Friday, June 12, 2009

Hot + Hills = Hard Half Marathon Course


I went out for another half-marathon course with the triathlete men yesterday. We ran a half-marathon course at Mendon Ponds Park. The last time I ran at Mendon Ponds was when I ran cross country in middle school - 1999! I'm second from the left. Back then, the race distance was 2 miles - and that felt long.
Anyways, memories of cross country rushed back when we arrived at the park. However, this course we did yesterday was a whole lot harder, obviously. 13.1 miles with rolling, rolling hills. Adam and I counted them along the way, and we got to 50 hills - that was insane! A lot of times, we would climb one hill, it would level off for 20 yards, and then another one! It was a really tough course. Plus, it was getting hot and humid, which didn't help. I wish there had been a sprinkler or something to run through - we were so hot. Last week's half-marathon was fun, but this was not. The miles were marked, and it seemed as if each mile marker was so far apart. Both Adam and Mark had some trouble with the heat, and they slowed down a bit toward the end. This was definitely the second hardest run I've ever done - second only to the marathon. But, I always refer to hills as character-builders. Well, there was certainly a lot of character building yesterday. Definitely a good training run. I don't think it would've been so bad had we done it in April when it was cooler. I do think we'll try it again - it will be easier the second time around, because at least we'll know what's coming. Even though it was hard, I know that all of my runs will help me prepare for the Marine Corps Marathon, and that way I'll be able to kick butt and qualify for Boston!

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