Last Run Recap

On Saturday we ran the Last Run Holiday Lights Through the Park 5K.  That was my 13th and final race of 2019.  For some reason I was dreading it ahead of time, you know that negative thinking "Why am I doing this? It's going to be cold! I don't want to run!"

In retrospect, that is probably because it is the only race of the year that starts at 5:00 p.m. in the evening.  Normally, we are out the door early in the morning, coffee in hand, with no time to think about NOT going.

However, when I was standing watching the pre-race fireworks, bopping to the music on the speakers and feeling toasty warm from all the holiday-bedecked runners packed in around me, I was really glad I was there.

Photo courtesy of Albany Events/Andrzej Pilarczyk

I found some hand warmers at home and I used those to keep my hands toasty with my little red gloves. The red ones matched my holiday attire which is part of the fun.

The first mile was incredibly slow as the roads were narrower than usual due to the big snowstorm we had five days earlier. That created somewhat of a logjam for those of us in the back.  Once we got past that, it was free and clear going. The holiday lights were fun too look at.

Photo courtesy of Albany Events/Andrzej Pilarczyk

All in all, my time was 40:17 (12:58 pace). I came in number 1,120 out of 1,513 total runners.

A lot of our running friends were there which made it even better.  We went out afterwards; our friend wanted to use up two $25 gift certificates that he had won in a raffle a few weeks earlier.  We had no idea what the place would be like. Fortunately, it was a little pizza joint so we looked perfectly appropriate in our crazy holiday running getups. It was less than $25 for four of us, so our friend will have to go back!

Thanks for reading!

Turkey Trot Recap

On Thanksgiving morning, my husband and I ran in the Cohoes Turkey Trot.  There was easily a turkey trot to choose from within 20 miles in any given direction.  We chose Cohoes because it was free with a canned good donation. It is nice when you can get the occasional free race, and it helps stock their food pantry.

The Turkey trot in my own town cost $30 per person plus a processing fee and is not even chip timed.  Seriously, why pay that much and not even get a time?

It was ironic that there were only two port-a-potties for about 500 runners! Fortunately, I got in line with time to spare. There was a lady in the back telling people to hurry up. I think everyone got to “go” by start time.

They had water bottles instead of cups at the water station.  More poor planning because who wants to run a race holding a water bottle? And then no water bottles at the finish. They did have coffee, which worked for me, however most runners want water.

They say you get what you pay for.  Or should I say you don't get port-a-potties and water bottles at the finish when you don't pay!

This was a 3.5 mile race and I finished in 43:59 (12:34 pace).  I was number 353 out of 489 runners. The day was blustery but fortunately the air temperature was warm, so you were good with a warm hat. I had new earbuds so I had my music as well.

This was my 12th race of the year.  I met my 2019 race goal of running in 12 races, and I still have one more race coming up.

Since I don't have any amazing race pictures, here is a picture of the salad I made on Thanksgiving.  It is a blue cheese and pear salad; the recipe came from Food network.com. My only tweak was adding the craisins. Yummy.

Dressing was added later

Thanks for reading!