This was the 2nd year I’ve run this race.  Last year, I didn’t know anyone there.  This year, I was excited to run with Mary, a race addict like myself.

This past week was hot and humid, but yesterday, the weather cooled down and today promised to be great for racing (except for the chance of showers 😦 )

I remember the course being flat and being my first under 29 minute race!!!

I woke up to the sound of rain…oh no would it be another Lake George Half kind of day??!!  I changed my clothes 3 times.  First a tank & skirt, then a sleeveless top with another skirt and finally, a short sleeved top with the original skirt. I also brought a hat, a jacket, pants, and a change of shoes & shorts.

I was prepared to get wet!! The rain continued as I drove 40 minutes to Kinderhook.

When I arrived, it was a downpour!!! I debated about staying in my car or running the race.  I texted Mary and she said she was racing no matter what.   PRESSURE!!!

I waited until the last minute and dashed to get my bib and timing chip.

I found Mary, I stashed my pants & umbrella under a table, tied my jacket around my waist and ran to the start.  No time to use the restroom, or take my Gu or drink some water.

Miraculously the rain stopped!!!!!

We started near the front and I was caught up with the fast runners (unlike last week).  Not good!! By 1 1/2 miles in, I was dying.  Hard to breathe (humidity??), nausceous…had to stop and walk.  I hate that!

I struggled for the rest of the race!!! I forgot about my goal and just wanted to finish before the rain came!!

Finally I saw some flashing lights.  The finish line?? False alarm  Just cop car.

And so I dragged myself through the finish line not sprinting like last week! But excitedly I was under 28 minutes!!! 27:57.  Hooray!

I waited for Mary and then had some refreshments – bagel, donut, watermelon…

They give out handmade pottery as AG prizes so I waited around till they put up the times. It appeared that there were at least 3 women  ahead of me in my age group and it was now raining HARD, so I left.

Race Splits:

mile 1 – 8:43
mile 2 – 9:11
mile 3 – 9:11
.1 – 8:15

So glad, it didn’t rain during this race and that I beat my last year’s time of 28:42.  No PR but under 28 minutes.  I’m happy with that.

No boating this weekend.  After a hot, sunny week, it may be raining all weekend.

I hope to squeeze in more miles later or tomorrow!

Happy Running!  Good luck on any weekend races!

As I said previously, I love this race.  It’s crowded & it’s impossible to do really well, but who cares. It’s a nice course that is shady and scenic with music, fans, and clocks & water at each mile. We got a cool green tech shirt and a box of Freihofer cookies & sandwich buns.

One tennis friend was running it (one cancelled) along with a recording setting 4800 other women runners. The beginning’s runners group from last year planned to meet to take a “one year later” group photo.

My hubby picked up my bib yesterday so that saved me some time.  (I did go to the expo to get my friend’s shirt and I got an autograph from JOAN SAMUELSON!!!)

I decided to park at work to avoid the traffic and run to the race (as a warm up). That was a little over a mile & I walked a lot of it.

The weather was perfect – sunny, 60’s, no wind.

I immediately bumped into the running group plus others. I never found my tennis friend. Some of the runners even got interviewed for the news (Janis, Bridget & Tammy).

Eventually it was time to line up.  Somehow I got an orange bib which would have put me WAY back but I squeezed in toward the back of the “Yellows.”

As usual in this race, it starts and you can’t move at all.  You move and it’s crowded so you weave in and out up the hill until you get into the park and then you can run at a decent pace.

So my first mile was slow, the 2nd was faster but I did stop briefly for water (my throat hurt from all the pollen).  I walked again during the 3rd mile which pissed me off but I picked up speed as the race ended downhill.

Here’s a video of the course:

As I appraoched the finishline, I saw that I could finish under 29 minutes and I did!! Officially 28:51, net time- 28:14 and Garmin time 28:08.

Splits:

Mile 1- 9:21
Mile 2 – 8:59
Mile 3 – 8:49
      .14 – 6:50

Hooray for negative splits and meeting my goal of under 29 minutes!! 

Click HERE to watch my finish! Not really, you can barely see me at 28:51 (But you can see that I was already way past the finish line!!!)

My running friends also did great. Esp. Felice, Janis, Jen & Bridget who got PRS.

I got some refreshments, chatted with some runners & watched the beginning of the awards ceremony.

Then I  took off, I needed to get in some more miles so I ran back around the park and to my car adding 3 more miles to my day’s total.

Here are some pics from the day:

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Happy Running! Hope you had a good weekend!