Week One and Castle Rock Half Race Report

Well week one of training is complete. Nothing exciting, just a normal week of running for a total of 19 miles. The most exciting this was the Castle Rock Half Marathon with a bunch of people from the Mile High Track Club.

MHTC represent!

Castle Rock Half Marathon Race Report

I will admit I was a little skeptical about this race. It is the first year that it had been held and they capped the half marathon distance at 300 people, a relatively small field for a half marathon. But I was pleasantly surprised at how well the morning went. There was awesome course support - plenty of water, gels were provided at mile 8, and the volunteers were awesome! Only hiccup that I noticed was that the half marathon and 5 mile split off was not well marked and many 5 mile runners ended up on the half marathon course for a while and had to turn around.

Going into the race I had no plan. I didn't plan on racing it, but instead my only goal (besides finishing it) was to try and keep a steady pace throughout the whole race. I have a tendency to go out too fast and crash towards the end. I was determined not to let this happen. But like usual I got caught up in the adrenaline fueled hype at the beginning and took off way too fast. I kept trying to pull back but I just couldn't so I settled in at a 9:30 pace and hoped for the best.

Castle Rock Half Marathon course map
and elevation profile.

I completely underestimated how hard this course would be.I knew there were hills but I didn't realize that the hills kept rolling for the entire 13.1 miles. Looking at the map posted on the website it appeared that the hills leveled off at some points. But I was wrong... very wrong.  Not much elevation was gained or lost, only about 350 feet total over the course, but the abundance of hills was ridiculous. You were either running up a hill or down one, with no flat ground to be found. Challenging you mentally and physically. But even towards the end, as exhausted as I was, I was thankful for MHTC hill repeats and the hilly Saturday runs with Run Colorado.

I ended up crossing the finish line in 2 hours 13 minutes and 46 seconds. Not my best time. Not my worst time. I am happy with it. I gave a good effort and can now set my sights to helping my mom complete her first half marathon in 2 weeks! But the best part of the day was spending it with an awesome group of people. Congrats MHTC for everything you accomplished on a tough course - a few PR’s, AG and overall wins! Way to represent!