On Sunday, I'll be running the Hook Mountain Half Marathon for a second time. This race, which happens every April at Rockland Lake and Nyack Beach State Parks, coincides with a 5K (which I've run once) and includes an ascent of the road that leads to the notch north of Hook Mountain.
The hill, which happens at about the ninth mile, is the crux of this particular race and what everyone will be talking about in the Post-Race Tent. It's not particularly long - somewhere between a quarter and a half-mile in length and maybe 300 feet of gain - but it is wickedly steep. According to a friend (and I believe him), it gets to 19%.
Because of this hill, the course has a reputation of being difficult - however, it is mostly flat and actually kind of forgiving. Even the hill, due to its short length, isn't that bad, though I may have a different opinion come mile 8.5!
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| Poster of the Core Team that was put in various places around the office. |
The company I work for has gotten behind this event in a big way, and due to the awesome efforts of coworker Cathy Cox, 51 of my coworkers will be there to run the 5K or Half! Entry fees were paid for and we all got RaceReady shirts to wear at the race! There were ten of us in a core committee that helped her, and we were referred to as the Inspire/Dream/Achieve team. It will be fun to involve my job with what I'm passionate about when it's not 9 to 5.
Goals? Well, I'm pretty sure a half-marathon PR won't be a problem - it's currently 2:25 and my training has indicated that I can do that pretty easily. So my B goal is 2:20, A goal 2:15, dream goal 2:10. 2:10 in particular is a number that I'm pretty sure I can achieve right now on the perfect day, even on this course.
Come back Monday for a report! (Hopefully it won't be late like this preview.)
New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time
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