Well that was a completely different beast. Hike up the mountain, run down, repeat. At the most, there were a few hundred yards of level running.
Overall, the run went surprisingly well. I stuck to the plan of holding back until the ascent to Windy Peak, and as a result, had plenty of energy throughout the race. I did well with the power hiking and passed a number of people going up. The altitude didn't seem to bother me in any noticeable way. Managing the
descent, however,
turned out to be quite a challenge
. It started outwell enough, but
I soon started to get little twangs of muscle cramp in the hams. My legs were warning me that they would get much worse if I didn't slow down and shorten my stride. Was it dehydration, or just overly stressed hamstrings? Probably the latter. How does a flatlander prepare for so much continuous downhill running?
Soon enough, I was passed by everyone I had passed on the uphill. It was a little frustrating to watch this happen as I had the all energy needed to increase my pace for the last split. Finished in 2:51. Like last year's Pumpkin Holler, I feel good about the day but see so much room for improvement.
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| Pre- race check in at the barn |
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| Boulder Beer's Copper Ale and a xylophone ensemble for the recovery. |
Thats frustrating. Beat them fair and square on the climbs only to lose on the downhills. I had that same issue when I ran my first race a few years back. But then again, just know that you would beat a lot of CO people on straight aways. Looks loike you had fun though!
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