Boilermaker 15k

Another hot boilermaker! I asked myself, "why am I waking up at 3am to endure the hot and humid weather of a well known and popular 15k?" Because I love every minute of it! Even when I'm cursing the hills of such a tough race, I enjoy the fanfare, the music, the many water stations, ice and popsicles along the way. It's one of the few longer races that I don't need to carry water.

The first four miles are up hill. And, what goes up must come down before the course levels out. But, don't be fooled. There are a handful more hills on the way to the finish. The first 5k go by in 25:43. At the 10k mark, I'm 50:57 into the race. Only have 5k to go and the race becomes a mental fight to the finish. So I break the last 5k one mile at a time. Where oh where is the finish line?!? Finally, 1:16:33.

Another good race. This year, so far, has been simply amazing.
Anybody out there run the Boilermaker 15k today? What was your experience like? Please share!
Thank you, please stop by again soon ;)

Firecracker 4

What a wonderful day! I started it off with the Firecracker 4. A four mile run through historical Saratoga. The gun went off at 9am. Boy was it hot! Over three thousand people came out on independence day to run including myself, Elise, Gail, and Melissa (strong running mamas). There were many people sporting red, white, and blue. I even saw Elvis, in full costume. That person had to be hot. I past the first mile in 8 minutes, I reached my second mile in 16 minutes, but soon came the first of two hills. I slowed a bit and reached mile marker three in just under 25 minutes. I have to say that the sprinklers set up by many of the residence of Saratoga helped keep me a bit cool. So now I'm down to my last mile and I know there is another hill up ahead. I just don't know when it's coming. 3.5 miles in, now I see the hill with only half a mile left. I try to relax and keep my pace. In .5 miles I will be finished. Now I can hear the announcer with the english accent at the finish line. The banner that says finish is in view. I sprint, I'm done. What a great race! My official time was 32:20, average pace, 8:05. I did well enough to earn a 1st place medal and American flag in the female public safety category. How proud am I to be an American on this 4th of July.

Hitting The Reset Button

It's the beginning of 2012 and I have some work to do. First, I had to lose some weight. The weight that I gained during my injuries and training for the NYC Marathon. And, I did. I lost 13lbs. Thank you very much!
Official training began in March for the Boston's Run to Remember half marathon. I decided to go back to a three day a week running schedule with three days of cross training and one day rest. I like the less is more concept.
To build up my confidence, I decide I would run a few shorter races.
Nothing hurt, I lost weight, my workouts were going well, so I wanted to see how well I could race. I ran the Delmar Dash, a 5 miler, flat and fast. And, to my surprise I ran it better that I thought I would. 38:45 @ 7:45min miles!! Talk about confidence builder. I was back on track and loving it.
I would go on to run a 5k (23:36), and another 5 miler (40:16) all before the half marathon.
On May 27th I ran my half Marathon in 1:52:38. Not my best, but not bad. I didn't get sick and had a steady pace through the race.
A week later, I ran a 5k with a friend who was running her 1st race. I ran to encourage her to finish.
So, so far this year I have raced five times without injuries and I feel great.
Next on the calendar is the Firecracker 4, The Boilermaker 15k, and The Hudson Mohawk Marathon.
I've definitely hit the reset button this year!!! Yay!!!