Slices of my life

Yesterday I ran my first Half Marathon! I can’t believe that it is over. I remember signing up for it months ago and being so excited! I have trained the best that I could while going to school full time and working and am very pleased with my final time! Sunday morning started like most race days. Up before 6 am to try to eat a bagel with peanut butter, drink some water and head down to the start. Before the race, we went to a friend of my cousins who lived across from the park. Jen and I took this time to check out the views from her amazing balcony…!

After a little stretching we all headed down to the start. I checked a bag with my sweatshirt and a water bottle just as it was starting to rain. The forecast for yesterday in NYC was HOT with the chance of rain. Lucky for us the rain stopped just after we started moving in the corrals. After the national anthem and the gun went off it was about 5 minutes before I got over the start. The park is so beautiful! I love the elm trees.

 The course was two complete loops around central park.  There were over 7,000 runners yesterday so everyone was moving kinda slowly. My first three miles were actually pretty good! I had to keep telling myself to slow down though- I didn’t want to get going at a pace that I couldn’t hold for a while.

Mile 1: 10:18
Mile 2: 10:15
Mile 3: 9:59

At that point you start climbing the first hill at the north east end of the park. At this point I stopped and used a porta potty- I couldn’t hold it anymore!! (PS- WHY were there only 2 porta pottys per stop?…7,000 women were running!!) ANYWAY. After my mini break (where I stopped my watch) I got started again. I realized that attempting to run the hill was getting me as far as the people walking it were, so I decided walking the hills was okay.  After mile 4 everything started to blend together anyway.

Mile 4 11:05
Mile 5 10:58
Mile 6 10:42
Mile 7 10:37
Mile 8 11:14
Mile 9 10:39

I started to get really tired after mile 9- I had never run more than 10 miles before at once, so when I passed the mile 10 marker I knew I was getting close. Just another 5k! It was pretty hot out and the sun was in my face but I kept pushing. I made sure to take water and have a couple sips at each station so I stayed hydrated. By mile 10 I started seeing a lot of people passing out and medics on the course. I did NOT want that!

Mile 10 12:18
Mile 11 11:58
Mile 12 11:00

At mile 12 I passed the original starting line where an announcer was blasting music and talking about the race. That made me think that the finish line was around the corner! I sped up only to remember that there was 1.1 mile left! The longest. mile. ever. After mile 12  I saw about 4 people pass out. One of them was just before the finish line!

Mile 13 11:32
.22 2:19

Overall I finished in 2 hours 24 minutes and 59 seconds (garmin time) with an average pace of 10:57. For a race in the heat with so many hills, I gladly take that! Not horrible for a first half marathon. Now I have something that I can beat

My official time (2:32) is wrong because of the wait at the porta potty at mile 3!

Living in Upstate NY, there are lots of different beautiful areas to go when you want to be in the great outdoors. Chris’s parents love to spend time camping on Saranac Lake during the warmer months, and recently Chris and I had the opportunity to help them set up camp. Chris and I have had really horrible luck camping. We attempted to go with them to camp on an island two years ago and ended up forgetting our tent and sleeping bags (how do you do that??). It also thunderstormed pretty much the entire time that we were there. I am all for a good storm, but when you are on an island with your dog pouting in a puddle under a picnic table, things could be a little better. We figured that going and helping set up camp for the day would be a little better. Well, now I think that we are just bad omens! Not only did we almost lose a tire on the boat trailer, but it poured the entire time we were trying to set up! I tried to take pictures, but had to put my camera away when it got sloppy outside.

Saranac Lake is very close to Lake Placid, which has been the home of the Olympic Games twice over the past 100 years. Lots of athletes travel here to train for sporting events and iron man competitions.

The first part of our trip went well. The ride was going as smooth and we were getting really close to the lake. That was until Chris said “Um..does that look like smoke coming from the tire??” immediately I could smell burning rubber and called Chris’s mom (who was driving the car towing the boat) and had her pull over. It turns out that there was a piece of metal that was wedged into the tire, burning a deep ridge into the rubber. Everything ended up working out fine, but it was a close call!

Kelly & I waiting to be rescued! 

 Once we decided that the tire would be fine, we continued on and eventually made it to the lake. We emptied the car and packed up the boat for our journey to the camping spot.

Saranac Lake is a gorgeous place. If you live in the area, I recommend that you check it out! If you like camping (and I don’t scare you after reading this post) I think you might be interested. Not only can you camp on a normal campsite, but if you have a boat or kayak you can camp on one of the islands that are on the lake! It is really a cool experience. You have your own private island!

But, I must warn you! Be prepared to get soaked!