Moscow Rolling Hills Half Recap

And rolling hills there definitely was. I haven’t had sore quads like this since running the Boston Marathon. I didn’t feel sore running on Monday morning, but once I finished the run and was coming up the stairs, my quads felt it.

Marc and I had an early wakeup call for this race. I woke up at 4:25 a.m. and we left the house at 5:15 a.m. and headed to Idaho. It was about an hour and a half to Moscow. Baby girl slept most the way.

Marc watched baby so I could run, what a sweet guy!! It was a chilly morning and breezy when we arrived and reminded me of being back home, with all the rolling hills and farm land.

I basically spent the majority of my time trying to get baby girl to eat before I ran, but she loves to just play in the mornings and not be rushed to eat. Unfortunately Marc had to deal with a grumpy, hungry baby. I breast fed up until 10 minutes to race time. Ran to the bathroom (thank goodness it was a smaller race) and used the distance from the bathroom to the starting line as my warm up.

It was only mid 30’s when we started the race at 8 a.m. and cloudy. I lined up at the front after shedding my layers, and kissing baby girl one last time. I wasn’t looking forward to hills and knew I wasn’t going to even try to PR. I just wanted to go sub 1:30. I’ve been exhausted the past couple weeks with studying for my exit exam, and I haven’t had much energy in me.

We hit some small rollers after mile 1, but the climb didn’t start until mile 3. I stayed with the lead guys, which eventually turned into one lead guy before we hit mile 1. By mile 2, I felt the pace was too slow so I surged ahead. The lead guy kept me within sight. The first hill was just shy of a mile long. I reached the top at 3.8 miles. It was gradual, but the view was amazing at the top. I had a nice down hill, that I knew meant I was going to have to climb up again eventually as I made a loop back.

I took advantage of the downhill and tail wind. We ran gravel for half the race. I ran the entire race by myself, which was actually peaceful. I love running through the country. It was quiet, except for the occasional volunteers who would climb out of their vehicles to cheer us on as we ran by. They were trying to stay out of the wind.

Mile 1: 6:24 Mile 2: 6:24 Mile 3: 6:36 Mile 4: 6:58

I ran passed a group of college aged guys who thought I was some crazy fast runner since I was leading the race. Instead of cheering they just whispered back and forth to each other, but at least they climbed out of their jeep to watch 😉

Marc and Baby R came to cheer me on just after I passed mile 5. I think he may have been surprised to see me in first place.

I rounded a big corner after seeing them and knew it was time to climb another hill. Oh joy. With every hill, came the headwind, which was getting stronger and stronger as the race progressed. It was a bitter cold wind as well.

I crested the top of the hill just after mile 6. I was thankful for all the volunteers throughout the course. They were strategically placed at the bottom of every hill and then again at the top of and in between depending on the length of the hill. Most of them would scramble out of their vehicles and cheer and shake their milk jugs full of rocks (yes that’s how we do it in the country) once they spotted me. Others would just stare at me and not say anything. It was bizarre.

A little down hill and some small rollers before it was time to climb the biggest hill on the course. A very gradual at first hill, then just when I thought I reached the top, I turned the corner to climb some more. By now the wind was strong I felt I was barely moving.

Mile 5: 6:16 Mile 6: 6:55 Mile 7: 6:28 Mile 8: 8:12

I was losing steam and getting irritated. My hands were numb and I could feel my face going numb from the wind. I was sick of climbing up hills. And to be quite honest I basically quit on this climb. It was my slowest mile for sure. The view was gorgeous though and I wished I had my phone to snap some pictures.

After reaching the top of the hill at mile 8, I looked behind me and didn’t see any runners. A gentleman on the a bike told me “It looks as if you’re in first.” After a gentle downhill a few small, small rollers and we were climbing again.

It was a much shorter climb and finally on some pavement. I reached the end of the loop and I knew it was mostly downhill to the finish since I had already ran this 3+ miles of the course. My hips were sore and the wind was unbearable. 25 mph winds not my thing friends.

Mile 9: 7:20 Mile 10: 6:42 Mile 11: 6:33 Mile 12: 6:47 Mile 13: 6:36

The last few miles cruised by and wouldn’t have been bad if it wasn’t for the wind pushing me backwards. It’s a beautiful course, hilly for sure, but definitely scenic.

I don’t think the finish line was expecting seeing a female as the first runner. I surprised myself with a first overall win male and female, and with a sub 1:30. I came in at 1:28:40. I felt it was slow, 4 minutes off my PR, and even though I knew I wasn’t going to PR I was still unhappy with my time.

I raced to the car after congratulating the first male across the line to feed R and get warm. It took 15 minutes before I could feel my hands. We stayed for the awards and everyone acted like I was a celebrity. All the guys talked about getting “chicked” by a girl. Not going to lie it was fun winning and beating the guys, even if it never happens again. Everyone at the race couldn’t believe a girl won the whole thing. All I have to say is I ran #likeagirl and the race was small 140+ runners and the inaugural year, so in all honesty it’s not really that amazing.

I loved the massive trophy for the overall winners.

I think R claims it as her’s 😉

I used my bragging rights for a while with the hubby and family, but I am down off my high horse now and back to reality 😉 I am no longer famous, but it was fun while it lasted.  😉

Until Next Time Be Whole and Be Fit

Do you like running hills? Does running in the wind bother you as much as it does me?