Lifetime Half #59, State #31: New England Series – New York

Today is Tuesdays on the Run and our topic is “what you find on the road.” Oddly, I’ve never really found anything interesting, including no money, so I don’t have much to say. So, I’m going off topic and finally recapping my last race of the 7 half marathons in 7 days.

New England Series: New York
May 21, 2016
2:17:36

Temp: mid 50s but warmed up fast
What I wore: hat, tank top, a Skirt Sports Gym Girl Ultra, Wonder Woman socks, and Altra One 2.5

 This was race seven of the New England Series. (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts,  Rhode Island, and Connecticut preceded it.) The race took place at the Ulster County Fairgrounds in New Paltz, NY. I had done this course before as a full marathon, but thankfully it was changed just enough to minimize the part I previously disliked. It was one of the courses where we had to do 7 laps. I have to admit I prefer the even number lap courses in general, but this was an ok distance as well.

 This was the last course of the series, so it was Super Hero day. I, of course, dressed as Wonder Woman, but I added to the fun by wearing my skirt that had Fearless across the rear. I even made Beer Geek dress up in a Super Man t-shirt LOL. Before the race, I received my plaque for finishing 25 Mainly Marathons races. I love it!

 I felt pretty good at the start, with the exception of a sore foot from hitting it with a portapotty door the previous day. It was a bit swollen, but I was able to get my shoe on and it didn’t feel any worse when I ran, so I ignored it. The first couple of laps went really well and I decided I was going to try to beat my pace from my fastest race in the series, Vermont (2:15:19). I didn’t do as much chatting as usual as I was trying to push myself, but I still had fun seeing everyone in their costumes.

As I was nearing the end of my 2nd to the last lap, Foxy (one of the British guys running the race) ran up behind me and commented on my fearless a$$, which of course gave me a bit of a speed boost. I kept pace with him and we chatted and I told him that if the course actually ended at 13.1 (it wouldn’t, it ran long like all of them), I’d have the fastest half marathon pace I’d managed in about 3 years.  He suggested I try to hit it anyways and took off running.

I chased him into the turnaround for my last lap, told Beer Geek I wasn’t stopping for water, and then chased Foxy out of the aid station yelling “I’m not stopping! I’m chasing Foxy’s a$$!” Beer Geek caught up with me and I chased him and Foxy until both Garmin’s said 13.1 – 2:11:37!

 They then slowed down to a pace where I could actually run with them and we wrapped up the whole race in 2:17:36. When I compare distances and times, this was my fastest race of the series with an average pace of 10:02!

I was done! Needless to say, I was ready to be done running, but I was super sad to be leaving all of my new and old friends. I don’t have another series in the foreseeable future and it was so sad to know it might be a while before I saw anyone again. We hung out for a few minutes, but then we had to hit the road for the 6+ hour drive home.

The good:

• The course was changed so we had to spend very little time on the unpaved part of the barn floor.
• My body felt great! I was ready to run hard.
• Running with Super Heroes rocks!
• Wearing Fearless on my rear was definitely a conversation piece. ;o)

The bad:

• I still didn’t love the tight turns from the cow barn.

The ugly:

• Our GPS was doing crazy things on the way home, so we got home way later than intended.

Would I do it again?

Not if I could avoid it. This is not an awful course, but I don’t love it and it’s one of only two Mainly Marathons courses that I’ve run more than once..  I’ll likely hit it again when we do our year of running, but not until then.

31 states (plus DC) done on my quest to run a half marathon in all 50 states! 20 of 23 states done in my journey to Mercury!