This was my 2nd time running this 10K and my second time being part of the Turkey Trot Challenge training group.

I really enjoyed this race last year (in spite of the snowstorm) so was looking forward to this year’s race.

happy because it was and still is my 10K PR (check out all the snow!)

The course was the same as last year:

I picked up by bib on Sunday so I didn’t have to rush on race morning.

A cotton tee shirt! what were they thinking?

But I did want to arrive early to get parking.  I parked in the bowling alley parking as I did last year and walked a few blocks to the Atrium where I could wait for the race to begin.

I checked my jacket and pants since I wouldn’t need them until after the race.

At least this year, it hadn’t snowed the night before but as usual for this time of year, it was cold – in the 40’s. And of course, you had to be careful not to overdress because you will get too warm.

I chatted with members of my training group until it was time to brave the cold.

The 10K started at 8 am followed by the kid’s one mile race & a one mile walk and then at 10 am the most popular event, the 5K.

pic from a previous year

Last year, I had problems with my Garmin so I made sure to turn it on early. I squeezed in to the crowd at the 9 minute pace group with Stan, Nancy & Jackie from my training group even though I knew that I would lose them quickly.I just tried not to start out too fast and to run at an even pace and to save some for the last mile.

Jackie is in gray to the right

For some reason, this race seemed a lot more crowded.  For my pace, it never thinned out.  I was running in a crowd the whole race. My legs never seemed to get going.  I just couldn’t run fast today.  And for some reason, my skirt/capris kept falling down.  This bugged me and I kept pulling them up. (I have run in them before but I think it was the race belt that kept pushing them down.) I’m not sure that this slowed me down but it sure was annoying.

near the beginning because I am smiling (& my half-zip is zipped up)

The course is pretty flat.  You run over the Green Island bridge twice near the beginning and then run through Troy before you turn around and run back.

There was a lot of crowd support.  There were even guys handing out bottles of beer.

I saw an old tennis friend who was volunteering and I high fived her. That was cool since I haven’t seen her in years.

There were quite a few water stops. I skipped the first one and even the second but I questioned my judgment because I was dying for a drink by the 3rd one.

 

Timing clocks were placed at every mile. I didn’t have to look at my watch to know that I was slow and had NO chance of a PR.  I wasn’t sure that I could even finish under 1 hour.

Finally, I stopped to walk at the last water stop and take a GU.  It was a little after mile 4.  I walked for a while.

This walk gave me a second wind, I think.

must be toward the end (I am warm now)

As usual, it seemed to take forever to run the last mile….

But as soon as I saw the finish line, I gave it everything I had (which wasn’t much at this point) & I crossed under 1 hour!!   (My chip time was 59:33.)

Not a PR but really not a decent time for me but I tried not to get too bummed about it.

10K Splits:

mile 1 – 9:18
mile 2 – 9:35
mile 3 – 9:25
mile 4 – 9:45
mile 5 – 10:02 (water & gu)
mile 6 –  9:32
.22 – 8:30

This year, unlike the previous year, I signed up to run a second race, the 5k about an hour later.

yes, that’s how they ran and faster than me

I got some refreshments but really wasn’t hungry so I just drink some chocolate milk. Then I went back to the Atrium to stay warm.

Boy, was it crowded… 5 thousand or more runners squeezed into a small building.

I wanted to find my friends and my hubby (who was running his FIRST 5k with a friend)….and rest my weary legs.

cotton shirt #2

I had already picked up my bib but I needed to get it from my checked bag. And I was so sweaty that I wanted to change my clothes.

I did find my tennis friend but I never found my hubby.

I got rid of my jacket and put a dry tee shirt under my sweaty shirt.

This was the first time that I had run the 5k race.  But it was just an out and back course.

Finally it was time to squeeze into the starting area. I found someone from my training group in the “gray” bib area and we chatted until the race began.

pic from a previous year

Of course, my legs were tired from having already run 6.2 miles (at race pace) so all I wanted to do was finish.  Of course, I was hoping to come in under 30 minutes but I wasn’t sure that was possible. I didn’t want to push it since I had a half marathon to run in a little over a week.

waving to the camera (already lost my hair scrunchie)

It was so crowded that I had no problem slowing down in the beginning. Like the previous race, it was crowded the whole race.

And my legs were not cooperating.  They wanted to run slow. And so I did.

I crossed the finish line around 32 minutes which was 31:28 chip time.

I got some more chocolate milk and then went back to the finish line to wait for my hubby.  Then I got a text that he pulled a muscle and quit the race.  I didn’t say “I told you so.” (He never trained.  In fact he had never even run before.) His running days are officially over.

5K Splits:

mile 1 – 9:58
mile 2 – 10:12
mile 3 – 10:08
.14 – 8:22

9.3 miles in the books!

last year 57:03

slowest 5k in years

So not to be a Debbie Downer…

The Good:

• The weather – not too hot or too cold. If the sun came out, I would have been too warm. It was perfect running weather.
• Race organization – considering the number of runners, it was very well organized.
• Race location – place to stay warm indoors with indoor bathroom and bag check
• Chocolate Milk at the finish
• Medals for both the 10k and the 5k
• 15K PR – each of my race times were disappointing but if you add them together, it was 1:31:01 which is a slight PR.
• Good preparation for my half marathon in 10 days
• Running 9.3 miles lets me eat more Thanksgiving food
• NO PAIN…no blisters…lower back and feet felt great.  Thumbs up to my Nikes! (and I didn’t wear compression socks.)

The Bad:

• my 10K time – considering I was in a training group for this race and I ran this course last year, I should have finished faster!!
• post race refreshments – I would have liked pizza or bagels or cookies
• same medal for both the 5k and the 10k (if you run both, you have 2 of the same medals)
• cotton tee shirts (in my case, 2 cotton tee shirts)
• my 5k time – the last 5k at the Stockeadathon 15k was faster and there were huge hills
• my hubby’s racing is over before it began
• for some reason, I didn’t push it…I was never out of breath..I never ran fast

Overall, I enjoyed the races.  I am glad that I ran them.  I think I will do both next year too.

After the race(s), I had to rush home.  There was change in plans.  Instead of going out to a restaurant, I was cooking dinner and BRINGING it to my MIL’s. (Hopefully for all my efforts, I will get to bring home some leftovers.)

Happy Thanksgiving To You and Your Family!!!

Happy Running! Did you run off that turkey?

Fortunately, my friend who owns a house in Chestertown let me stay in her house so I didn’t have to drive an hour 20 minutes on race morning. .  It is the same house that I spent time in last month with my tennis friends and the one with no water that I was supposed to stay in last weekend.

I took that day off from work on Friday and drove up stopping at the outlets on the way. I pass them by each weekend but never have time to stop so I was excited.  Besides there were new ones – Reebok, Asics, LLBean and many more.  I bought more than I should have but I haven’t had any retail therapy in a while.

Friday evening, I was able to get my race packet, have dinner in town and then sleep in on race morning.

I woke up to colder temps than I expected.

brrrrr

But it was beautiful.

fog over the river

I bundled up and ate my breakfast on the deck.

pre-race meal & a view

As I mentioned, it was cold, I even put the heat on in my car for the first time this year. I was glad that the race didn’t start until 9:30.

I wore my SkirtsSports running skirt (of course).  I opted for short sleeves instead of a tank and brought a jacket to wear until the race started.

I parked in the Grand Union parking lot and walked across the street to wait until the race started.

a previous year’s start

This was a small community race – about 150 in the 5K and less than 75 in the 10K. I got there early enough to use the real restrooms and chat with some runners.

I wound up talking with a runner, Angela, who was running the 10K the day before the Schroon Lake Marathon.  Yes, crazy.  She lived near Bolton Landing so we chatted about the running routes in that area. She has 2 year old twins, loves belly dancing and is an undertaker – very interesting lady. (In fact, I forgot to take my Gu and drink any water before the race because we were talking.)

This was my 2nd time running the 10k. I also ran the 5k once. Both were recovery races.

2013 – post broken ankle

2012 – my pre-skirt era (post ankle surgery)

This year, I was running healthy but with a half marathon in 2 weeks, needing to stay HEALTHY.

My time in this race 2 years ago was 1:06:10.  My 10K PR is 57:03 and my most recent 10K time (on a flat course) was 1:00:39.  So my hope was to finish under 60 minutes but my realistic goal was to finish around 1:02.

Both the 5k and 10K runners start together and then separate.  There was no timing mat at the start so I tried to stand not too far back.

Once I started running, I was no longer cold.  In fact, it was perfect running temperature.

As I mentioned the course is hilly…real hilly.

I wasn’t gunning for a PR so I just took it slow but not too slow.

The hills didn’t seem as bad as the last time I ran it.  I didn’t even walk until the first water stop at around mile 2.5 (halfway for the 5kers). I was hungry at this point and walked for awhile while eating my Gu.

Besides the hills, this was a beautiful course.  You ran through the back roads and it would have been awesome if the foliage was at peak.

Around mile 3, you ran into the 5k runners but actually it was the ones who were walking.  Then you separated again.

I finished the first 5k around 30 minutes.  I was pleased considering how I wasn’t pushing the pace.  I could have run faster but I am used to running on FLAT roads and I didn’t want another injury.  Besides, I wanted to add 5-6 miles to my run after the race.

I tired again around mile 3.5 but didn’t walk as long and didn’t even take any water.

Mile 4 was the only boring part of the course – a LONG uphill on a main road.  This was the hill that I met Heidi 2 years ago. (We became friends and trained for the Love Run Half together in 2014.)

Believe it or not, the hill didn’t feel bad this year. (I must improving.)

The hardest part of the race was mile 4.5-5.5.   Hil after hill after hill.  I think I walked 3 times.

But after that, I got a second wind and felt great until close to the end.

I walked briefly before the turn into the finish line but I gathered my strength and finished strong.

I finished at: 1:10:10 which was not even close to PR but an OK time for me and better than I expected. (I beat my last 10K time.)

I was pleased.  My 2nd half of the race was about the same as the first and I know that I can do better.

My Splits:

• mile 1 – 9:36 (not my usual sub 9)
• mile 2 – 9:46
  
• mile 3 – 10:27 (long walk – water & gu)
• mile 4 – 9:54 (short walk)
• mile 5 – 10:26 (3 walks up those hills)
• mile 6 – 9:25 (tiny walk)
•         .2 – 7:14 (sprint to the finish)

Due to the rolling hills, it seems that my splits were all over the place.

pic from FB 2 years ago

I had some refreshments (all home-made – cookies, fritters, breads, bagels, etc) and stuck around for awards (and it took forever) since there was a chance there would be NO ONE in my age group.

my kind of post-race snack

Actually there were 2 this year so I came in 2nd.

Hooray for AG awards. Another medal to my collection.

I bumped into Angela after the race.  She was shocked at how old I was.  She said that she thought I was 45 at most.  Made my day!!! (She is in her 30s.)

Again, I thoroughly enjoyed this race. I’ll be back next year.

but not another cotton t-shirt…

I had planned to run 5-6 more miles today.  Boy, did I not feel like it.

I told myself that my reward would be lunch in Schroon Lake and maybe a cool purchase at the Expo.

I drove to familiar territory – near my friend’s house and parked my car. I ran/walked admiring the scenery.

As you can see, the leaves are still pretty green.  Just as I was enjoying the scenery, my hubby called.  They had gotten some island sites on Lake George and our friends were going to barbecue .  And he was waiting for me.

changed my shirt & shoes

Of course, I asked if he could wait until I was done.  Well, you know the answer – NO!! So I only got in 2.8 miles and then rushed over the marina. (There would be no lunch in Schroon Lake and no a visit to the expo.)

our view from our picnic table

It was a beautiful day on the lake and maybe our last of the season.

Linda relaxing on a rock

We stayed as long as we could (until the sun was going down below the mountains).  It was quite comfortable if you stayed in the sun.

After we put the boat away, we all headed out for dinner with some other friends.  Luckily it was crowded and we didn’t end up eating until 10 pm (because we ate a big lunch on the island.)

Sunday was an even nicer day weather-wise.  The original plan was to spend it on the lake, of course. But my mother-in-law who turns 90 today, had her party re-scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

Since I only ran 9 miles on Saturday instead of my scheduled 12, I decided to run 3 more in the morning.

they were very slow but still got it done – 12 miles in 3 parts & in 2 days

Then I got cleaned up for the party.

Happy 90th birthday Eva.

I’m linking this one up with Jessica at The Silvah Lining–she hosts a Race Recap linkup every Tuesday. Please head over and linkup a race recap you’ve written, new or old. And check out some of the other posts!

Happy Running! How was your weekend?  Any running or racing?