Race Report: 2011 Florida Hospital Lady Track Shack 5k

This was my first race event for 2011 and I couldn't have been more excited about doing it. The Lady Track Shack 5k was my first Track Shack race last year and I had such a great time and experience that doing that event got me into doing the local races as much as possible.

The difference this year was that I was a walker and not a runner/walker which was how I approached the 5k in 2010. Funny thing is, I did better time this year power walking than I did last year rotating the walking and running. I attribute that to being in slightly better shape and that fact that I'm now more accustomed to the races.

Since I was so looking forward to the event, when I woke up the Wednesday morning prior in a lot of pain in my right foot, I was concerned. Apparently, I had some tendinitis going on. I found myself limping at times both that day and the next. I prayed and did everything I could in hopes that the foot would be better before the race. I was very thankful that when I woke up Friday, it was about 80% better and I could walk without much pain. I was even happier and more thankful that by Friday evening and upon waking race morning that I felt even better. Nothing worse than being injured and not being able to do a race because of it (happened to me once last year with the back injury).

The weather on race morning was beautiful. It was in the mid-60s which felt great. I wore my No Excuses Wear, 'Shut Up and Sweat' t-shirt and black running pants. A number of ladies were wearing shorts and I came to the realization that I could have worn shorts myself or at least capris. In the end though, I was fairly comfortable, and that is what's important.

Start of the race ended up being a few minutes behind schedule, but not too bad. With almost 2,000 women doing the event, the beginning was a bottleneck. Definitely not like it was at the Turkey Trot in November thankfully though. Once I was able to get some space, I was able to really start moving into my fast power walking pace. I hit the first mile at under 14 minutes which shocked me, I was hauling some butt! I pretty much kept up that pacing through mile two which was nice.

My only real complaint with the route was that Winter Park has a lot of brick roads. This is not the friendliest surface for backs, legs and feet. I found myself thankful when we were back on regular black asphalt. About 2.5 miles or so in, there was an area where you pass side by side with the faster runners who are about a half mile or so ahead of you. It was at that point where I saw a friend, Kitzzy Aviles and we both waved at one another. Kitzzy is an extremely active gal who bikes just about everywhere in Orlando and runs her tail off to boot. It's always nice to see familiar faces during the racing events.

I finished the race at 44:41 which is my best time for a 5k ever. That means I PRed, despite the tendinitis that week! I was all smiles when I crossed that finish line. Every race, it still feels great to me. You need to celebrate your accomplishments in life. Set challenges and goals for yourself and get out there and do them. It's amazing how good you feel pushing yourself to do things that you never thought possible.

Reindeer Run 5k Race Report

The alarm went off just after 5am and while I was quite bleary-eyed, I rolled myself out of bed to get moving. I tend to not get as much rest the evening before a race, and this time was no different. There's just something about the excitement of a race that gets my mind reeling all night long which has me waking up at least a few times. So much for sleeping straight through for seven to eight hours!

Once I ate my breakfast and got myself ready to go, mom was up trying to put something in her stomach. This was the second race mom was doing with me, as she did the Turkey Trot as well on Thanksgiving morning. She works until 11pm, so she had even less sleep than I did. We got out the door a little later than I had planned, but only by about 8-10 minutes, so it wasn't too bad. The event was being held at Sea World this year, so it's only about a twenty minute drive from my parents house.

Traffic was fairly light at that early morning hour, so I made good driving time. Arriving at the Sea World entrance, that is where the hold up began. It took almost fifteen minutes to get inside and park the car. Neither myself or mom felt as though the parking situation was as organized as it could have been. Heck, it was Sea World, they are used to crowds of people, so I was expecting more organization in that area.

As soon as I parked the car, we followed the crowds of people toward the starting line. I was disappointed to discover that the only available restrooms before the race start would be portable ones. Usually, I expect that when I'm doing a race in downtown Orlando, but seeing as this was Sea World playing host, I thought we would have access to their facilities. We did have access to those restrooms later on, but that was only after the race had begun.

Due to the parking situation taking longer than expected, the race start time ended up being pushed back by about twenty minutes. Once it started, I got a bit confused as to where the actual starting line was since mom and I were in the walkers area. The runners had originally lined up at one point with a starting line banner/line, but once we got moving, the clock was about .1 mile or so ahead of that point. The only bad thing about that was, the clock was not going when I approached that point, so I had no idea how far behind the actual starting clock time I was. I was only going to be able to rely on my own watch and my Nike+ times. Not sure why that happened, maybe some sort of malfunction? It was just a bit disappointing since I looked at the clock time for the Turkey Trot the previous month which helped me see how far behind that time I had begun since the seasonal races aren't d-chip timed.

The first mile or so of the course route was through the parking lot. While I saw this prior to the event, I didn't think too much about it. It wasn't until I was actually doing the beginning of the race that I realized how much I didn't like this portion of the route. It was boring and odd. By the time I reached the park entrance, I was anxious for some new scenery besides parking spaces in Sea World's huge parking lot. The route inside of the theme park was okay. The ground itself inside was made of cement stone which I wasn't a fan of. It's a bit awkward of a surface. Also, the park itself had numerous wet spots so trying to avoid them took some work with the crowds of people everywhere. There were some good things though of course, the decorations Sea World has around it's park were nice to see as was the area where they pumped out fake "snow." My favorite parts though consisted of seeing the flamingos and the cockatoo and macaw the employees had brought out to see the racers. Otherwise, I'd have to say that this route was probably my least favorite of the 2010 races I've done.

At the finish, I felt good at having completed it, since my back had done well as did my sciatica. But, I didn't feel the excitement that I usually do at the completion of a race. Not sure if it has to do with not liking the course or what. I do want to make sure I say that Track Shack did an awesome job as always with helping put the event on. They work hard to organize many races each year and I give them kudos for that. I just think that the venue wasn't ideal. Also, the charity cause this race was supporting was for pediatric cancer. Dan Newlin, a local attorney was the main financial supporter of this event and in doing so, I felt that he seemed to make himself stand out more than the cause the Reindeer Run was for. His name was everywhere and on everything, and it felt to me, as well as to my mom that he wasn't allowing enough of the spotlight to shine upon the children and cause we were racing for. When I saw people wearing shirts with their sick child on them who had passed away far too young, and the firefighters wearing pinned photos of kids on their sleeves, I felt that those people and their stories should have been at the forefront of the race, not this attorney.

I am glad that I did get out there and do the event with my mom, as it was nice to do another 5k event with her. I hope that we can do more in 2011 and maybe get my dad to come out and do a race or two as well.