Horror Hill

Today was largely a down day (except for a bit of business reading). Up at 7. Heavy frost on the roofs and grass. Off to a 15K race at Heidelberg called Horror Hill. The name is wrong though - it should be horror hills. It is not one hill, it is tons of hills.

The morning was colder than I expected. Minus 3C (about 26 F) according to the car thermometer. By the time the race began, it was up to 0. I chose to run in my nylon sweat pants although at the time I wished I had worn gloves and a touque. After 3 K, I was sweating and discarded my throw away tshirt I wore over my long sleeve high tech running shirt.

The race started off up hill. My feet felt like lead. Mostly uphill for the first 8 K punctuated by steep downhill sections. After running boston this year, I had read a lot about hill technique (although I had practised little). I actually thought this might be the first race I ever dropped out of. It took me a full 10 K before I reached my pace and began to appreciate the beauty of the the fall tree colours. From 10 to 15K passed quickly and I still had energy to burn although the last half K was along a slippery wet grass trail so I slowed down a bit.

In the end, I finished in 1:24:11. Same pace as my half marathon 3 weeks earlier which was not bad considering the hills. Also not bad considering I had not tapered and had run 5 K each day on Thursday and Friday leading into the race and had pulled my back lifting weights on Friday. Still a dissapointing time compared to a few years ago when I was running a 15K in 1:06.

Elizabeth finished a bit over 1:06 to come in second overall for the womens.

If there is a lesson - persistance pays. Despite lead legs and major hills - just keep slogging and eventually you finish.