I’ve done this race 5 times before. And I’ve always enjoyed it.

My previous times were: 2009 – 31:04, 2010 – 29:49, 2012 – 30:58, 2014 – 28:25, 2016 – 28:33.

In 2010, I was recovering from an achilles injury and in 2012 from a broken ankle. And obviously healthy in 2014 and 2016.

If I ran it again this year, I would be trying for at least a course PR but with racing, you just never know how things will turn out.

I remembered that in this race, you walk up a hill to start the race and you finished running down this hill. Couldn’t be any better than that. Right?

For some reason, I haven’t run this race the past two years. This year, I signed up because it fit into my schedule

Well, sorta. I should have been running a 12 mile LSD run per my marathon training plan. And I had been in NYC working all week (ran a 5k on Wednesday night) and got back late the night before.  Not ideal.  But welcome to my life!

The race started at 8:15 at the Brookside Museum in Ballston Spa which is about 45 minutes away from my house. I dragged myself out of bed at 5:30 am and left around 6:45 am.

This nice local race usually has about 200-300 runners. There’s no parking lot but it is easy to find parking on the street.  There are bathrooms in the museum which is always a plus.

I got there early enough to find a close spot and use the rest room (in the museum). The temps were warm and insanely humid.  (Almost as humid as Wednesday night but with sun).

I bumped into a few runners that I knew and chatted until it was time to walk all the way up the hill to the start.

There I found my friend Laurie, whom I knew was running this race.

We started together but I lost her quickly.

The first mile was a gradual uphill but nothing too steep.  I was going to try to hold back but my legs felt like lead so I didn’t need to worry about that. Boy, was it humid!!!!

I was hoping to run the whole thing but around halfway at the water stop, I was out of breath so I stopped and walked for a while. The humidity was killing me.

Mile 2 seemed to be flat but every time I tried to speed up, I felt out of breath so I walked again and again. I knew I had to give up on hopes of a PR and just finish the race.

I walked several times during the last mile.

I knew there was that downhill to the finish… but it seemed forever in coming.

Finally I got to the steep downhill, I wish I was confident enough to go all out but I was afraid of falling flat on my face so I held back.

Then I saw the clock.  It was 28:xx and I ran as fast as I could.

I crossed at 28:30. (There was no timing mat at the beginning).

Although I was dripping wet, I did not feel as bad as I did Wednesday night.  Most likely because I walked several times the last mile.

I grabbed some water and a banana and chatted with some friends while waiting for Laurie.

I checked the screen to see if I won an award. My name was not listed so I talked to the person doing the timing and he manually entered my time.

They gave awards for 10 year age groups and I won 2nd.

Splits:

mile 1 –  9:08
mile 2 – 9:14
mile 3 – 9:05
.14 -7:21
______________
28:30

No PR (over a minute faster in June on a harder course.) No course PR. (just a little slower.)

Coincidentally, I recently posted about slowing down.  Well, maybe I am. My last two 5ks have not been stellar performances but I’m not giving up on speed. I’ll attribute it for now to the weather and weariness.

I decided after the race to go to the Zim Smith Bike Path to run 9 more miles.

UGH!! I did not want to…

It was 10 am by the time I started, sunny, still humid and I was BEAT!!!!

The run SUCKED!!! I ran, walked, dragged my feet but got it done.

The only thing that got me through it was some podcasts during and Leah’s Cakery’s chocolate milk at the end!

---

There is a link-up organized by Zenaida and Kim (Kooky Runner).

Since today is Tuesday, I’m also linking up with these ladies.

---

I’m linking also up with Coaches Corner–Debbie and Marc.

Happy Running! Did you race this weekend? Do you have a big race coming up? Please share.