Lookout Mountain Hill Climb

Yesterday I raced in the Lookout Mountain Hill Climb. It's only 4.5 miles, but the 1200 feet of climbing makes for a tough little climb. My main goal for this race was to beat my best time from a couple years ago of 22:04.


Friday night, I was afraid the race was going to be canceled because of snow. Luckily the snow held out and the temperatures weren't too bad. A little fog up top, but no rain or snow.

People get to the start line early for this race. With such a large group of starters (85), being at the back can really suck. I got to the line about 10 minutes and I was already in the 3rd or 4th row. Then I realized that we were allowed to have the whole width of the road at the start and I move up to the front row.

The race started out FAST. I knew how far I made it when I did 10 minute intervals on this road a couple weeks ago. Today, I got to that same point in 9 minutes. My legs felt full of lactic acid at the beginning with that kind of effort.

I saw the group of 10-20 people go off the front and settled in to a good pace for me. Partway through the race I was with a dwindling group and eventually there were 3 of us. There were times when I know I could have gone harder, but I felt like it was worth having a couple other people to work with. I'm not sure it that helped or hurt.

Near the finish, the two I was with slowed down and I was boxed in. I wish I could have gone around them, because the slow down allowed someone to come up from behind. I beat the two in my group, but not the new guy. Bummer.

In the end, I'm pretty pleased with my result. My official time was about 21:20 (good enough for 16th place), so I met my goal of beating my old time. I think I may be able to go under 21, so that's what I'll work for next time.