Tuesday, January 1, 2013

New Year's Day 3.5 mile race

This is the third year in a row that I have run the Winter Series New Year's Day race at Suny.

In 2011, I ran the 3.5 mile race. In 2012, I ran the Hangover Half. And I will never do that again. It was pure torture! So this year, it was a pretty easy decision to run the 3.5 miler.

Felice picked me up and we arrived at Suny around 11:30. The place was packed! We registered and found some of our friends. A few people I ran into were running the half. Oh boy. Good luck to them. I silently hoped they wouldn't die of boredom and mental madness.

We hung around and then it was time to go line up. The last two years, the weather has been unseasonably warm on New Year's day. That wasn't the case today. It was a bit windy and only 28 degrees. Brrrrr.

When the race started, my friend Tami and I ran together the first two miles. I should mention here that Tami is pregnant with her 10th child. (Yes. You read that right. #10). Anyway - I believe she is 16 weeks along. And let me tell you that I was struggling to keep up with her. She is one speedy lady. At mile two, she went on ahead and kicked my butt finishing two minutes ahead of me. Anyway - I ran the rest of the race alone, and silently cursed the Suny course. It's barren. It's windy. It's cold. It's ugly. Why do I subject myself to this torture?

Anyway, I crossed the finish line at 32:43. And I should mention that the course was 3.72 miles. It was not 3.5. After I crossed the finish line, I tacked on another 1/4 mile so I could call it a day at 4 miles. This was a PR for me. When I ran it two years ago, I finished in 34 minutes.

After the race, I enjoyed some pizza, orange slices and yummy cookies. All in all, it was a great way to ring in 2013.

Hope you had a great New Year's day!

Felice and me post-race.


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