Corporate Challenge Race Report

Tonight I ran the Corporate Challenge with the Junior League of Albany. Janis and I were co-captains for the race and we had a team of 12 that signed up.

The weather has been rainy all week and I was hoping against all hopes that we were NOT going to be running 3.5 miles in the pouring rain. But it turned out to be the perfect evening. No rain. A light breeze. And it was in the 60's. Perfect running weather!

We arrived at the plaza to meet the rest of our team. We arrived bright and early since we were nervous about the parking and the crowds. (This year's race had more than 9,000 runners!) We met up with our team and headed down into the crowd and before we knew it - it was 6:25 PM and the horn blew.

I expected it to be a cluster and seriously didn't think I would be able to run until I was half a mile in. But I was pleasantly surprised and able to start running pretty much immediately. Of course, there were people darting in and out trying to pass people. Janis and I somehow found each other and managed to stay together for the first mile. But after that we split up.

And that's when I started to get a stitch in my side. It didn't really hurt. But instead, it was rather annoying and just kind of hanging out there and looming. In fact, for lack of a better word - I would say it was stalking me. It just kind of lingered. I am sad to admit that I ended up walking twice throughout the race. Blahhh. I hate that. But I had to walk to get rid of the nasty stitch.

And it worked. By mile 2.5, I finally got my mojo back and felt better. I picked up the pace and crossed the finish line at 34:08. Certainly not the best time. But my overall pace was 9:45 and I even had negative splits. (Mile 3 was my fastest). All in all - not a terrible race. But - I could have done better. Much better. And you know. That's all you can do. Keep trying.

And I will be back to the same area in 2 weeks for Freihofer's! Let's hope for another great racing day!