2012 Straight Street Climb Recap

The Straight Street Hill Climb is a .36 mile race up Straight Street in the CUF neighborhood. The race was started by the Clifton Track Club in 1976. In 2011, the race added a bike challenge in addition to the road race.  This was the second time that I did this special form of torture.  The last time was about 4 years ago when 20 of us decided to go up Straight Street.  I decided to do it this year since the memory of that race had faded. Also, for the first time in a long time,  I had that Sunday free.  They had a little over 60 people who decided to run up the hill and quite a few cyclists which was more than they expected as they ran out of race entry forms. The race started a few minutes later than expected due to a long line at registration. Conditions were cold and clear which really affected my run.  The most important rule about warming up is the shorter the race, the longer the warmup.  I did not get enough of a warmup in and I paid for it later.  I felt great at the start.  If you feel great at the start of this race, it means that you are going too fast and will probably not run the entire hill.  I did not and needed to walk about 15 seconds halfway up.  I eventually made it across the finish line in about 4 minutes.  Post race was pretty good with Wiedemann beer, bananas, bagels and cream cheese, water, and sports drink.  I did not feel like eating so I just had a water. Also,  I went looking for my lungs which I believe I lost somewhere around Luna. Results really took awhile to do. I left before results were announced as I needed to be somewhere by 11:00 AM. If I have the Sunday free next year, I might do it again.