Monday, December 31, 2012

Holiday Running

Despite all of the craziness of the holidays somehow the last two weeks ended up being my highest mileage weeks for the month.  I took advantage of having some time off from work and having Joe home a little more than normal and got some great runs in.

My friend Jenny convinced me to join her last Sunday for a run organized by some of the members of ARE, a local running club.  The run was a 10 mile run up to Thatcher Park.  Thatcher Park is basically a huge cliff just outside of Albany with gorgeous views of the surrounding area. There are picnic areas and lots of hiking trails in the park.  I've spent a lot of time up there over the years but I never considered running up it.  When Jenny told me about it I thought it sounded both awesome and crazy at the same time. 

Here's the elevation profile of the run:

There were two groups running.  One was starting earlier from SUNY Albany and running 15 miles to the top.  We started with the second group that started at a parking lot a little closer to run 10 miles.   The first 6 miles were great.  They were mostly rolling hills and nothing too difficult.  It was when we got to mile 6 that the real climbing started.  Jenny powered up the hills but I struggled a bit and had to take a few walking breaks.  My legs felt strong but I kept having trouble catching my breath which I think was due to the chest cold that I am just getting over.  The views along the way up were amazing.  Even though it was tough it seemed to fly by because there was so much to look at. 

When we finally got to the top most of the 15 milers were already there.  They are so fast! They had all sorts of food and drinks for us and we took a bunch of photos before loading into the cars to go back down. 
View from the top


I was exhausted the rest of the day but I felt so accomplished! Jenny and I have both agreed that we will do this again next year and maybe even do the full 15 miles.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

I'm Back

There's been a lot of fun stuff going on around here since the marathon.  Running has taken a backburner for the most part but I've still been getting some good runs in.  I PR'd in both the Stockadeathon 15K  (1:17:28), and in the Troy Turkey Trot 10K (49:21).  Other than that we've been enjoying life around here and I have been trying to run to maintain my fitness as we end the year.  I'm still unclear about what's on my 2013 racing schedule but I have a few ideas.  In the meantime, here's what we have been up to...

Joe and I went to Hawaii

 
 
We cut down and decorated our Christmas tree

 
 
We celebrated this little munchkin's 3rd birthday
 
 
And Mia and I had a girls weekend/shopping trip in NYC with my mom
 
We've been having so much fun lately.  The holiday season has been great so far because Mia is so into it this year.  She really gets Santa.  I'm looking forward to just enjoying the next few weeks!