April 21, 2013 – 8:15 am

I signed up for this race on a whim.

the day before the Lake George Half Marathon in 2011

I love Lake George and this half marathon was my half PR (in the freezing rain!) but unfortunately I am NOT in half marathon shape right now.

finishing the Lake George Half in 2011

So when I got a $5 off coupon in my e-mail , I said: “what the heck.” (I also misread it and thought the race started at 9:45 am. Duh.)

Anyway, I thought it would be a good opportunity to visit with my Lake George friends after the race (or maybe even shop at the Outlets.)

course map

I wasn’t sure about the course but I know it is hilly anywhere in Lake George (as was the Polar Cap race). It also may be crowded and difficult to find parking (since the half starts first at 8:00 am).

Again the dilemma of what to wear … some days it feels like spring, other days it feels like winter.

So left my house early (around 6:15 am) and it was COLD (30 degrees!!)!! I decided to wear something similar to last week (long sleeve shirt, gloves, skirt & compression socks) and hope for the best.

I planned to dedicate this race to Boston so I wore an old Boston baseball cap.

When I arrived, I started looking for parking in the hotel lot. (If it was full, I planned to check out the park or the village or my friends’ house.) I managed to find a spot and it was even colder than when I left the house and WINDY!!! Luckily I had a pair of sweat pants in my car & another jacket.

I went to pick up my race packet and bib (I had hoped it was more organized than in 2011 which was their first annual race.) I also got a large cotton tee-shirt that said half marathon on it and then headed back to the car to get rid of my pants.

Most of the runners there were racing the half marathon so there was only a small crowd doing the 5K.  (This is the first time I have been at a half with 2 options & I chose the lesser one … felt strange.) But I was glad to race.  There could even be an age group award possibility.

Everyone huddled together in the hotel dining room to stay warm until the last minute.  The half marathon started at 8 am so most people left.  About 10 minutes later, the rest of us ventured down the hill. (I decided to keep my jacket on…I was freezing & wished I had worn tights & a warmer hat.)

The race organization was not much better than last time.  There was construction on Beach Road and we had to walk on the gravel road amid the bulldozers searching for the start of the race.

We walked quite a ways and then the organizer stopped us.  No start line or sign. He told us to huddle around him so he could tell us the course (which turns out was totally wrong).  He didn’t know the street names (he was from Florida) and there were no signs, clocks or mile markers (or people).  He said just to follow the lead runner. (There was no water…luckily it was cold.)

Finally we started (about 10 minutes late) and proceeded to head up a HUGE HILL!!!  Not ready for that in the first half mile.  I tried to run up it and was worried that I’d tire my legs out too soon so I walked twice during the long ascent.  Then we went down for a while but there was a turn around so that meant mile 2 went up hill again.  This time I ran but was running as slow as a walk.  Finally we hit a downhill and headed toward town (on an unstable narrow gravel path).  It was very hard to run on it and I was stuck behind 2 slow runners (whom I eventually passed.)  It was at this point that I saw one of my boating friends.  (I had told her the race ended on Beach Rd because that’s what the course was supposed to be.)

Eventually when we hit Canada St (the main road of the town) we turned around and went back on the narrow gravel road.  The race ended by running uphill on another gravel path toward the hotel.

Here are runners headng to the finish. You can see the road construction below.

check out that 90 degree turn

There was no finish line sign but at least there was a timing mat.  I crossed at 29:17.  I was surprised because I was not running fast at all, I walked twice and there was a head wind at times.

done!

I was still freezing!  My friend caught up with me.  We hung out for a bit.  The food was just bunches of bananas and snack bags of crackers & cookies. (I don’t think this race is on my To DO list any more!! There was a lot of negative comments on FB about the half as well.)

I checked out the finish times & I came in 2nd in my age group (There might have only been two runners.) So we stayed for a while, and watched the fast runners finish the half marathon.

Did I mention that I was COLD!!! The awards were running late (like everything else) so I went to put back on my sweats.  It turned out that because the turn out was small, they only gave out awards for 1st place in each AG. (I just looked online and they had me in the 60-99 AG!! In the correct AG, I did win!! Add that to my list of complaints!)

My friend & I quickly left and went out to breakfast.  I had French toast and we chatted for an hour or so.

too cold for boats today

After she left, I decided to take advantage of being near Lake George and drove up to our marina.  I had heard that they re-did the bathrooms.  They did and they are beautiful!

Since the wind had died down, I decided to run some more.

I headed on my familiar summer running route…over the bridge and to the Sagamore Hotel.

I ran around the hotel grounds & even went to a condo Open House. Then I ran on the Nature Trail.

I rested on my usual lounge chair and then ran back into town.

It had finally warmed up enough to have ice cream 😉

On the way home, I stopped at the outlets.  More about that in my next post!

Happy Running! Did you run or race this weekend?