Yesterday I ran a 5 mile race. The description said it was a fast start, then through a covered bridge, up a hill and a fast finish. Yes, we went through a covered bridge. The rest? All lies.
It was really chilly and windy at the start, so I was pretty tense at the beginning. This translated to difficulty regulating my breathing once we started running. The first mile was 8:23, but it felt way harder than that. Mile 2 was around 8:30 and I was wheezing like a pack a day smoker.
We went through a lovely covered bridge and then we hit the “hill”. Just for the record, I’m not intimidated by hills. For those of you in the know, I run up the hill from Rosslyn on a regular basis. This hill was like the steepest part of the Rosslyn hill, but that same steepness for over a half mile. I walked it. Mile 3 was around 12:20 something (Garmin was giving me fits).
As I crested the hill, I was greeted by alternating scary steep downhill and flats. I was finally feeling good. I guess the walking finally got my breathing under control? I raced down. Mile 4 was 7:55.
After a bit more downhill, there was one more surpise – an uphill to the finish. Fast finish, my a$$. I was planning to just trot it in, but a woman was coming up behind me. She made a move to pass me and I thought “oh, hell no!” So we booked it to the finish. I beat her by a few steps and nearly threw up.
Final time: 45:50. Not a PR, but a damn good time for a hellacious course! (I overheard one of the fast kids comment beforehand that he could not come within two minutes of his five mile PR on this course, so not bad.)
On tap today? A hilly 3.5 mile race. I really need to start looking at course elevation before signing up for races. Just saying.
Sounds like you gave it your all. Good job.
I think that the people that write the course descriptions are often liars 🙂 Way to gut it out!!!
I for one am proud of you! I HATE hills, I don't know how you did it! GREAT JOB! Be proud, you did awesome!
the race may have sucked but reading the race report was fun :)Good job pushing through and I totally agree that when they say flat and fast they are full of hooey.They cant really just say, "this race has huge hills and sucks but hey give us your money and we will give you a t-shirt and you can hate life for an hour."Cheers lady!
I hate the way directors write up their events sometimes! Good for you for beating that girl at the end–that makes up for some of it, no?
Race directors are so funny – if I had a dollar for every course that calls itself "fast and flat"…Great job gutting it out!!
Awesome job! I love how your competitive edge kicked in and you busted up the finish! Nice work:)
Wow! What a hard course! Congrats on finishing strong! And good luck with the 3.5 race!
When you figure out the secret to reading elevation charts, please share it! I've been stunned with unexpected hills too many times. Great run!
Was this one in my state? Or is todays I think.
was that the NH race? Warner?
eh, they can't all be fast and flat – adds some variety, right?
Well, the covered bridge part sounded fun, anyway. Great job for pushing through it!
You should let that race director know they need to be a bit more honest in their desciption! Great job though, bet you've got some awesome quads from all the hill running.
I never, ever, ever, ever believe race brochures (or even other runners!) when I hear a course is easy, or flat, or fast, or all downhill. I find it's best to hope for the best, expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised rather than shocked by hills you would have been FINE with … if you only knew they were coming!