September 25, 2011 by Darlene

Adirondack Half Marathon Race Report

No need to be nervous. Right? This is just a training run for Half Marathon #4 which is in 6 weeks.

But I was and stayed up late finishing a book. When I got up, I remembered that this house had all the comforts of home EXCEPT that there was a percolator. I don’t know how to use one. Neither did AJH. So since I was the first one up, I drove to Stewarts to buy some COFFEE. Got to have coffee!! Then I ate my usual cream of wheat with raisins and continued to stress out about how I would be able to do 13.1 miles.

After getting our race gear together, we headed to the race (and didn’t make any wrong turns.) There was no traffic and plenty of parking.

No problems with bathrooms either. There were bathrooms at Stewarts, porta potties and NO LINE at the boathouse (Thanks Mary for the advice).

We were at the Marathon start and needed to take a bus to the half start.

where the marathon starts

There were lots of buses. I must say that this race is very well-organized. So we arrived at the start with plenty of time for photos.

me & AJH

I bumped into the young mothers running group right away. They seemed so excited & I was excited for them.

me, Bridget, Janis, Felice & Amanda

I should mention that it was warm, sunny but not as humid as I thought. Occasionally, there was even a breeze.

The race was very scenic with views of the lake, especially the first half. The speactator/course marshall support was awesome. There was music, cheering and sometimes, they looked up your number in the program & called out your name.

the lake is on the right

What was my plan?

Really no plan. I was going to play it by ear. I had said that I just wanted to finish under 4 1/2 hours.

I felt great for the first 6 miles or so. No pain. I ran except for walking through several water stops. My time was good and I started thinking of PR…

Then came the endless hills of route 9. I mean endless.

My pace slowed and slowed and slowed. I decided to walk up the hills and run down the hills. Unfortunately that meant that I walked A LOT!!

The idea of a PR vanished so did finishing under 2:30. Yeah, I said I just wanted to finish…

As I dragged myself past the drummers, I was determined to sprint across the finish line UNDER 2:45.

I did!!! Officially 2:44:59. My slowest half marathon time so far but I’m thrilled!!

All my friends had already finished so I wandered to the food tables. What a spread!!! In addition to the usual bagels, yogurt, fruit, they had ICE CREAM!

The race ended at the beach. Perfect way to cool off your aching feet.

We hung around for the awards ceremony. AJH won 3rd in her AG but she had already headed home to Vermont. Felice won also – 2nd in her AG. She didn’t beat Sarah’s time but I’m sure this half was tougher than the one Sarah did.

Then I drove back to my friend’s river house to unwind. Believe it or not, my heel doesn’t hurt…yet.

Half Marathon #3

I’m glad I decided to do this race. Yes, I wish I was trained and ready but I’m glad I pushed myself the lst half and ran. I’m glad that I walked the 2nd half so that now I continue to train for my next race.

Happy Running! Hope you had a nice weekend!