Last Run Albany Race Recap 12/10/16

~ Chocolaterunsjudy
The egg (theater, we get to hang out in entrance areas before the race) and Christmas tree


Bad race tee, cold weather, good running friends, pretty views — that was this year’s Last Run Albany in a nutshell.

Packet Pickup
I don’t know what happened this year — I didn’t get there super late — about an hour before the race. I “ran” into problems with packet pickup for the first time. I waited 20 minutes on line — it has never taken that long before — have I always gotten there earlier?

I almost didn’t have time to go back to my car to stash the disappointing race tee and grab my fuel belt and didn’t have time to use the bathroom, which thankfully wasn’t an issue.

Maybe next year I’ll get some photos that aren’t blurry!


Plan — what plan?
My usual plan for this race: have fun, and maybe take a few photos.

So how’d that work for me?

  1. Mile 1: 13:50. It’s a fun run, y’all, and my friend and I were having fun yakking away.
  2. Mile 2: 12:58. Still yakking and taking photos (not that any came out that great).
  3. Miles 3: 11:01. It’s downhill to the finish, and it wasn’t snowy/icy — I actually just ran. Without walking.
  4. Last .1: 8:46. That last mile was faster than last year. And negative splits — as always, this race was fun, and I hope I’ll be running it again next year.

I’m kind of giggling at the fact that the 8 minutes I took off my half marathon seemed to get tacked on to this race — and it’s just a 5k! I never looked at my watch during this race. Which is why I do sometimes look when I’m racing or shooting for a certain pace — given its druthers, my body can run pretty slow.

Right before the fireworks start


The weather & dressing
It was a cold one, y’all, but I was dressed just right for it: North Face Thermoball, last year’s race tee, Skirtsports Toasty Tights and Toasty Cheeks Skirt (use code CRJ20 for 20% off regularly priced items — I’m a Skirtsports Ambassador), and Injiji Compression socks (Amazon affiliate link) and Smartwool socks — I’m not quite sure which version these are, but they’re a little thicker and  I like them for really cold days as a second sock — now I wish I knew which ones they are!

What I Saw/Felt
A #holotta fun. Yes, we’re still stuck on that! Despite the disappointing organization of the race and disappointing tee this year, the race is just fun. I wish I hadn’t had to stand on line so long so I could have chatted more with Darlene, but no doubt we’ll see plenty of each other over the next few months.

There were lots of fireworks . . . lots . . . and lots . . .

The fireworks seemed nicer this year, though — they also seemed to go on forever.

Was the race well run?
See above — not so much.

2016: 39:35

2015: 37:09

2014 – 34:27

2013: 38:10 (snowing!)

I’m linking up with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Tuesdays on the Run

23 thoughts on “Last Run Albany Race Recap 12/10/16”

    1. The shirt wasn’t a tech tee & didn’t even have a logo. They used to give out windbreakers (before I started doing it), and even the last few years at least it was a tech tee. At least it’s for a good cause (local heart hospital).

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  7. At least you had fun, after the wait and the bad tee. I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t really look at the t-shirt anymore. I’m collecting them to make into a quilt one day, so I don’t wear them much anymore.

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  8. Hey, sometimes races are more about the experience and less about the finish time. I really wish I made time to sign up for a December race but I’ve been such a slacker! Glad you enjoyed yourself!

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  10. Agree with everything you wrote. This is one race that I repeat every year. I think I’ve done it 7 times – just for fun – never for a fast time.

    I am running that route today with Alyssa. Hopefully it won’t be too icy.

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