Manchester Maple Leaf Half Marathon
I’m overdue for a blog post so I figured I’d update you all on yesterday’s half marathon.
My friend Marcie and I drove to VT in the morning to get there in time to pick up our race packets. The race was held in Manchester, which was only about an hour and half away from Albany. It was such a quick and easy drive!
The Maple Leaf was a half marathon and a 5K, so Marcie wanted to come along and run the 5K while I ran the half.
The first few miles of the race were pretty good. I felt pretty strong and tackled the hills head on! This was one of the first half marathons i’ve ran where I was consistently running up the hills. I stopped to walk a few times during the first half, mostly after the hills to recover. Then the 8th mile hit, which was uphill on a gravel drive, which felt brutal to run on. My legs didn’t really want to move much, so I ended up walking most of the 8th mile. At least I got to admire the beautiful, green vermont scenery!
It was one of the prettiest race courses I’ve ran so far! I loved it, but what I didn’t like was the humidity! It felt so much hotter out than it was. Despite that it felt like Mid July instead of September, Vermont was awesome!
Anyway, by the 12 mile, my legs felt done, and I couldn’t wait to see the finish line. Marcie was waiting for me. She did a great job on her 5K!
9th and slowest half marathon done.
Race Stats
Total Miles – 13.19
Time – 2:28:01(Under 2:30 was my actual goal….2:04 seems like impossible now. 🙁 )
After the race, they had a ton of refreshments, including low fat yogurt, cabot cheese, ben & jerry’s ice cream, sandwiches, bagels & granola bars. It was awesome! I don’t think I could stomach ice cream RIGHT after running a half, but I did eat some yogurt for some protein. 🙂
Marcie and I skipped town after the race and stopped in Bennington on the way back to Albany. We hit up Papa Pete’s Diner for lunch. Crystal gave it rave a review and I knew I had to stop there!
I got the country omelet and Marcie and I split a sweet potato pancake. So much food! The portions were very generous and the prices were good, considering! The home fries were extremely tasty and even had a bit of a kick to then. My omelet had mushrooms, spinach, onions and vermont cheddar, which was delicious.
The pancake that we split was HUGE! It was light, fluffy and sweet. It didn’t even need maple syrup, it was delicious as is. We couldn’t eat it all since it was ginormous so we took it home for later!
My 9th Half Marathon is in the books! I wanted the Mohawk Hudson River to be the 10th Half I’ve ran in 2 years (my first on 10.10.10) but unfortunately I didn’t get in after being on the waitlist. Oh well, next year–and maybe I’ll actually PR when I run it again. 😉
Next up: the Adirondack Ragnar Relay!
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9 Comments
Willow @ My Own Trail
I’m running Ragnar too! Which leg are you? I’m #3. I’m excited and nervous all at the same time. My husband and our team captain drove the course a few weeks ago, and each time he texted me it was to tell me how brutal each of my legs were. It’s a LOT of hills! Good luck!
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Jen
Ah, I know! That’s why I’ve been diligent with running hills lately. I’m doing leg #5!!
Liz (Little Bitty Bakes)
Nice job, Jen! Not a surprise that the time wasn’t your best, given time of year (heat) and the fact that in you’re in the middle of marathon training. Doing a half marathon during training should help you out a lot when it comes time for the full, though!
Jen
thanks, Liz! I just saw your DM–sorry about that! hopefully your comments will show up now. Hope your loving FL! 🙂
Elisabeth
Wow–sounds like a good day, despite the difficult terrain. I’m training for my first half-marathon right now and did 10 miles yesterday. I feel like I walk a lot towards the end, especially. I’m kind of worried about 11, 12 and 13 miles. What do you do for pre-race fuel and during the race. I’m going to check out some energy jelly beans this week. Great job!
Jen
thanks! pre-race i had a bowl of cereal with granola and almond milk, which is what i always eat before training runs too. mid-race i had some gu shot blocks. i alternate between the blocks and the gels! i like gu, clif shot and honey stinger, the are all relatively similar! i’m sure you’ll do fine on your runs, its partly MENTAL! good luck!
Nikki
Congrats!
You truly inspire me to keep pushing! 9 Halfs! Wow!
And congrats to Marcie on her PR 🙂
jess
I was thinking of doing this race in September, but a GRAVEL hill?! Yuck! I am trying to work up the nerve to subject my knees to the course, lol!
Jen
it really is a beautiful race! but it was really tough!!