Camp Chingachgook Challenge Half Marathon

After a few days without access to technology, I’m back!! And I have a third half marathon under my belt.

My third, yet slowest half took place in the Adirondacks in Lake George, New York. Friday night Chris and I headed up to Hearthstone Campground and pitched our tent. We went to bed pretty early, and woke up at 5:00am to head to Camp Chingachgook, a YMCA camp on the Lake.

We ended up parking at the finish and getting a bus to start so we could have all our gear right at the finish line. Good idea!

We had about an hour to kill at the starting line, which was at Lake George Elementary. There were actually only about 100 people registered to run this half. My smallest half, by far!

The race started at 8:00AM and then we were off.

The course was a point to point from the school to the camp which went directly around part of Lake George. It was on a live road, which means it wasn’t closed to traffic. We were just half marathoners running on the shoulder of the road.

Thankfully the course had some gorgeous views!

I urge you, run a race in the Adirondacks!

I told myself NOT to look at my garmin during the race. I knew my pace was going to be slow. I didn’t look at it much, and the mile markers (painted on the road) came up one after the other, very fast! The race was going by so quickly!

It took me about five miles to finally feel warmed up. I put my iPod on and my pace got a little bit faster. But the thing that killed me were the hills.

13.1 miles of rolling terrain. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was and took walking breaks when needed. Chris stayed with me for the first 11 miles and he had a water bottle that we both shared when we needed it, which was a great decision since there were only three water stops during the race.

At mile 7.0 I took a Gu Rocktane.

I also drank gatorade at the water stops. I have never drank gatorade during a run or race ever. They say to never do something you haven’t done before on race day but I felt like I needed to electrolytes and took a chance. Nothing bad happened–it was probably a good decision and helped me stay hydrated.

The last few miles were the hardest because of the biggest hills. I was getting tired and my left foot felt sore from running on the slanted shoulder side of the road. I wanted the race to be over!

Finally we hit mile 12 and there was only 1.1 to go.

I walked some during the last mile because the hills were just brutal!! But, I made it and thats all that matters.

I finished the race in 2:18:50. Not bad for a race with rolling hills during the hottest part of summer.

The finish area, sigh.

I decided soaking my sore feet in the lake would be fantastic.

Chris finished in 2:16, which was amazing, considering his only long run was the BOILERMAKER almost a month ago!! He is just a natural runner! Great job, Chris. 🙂

Tired, but done.

Garmin Stats:

There was a post-race BBQ to enjoy at the camp, also! I gobbled up a veggie burger and chips.

And also had about 10 cups of BUG JUICE! 😉

After eating we packed up and headed back to our campsite which was only a short 25 minute drive from the race. Stay tuned for some post-race camping adventures!