Billy Goat Half Marathon Hill Climb Recap

I ran my 12th Half Marathon on Saturday, my 6th one this year! Our shirt for the race kind of sums up the race...

One hill. Sure. But it's a really BIG hill. :)

The race started at 8 and it's only about 30 minutes from my house so that meant I could get up at a decent time - 5 am. Sleeping in was nice. :) I went thru my usual pre-race routine and then drove down there. I checked in, got my goodie bag (first time I ever got a mosquito net in a goodie bag), bib, chip, and shirt and then went back to the car to put on my shoes and finish getting ready.

Steve, the RD, gave us some last minute instructions and then sent us off. I knew what was in store for us because I'd run this last week but I tried not to think about how tiring it was and just ran. I tried to run as much of it as I could but did walk some of the steeper sections. I didn't wear my garmin so I was running by feel. It was warm but not as bad as last week and we sometimes got a cool breeze. Plus, it was a beautiful day.

The run up really wasn't too bad and seemed to go by quickly. I had no problems and did a little talking with some of the other runners to help pass the time. I met Paul around mile 5 and found out we had a mutual friend - Kylie! I love what a small world running is. :) We ran up to the turn around/aid station together and headed back down together and compared notes on races and talked Ironman training. When we hit the little uphill we had on the way down, he walked it and I told him I would see him on the downhill because I'm usually not that good at downhills. I kind of expected a bunch of people to pass me but that didn't happen.

My legs felt great on the way down and I already knew what it was like from last week so I think I did really well running down. Only 3 people passed me on the way down - 2 men & 1 woman. I caught one of the men back about half way down and then the other man with a mile to go. He was walking and I said, "come on, we're almost there" and he started running again and passed me back! I kind of laughed to myself about losing a place but what can you do? ;) Then I saw the woman who'd passed me up ahead and tried so hard to catch her. She heard me coming and waved at me to come pass her but I ran out of trail. BUT... she only finished 7 seconds ahead of me.

Trying to catch her really kept me going at the end because for the last 1/4 mile or so, my legs turned noodley and I was feeling a little dizzy. I maybe should have had a little more water or gu brew but overall, I think I did okay w/nutrition & hydration. I was very, very happy that I had no stomach issues during this. In fact, there was a barbecue after the race and I had the best cheeseburger ever! It could have been because I was starving. ;)

So, the course was fun, the aid stations and volunteers were awesome, the food after was delicious, and I had a great run. The only disappointing part was that the medal was the exact same medal we got at the Nanny Goat. :( I mean, it's cool and I really like it but I wanted something more badassery for this. I'm a whiner, huh?

My legs recovered pretty well from the race. They were a lot less sore than they were after last week's version of this run. They and my feet were fine for the 18 miler I ran this morning. So, so happy about that. What I'm not happy about is my stupid stomach. It was not happy from mile 3 on. I kept waiting for it to get better but it didn't and that meant I didn't eat/drink as much as I should have and I totally bonked. :( Why can I not figure this out?

But...all in all, it was a good weekend - some solid time on my feet, a fun race, and some good hill work. I'll take it.

Hope you all had a great weekend and that you kick butt in the final week of June. Can you believe half the year is over already? It's flying! And Javelina Jundred is getting closer. Aaaahhhhh! :)