Sleepy Hollow Half 2014

I apologize if  you’ve seen this on Daily Mile or Facebook already. Just spreading the love.

SleepyHollowHalfMedal

Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon. Official time 1:58:52.

No heads were lost during the running of this race. Though I did wish at times for a man on a black horse to come back and end the misery.

I’ll be honest. Was a little disappointed with this time. It’s over a minute slower than last year’s (1:57:07) and I figure I’m in much better shape this year. Definitely weigh less.

But I did stop to take a picture. And to use the bathroom in the first mile. And I ran a half marathon last weekend. And did a couple of decent workouts this week. And it was supposed to be a training run. So it’s all good.

And, hey, another 13 miles in the books.

It was a beautiful day for a run. Warm enough for shorts. And by warm enough I mean upper 30s, lower 40s. I did have gloves and hat. At those times, they felt like a little much, but never enough that I had to take them off.

Wish I would have had my heart-rate monitor on this one to see what the hills did to me.  And even though the course was changed, the hills were just as bad. There was a good 350 feet of elevation gain between start and mile 5. And that little bastard of a trail hill — which I thought wasn’t on the course — they sneaked in there. Brooklyn Half will be easy compared to this.

This is NOT the hill at the last mile. But this is what it felt like.
This is NOT the hill at the last mile. But this is what it felt like.

1    9:52.9     <–Hills + lolly-gagging at the toilet and taking a picture.
2    8:36.6     <– Hills
3    9:12.0     <–Hills
4    9:11.2     <–Hills
5    8:57.0     <–Downhill stretch starts here
6    8:26.4
7    8:33.2
8    8:44.8
9    9:06.3     <–70 feet of elevation gain in less than a quarter mile.
10    9:21.9
11    9:09.3
12    9:17.6     <—There is a giant fucking hill right before mile 13. 65 feet or so in a quarter mile. Fuck you, end-of-race hill.
13    9:08.1

Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon: 1,279 Feet

The Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon was one of the most beautiful courses I’ve run. It was also perhaps the most miserable, pain-in-the-ass races, full of “Are You Fucking Kidding Me With This?” moments I’ve ever run.

On one hand, the first five miles are run through beautiful trails, through the woods, over old rail-road bridges, along the Hudson River.

On the other hand: 1,279 feet of elevation.

Not that you’d know that from the race’s website. Bounce around there a bit and you’ll see no elevation chart. I don’t blame them for this. They’d likely lose quite a few entrants if they put this on their website. And I think you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you didn’t run this race. It is beautiful. It is a challenge. And I want you to experience the same sort of misery.

It's like the Cliffhanger Game on Price is Right
Are you kidding me with this?

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