Before the end of January, I signed up for a spring 1/2 marathon!  This is the one where I’m going to run under 2 hours…at least, that’s the plan.  : )

The race is the Twin Lights Half Marathon. It runs through Gloucester and Rockport, MA. I’ve run 10ks in both places before, and they have been two of the nicest race courses I’ve ever done. I mean check out this picture from the race website –

The twin lights!

Unfortunately, they were also two of the hilliest races I’ve ever done, and this one isn’t any different.  I’m a little nervous that the hills will hurt my chances of getting my time goal, but to be completely honest I’d rather do a scenic, hilly race and miss my time goal than do a boring, flat race and get it. Before I signed up for this race, I actually found out about another half in the area that is on the same day that claims that it is “not scenic, but flat!”, and I STILL chose this one.

So, there it is. I chose to run the hilly race for my time goal. I prefer to think of it as choosing the scenic race…I mean, it starts and ends at a beach, the seashore will be visible for most of the race!  And, that sort of thing can speed me up, too. I don’t really think it was a bad decision.

Plus, I’m going into it knowing the profile, and will just tackle as many hills in training as I can.

Who knows what an 80ft elevation change really feels like anyways?

I think I only have about 5 readers, but here’s some questions for you special few: Would you chose a tough course for the view when you have a time goal? Is the scenery an important factor for you when choosing a race?