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

the lake is on the right

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

Lucky for me, my friend has a house on Schroon River which is not too far from the start of the race.

Fellow runner/blogger AJH was running this race too & I invited her to stay with me.

I planned on getting there early Saturday morning but actually AJH arrived before me.  Then we headed to the Expo, my first,  in Schroon Lake.

It was a pretty small expo.  First we picked up our race packets.  Instead of tee shirts, they gave us a cool green race jacket. So I decided to buy a tee shirt – one with the logo on the front and the name of the runners on the back.  Can you believe it?  I’m not even racing this one.

back of the shirt

Then we had lunch. We went to small cafe that specialized in crepes.  Yes, the French teacher in me came out.  It was delicious!! I had a chicken, brie, apple crepe and we split a smores crepe for dessert.

I bumped to my running friend Mary on the street who had come up to get her packet and look at the course.

AJH & I decided that we’d like to drive the course.  We headed north and followed the Marathon route.  It was very scenic, many of the leaves had changed colors but it was VERY hilly.

Finally we arrived at the start of the half marathon. 

They said it was flat – not really but definitely less hilly that the 1st 13 miles.  For most of the beginning miles you had a great view of the lake and the race ended at the beach.

I started to get excited about the race but then reality set in – I’m not racing it… I can’t.  I will finish and have fun anyway.  I repeat.  I will finish and have fun.

a sign in front of one of the stores in town

So then we headed back to the house.  It took about 11 minutes.  Yes, we were pretty close.

AJH relaxing at the river house

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Schroon Lake for the Pasta dinner.  I was surprised how elaborate it was.  I succeeded in carb loading – 2 plates of pasta & some cheesecake. We sat with a nice couple from NJ.  He was doing his 1st half and she was training for the Chicago Marathon.

Remember that 11 minute ride.  It turned out to be much longer on the way home.  We missed 2 exits and then accidentally got back on the highway when we didn’t need to.

Finally got back and spent the rest of the evening on our laptops while planning our morning routine.

To be continued…