Motivated to Succeed

Took a week off. Crazy week at work trying to get back in the swing of things after cross country season. In a way I'm happy, but at the same time I'm a bit sad. I kind of miss my runners. A lot of nice thanks from the ones that stuck out the season. Overall I'm really happy with our performances. I think we had a strong season. Stockadeathon coming up soon.

Trying to stay moving and motivated. Tough to run during the week. Did an easy 5 miles in 1 hour. about .5 miles of slow walking in there and lots of stretching.

Ran an easy three miles with two of my runners - Dylan Quinn and Chris Doubiago. Felt nice to run with some folks. Am thinking about trying to get a jogging club going after school. I need to lose about 40 lbs so got to start somewhere!

Ran an easy 5.5 miles before grading papers and planning the final exam. 1 hour total. Like the Vibram Komodo Sports. Wish I had another pair of KSOs but when I tried them on at the Great Pumpkin challenge I saw they had 6 holes in them. I wear right through them! Roads are tough on the Vibram KSOs for sure!

 8:00 AM - Chilly start to the morning, in the mid-30s. Got up and drove to Schenectady, NY. A bit drowsy driving to the race, despite eating breakfast and having a cup of decaf coffee. This is my seventh time in the last 8 years running this race. The only year I did not run it was 2008 when I was sick and had a sore achilles for most of the year. It was also the year that I did a lot more running than usual. Got to Schenectady and weighed in at 224 lbs for the Clydesdale division. Second year in a row running it. Went back to the car and warmed up for a while. Then when for a nice 15 min jog on the last mile and a half of the course. 

THE RACE: Started the race in the middle of the pack. I knew that if I went too far up towards the front people would go out too fast. I am not in any way near the physical shape I was in '07 when I ran my fastest time here, a 1:07. I hope by the next year to run sub 1:10 again. Am committed to losing the weight.

MILES 1-3: Went through the first mile in 9:00. Nice and easy. Up and out of Central Park and then gradual downhills for miles 2 and 3. Clocked off an 8:40 and then low 8:00s. Went through the 5k in 30:25 gun time, more like 29:50 chip time.

MILES 4-6: Settled in with a group and ran by feel. Of course I went too fast for my fitness. Cruised through the Stockade, picking people off while they stopped for water. Did not take any liquid. Went up State St. hill and into the cemetery. Clocked a 51:25 through the 10k mark. Oops! low 7:00s for the second 5k. Was in for it, considering last 5k is rolling hills.

MILES 7-9.3: Legs were really tired. Jogged up the hill by the school to the last water stop. Nice and easy to mile 8. Walked a bit mile 8-8.5. Everyone I worked so hard to pass started passing me. Dehydrated, the world started to spin. Kept going though. A bit bummed. As I came into the park, tried to keep going but just didn't feel it. I guess I was ahead of Mr. Ostrander, my English teacher's husband the whole race. He passed me with .2 to go. last year I beat him by :02. We both were slower this year. He ran 1:21:24 gun time. I ran 1:21:49. Next year it's on!

Cooled down to the car after I grabbed an iced tea, two chocolate milks, two waters, and a Coke.  

Total Distance: 11.5 miles Total Time: 1:35:00 Average Pace: 8:16

8:00 AM - First time in 9 years I did not elect to run the Troy Turkey Trot. Decided this because the Troy race is just too big, no fun, no guaranteed race tshirts, and just not worth the money and the headache. Drove Emmy and Lizzy to where I usually parked when I worked at Borders. Brought back memories. Borders is still vacant and the parking lot now costs 2.00 an hour to park in it. Briefly thought about parking in my normal spot hehe. Not worth the money nor the ticket though. Met Suzy here. She was going to watch Lizzy for us. We picked up our bibs and were surprised to get not only tshirts IN THE CORRECT SIZE, but cool orange running hats to boot! All this for 20 bucks a pop. I thought this was a small race in years past, but this year had nearly 3000 people running. We followed orders to line up in the 20-25 minute range. Saw a lot of "big" people in front of us and I was like "What gives". Would find out not everyone followed directions.

Still had snow banks in Saratoga. We had a huge snowfall in October in Mass, (22" on 10.29.11) which was really weird, but here in NY they had a modest 3-6 inch snowfall two days before Turkey Day. This stunk because it meant that we couldn't pass on the sidewalks.

As the race finally went off, about 8 minutes late, I was a bit cold. We eased into a jog, but quickly had to walk because of all the people in blue jeans and jackets walking in front of us. Annoyed the hell out of me. About .5 miles  up Broadway, they had us cross the finish line, which was a chute and congested us back to a walk. Didn't hit the one mile until near 9:00 on the dot. Then started to pick it up with Emm. Made it a game. About 1.5 miles in there was a nice downhill and all of our hill running paid off. We sprinted down it and passed about 40 people. It was essentially running the First Night course around Skidmore College. Ran the last mile sub 8:00. Trying to keep good form and holding tight. passed one of my former 8th graders from Galway when I student taught. Hehe. That felt good. 

Final finishing time was 24:56, but clock time was 25:30.  8:01 pace for the 5k. Cooled down to Borders and waited for Suzy.

Treadmill run in the Komodos. 7.55 miles in 1:20:00; average pace of 10:35/ mile.

P90x Shoulder and Arms disc 3 with Emmy. Ouch! That was quite a workout. 60:00 total.

Hiked Monument Mountain with Emmy, Lindsay, and Liana who is here from California! :D until December 12th. 52:00. Felt really nice. Saw a ton of people! Crazy.