Jingle Bell 5k Run Race Report

This was my first race back as a runner! I was so excited to implement the Galloway run-walk-run method in my first 5k. I knew I wanted to finish as fast as I could, but I also didn't want to over-do it. So, I was hoping to do the 3.1 miles in around 42 minutes. 

Woke up at 6am to get ready for the race. Mom would be walking this one as well, so she was up (not necessarily happy about the hour though, she's not a morning person). I ate my bowl of oatmeal, got dressed and we were out the door just before 7am. The event was taking place at Baldwin Park in Orlando which meant it was about 40 minutes away. Leaving by 7am would assure we would get there with enough time to park, collect our registration packets and put everything but the bib in the car. 

We arrived at about 7:40ish, and easily found a parking spot. We then walked the half block or so to the packet pick up area. We got our packets and timing chips and headed back to the car. Made a stop at the local CVS to use the ladies room and walked back down to the race area. We still had a good amount of time before the 8:30am start, so I went looking for pre-race water which I thankfully found. 

We then gathered near the starting line for the National Anthem. Looking to my left, I realized that Mattia, a friend from dailymile was just a couple of feet from me. I was hoping to see him, so we said our hellos and gave one another a hug. Before we knew it, the race was beginning. The start was full of runners and walkers alike, so I was glad that I was going to be walking for a couple of minutes before I hit my Gymboss timer. I would have been weaving around people like crazy if I was running right from the start.

Once I hit start on my interval timer, I was off running. Before the race, I decided to go with 1:1 intervals, and figured if need be, I'd slow down to 30:30.  I soon realized that I was going a bit too fast on the first mile when I saw the time I hit mile one. I was under 13 minutes. I needed to slow down, my body wasn't used to sustaining that kind of speed for that long just yet. Alas, I didn't listen to myself, because I apparently ended up going even faster mile 2 hitting that mile marker at around 12 minutes. I then took mile 3 a lot easier than my body wanted to I slowed down my running intervals and walked some of my walking intervals a bit slower than usual. Rounding the corner to the finish line, I wanted to cross the finish line running, so I ended up running 30 seconds earlier than my normal interval. I crossed the finish in with a time of 42:09! So, I definitely PRed and made my goal. I felt good! 

After I finished, I met up with another dailymile friend, Lizabeth. This would be our first time meeting up even though we have done a couple of the same races. It was great meeting her. We talked for a few minutes, took pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus and went in search of fruit (which didn't exist! A race without fruit, I couldn't believe it). Then, my mom finished and Liz and I said our goodbyes. I hope to be able to run with her once I put in some more miles of training. 

All in all, this was a fun and festive race. I thought it was pretty well organized and put on. My only complaint would be that they didn't have any fruit like bananas. The only thing they had was junk donuts and bagels. The race organizers need to think about this for next year. A lot of runners want healthier options like fruit after a race. I always look forward to a banana once I finish. Also, they were giving out water bottles at the two water stops rather than cups of water. While it's easier on the volunteers to hand a runner/walker a bottle of water, it's also more wasteful. I saw many mostly full water bottles tossed to the side. Cups would have solved the wasting I think, it would just be a bit more work since they have to be filled up and ready to go. On a positive note, I hope the Arthritis Foundation did well in fundraising with this event.

(I'll post the couple of pics I have soon)

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.