Hospital Hill Half Marathon....I finished

I've ran the Hospital Hill Race the last 3 years.  In 2011, I did the 10K and in 2012 and this year I did the half marathon.  The race slogan is "I Conquered the Hill"......which I have always thought should be Hills, as this is an extremely hilly course.  It's named Hospital Hill however, for the one major hill in the race called Hospital Hill.

Anyway, this year, I did not conquer the hill(s).......they definitely conquered me.

Me & my friends Meredith and Michelle (my Disney Marathon Buddies)

This was my 6th half marathon in 2013.  Just 3 weeks ago I ran my fastest half of 2013, Saturday I ran my slowest half in 2 years.  This race report will be brief because there's not much to tell.  I finished...that's it...it was just one of those days.

I am never fast, we all know that, but I can consistently run a 2:30-2:35 half. And I haven't ran anything over a 2:39 in 2 years.  On Saturday my half marathon was a 2:48....a freaking 2:48!!!  Last year when I ran this race I did it in 2:28....that's a 20 minute difference!!!

The hills, the hills!!!

I wasn't expecting this to be a fast race.  I actually planned to run it fairly slow and even started with the 2:35 pace group.  The plan was to take it easy and enjoy it.  I hadn't run much over the past week (only 3 miles) and it was a hilly course, so I didn't plan to kill it.

Me & Jim post race

I'm not exactly sure what happened.  It just wasn't my day at all.  The entire race felt like a struggle.  From the time I started I felt tired, sluggish and not great.  At mile 5, I got a really bad side cramp under my left rib cage.  I never get side cramps anymore.  I walked for awhile trying to get it to go away.  It wasn't long after this that the 2:35 pace group pushed ahead of me.  I just told myself to keep them in my sites.  But as I continued I just felt more tired, my heart rate was crazy and I just couldn't get it under control.  By mile 8 I felt like I was walking more than running.  Around mile 9 I developed terrible cramps in my back ribs.  It hurt way to bad to run.  I would run a few feet and then have to stop and walk.  About this time the 2:40 pace group passed me.  Crap I thought, you've got to do all you can to keep up with them....so I started running again, for about 30 feet and had to stop.  It was then I realized, this race was just going to be slow.  There was nothing I was going to be able to do.  My body wasn't having any of it.  Even if I had to walk the next 4 miles, I would get through it, and I would finish.  I walked almost all of miles 10-12.  Then once you get past about mile 12.5 you've gone over the last hill and you have a nice downhill stretch to the finish.  So I ran out that last half mile or so, but it was still a slow run.

I crossed the finish line and there were several of my friends and Jim waiting for me...I'm sure probably wondering what the heck happened to me...but waiting none the less.  So really you can't complain.  These things are for fun, and while I struggled I still had a great time.

So that's that.  Not much to tell.  I finished.

Me crossing the finish line

The only thing I can really say that might have contributed was the fact that I had been taking a decongestant twice a day for over a week leading up to the race because my allergies had been crazy.  So considering you can make meth with decongestants, I'm thinking it might have impacted my heart race and maybe I was a little dehydrated as well.  But maybe it was just one of those races that everyone has at some point...and it was just a bad day.  But, I don't think I'll be taking decongestants again so close to a race.  Lesson learned.  Oh, and Jim and I skipped pre-race dance....hmmmm...I think that might be an issue too.

This is a an excellent race, and I will do again.  I will try to forget my bad experience and hopefully redeem myself next year.  You also got a great track jacket this year for their 40th Anniversary and a pretty cool medal.  It's pretty impressive that a race like this has been around 40 years.

Medal and Jacket (stolen from my husband's blog)