Lacamas Half Marathon

This morning I ran the Lacamas half marathon and I am not going to lie - it was HARD. Yes, I have been training, but the elements of the day and the ridiculous hills made for a difficult race. Let me explain:

So, we left this morning for the race at 6:30am and headed to Camas, WA. My running partner had told me there would be hills, which honestly - I am not as scared of anymore since we live in a hilly area. However, I didn't realize the start and finish line would be on top of a mountain!! Ok, it wasn't a mountain - but if felt like one! When we were driving to the start of the race, I recognized the 12 mile marker. "Great!" I thought, figuring it was an easy mile to the finish. But no, we then were directed to go up a hill to reach the start/finish area. Seriously, our car had to go into overdrive to go up the mile-long steep hill. And - I know it sounds like I am exaggerating, but I am not. That was a stupid, stupid hill!

Once on the trail, I quickly learned that there weren't just a few hills with a massive one at the end, the whole thing was hilly. At one point we got to travel up what the race directors lovingly labeled "pain" hill. That was fun. But, really, it wasn't nearly as bad as the last mile hill. Ugh! However, I did enjoy the down hill parts as a recovery. I kept having the Spinning Wheel song going through my head "What comes up, must come down..."

The other aspect of the race that made it difficult was the heat. Over half of the race was in the full sun...boo. And with a day that is supposed to be in the mid-90's, the full sun at 8-10am is hot. I wish the race had begun earlier, but alas. I read an article this afternoon about running in the heat and supposedly the most ideal temp is 55 degrees. I agree! Anyway, about mile 9 I started feeling really weird. My whole body was tingling and I got goose-bumps everywhere. I started feeling dizzy and had to stop to walk in order to fend off fainting. This totally bummed me out, because I didn't want to walk. However, I also didn't want to faint ... so I walked. Thankfully, Amy (my running partner) convinced me to drink more gatorade and eat more sports beans (both of which I did not want to do, because I felt sugared-out). After about 2 minutes of walking, we were able to start up again. A little slower, but running none-the-less. Unfortunately, because of the walking we didn't finish in under 2 hours. I wasn't even close to a personal record, but I had thrown that goal out the window once I saw the last mile in our car! Anyway, I am still a little bummed that I had to walk, but glad to have finished in 2 hours regardless. Also, I wish I had been able to run up the final hill faster - to keep up with Amy, but oh well. I was one of the few crazy people who were running that ridiculously steep, long hill anyway. So, with that perspective - I am proud of myself.

On this side of the finish line, it was a good race. I am glad it is over and I can relax in my air-conditioned home with lots and lots of water.