Runners who have been running/racing a while all have glory stories of races well ran, but also the occasional horror story…
Gold Country Half Marathon. My hardest half to date.
My fault though for not training well…at all…typically, you need to get a few 10 to 12 miles in within a couple weeks of the race. I think the most I had done was 8 to 10, and not much else, aside from a few five milers here and there. We had been doing a bunch of travel and I don’t like to run alone, so I didn’t.
I knew this would be a hard one. I knew it was hilly. I knew it was going to be hot. But, I have also ran many half marathon races and was a little cocky going into it. I had no plans to finish with a good time, but I knew I’d be fine finishing it fine.
Ran with Malinda and Elyse for the first 8ish Miles. We talked about family, trips, travels, runs, races, and serial killers. It was awesome!
From eight to finish, I really struggled. The hills and the heat took its toll. I had a hard time keeping my heart rate down and ended up having to walk way more than expected. I was close to throwing up as I crossed the finished line.
It was humbling and a good lesson of learning limits and to not take training for granted. Proud to add this medal to my collection and am happy to know I don’t have to run this one again!
