race recap #4

Today I slogged my way through the Monadnock Half Marathon.  It was hilly, hot, and really hard.  Perhaps that's because I was unprepared, I warned you that it wouldn't be pretty and it wasn't!

Let's get to the recap.  I'd been keeping my eye on the weather as I typically do for my longer runs and the forecast was a mix of sun, clouds, rain, and possibly severe thunderstorms.  Um, okay...  I was obviously going to run no matter what so I just prepared (and wore the same clothes) the way I always do.  It turned out to be sunny at the start, then cloudy from mile 3 on, no rain and no severe thunderstorms.  :)

There weren't a lot of people doing this race but there was a 5K happening at the same time.  The race organizers had the 5K line up on one side of the road, the half marathon on the other.  We took off at the same time, heading in opposite directions, but our finish line was the same.  Mile one took us into downtown Jaffrey over to an old rail trail that somehow turned into a snowmobile trail over the course of 4 miles.

a foggy, humid morning

At mile 5, we headed back out onto the roads and had some easy breezy rolling hills to enjoy before the hills began in earnest.  Around mile 4, I began chatting with three other women (which is typically not what I do, but I was totally pacing right behind them and started feeling a bit weird about not acknowledging that fact).  They all had an interesting story bringing them to the race that day:  one was running her first half marathon - she beat us all.  One was also running a half a month and will be running a marathon in October - see, I'm not the only crazy one out there.  And one was training to run the Goofy Challenge at Disney - a half one day and a full the next!  She also ran Boston back in April so we chatted about that too.

reward!!!

At mile 6, we had to contend with Dragg Hill.  It's the one that they warn you about on the website and it is No Joke.  I mean, whoa.  I am not ashamed to admit to you I walked up the entire thing.  And for the next 4 miles there were ups and downs of varying degrees, mostly large.  Finally I saw the sign for mile 10 and silently rejoiced that there was only 3 miles to go.  Mile 12 was mostly downhill...until you're about .4 away from the finish.  There's a nice hill to contend with and at the top was Kimball Farm's Ice Cream.  I knew we were so close and that as soon as I finished I would turn right around and get myself a chocolate ice cream frappe.

That is after I cooled down and stopped sweating.  It was SO humid it felt a little like running through a swamp.  I was literally sweating from everywhere - legs, arms, head, back, face, eyelashes...everywhere.  It was gross.  I changed and felt a little more human and headed to get my frappe.

nice tech shirts 

Overall it was a good race.  It was really really small so I was alone for a lot of it (which I've determined is not ideal for me).  It was a very beautiful course.  There was enough portopotties, food afterward, and enough water stations.  The only thing I didn't like was finishing in a field.  The last 30 feet of the course was at the edge of a field.  The ground is uneven and there were a quite a few divots. When you're trying to finish fast and strong, it was a little surprising to have the ground be so unlevel underneath your feet.

I will say this for the Monadnock Half, if you're ever looking for a HOT half marathon, I would suggest this one.