Mohawk Hudson River Marathon 2010 Race Report

This past weekend was the Mohawk Hudson River Marathon. We headed out Friday night and stopped by Joey's for the night in Jersey. We spent Saturday morning there and left around noon to finish the trip up to Albany. We went straight to check-in, which was quick and painless, then took a detour as an excuse to see the area out to an apple orchard and got hot apple cider and apple cider donuts - both of which were fantastic. We made it to the hotel early, ordered take out from Olive Garden, set-up shop in front of the TV and laptop and watched Florida State football and Kona World Championships for the rest of the night. Jenny and Roger got to the hotel around 9:30 and we stayed up chatting until about 11:30.

Race morning we woke up at 7 - Jus was awesome and had gone out and gotten coffee before we even woke up. We headed out around 7:40 and made it to the race start at 8 which gave us a half hour to use the restroom and relax. This marathon is a point to point course that starts in Schenetady and ends in Albany. The course was beautiful as it runs along the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers the entire time. Majority of the course was on a bike path so you were off roads and surrounded by trees that are bright orange and red this time of year, so it made it a very pleasant scene. Really nice course.

I was nervous before the race because the day before and the morning of, I felt like I was suffering from a heart attack. My chest hurt and I was getting crazy pains and pinches. Jenny and Roger assured me it wasn't a heart attack and offered some alternative causes for the pain :) That helped calm my worries (but I'm still going to make an appointment with the doc to get it checked out).

Jenny and I lined up behind the start and soon enough the horn went off. This race is known to be flat and fast with several nice downhills where you can pick your pace up a good bit. It was cool at the start - in the 50s but within the first mile, I was taking my long sleeve shirt off. In the process I managed to break my water bottle top but saved it enough for it to carry me through till I got my replacement from Justin at mile 14. I went out way too hard but in a way, it was hard not to. The first half of the marathon was FAST. When I crossed the 13.1 mile marker and saw the clock at 1:43 I thought "YIKES! I gotta slow down or I'm going to crash" That is the fastest half I've ever run (by 3 minutes)! I had a lot of conversations in my head from that point on. "Slow down, but not too much" "Well, go fast when it's a slight downhill but take the flats easy" "I want to stop" "My legs HURT" "Why do I do this?!" "If I had music, this would be a lot easier" "So many people are passing me now, I'm slowing down too much" "Where is a port-o-potty?!" "If I keep this pace, I'll have 12 minutes to run my last mile" "I hate racing" "Gosh, I wish I had music"

I got to see Justin and Roger at several points along the course which was awesome. At mile 14 I stopped to use a port-o-potty but totally rushed the pit stop so that I didn't lose too much time. At mile 17.5 there are train tracks and in the runners guide they said if you get stopped at the train, they'll adjust your time, but there were no mats so I'm not sure how they handle that but all I was thinking after I hit mile 17 was that I didn't get stopped by a train! I listened carefully and ran faster than I should have for that half mile till I passed the tracks. Phew - made it!

Most of the course was quiet. There were spots where there were good sized crowds but for the majority of the race, it was just the runners. When I hit mile 24, I had something like 23 minutes to finish the race - this is when I knew I was guaranteed a Boston qualifying time (even though I ran the second half of the marathon 10 minutes longer than the first half). I got really happy and just kept telling myself to get through these last 2 miles. At this point, runners had spread out. Mile 26 was the L-O-N-G-E-S-T mile EVER!!! I thought I was going to lose my BQ time on this mile because the end felt like it was never coming. However, it did... finally, the crowds appeared, people screaming "JUST AROUND THE TURN AND YOU'RE DONE!" I got a crazy cramp in my side in the last .2 miles and had to walk a minute and stretch it out but I ran the rest of the finish and read the clock at 3:36! WooHoo! I'm going to Boston!

After the finish I immediately took off my sneakers to reveal a huge blister that had formed around the top of one of my toe. I could not put any pressure on it - it felt as though I broke it. I was in pain. It's looking better now that it's been a few days but still hurts. I also got to make friends with an adorable 4 month old puppy at the finish - so cute!

                                           

Soon after, Jenny came running through the finish and looked amazingly happy to have completed the marathon (without training!) ;) Congrats to Jenny - I am very happy she decided to do the marathon!!!
                                    

And so, it's time to let my legs relax. I get to sit back and watch Justin train for the NYC Marathon and not feel the slightest bit guilty for not working out as hard as he is :) It's going to be a great feeling.