It was an early start, as Sheila and I met at Felice's house at 4:45 AM. Yes. You read that right. My alarm went off at 4:15. It was an early day. We were off to pick up Amanda and on the road a little bit after 5 AM. The drive was uneventful and we arrived to the start line around 6:40. We got ourselves situated and headed over to meet Karen. (She had our bibs.)
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| Me, Sheila, Amanda, and Felice - before the race. |
We hung out and ran into a few people we knew. (It's amazing how many people you run into at this race. I think every runner from Albany is there.)
Finally it was time to line up. The sky was overcast and the air felt great. The gun went off at 8 AM and it took me 4 minutes to hit the start line. (Last year it took me 8 minutes because I was wayyyyy back in the crowd.) This year we started closer to the front of our corral. I started running, and immediately I realized how hot it was. Actually - it was muggy and humid. By mile 2, I was wondering how I was going to hang in there for the rest of the race. My breath felt ragged and I pretty much knew I would be walking later on.
I hit mile 3.5 and that's when the big hill in the golf course started. I walked it. And I didn't care. I was hot and I needed a break. When I hit the top, I started running again and enjoyed a nice 3/4 of a mile downhill. I was flying and trying to make up some time from my walking. I continued on and enjoyed the music and the crowds and even ran through some sprinklers.
I admit that between mile 5 and 7, I spent some more time walking. I walked up that horrible hill around mile 6. At that point, the sun came out and it was blazing hot. Once I got up the hill, I got my mo-jo back and started running full force. I ran at a decent pace for the next 2 miles, and I crossed the finish line and I was very happy to be done. I weaved my way through the crowd and met back up with my group at our designated meeting spot. On the way to the tent, I enjoyed a snow cone and a popsicle. Yum.
Official results: 1:39.
I was 7,937 out of 11,360 runners.
I did not PR.
I am happy to report that I did not have any knee issues during this race!
2 comments:
Great job "Gabby!" It was a good day for the race even though it was a bit muggy... and hot when the sun came out!
- Mike B
You did great! That humidity was awful! I'm so glad you did not have any knee issues.
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