Sounds crazy easy right? NOPE. First, downhill running isn't as easy as it sounds (gravity does some work for you, but it takes a huge toll on your quads and hips). Plus, it isn't all downhill...at all. In 2015 we ran the first 9 miles down the mountain's road followed by 4 miles of hills through the town of Chatsworth. Talk about a MAJOR body/leg freak out. My legs were done by the time I hit mile 11 and I barely got a PR by about 30 seconds that day. To put this in proportion, I ended up beating this PR by almost 9 minutes a few months later on the VERY HILLY Atlanta Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon course. That my friends stood as my PR for the past 18 months. I honestly started to think my PR was a total fluke as I hadn't even come within 5 minutes of that PR up until earlier in April when I just missed my PR by less than a minute. I had been doing so much extra cross training and working on speed this year that I knew that today could be my day! The days leading up to the Tear Drop Half Marathon were different than I typically experience - I was scared, nervous, and questioning my own abilities. Here goes nothing....
I am notorious for losing races with my mental game, so today I was strictly running on feel and only had my pace shown on my Garmin. I would have no clue how my pace and time were until the end. Knowing that I had a 1.8 mile climb less than 2 miles into the race meant that I needed to start conservative the first 1.8 miles of downhill plus not burn out in the climb back to the top. I knew that this could be what makes or breaks my time today. I felt strong (but not too fast) on my legs through those first few miles. Once I hit the top, I knew I just start to let it go and speed up. I didn't want to give too much too soon, so I took it a little easier in mile 5 to let my legs recover from the climb and get ready to go.
Despite some pretty crazy wind gusts and humidity, I felt so strong coming down Fort Mountain. In order to not totally trash my legs too soon, I stuck with intervals to give my legs a few seconds rest every now and then.
Around mile 10 I started to feel nauseous - I don't know if it was the humidity, running hard, or the different running stride and jarring of my body. I didn't let that stop me though. I just pushed through and reminded myself that I can do this and that I have worked hard for this day. I felt like I was probably on PR pace, but didn't know for sure and couldn't even worry about it that this time. I just ran in the moment.
No. This is NOT a "guaranteed" PR race. Yes, you might run fast on the downhill, but having the proper training for downhill as well as pacing yourself for the uphill plays a crucial role in your success. Not everyone PRed in our group. In fact, based on the 2016 numbers, about 58% of runners PRed. Yes, that is a big number, but is not guaranteed nor is it given.
The support of my friends and family from the days prior to the race to me actually finishing was amazing. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am have to have such an awesome support system around me. I can never thank each of them enough for never telling me "you are crazy for doing that" but rather "I know you can do it" and always being there for me.
I learned a lot about myself and my abilities coming down that mountain for sure with the most important being that it is normal to be scared and to face your fears. I am already looking forward to adding this race to my 2018 calendar and seeing what a little confidence and more training can do for me.