It's contagious for sure... but it seems to be even more viral after you run your first race. It's official. Steven has the bug! We got in the car and he wanted to know when the next race was (November, actually).
Today was the day. We woke up bright and early at 5am and were dressed and out the door by 5:15 to head to Debary to run the Suck It Up Buttercup 5k. This was Steven's first race and I know he was excited but he had no idea what to expect. We grabbed a small muffin and bottle of water to share on the way and made it to the race site at about 5:45. Early enough to let me take a potty break before starting and for us to get in a few stretches before the race started. Steven noticed the energy of the race pretty quickly. Everyone is out there for the same goal. To push themselves. I seriously love the race crowd. Most of them are super casual and just there to have a good time or maybe try for a new PR. Most of them know they are only racing themselves and are really supportive of all the other runners with them regardless of fitness level. You know this is going to be a challenging race when the emcee just keeps saying to not worry about PRs because it is so hot. Just worry about tackling the hills and the heat.
One annoying thing about this race was that the 5k and 10k started together. Everyone started at once and there was no division among average pace or anything. Everything bottlenecked as we were trying to get out of the park. The first .2 mile or so was inside the park on a thin road and there were a lot of people that wanted to walk the race. They started anywhere they wanted and so you were finding yourself weaving in and out of people to try to get somewhere. We are convinced Steven ran an extra 1/4 mile trying to get an open place to run. I could see his Dolphins hat bobbing above the crowd ahead of me for a while and then I lost sight of him. I did a very slow jog to leave the park (though it wasn't my choice but rather my only option) and then weaved around a bunch of people for the first mile or so. After the first mile, they split off the 10k and 5k runners and the course opened up substantially. Steven noticed the same thing I did. It's unfortunate that some people do not have a lot of race etiquette. It's actually just more common sense. Slower people keep right. Don't randomly stop running in the middle of the road. Don't walk/run 4 people across. Warn people when you are coming up close behind them and need to pass by close. Etc. Oh well. Still fun. Just have to do extra people dodging when everyone starts together like that.
I told Steven beforehand that I was given the advice last time to pick a person and try to run with them. Somewhat of a motivation thing. So, he said he did just that. Steven actually ran the first full mile plus some without stopping. That is his longest run ever without walking!! Almost immediately upon leaving the park, you start to climb uphill. There is an initial steep hill and then a gradual incline for most of the first mile. It was no joke. Steven and I are conditioned to a point to handle hills though because our neighborhood actually has a few. We have quite a few gradual inclines that I never even seem to notice anymore so I think that played in our favor. There was also one substantial down and back uphill area of the course just before you hit the first mile. I walked up it but Steven said he actually made it all the way down and back up without stopping. I'm blaming it on my music. I noticed at that point that it had stopped. No idea when because I was focused... but I noticed it then. So I walked while I fixed it. Okay, that's an excuse... I really just wanted to walk. Haha! At the first water station, Steven skipped by it. I grabbed a water but it was so hot that I elected to just dump it on myself. It actually helped a lot. Neither of us usually drink during our 5k runs at home so it wasn't a huge deal to not stop for that station.
The second mile was majority down hill. That was nice. It was a slow descent most of the way, but it made it easier to run. At this point, Steven had picked a group of people that were alternating walking and running and was sort of keeping with them. I found an older lady that was power walking this race like her life depending on it. Actually, her "walking" time was probably barely faster than my "running" time. I was super impressed with her. Her and I stayed together for the majority of the remainder of the race. I would pass her running, she would pass me when I walked. My goal was just to not let the lady that was walking finish this race before me. Haha! Though she deserved her finish time. She was booking it!
During the final mile, the race course drifted onto a bike type trail. The downfall to all of this was that it was more concrete than asphalt and that can be difficult on your joints. Steven said that part was the most difficult. Partially because it was nearing the end and partially because of the lack of asphalt. I would agree. The bonus was that it was tree covered so it wasn't as hot as if we were in the broiling sun. It was hot. Don't get me wrong... but the trees were nice. At the second water station (which we THOUGHT was at 2 miles) both of us got drinks. (Remember, Steven was ahead of me so I am just recapping everything he told me about his experience.) Then, both of us got really confused. My Garmin said my distance was 2.6 miles. I was doing math in my head about how fast I might need to run to beat my last PR. Steven's Runkeeper was saying he was about the same distance at the same point... and we passed the 2 mile marker. My heart sank. I thought there was no way. My time would be terrible if I was just passing mile 2. Plus, I was convinced I broke my watch. But lo and behold, we now think it was put in the wrong place because shortly after that, we entered back into the park and took the final turn towards the finish.
Steven was a bit upset that the finish wasn't better marked (as in you were aware you were coming up to it) because he said he would have booked it a bit more there at the end. I was just glad I went the right way. The course took a sudden left into the park and there weren't any guides or anything. I turned, but a group of people in front of me went straight until someone pointed out to them that they should have turned. They had to double back. It wasn't much, but it can be a time killer if you are shooting for a certain time.... and we all were because a lady had walked towards us with her medal around her neck and cheered us on saying we were under 40 minutes. That's when I took off running (faster). As did most of those around me. Except speed walker lady. She continued on her steady (fast) walking pace.
Steven crossed the finish line at 36:57 on the running clock! He said he finished just a minute or so faster than the first 10k runner. He was super happy with his time. He waited for me (bonus to having him be faster than me is I get a finish line photo) and I crossed at 41:07. Now, those are clock times. We think our chip times will be shorter but they haven't been posted yet. We are actually wondering if the chips didn't work. Just a hunch we have, but we will see when they post results. Even with clock time, I beat my first PR by 7 seconds. Steven set an awesome first PR.
After the race we hung around a bit, took some pictures, and generally tried to cool off. It was so hot! They had donuts and coffee after the race. We were able to make iced coffee so we were happy with that, but I totally saw people drinking hot coffee. What?? Crazy people. After leaving, we had Cracker Barrel for breakfast. It was so yummy after a hot run. Once we cooled down, that was. Initially neither of us could think about food.
Like I said, Steven started asking me about our next one as soon as we got in the car. We have already signed up for a 5k on the Clermont Clay Loop in November. That should be a real test in hills, but at the the weather should be cooler. Maybe. It's Florida so you really never know. In August we will be signing up for the Star Wars 10k at Disney next April. So, we are well on our way! Until next time!
Today was the day. We woke up bright and early at 5am and were dressed and out the door by 5:15 to head to Debary to run the Suck It Up Buttercup 5k. This was Steven's first race and I know he was excited but he had no idea what to expect. We grabbed a small muffin and bottle of water to share on the way and made it to the race site at about 5:45. Early enough to let me take a potty break before starting and for us to get in a few stretches before the race started. Steven noticed the energy of the race pretty quickly. Everyone is out there for the same goal. To push themselves. I seriously love the race crowd. Most of them are super casual and just there to have a good time or maybe try for a new PR. Most of them know they are only racing themselves and are really supportive of all the other runners with them regardless of fitness level. You know this is going to be a challenging race when the emcee just keeps saying to not worry about PRs because it is so hot. Just worry about tackling the hills and the heat.
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| Pre-race... we look so... not hot yet |
I told Steven beforehand that I was given the advice last time to pick a person and try to run with them. Somewhat of a motivation thing. So, he said he did just that. Steven actually ran the first full mile plus some without stopping. That is his longest run ever without walking!! Almost immediately upon leaving the park, you start to climb uphill. There is an initial steep hill and then a gradual incline for most of the first mile. It was no joke. Steven and I are conditioned to a point to handle hills though because our neighborhood actually has a few. We have quite a few gradual inclines that I never even seem to notice anymore so I think that played in our favor. There was also one substantial down and back uphill area of the course just before you hit the first mile. I walked up it but Steven said he actually made it all the way down and back up without stopping. I'm blaming it on my music. I noticed at that point that it had stopped. No idea when because I was focused... but I noticed it then. So I walked while I fixed it. Okay, that's an excuse... I really just wanted to walk. Haha! At the first water station, Steven skipped by it. I grabbed a water but it was so hot that I elected to just dump it on myself. It actually helped a lot. Neither of us usually drink during our 5k runs at home so it wasn't a huge deal to not stop for that station.
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| The uphill as you leave the park. I took this from the car and it definitely doesn't look as menacing from a distance. It's way worse when you are running. |
During the final mile, the race course drifted onto a bike type trail. The downfall to all of this was that it was more concrete than asphalt and that can be difficult on your joints. Steven said that part was the most difficult. Partially because it was nearing the end and partially because of the lack of asphalt. I would agree. The bonus was that it was tree covered so it wasn't as hot as if we were in the broiling sun. It was hot. Don't get me wrong... but the trees were nice. At the second water station (which we THOUGHT was at 2 miles) both of us got drinks. (Remember, Steven was ahead of me so I am just recapping everything he told me about his experience.) Then, both of us got really confused. My Garmin said my distance was 2.6 miles. I was doing math in my head about how fast I might need to run to beat my last PR. Steven's Runkeeper was saying he was about the same distance at the same point... and we passed the 2 mile marker. My heart sank. I thought there was no way. My time would be terrible if I was just passing mile 2. Plus, I was convinced I broke my watch. But lo and behold, we now think it was put in the wrong place because shortly after that, we entered back into the park and took the final turn towards the finish.
Steven was a bit upset that the finish wasn't better marked (as in you were aware you were coming up to it) because he said he would have booked it a bit more there at the end. I was just glad I went the right way. The course took a sudden left into the park and there weren't any guides or anything. I turned, but a group of people in front of me went straight until someone pointed out to them that they should have turned. They had to double back. It wasn't much, but it can be a time killer if you are shooting for a certain time.... and we all were because a lady had walked towards us with her medal around her neck and cheered us on saying we were under 40 minutes. That's when I took off running (faster). As did most of those around me. Except speed walker lady. She continued on her steady (fast) walking pace.
Steven crossed the finish line at 36:57 on the running clock! He said he finished just a minute or so faster than the first 10k runner. He was super happy with his time. He waited for me (bonus to having him be faster than me is I get a finish line photo) and I crossed at 41:07. Now, those are clock times. We think our chip times will be shorter but they haven't been posted yet. We are actually wondering if the chips didn't work. Just a hunch we have, but we will see when they post results. Even with clock time, I beat my first PR by 7 seconds. Steven set an awesome first PR.
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| I love that I appear so much more comfortable than the finish photo my mom took of my first 5k. |
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| Finished!! |
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| Steven's Runkeeper. His time is slightly longer than his true start to finish time because he has to remove his phone from his arm to stop and start it, but even this was faster than the clock time so I think this is closer to his true time even if they don't release a chip time. |
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| My time. Again, faster than the clock time so probably closer to my true time. Mine is more accurate though because I can start and stop almost immediately at the start and finish. |
Like I said, Steven started asking me about our next one as soon as we got in the car. We have already signed up for a 5k on the Clermont Clay Loop in November. That should be a real test in hills, but at the the weather should be cooler. Maybe. It's Florida so you really never know. In August we will be signing up for the Star Wars 10k at Disney next April. So, we are well on our way! Until next time!
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| Clock times. We aren't sure how many people ran the 5k yet, but it was at least 222 or something like that based on this list so we feel pretty good about our times. |
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