Winter Series # 4 January 25th, 2009

Another Sunday of HMRRC winter series. Every week increases the mileage of how much you can run and this week you could run 3 miles, 9.3 miles or 25 miles. I surely was not running 25 miles and 3 miles was not enough so I went for the 9.3. Let me start with telling you that it was cold! It was 8 degrees when the race started. My first thought was "oh my god my face is freezing!"But believe it or not that thought left my head shortly after running. I felt good my whole run. You really do warm up when you get running. I actually enjoyed my run the whole time. I am really trying to increase my miles every week so I can be ready for my half marathon in March. I can't wait to get to Virginia Beach and run that. Winter Series 5- 10 miles!! wish me luck.........

Brave The Blizzard 2009

My first time in snow shoes and it was a 3.90 mile race. I heard snow shoeing was fun but running in them..........MAJOR WORK! ARE hosted their 5th annual Brave the Blizzard snow shoe race. Being the crazy, stupid, adventurous person that I am, I signed up. The first two minutes into the race, I thought, what am I doing? I will never be able to finish this race! My heart was pounding and my legs were already sore. I slowed down a little and went up the first hill and walked a few minutes. Caught my breath and started finding it easier to run on the packed trails. A 1/4 of the mile into the race I found a partner to pace with which made it so much easier. It was so pretty in the woods. The snow was falling and the pine trees looked beautiful covered in snow. Very spiritual! Finally feeling good. Breathing back to normal, amazed that I wasn't dead, the finish was in sight. Coming down the last hill I could hear people rooting me on ... especially Ed who was working the finish line for ARE. I came though just under an hour. What an experience. Every race has food. This one had all you can eat pancakes - all flavors. And after that workout, I tried them all! NO GUILT!!!

Winter Series # 3, January 11, 2009

I can't believe the HMRRC Winter Series # 3 is already over. Today you could run a 5k, 10k or 25k. I chose to run the 10k (6.2 miles) First let me tell you that we woke up to about seven inches of snow. Your first thought is, what is the course going to look like? Second thought is, are they going to cancel? Then you remember...they are as crazy as we are that we were still planning on going. Now, let me tell you that Ed was the co-director of this race. This was his first time being a co-director and he did an awesome job. Having one of the directors living with you, your able to find out the scoop early on. Race On!! I left for SUNY a little early to help out. I got there and the crowd started coming in. We went out to the start line and off we went. (Did I tell you that it was about 18 degrees?) I felt good right from the beginning. The course looked great. We ran through the State Office Campus and back into SUNY. The run was a good one with only one little concern..My stupid bunion was a little sore but otherwise another great run! Next winter series - a15k (OUCH!!)

Winter Wimp January 10th, 2009

The Winter Wimp in Hagaman has to be one of my favorite races. It is a 2.2 or a 4.4 mile race. If you do the 2.2 you are considered to have wimped out. Of course I did the 4.4. I like this race because it is a small home town race with some of the nicest people. You run through a small village with a little creek running through it. It's one of those place where everyone knows everyone. I would love to live in that kind of community. I think?? Anyway, I felt incredible after the first mile. ( I think I need a mile to warm up sometimes) I got very competitive during the race when I caught the look of two other women running. I thought to myself...They look like they could be in the same age category as me, I need to step it up and kick butt. They would pass me on the downhills and I would get them on the up hills. Finally the finish line in sight and I gave it my all. I left them in the dust. Plus, I passed a young kid and that made me feel good..(LOL) I felt wonderful at the end!!! After the race the FMRRC put on a wonderful refreshment area. They had pizza, soup, subs and the regulars. Ed, whom I like to refer to as my coach/trainer went over the race results and told me he thought I took a trophy. They gave out the awards and sure enough..I took a beautiful trophy (second place) for my age category. YEAH ME!!

Albany Winterfest Last Run 5K December 27th, 2008

21/114 Roxanne 45 F Schenectady NY 28:05 9:03

I ran Albany's Winter Fest again this year.. Albany really puts on a wonderful event with their shows and fireworks and then the 5k run. I did a quick warm up with a couple of ARE friends and then we watched a wonderful firework display and off we went. I started out alittle slow, but then caught my breath and had a good run. The lights and displays in Washington Park are just beautiful. You really want to take them in while running. I was hoping to be running with Ed but he was temporarily out while his foot was healing. When I came to the finish line I truly wanted to throw up. I have not felt like that in a while. Someone told me that if you don't feel that way at the end you didn't give it your all. I wonder if that's true? After the race they gave out some great refreshments then off we went to Legends Bar to grab something to eat. When we finished eating we took off to Lark Tavern for some drinks with our ARE buddies. We had a great night!

Winter Series #2 - New Year's Day 2009

The winter series #2 was a choice between a 3.5 mile run or a half marathon. I'm not crazy, I did the 3.5! The temperature was extremely cold - around 8 degrees. We went to SUNY and met up with Dan and Mel and the gang. Ran slow in the beginning and picked it up middle to end. Felt great the whole run and was surprised to see the finish when I did. Beat my time from last year. Good run.

Oh, Ed did run this race. He's recovering from a foot injury and he surprised us all when he went out and did the 3.5 too.