain, but I think we did come to a mutual understanding. I certainly picked a hum-dinger for my first half. Actually I'm pretty sure they misnamed the race as it should have been Master of the Mountain
s - definitely more than one of those bastards involved. Anyway, finished in 2:21:29 which is a lot slower than I had planned, but a time I'm pretty damn proud of. According to my Garmin there was 1664 ft of climbing which is WAY more than anything I've done before. Everybody I talked to said it was the toughest half they had done.
Started out with a big hill. Went from 2600 ft up to 2800 in the first .35 miles. I immediately throw all thoughts of goal times out the window. I would guess about 85% of the field (a little over 100 I think) is walking within the first 1/3 of a mile. I absolutely hate to walk during a run, but it was painfully obvious that it was going to be necessary on some of these inclines. From that first hill it was downhill a bit, but then right back up and that pattern continued the whole race. There wasn't a single tenth of flat running. I get through the first 2 miles in about 10:30 pace, then mile 3 starts with the 2nd big incline. Slowed drastically for that mile, then back to my 10:30ish pace for miles 4 and 5. Miles 6 and 7 are uphill almost the entire way, but not as many steep climbs. I'm at about 10:45 pace for these, but cruising a little and feeling pretty good about things.
At this point I'm running near 2 others and they are chatting quite a bit. I turn off my ipod and talk with them. Both are multiple-marathoners and the lady says she just set her half PR of 1:57 in the spring and is training for a marathon next month. This makes me feel much better about my paces (since I'm keeping up with them pretty easily). The lady also says that the second half of the race isn't nearly as bad as the first half, so I'm even more stoked.
Well, the lady lied. The second half was at least as bad if not worse. Monster hill at Mile 8, downhill for the first part of Mile 9, but then right back up again. Short but steep up and downs for most of mile 10. Then I hit the 11 mile marker...HOLY #*$#! Climbed about 150 feet in a little over a tenth of a mile. I really didn't know if I was going to be able to walk up that MF'er - hamstrings and glutes are screaming even while walking. One last climb just past the 12 mile mark and then its downhill to the finish.
Overall, while not thrilled with the time, very pleased with the race mainly for 2 reasons. First off, at no point in time did I think that I might not be able to cover the distance. I was a little worried that I would get about 8 miles in and it hit me that I still had 5 to go and freaking out a little, but that didn't happen. Second, after Mile 4, not a single person passed me. The 2 people I was running with in the middle of the race pulled away a bit to finish about a minute ahead of me, but nobody caught me from behind and I passed several over the last few miles.
After the race there was one pretty major complication. They were supposed to provide transportation back to the start for those that needed it, but apparently they underestimated the demand. We had to wait over an hour for a van to pick us up. I got to meet and chat with some of the other racers that were waiting, but it pretty much sucked sitting there waiting after running like that.
edit to add:
this was the view at mile 11 with this
sign. I didn't pull a "duck" and take pictures along the way but there were a couple of places where I wish I had my camera.
c'mon man, it's not that bad. I used to hate them, but now they're one of my favorite runs after figuring it all out. Tri put it best after a recovery run recently... 'I feel like I'm blood doping'. :zen:
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That is one hell of a race to pick for your first half. That elevation chart is crazy.
