Heart Breaker Half

Heart Breaker Half

February 14, 2016

Cost - $40.00

I woke up on the morning of the fourth race to Oregon’s famous liquid sunshine (rain). This wasn’t so bad since the temperature outside was 50 degrees. Much more comfortable than the previous race where the temperature was below freezing. The fourth race of my 12 races in 12 months was the Heart Breaker Half. http://aasportsltd.com/event/heartbreaker/

The Heart Breaker Half is a race designed to promote heart health. The race offers several different distances such as a Half Marathon, 10K, 5K, and a kid’s 1 mile dash. For this race I choose the 10k (6.2 miles). The race was located at Liberty High School in Hillsboro. Upon arrival I was immediately impressed with the setup of the interior of the school. There was a video screen with music videos pumping, booths with various running merchandise set up, and clearly defined packet pick up and t-shirt pick up areas marked. It was a very fun vibe and if they had of had a beer garden I may not have left for the rest of the day.

There were already a lot of runners there and they had warned about arriving early enough to get a good parking spot. They were right. I arrived at 7:15am for an 8:15 start time and I was lucky to find parking inside the school’s parking lot. I stood in line to get my race packet which only took 10 minutes. I arrived at a good time because the line behind me for packets was growing exponentially. I also picked up the obligatory race shirt. The shirt was a higher quality long sleeve T-shirt as compared to most of the other race shirts I’ve seen. So far everything about this race had me impressed.

As it got closer to race time I decided to make one last pit stop before running. I made my way to the men’s room and found a line of about 20 people before me. This wasn’t bad compared to the ladies line as there was probably double the number. The organizers of all the races need to keep in mind that no one wants to race with a full bladder. I have the solution, port-a-potties! I made my way through the line and had 5 minutes to spare to get to the starting line. I felt bad as there was still a line of at least 40 women hoping to lighten their load.

The race began right on time and the course started us out on paved roads. Police had the intersections shut down through the busier parts of town so we could run without fear of being hit by a car. I felt terrific as I started out which was a bonus because I hadn’t had much in the way of sleep from the two nights before. As we ran we encountered some rolling hills and the weather cooperated with the rain staying at bay. The course took us into the rural areas and we started to run on some gravel roads. Not a big deal but the stones under the feet didn’t feel quite as nice as the paved road. Most runners tried to stick to the ruts car tires would make.

When I lined up back at the starting line I took my usual stance about three quarters of the way back from the front runners. Two miles in I had passed many of the other runners but something in my head told me to slow down. I felt my pace was too fast even though I still felt strong physically. Around mile 3 I started to feel really fatigued. My pace became labored and my energy really started to deplete. Through miles 3 and 4 I started to see most of the people I had passed catch back up to me and eventually leave me in the dust.  During this section I walked for my first time. This was surprising to me because I didn’t think the course was nearly as challenging as some of the others. I’ve mentioned the hills and some unpaved roads but all in all the entire course didn’t have a really difficult section to it. In my practice runs leading up to this event I’ve run much further than the 6.2 miles this race was. I think it was a combination of being tired and a little dehydrated that affected me.

One thing that can’t be understated on these races is the effect of nutrition and getting your body prepared.  I knew I wasn’t as hydrated as I normally am for these events when I grabbed a glass of water from the first fluid station we came across. Speaking of fluid stations this course had many which was a nice benefit of running several different length races on the same course. I took advantage of every one I came across.

At mile 5 I started to feel much better. I don’t know if it was a mental thing knowing we only had a couple of miles left or because I had recovered from alternating running and walking two or three times. I started to really pick up my pace again. As I got closer to the finish line I could feel a surge and I finished in a time of 1:07. I was pretty happy with my time considering how much I struggled in the middle section. 

After the race was over the runners made their way back into the school. There was a food line set up with oranges, cookies, rolls, pretzels, and hot oatmeal. The music was still going and the crowd was in a great mood. I would highly recommend this race for all levels.

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