Fairfield 1/2 Marathon

This post has gone back and forth a few times. This race...well it sucked. No way around that.

I was going to skip talking about Fairfield all together. Then I was going to give every dirty detail. Then I was back to skipping over it all. In the end I realized the fact that I sucked on race day (and HATED the course) doesn't take away from Stratton Faxon doing a great job putting on a race. They deserve credit for that, so here it goes.

Originally, I wasn't doing Fairfield at all. Paul was doing it and I was happy to sit it out. I have no good reason why I joined in with under a month to go, but it happened and I signed up. I had heard good things about the race in general but got a little nervous when I read bloggers past posts about the hills. I heard good race, tough hills.
 

I HATE HILLS. 

There is nothing else to be said about that really. I hate them with a passion. Nothing is fun about them, going uphill is painful, going downhill is also painful if not done correctly (I don't do most things correctly fyi). I added in hills to my training plan, but didn't really follow through with that part. I also heard there was an adjustment to the course so I thought maybe not so many hills (oh spoiler, I was wrong).

Paul and I drove to Fairfield and got our packets on race morning. The race started right along the beach, which I LOVE! The pick up was quick and easy. I give tons of credit to the race directors for taking care of everyone picking up their packet before the race in a quick fashion.

The race started at 8:30am, which for end of June means it was incredibly warm. The start was also a separate mens and women's start which was strange, but fine. The first mile was ok but my legs were heavy and tired. There had been no hills at this point and I knew it was going to be a tough race for me. Had it not been a race day, this would of been a run that I said screw it, I'll try again later because running now will do more harm than good. But it was a race day, and there was nothing I could do but go the next 12.1 miles.

Towards the end of the second mile the first hill came. At this point I didn't know how many hills there were, I just new this one was going to suck. I made it through and thought "maybe I'll negative split for the next mile at least". Of course I was wrong. The hills did not stop. They just came one after another after another. It seemed like the end of each mile looked something like this...

Ok maybe I'm being a tiny bit dramatic, but by the fourth one, it seemed like I was running straight up something like this. I don't have all the details of how I did each mile. Each mile hurt more than the first. It was a mixture of a bad run day for me, a really tough course that I wasn't prepared for, and 85 degrees without shade. In the end I got through all 13.1 miles, and surprise no PR for me. After mile 1 I could of cared less about a PR, I just wanted it done.

There were lots of good things about this race that absolutely need to be mentioned. The organization of this race was great. Every mile was marked perfectly and there were plenty of water stations along the way. Along the course both the residents of Fairfield and the Fairfield fire department had out hoses to hose you down, which was amazing in the heat.

{credit: CTPost.com }

The fans along the course and the volunteers were great and you couldn't ask for more from them. I have to say the best part about this race though, the lululemon crew!

{credit: CTPost.com }

I would guess that there were about 7-10 people there from lululemon and they were awesome. Any race I have been at that lululemon has been cheering at has been fun, but this group was hands down the best I've seen yet! Great job guys! 

So there it is. The Fairfield half is finally done. I loved so much about this race, but can't get over how much I hated the course and the heat. Would I do it again? I have no idea. Maybe I'll come back for redemption one day, but for now I'm just looking to the next one. 

Happy Thursday everyone!