Happy (almost) Valentine's Day! This year we decided to take a run before Valentine's Day. Honestly, Valentine's Day is a minimal holiday around here. Usually we get the kids a couple tiny things and we sometimes get each other something very small but we don't do dinner out or anything and we haven't had a true date night in about 2 years anyway so even if we were to do dinner... we would probably have the kids with us anyway. =)
In lieu of all that though, we decided to take on the Run 4 Love 4 mile race in Winter Park the weekend before Valentine's Day. It nice because although we don't run together, we at least get some alone time in the car, before and after the race, and we often stop for breakfast after we run. Nothing major... but it's how we roll. Or run rather. This was our first race on a Saturday. Not sure why Sundays tend to be preferred for races... but they are. This one was Saturday though which ended up working out well because we were able to have Grandma and Grandaddy (Steven's parents) come in Friday night and then stay through Saturday morning so we could run. I had actually debated pushing the stroller for this one but elected to do it on my own because I can't actually run with our monstrosity of a stroller. I would have needed to walk. There was also a Kids' Race but we don't think Kenzie is quite ready yet. We want to prep her before running the Princess Kids' Race in 2018 so this, being even sooner, was certainly too soon. So, long story short... or short-ish... we decided to do this one together without the kids in tow. This is another race in the Track Shack Running Series. We have now run 2 of the 5. We would love to do the entire series next year but we are worried we might pay for it and then not be able to do all the races.
We were supposed to luck out that Saturday morning was set to be one of our cooler mornings lately. We have been hitting 80s lately during the day and our mornings have been starting at least mid-60s it seems so having it a bit cooler for the start of the race would be nice. I once heard to plan your running attire as if it is 10 degrees warmer than it truly is because it will feel like that by the time you finish. So, 50s mean we prepped for 60s. The problem was that it was supposed to be mid-50s and when we woke up Saturday morning, it was mid-40s. Fun. It definitely made the start of the race (or rather, waiting for the start of the race) pretty chilly.
This race was set in Winter Park. It winded through a few neighborhoods and started and ended at Showalter Field (the football stadium for Winter Park High School) on their new track. We were the first event to actually take place on the track so we got to run it before anyone else.
A little before the start time, Steven and I lined up at the 10+ minute mile marker and waited for the airhorn to start the race. It wasn't too long before we were off! I told Steven that I would see him in about an hour and watched his hat bob through the crowd and off he went.
I stuck with a pack of mostly interval runners for the duration of the race. This course was super flat which was really helpful. As with the other races I have run, I picked out a person or two that I seemed to be keeping pace with and had them help me maintain an okay pace. I decided to try to do this entire race in my 3:1 intervals that I have been training with. It felt good. I don't like running in such cold weather when we first start because it makes my throat hurt to breathe, but it wasn't long before I was warmed up and feeling pretty good. The 3:1 worked out really well for the duration of the race. I kept with it for the majority of the 4 miles. I walked through the water stop at Mile 2 but then went right back into my run. Then, I walked for a minute towards the end as we entered the track for the final stretch before finishing out the race in a run. Running on an actual track was awesome. It was so soft compared to the street and especially the sidewalk. This race ended up being my fastest pace to date at 11:57 min/mile (according to my watch which has more accurate distance for what I truly did). My distance on my gps was slightly longer than 4 miles because I didn't run the tangents (as usual) so I think it is closer to what I really did. Also, my time is slightly (though only slightly) inflated because I forgot to stop my watch when I crossed the finish line (again, as usual). Either way... I felt great at the end of that race. I managed a 5k split right around 36:30 or so. My fastest 5k in a race ever. I wish they had an actual thing there to give a firm split based on the chips but they didn't so I had to estimate based on my distance and time on my watch.
Steven's experience this race was pretty similar to me. He set a personal record of his fastest overall pace ever at 10:56 min/mile. We are taking his chip time as he didn't stop his Runkeeper quite in time so his was a lot more inflated than mine. He ran the entire first mile as he often does and then moved to more of an interval run. He doesn't use specific times or distance for his intervals and just runs what he is comfortable doing. The flat course helped him out too and he said the run felt really easy compared to some of the others ones we have done. He found that people were much more courteous in this race than some of our others. They mostly moved to the side and raised their hand if they were going to stop running and walk. Although he did say that there were a few people randomly walking at a slowish pace down the center of the road instead of keeping to the right. Steven also hit his fastest 5k ever. He said he thinks it was around 31 or 32 minutes so that is awesome. I'm super proud of him. He is getting better and better at this and feeling great doing it.
Random... they had these running hearts. People in heart costumes that if you finished in front of them, you got a free coupon for a smoothie. Steven beat them easily. They were right in front of me at the finish but played around and let a bunch of people cross so I managed to beat them too. Granted, I saw them during the race time after time. I saw them so often because they would run ahead of me and then stop to chat with the police officers and volunteers so I would pass them... repeat. I know they could have beat both of us hands down but I still felt pretty good crossing before them. Haha. They also had a costume contest for this race. You had to have a couple's costume. The winners were the guy and girl dressed as feet because they were "sole mates". Ha!! They even each had one black toenail. I, personally, liked the two girls dressed like the girls from A League of Their Own. The two girls dressed like Forrest Gump won second place. They were great too.
We love the Track Shack races. They are so very well organized. Everything is thought out and runs well. We are definitely going to be doing more of these in the coming months and years. The one weird thing about this race was that because it was through neighborhoods, there were people that apparently didn't get the memo that there was a road race and were trying to leave their houses. Then they were getting irritated that they couldn't move. One woman was driving crazy slow down the road as we were running by her. There were massive signs posted all over the neighborhood. It's tough because I love my races, but I can see the annoyance at living there and having one take over. I gather it happens fairly often in this area though because I heard others talking about other races they have done along similar routes in the area.
After we finished the race and took a few pictures (and got a smoothie sample), we headed out for breakfast. Since we were in Winter Park, we decided that we would make it a "date morning" sort of and stop at The Coop. The Coop is a Southern style restaurant owned by the same people that own 4Rivers. Sooooo.... let that sink in. If you haven't experienced the nirvana that is 4Rivers, you are missing out. This is a place that was better for just us to go to for breakfast as our kids are not super breakfast people anyway. Both of us decided on chicken and waffles. Steven also got a biscuit and I got a piece of cornbread. The chicken and waffles were AH-MAZING! Seriously. So very good. The chicken breading had a bit of spice and the syrup was a bourbon syrup that was so very yummy. They were also so very filling. Neither of us ended up eating our extra stuff and brought it home for later. As it turned out, breakfast was so filling that I only ate cornbread for lunch. Not balanced at all, but it was all I could handle at that point. I would love to go back sometime for dinner. That reminds me that I also need 4Rivers again soon. Haha!
Then we had to check back into reality. We had an amazing morning that quickly went downhill when we got home. We were still on our runner's (and chicken and waffles) high when we got home when Will crawled into my lap and we realized that he was warm. Grandma and Grandaddy said he had been acting a bit off that morning and all of of sudden it made sense. He went to bed and about an hour later we woke him up to check on him and realized he was HOT. His temp had gone up to over 102. Will is a high fever kid. In the past, a normal fever for someone else of close to 100 makes him run closer to 103 to 104 like it's nothing so we gave him meds which broke his fever and made him almost 100% normal. We were all supposed to go see Aunt Juju, Uncle E and Evie since they are in town for their Disney vacay but as it turned out, we decided Will likely has what Kenzie had last week (which must have a crazy long incubation period) and so I stayed home with him while Kenzie and Daddy went to visit. He did okay all afternoon until about 4:30 when while eating dinner, he started fading fast. He was shivering and his temp was back up to almost 103 so I gave him some meds and he went to bed for the night at 5:30. As I write this he has been up twice. Once screaming and once just wanting some snuggles. I think we are in for a long night and likely a few long days.
Funny how the day can start so great with such fun weekend plans (we were also supposed to go over to Crystal River after church tomorrow to see Steven's grandmother) that quickly go to pot when you have kids. Especially since we know the kids often pass things back and forth but we had all been well for about 6 days and assumed we were all in the clear. Kenzie had a fun night though and Will got to rest so they each got what was best for them even if it wasn't what we had planned and hearing him ask me over and over again why he couldn't go to broke my heart. There is always next time.
I digress though. The run was awesome. It definitely had some points that make me want to say it was my favorite so far but I have loved every one of them. So, this one is just fresh in my mind at this point. We loved the flat course. It was wide enough streets that everyone wasn't tripping over one another. Running on the track at the end was nice. It was well organized and the medals and shirts are great. Steven is currently trying to find a race in March maybe. I'm going to hold off because I have 2 in April. We will see what he can find. Maybe I can take the kids out to see him finish if he runs one without me. That would be fun.
Oh and Steven managed to get a quick video of me coming into the stadium. Usually he is hanging out at the finish line for me so he caught me off guard and caught me walking. Haha! If you listen you can hear me say, "I should run, huh?" Oops. I actually finished shortly behind him this time so he said he barely had time to make it over there.
In lieu of all that though, we decided to take on the Run 4 Love 4 mile race in Winter Park the weekend before Valentine's Day. It nice because although we don't run together, we at least get some alone time in the car, before and after the race, and we often stop for breakfast after we run. Nothing major... but it's how we roll. Or run rather. This was our first race on a Saturday. Not sure why Sundays tend to be preferred for races... but they are. This one was Saturday though which ended up working out well because we were able to have Grandma and Grandaddy (Steven's parents) come in Friday night and then stay through Saturday morning so we could run. I had actually debated pushing the stroller for this one but elected to do it on my own because I can't actually run with our monstrosity of a stroller. I would have needed to walk. There was also a Kids' Race but we don't think Kenzie is quite ready yet. We want to prep her before running the Princess Kids' Race in 2018 so this, being even sooner, was certainly too soon. So, long story short... or short-ish... we decided to do this one together without the kids in tow. This is another race in the Track Shack Running Series. We have now run 2 of the 5. We would love to do the entire series next year but we are worried we might pay for it and then not be able to do all the races.
We were supposed to luck out that Saturday morning was set to be one of our cooler mornings lately. We have been hitting 80s lately during the day and our mornings have been starting at least mid-60s it seems so having it a bit cooler for the start of the race would be nice. I once heard to plan your running attire as if it is 10 degrees warmer than it truly is because it will feel like that by the time you finish. So, 50s mean we prepped for 60s. The problem was that it was supposed to be mid-50s and when we woke up Saturday morning, it was mid-40s. Fun. It definitely made the start of the race (or rather, waiting for the start of the race) pretty chilly.
This race was set in Winter Park. It winded through a few neighborhoods and started and ended at Showalter Field (the football stadium for Winter Park High School) on their new track. We were the first event to actually take place on the track so we got to run it before anyone else.
A little before the start time, Steven and I lined up at the 10+ minute mile marker and waited for the airhorn to start the race. It wasn't too long before we were off! I told Steven that I would see him in about an hour and watched his hat bob through the crowd and off he went.
I stuck with a pack of mostly interval runners for the duration of the race. This course was super flat which was really helpful. As with the other races I have run, I picked out a person or two that I seemed to be keeping pace with and had them help me maintain an okay pace. I decided to try to do this entire race in my 3:1 intervals that I have been training with. It felt good. I don't like running in such cold weather when we first start because it makes my throat hurt to breathe, but it wasn't long before I was warmed up and feeling pretty good. The 3:1 worked out really well for the duration of the race. I kept with it for the majority of the 4 miles. I walked through the water stop at Mile 2 but then went right back into my run. Then, I walked for a minute towards the end as we entered the track for the final stretch before finishing out the race in a run. Running on an actual track was awesome. It was so soft compared to the street and especially the sidewalk. This race ended up being my fastest pace to date at 11:57 min/mile (according to my watch which has more accurate distance for what I truly did). My distance on my gps was slightly longer than 4 miles because I didn't run the tangents (as usual) so I think it is closer to what I really did. Also, my time is slightly (though only slightly) inflated because I forgot to stop my watch when I crossed the finish line (again, as usual). Either way... I felt great at the end of that race. I managed a 5k split right around 36:30 or so. My fastest 5k in a race ever. I wish they had an actual thing there to give a firm split based on the chips but they didn't so I had to estimate based on my distance and time on my watch.
Steven's experience this race was pretty similar to me. He set a personal record of his fastest overall pace ever at 10:56 min/mile. We are taking his chip time as he didn't stop his Runkeeper quite in time so his was a lot more inflated than mine. He ran the entire first mile as he often does and then moved to more of an interval run. He doesn't use specific times or distance for his intervals and just runs what he is comfortable doing. The flat course helped him out too and he said the run felt really easy compared to some of the others ones we have done. He found that people were much more courteous in this race than some of our others. They mostly moved to the side and raised their hand if they were going to stop running and walk. Although he did say that there were a few people randomly walking at a slowish pace down the center of the road instead of keeping to the right. Steven also hit his fastest 5k ever. He said he thinks it was around 31 or 32 minutes so that is awesome. I'm super proud of him. He is getting better and better at this and feeling great doing it.
Random... they had these running hearts. People in heart costumes that if you finished in front of them, you got a free coupon for a smoothie. Steven beat them easily. They were right in front of me at the finish but played around and let a bunch of people cross so I managed to beat them too. Granted, I saw them during the race time after time. I saw them so often because they would run ahead of me and then stop to chat with the police officers and volunteers so I would pass them... repeat. I know they could have beat both of us hands down but I still felt pretty good crossing before them. Haha. They also had a costume contest for this race. You had to have a couple's costume. The winners were the guy and girl dressed as feet because they were "sole mates". Ha!! They even each had one black toenail. I, personally, liked the two girls dressed like the girls from A League of Their Own. The two girls dressed like Forrest Gump won second place. They were great too.
We love the Track Shack races. They are so very well organized. Everything is thought out and runs well. We are definitely going to be doing more of these in the coming months and years. The one weird thing about this race was that because it was through neighborhoods, there were people that apparently didn't get the memo that there was a road race and were trying to leave their houses. Then they were getting irritated that they couldn't move. One woman was driving crazy slow down the road as we were running by her. There were massive signs posted all over the neighborhood. It's tough because I love my races, but I can see the annoyance at living there and having one take over. I gather it happens fairly often in this area though because I heard others talking about other races they have done along similar routes in the area.
After we finished the race and took a few pictures (and got a smoothie sample), we headed out for breakfast. Since we were in Winter Park, we decided that we would make it a "date morning" sort of and stop at The Coop. The Coop is a Southern style restaurant owned by the same people that own 4Rivers. Sooooo.... let that sink in. If you haven't experienced the nirvana that is 4Rivers, you are missing out. This is a place that was better for just us to go to for breakfast as our kids are not super breakfast people anyway. Both of us decided on chicken and waffles. Steven also got a biscuit and I got a piece of cornbread. The chicken and waffles were AH-MAZING! Seriously. So very good. The chicken breading had a bit of spice and the syrup was a bourbon syrup that was so very yummy. They were also so very filling. Neither of us ended up eating our extra stuff and brought it home for later. As it turned out, breakfast was so filling that I only ate cornbread for lunch. Not balanced at all, but it was all I could handle at that point. I would love to go back sometime for dinner. That reminds me that I also need 4Rivers again soon. Haha!
Then we had to check back into reality. We had an amazing morning that quickly went downhill when we got home. We were still on our runner's (and chicken and waffles) high when we got home when Will crawled into my lap and we realized that he was warm. Grandma and Grandaddy said he had been acting a bit off that morning and all of of sudden it made sense. He went to bed and about an hour later we woke him up to check on him and realized he was HOT. His temp had gone up to over 102. Will is a high fever kid. In the past, a normal fever for someone else of close to 100 makes him run closer to 103 to 104 like it's nothing so we gave him meds which broke his fever and made him almost 100% normal. We were all supposed to go see Aunt Juju, Uncle E and Evie since they are in town for their Disney vacay but as it turned out, we decided Will likely has what Kenzie had last week (which must have a crazy long incubation period) and so I stayed home with him while Kenzie and Daddy went to visit. He did okay all afternoon until about 4:30 when while eating dinner, he started fading fast. He was shivering and his temp was back up to almost 103 so I gave him some meds and he went to bed for the night at 5:30. As I write this he has been up twice. Once screaming and once just wanting some snuggles. I think we are in for a long night and likely a few long days.
Funny how the day can start so great with such fun weekend plans (we were also supposed to go over to Crystal River after church tomorrow to see Steven's grandmother) that quickly go to pot when you have kids. Especially since we know the kids often pass things back and forth but we had all been well for about 6 days and assumed we were all in the clear. Kenzie had a fun night though and Will got to rest so they each got what was best for them even if it wasn't what we had planned and hearing him ask me over and over again why he couldn't go to broke my heart. There is always next time.
I digress though. The run was awesome. It definitely had some points that make me want to say it was my favorite so far but I have loved every one of them. So, this one is just fresh in my mind at this point. We loved the flat course. It was wide enough streets that everyone wasn't tripping over one another. Running on the track at the end was nice. It was well organized and the medals and shirts are great. Steven is currently trying to find a race in March maybe. I'm going to hold off because I have 2 in April. We will see what he can find. Maybe I can take the kids out to see him finish if he runs one without me. That would be fun.
Oh and Steven managed to get a quick video of me coming into the stadium. Usually he is hanging out at the finish line for me so he caught me off guard and caught me walking. Haha! If you listen you can hear me say, "I should run, huh?" Oops. I actually finished shortly behind him this time so he said he barely had time to make it over there.
Comments
Post a Comment