I only ran this race because it was raining yesterday and I didn’t run the Saratoga race.  This race is very close to my house but it the first annual so I knew nothing about the course or how many runners there would be.

I got up and was glad to see the rain had stopped and the sun was out.  It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.

my neighbor's tree this am

 That didn’t last, I mean the sun.  It was breezy, cloudy and cold by race time.  Again I wasn’t sure what to wear and decided to brave the cold and wear shorts, but wore 2 long sleeve shirts & gloves. I was even a little warm while running but cold when I stopped.

This was the course –http://www.capitalregionspecialsurgery.com/raceforhopealbany/PDFs/CRSS_R4H_5Kmap.pdf .

We ran around neighborhoods in Slingerlands with huge gorgeous houses but at every turn there was a hill. My first mile was 9:48 but I stopped during the 2nd mile for water and to fix my iPod and slowed down to 19:50 so so.  I figured that this hilly course would give me a slow time and was surprised when I saw 29… in the distance.  I was mad that I messed up mile 2  and there was not enough time to make it up.  I sprinted to the finish and crossed at 30:14.

I looked at the race times and saw a lot fast times for women my age so no award this time.  As usual I’m glad I did it and hope to improve next time.

I signed up for a 5k next Saturday at RPI – don’t know the course at all.  There is also another one called the Monster Madness 5K sponsored by the Troy YMCA.