Mohawk Hudson River Half Marathon recap

Today I ran my fourth half marathon. Leading up to the race, I was a bit nervous about the weather. For the past week it was gloomy, rainy, and foggy. I shouldn't have worried. The weather was perfect. It was in the high 40's with bits of sun peeking out. It was a perfect day for a run.

Felice picked me up at 7:15 and we drove to Karyn's house where we jumped in the car with Kristy, Danielle, and Karyn. Karyn's husband drove us to the start line which was at Colonie Town Park. It was the first half marathon for Karyn, Kristy and Danielle. I was excited for them.

Pre-race - Felice, me, Karyn, Kristy, and Danielle

We headed to the bathroom, and I ran into a few other people I knew. We found Elisa and Gail, and soon enough, it was time to line up and the horn blew and we were off.

Elisa, Danielle, Karyn, and I stuck together. Kristy stuck with us too but she was always a little bit ahead. I was wearing a pace band so I knew exactly where I needed to be to land on my A goal of 2:05.  We all stuck together the first 6 miles. The course was great. Nice and flat with some nice gradual downhills. Around mile 6, Elisa got a burst of energy and went on ahead. I stuck with Danielle and Karyn for a while. The miles were flying by and at mile 9, I went on ahead and found myself running alone.

I also found myself having some knee pain. It was all too familiar. It felt exactly like what happened to me in the marathon. I tried altering my pace and changing my gait. I was on pace for my 2:05 goal, and there was no way I wanted to stop. I kept going, and finally at mile 10.5, I had to walk. I tried shaking my leg out and I probably walked for about a minute. I started running again and I felt a little better. I spent the next few miles doing the same thing. Running for the most part but then stopping to walk to give my knee a break. At mile 12.5, I saw Brian and the kids. I kept going and my knee kept hurting.

I ignored the pain. And I kicked it in for for the last few tenths of a mile. As I sprinted to the finish, I felt great. I gave it everything I had and finished strong. I was elated with my time of 2:05:55. Yup. That's a personal record for me by about 15 minutes! Craziness! I was so happy.

Heading to the finish with a big smile!

Everyone else had a great day too. There were many PR's among the Strong Running Mamas. I am so proud of all of us.

All in all, it was a great run. I loved the course, and I loved the fact that this was a local race. I will always run this race. And now I am going to go and ice my knee...

Race Results:
2:05:55
Pace - 9:39
I was 363 out of 764 runners.
I was 39 out of 86 in my age group.