NY Trip Part 1

We traveled to Utica so that I could run the Boilermaker.  We turned it into a 10 day vacation which was a complete blast.  It was so wonderful watching Gwen/Leo have so much fun with their cousins.  It was also so great to see how much my kiddos love their grandparents.  As always it was great to catch up with friends and family.  It's nice to see that even after being gone 12 years, I still have friendships that have lasted 20+ years.

The race was good.   I finished in 1 hour and 32 minutes.  It was a couple minutes shy of my goal, which was extremely disappointing, because it was of no fault of my own.  The race was very unorganized.  There were only a few waves, so I was stuck in general admission.   There were a lot of people there who had no business running in the race. They were health hazards to themselves and to others.  I didn't want to waste all of my energy weaving in and out of people, so I went with the flow.  People walked at the 3 mile "hill".  Once I hit 5 miles I really hit my stride and was running about 9 minute miles.  I definitely underestimated running in humidity as it is no joke.  Once I finished I definitely didn't feel well as it was extremely hot and humid.  Overall I am really proud of myself for doing this.  I learned that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to.  I also learned that I have no desire to ever do it again......

Once the race was over it was smooth sailing the rest of the week.  We hung out at the pool, went to Enchanted Forest, rented a boat, went blueberry picking and ate.........and then ate some more.  The food was amazing, but not so good for the waist line. 

All in all, it was a great trip. I look forward to making it a yearly vacation.