July 22, 2017

When I first started running, this race was one of my favorite 5ks. I ran it in 2008, 2009, 2010.

in 2008 – my first year of running

in 2010, this is where I met AJH for the first time (I was wearing shorts back then.)

It’s funny how things have changed. AJH was trying to convince me to run a longer race. Since then I have completed 26 half marathons.

My 5k time back in 2010 was 29:34.

After 5 years, I ran this 5k again in 2015. And my time was 28:41. So things haven’t changed that much (but now I wear running skirts instead of shorts).

I’ve enjoyed this race so much that I have re-added to my summer racing list.

28:27 finish, a course PR and a 3rd place AG award in 2016

The course had changed for 2015 and I assumed that it would be the same again this year.

Here is the current course map:

15 turns in this course!!

The race started at 8 am. That meant that I had to get up at 5:30.

This being the opening weekend of the Saratoga Flat Track, believe it or not there was already a lot of traffic at 7 am. I was glad to have left early and found parking in a nearby lot. (I was careful this year to park in the correct lot. Two years ago, I almost got towed.)

unisex tech shirt – too big, of course

I picked up my bib and shirt and then went back to my car and watched the horses work out for a bit.

There were about 1000 runners at this race. So I bumped into quite a few familiar faces: Sue, my Shape half roommate, Laurie from the Turkey Trot group several years ago, Holly and Nancy from the Freihofer’s group, Patrick, the director for this race  and coach for my running groups, to name a few.

The weather was quite warm … over 70 at the start and HUMID. So not ideal running conditions but I wasn’t planning to PR anyway.

Soon we headed to the start. It wasn’t chip-timed so Holly, Nancy & I tried to get as close to the front as we could but not get in the way of the speedy runners.

And so we were off.

Nancy is super fast and Holly is fast as well.  I tried to keep Holly in my sight during the first mile but she kept getting further and further ahead.

It seemed like everyone was passing me by…because they were. But as usual, my first mile was too fast. My plan was to have negative splits and but that never happened.

By the second mile, I had completely lost Holly and I was starting to struggle with my breathing.

It was warm but I have run in higher temps.  It was the HUMIDITY.  And it was sucking the life out of me.  I don’t sweat much but I was dripping…

I tried to run in the shade when there was shade and run the tangents (all 15 of them). I only walked at the one water stop at the halfway point. And as it turned out, my legs were tired and I probably should have walked at each mile.

It was during mile 3 that I saw Holly again.  She had slowed down so much that I caught up to her.

She beat me during our last two races together and I tried to encourage her to run  faster but she replied “Go ahead, I’m done!!”  Her super speedy pace for the first two miles had killed her.

So I ran ahead and tried to get up enough energy to sprint through the finish line.

I crossed at 27:37 (Gun time).

It was actually over a minute faster than last year so I was thrilled. But boy, did I feel crappy – nauseous, dizzy.  I got some water and sat down until I felt human.

Then I searched for my friends and found them on the food line.  It was a long line but moved quickly.

Two years ago, the refreshments consisted of bagels & chocolate milk. This year like last year, there was only watermelon & bananas. I had at least four pieces of watermelon, a banana and a granola bar.  And I felt much better.

watermelon on a hot day – yum!

They posted the results pretty quickly. I was shocked that I again came in third in my age group. (Unfortunately, Holly was 5th.)

While waiting for the awards ceremony, I bumped into more runners that I knew and they all got awards, as well.

I taught Michelle French 25 years ago!! She is super speedy – finished in 20 minutes at age 42.

I got a nice medal. It always feels great when you win an award.

All in all, this was a fun race. Besides all the turns, the race course is pretty flat.  It is well-organized. I plan to run this race again next summer.

Splits:

mile 1- 8:34
mile 2 – 8:56 (walk at the water stop)
mile 3 – 9:06
.1 – 7:26

27:35 (Garmin time)

I was not planning on going up to my friend’s at the Schroon River house until Sunday morning. So I took advantage of this opportunity to get some more miles in. I drove back to the Zim Smith Trail and ran in the opposite direction from last weekend.  It was warm, I was tired but I got it done.

and if you are wondering, that is a Skirt Sports dress.

Racing, Running and talking about Running – what a great day!!

And since it is Thursday, I’m linking up today with Amanda for Thinking Out Loud Thursday.

I decided not to run a race this weekend (I was tempted by one in Chestertown).  My next race will be a hilly one – Race the Train on Aug 4.  I will be meeting up with Sue (NYC roommate) and VT running pal, AJH so I plan to, as usual, have a great time.

Happy Running! How is your running going? Any races? What are you thinking about today?