Riesling Run - Run5k

Racers lined up in front of the New York Wine & Culinary Center. In very short order we heard the 5-4-3-2-1 GO! Did a quick out and back by the pier then continued along the walking paths by the lake.

I was able to quickly pick out some pacers/carrots/whatever you want to call them: the lady I spoke to in the purple and a lady in a blue tank top. My plan was to keep within close sight of them, which worked out nicely. I tried to take in the beautiful morning and the lake scenery which was so very easy on the eyes. At the first mile there was a water stop but I did not partake and kept moving. Not long after the water stop the run went past a beach-ish area where I saw 2 people swimming in wetsuits, they had to be triathletes! It made me wish I had brought my wetsuit along. Oh well, no time to think about that now!

Not sure mileage-wise when I overtook the lady in purple but we were in the wetlands. OK, we'll use blue tank top lady. Hmm, soon I passed her, too. Time for a new carrot, and there she was, running in jean shorts and a striped tank top! Nice pace, just keep her in sight as you ponder how she is doing what she is doing without chafing all to heck! Kudos to her, it really seemed like something she always runs in and obviously doesn't do terribly.

Up and over some lovely bridges as we ran through the wetlands marked with cattails, purple loosestrife, singing birds, dragonflies and shady trees amongst other flora and fauna. So enjoyable! Saw a big slug, an earthworm, and a little snail throughout the run, hope they avoided getting crushed by the giants above.

Kept checking my Garmin to make sure Jean Shorts (just ahead of me) wasn't falling off the pace. We came out of the wetlands and began roughly retracing the original path, minus some of the twists and turns. A young girl kept alternately walking then racing past, walking, racing past. Slowly I was reeling Jean Shorts in. With maybe 1/2 mile (I'm not really sure of the distance) to go, I passed her. The young girl was still walking/dashing, that was, until she/we turned the corner and she saw the finish line and she took off like a rocket! I glanced at my watch and saw the race was going to not be quite 3.1 miles. I kept up a steady pace and crossed the finish line.


Nothing!

Grabbed a Gatorade (water was gone), grapes and a banana and watched others finish. Hung around for the awards just because. Headed back to the room, cleaned up a little, put on my suit and chilled in the pool for a little.


Not that I'm upset with my time, but I know if I could ever get properly motivated (and stay that way) to lose weight I would surely be faster. But I'm very happy with my time considering my extra poundage.


Very nice little race in a neat town on a beautiful lake, tied in with the Riesling Festival which is held along Lakeshore Drive. The timing company was top notch, posting results quickly on paper and also online. Goody bags were great - a wine tote and a shirt! AG winners (1st place only) each won a bottle of wine. Now there's inspiration to get faster! ;)