Adirondack Distance Run

This morning I had the perfect race.  The kind of race where everything went right and running felt so easy.  I am on a major runner's high right now!

This morning was the Adirondack Distance Run.  It's a 10 mile race from Lake George to Bolton Landing.  It's a very hilly run, its basically uphill to Bolton Landing but there are some nice downhills in the race too.  The course is beautiful.  There are some great views of the lake and you pass by some really nice lake homes as you get close to Bolton Landing.

I had no expectations going into the race.  I've run a lot this week and my legs felt tired this morning.  I was planning to use this as just a really fun training run.  My husband was running to and he hasn't been running much lately and wasn't going to run fast so I figured I would start with him and see how I felt.  It was the perfect morning for this race.  Usually this race falls on a hot and humid day.  It was hot and sunny but the humidity wasn't bad and the course has enough shade that the weather was actually pretty comfortable.

I started off slow with Joe.  The first mile or so of the race is a slight uphill so I wanted to take it easy since my legs were already tired.  Once I started running my legs felt great and I gradually found myself picking up speed.  Before I knew it Joe and I weren't running together any longer and I was on my own.  I tried not to look at my watch much and just go with how I felt.  The few times I did look at in the first four miles I was running paces in the low 8's.  I felt great though.  Every hill I encountered I charged up and cruised the downhills.  I kept passing people on the uphills and felt like I was getting faster with each mile.

I never had a point in the race where I felt like I couldn't keep the pace I was at.  My legs felt strong the whole way.  I also didn't think about things like if I maintain this pace I will finish in x time.  I just enjoyed the run.   I wish I could bottle up the feeling I had during today's race  for all my long races. 

When I crossed the finish line the clock said 1:24:59! That's an 8:30 pace! I never expected that going into this race. 

I waited at the finish line to cheer Joe in and then we both walked down to the beach and went in the lake.  It was the perfect ending to the race!