2011 Freihofer’s Run for Women
This is the third year in a row I’ve ran the Freihofer’s Run for Women, a popular women’s 5K Race in Albany.
This year I went into the race with no time goals, only to have fun! I was running with my friend, Caitlyn!
It was her first race since moving to Albany from North Carolina!
We got there at around 9:30 and the race started at 10:00. The starting area was already pretty packed.
Since I wasn’t concerned about time, I didn’t even wear my Garmin! It was a rather freeing feeling.
The weather Saturday was perfect for the race, not too hot! However, I did regret wearing a black t-shirt! I thought it was going to be cooler than it was.
Our first mile was about 10:30, which was okay since the first mile is the most crowded.
But my my favorite part of the Freihofer’s is the last half mile, as I’m running back into Washington Park. There’s always a guy there blasting “Born in the USA” on a stereo, I’ve seen him every year! And then we take a left and run onto Madison Avenue down toward the plaza, all downhill from here! I usually try to pick up speed by then and glide down the hill to the finish line. By that time I usually am running so fast I feel like I’m going to puke, but I never have. I just remind myself that the pain is temporary and finishing is forever!
I can see the finish line at the beginning of the downhill, and it reads 28 minutes!! I finished the race in 28:18, pretty decent time for not training for speed!!! Not a PR by any means but still pretty good. Caitlyn finished right behind me! We did GREAT!!!
Another Freihofer’s completed!!! It holds a pretty special place in my heart because it was my first race, ever, and every time I run it I’m reminded of how far I’ve come in my running. I could hear other women around me talking about how they were so glad they finished the race, and about how accomplished they felt. Their goal was just to finish! I was there before and I know the feeling, and finishing your first 5K is such an amazing accomplishment. 🙂
Congratulations to all the women who finished the Freihofer’s! It was a great day for a race.
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3 Comments
Sam
This year I ran as well and it was my first race ever. I finished in 32 minutes. Not bad considering I hadn’t been training. I enjoyed it and plan to do another 5K in the near future.
Kristin
Shelby passed your blog on to me, and it’s so inspirational! Glad to be following along!
She and I ran this year as well, and it was my first race ever. I’m hoping to post more about it tomorrow, but we had such an amazing time – it was wonderful. Just finishing was my goal, and I came in at 33.05. Hoping to break 30 next time, but we’ll see. I’m just so happy to have started running at all!
Carolyn
We were probably running the race together without knowing it. I finished just ahead of you! My iPod+ had me at 27:54 but the race clock said 28:06. You were literally right behind me 🙂
I feel the same way you do about this race… it was my first ever 5K last year and to go from over 34 minutes then to PRing at 25:57 last fall, I’ve come a long way in a short amount of time. Now I just need to push myself to sign up for longer distances…