We did it! We are Iron Girls! This year I made a return to Iron Girl Clearwater to run the 5k once again. However, this time, I brought along some company. My mom drove with me last year when I ran this race. This was my first true road race ever (I walked a 5k once in 2011) and I knew that this year, I needed to go back to try to beat my prior time. I’ve gotten faster and stronger since that day a year ago and wanted to see how I measured up. In the mean time, I talked about how fun races were and I got my mom interested in doing one herself. Earlier this year she walked a 5k distance with us for our church's 5k to benefit the missions in Laos. Unfortunately, that 5k was cancelled the morning of due to really terrible weather but in the spirit of doing what we said we would do to support the cause, we walked the 5k that day through our neighborhood anyway. My mom realized how far 3.1 miles really is and knew she could do it so Iron Girl was an obvious next stop. I highly recommend it as a first race for any woman or girl looking to try one out. It is all about being the best you and I love the message and feel behind it. Last year we didn’t have much time after the race to enjoy the expo and everything that comes with it because we had to rush home because Steven was leaving to fly to Oklahoma for work the same day as the race and I needed to get back to the kids but we still had fun during the time we did have. I think it might have been at that point that I put the idea out there that we should both do it the following year. I don't know if she heard me... but I wanted to throw it out there. When we started talking more about it, we decided that we both definitely wanted to do it. When word started travelling around about us doing it, we also thought it would be a lot of fun if my sis-in-law could join us too (my brother’s wife). Iron Girl is all about empowering women and my mom and sis-in-law (hereafter referred to as Danielle… since that’s her name) are two of the strongest women I know so this seemed like the perfect girls’ time.
So… we all signed up. I’m not sure who was more excited. Me… or them. Momma and Danielle decided they would walk it while I ran. They haven’t trained to run like I have because where they live isn’t exactly conducive to running. Especially at night and they both work. So, they planned to walk it. Either way, they get to join the Iron Girl club by finishing the 5k and experience the fun that is a road race. And not just any road race… but Iron Girl. The 5k has a 75 minute time limit so we knew they could both handle that and they were excited to give it a try.
Initially the plan was for them to pick me up at our house, we would all have lunch with Steven and the kids and then we would head to Clearwater but it turned out that my friend’s daughter’s birthday party was the Saturday before Iron Girl and they live between us and Clearwater. So, we amended our plans so that I could go to the party with Steven and the kids first. Instead of the original plan, we decided that after the party, we would meet at Coachman Park (where the expo is held) so that we could pick up our race packets before race day and then we would all head over to Clearwater Beach so Mom and Danielle could spend some time with the kids before Steven had to take them home. Those plans didn't exactly work out as expected but we still had a good time.
The party was a lot of fun. Kenzie and Will ran around and played non-stop. Our friends have a lot of sports type toys because their older (who is 20 days older than Kenzie) is into them and the kids really enjoying hanging out in the backyard playing with them and the sandbox. Kenzie has gotten pretty into soccer. Usually when I ask her if she wants to play, she says no but when I asked after this party, she said yes so we will see what she thinks when the new season sign ups roll around. They each demolished a cupcake and were sufficiently sugared up before we headed out.
Will had napped on the way to the party so he didn't sleep on the way to Clearwater. Instead both of our sugared up children talked the entire way there. Because of our timing and the fact that we needed to drive right by the hotel on the way to Coachman Park, we decided to meet Mom and Danielle there so the kids could potty and we could drop off my stuff before we went to the park. Steven and I have actually stayed at this hotel before. We stayed there when I was pregnant with Kenzie and a friend of mine was taking maternity photos for us at Honeymoon Island.
After dropping everything off we headed over to Coachman Park. The expo for Iron Girl is fairly large compared to some other races. We picked up our packets quickly and took some pictures. This was our first glimpse this year at the bridge (Clearwater Memorial Causeway). Mom caught sight of it and became a bit nervous. Apparently it was bigger and higher than she remembered. Probably because she knew she didn't have to go over it the year before so she didn't pay as much attention. It is pretty tall. From a distance it doesn't seem too terrible. It isn't until you are standing at the bottom staring up at it when you realize it is a serious bridge. I think I once read somewhere that it used to be a drawbridge but had to be renovated a while ago and became a fixed bridge. So that tells you about the boat traffic under it. It has to be high to allow for that.
After picking up the packets we headed over said bridge towards Clearwater Beach. However, we neglected to remember that it is Spring Break for some people throughout the country that they all apparently decided to descend upon Clearwater Beach. It was so crowded! Plus, it was 4 in the afternoon and a high time to hang out at the beach apparently. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate any parking. We then decided to amend our plans and head to an early dinner with Mom and Danielle so that Steven could fight Tampa and I4 traffic on the way back and get the kids home at a relatively normal hour. The problem was that we had talked up going to the beach with the kids. Between Will being confused as to why we were leaving and Kenzie crying because she was so upset that we didn't get out at the beach, it was a rough drive to dinner. Plus the traffic was stressful. I don't think Steven and I ever want to hear her cry like that again. She was so disappointed. Both of our hearts were breaking. We felt like serious terrible parents.
She wasn't super happy when we ended up at Cici's. That's how we know how disappointed she was. She loves Cici's. However, when we walked in and learned that this Cici's had a huge game room to go along with as much pizza, bread, and pasta as she can manage to fit into her little body, she was fine once again. I admit, Cici's may not be the best "before race" food I can find but it was yummy. Will took forever to eat his food because after every few bites he would ask to go into the game room. We finally convinced him to eat enough food and then set off for the game room. The great thing about kids at this age is that they don't necessarily realize that they aren't actually playing video games so we thought that we would just let them sit in some race car games for a bit and then call it a day but we learned that we could add credits to a card and actually play a few games. So we did just that. Kenzie and Will enjoyed skeeball (which I have no idea how to truly spell) though neither of them were super great at it. It was a flash back for Steven and me though. Kenzie actually did pretty well at a driving game. She got bored a few minutes in though so I took over. I think she did better than me. Kenzie and I played a weird dancing game sort of like mixing Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution. I think I did a bit better on that one. Maybe not much though. We played a few more games and then had enough tickets earned to get Kenzie a ring and bracelet and Will a dinosaur skeleton toy thing. Both kids were happy and the issues with the beach were forgotten though Steven and I both feel terrible still so we are working on figuring out how to get out to the beach on Friday perhaps. Will's half birthday is actually Friday as well so what better way to spend it than at the beach??
After that we went back to the hotel so the kids could get pjs on for their drive back home. We knew they wouldn't be home until well after bedtime likely so we wanted them to be in pjs in case they fell asleep. Steven said that Will stayed awake until exactly 7:20 and then went to sleep right on time in the car. It's like his internal clock just gave up for the night. Kenzie apparently talked and sang (and counted) the entire way home. The plus was that Steven didn't have to carry her into the house to bed. She is pretty heavy.
After they left, we went out in search of a mall. After some shopping we headed back to the hotel to get to sleep since we knew we would be up early the next morning for the race. This is where it all went down hill. We were in bed fairly early but at about 11:30 these kids, probably late middle school or early high school... started running up and down the hall and banging on doors and walls. After about 10 minutes, Mom tried to call down to the lobby to complain but no one was answering. I got fed up, opened the door, and in my best teacher/adult voice told them they needed to stop because it was almost midnight. We found out the next day that this was their final night in the hotel (of 3 nights) and the staff was ready for them to leave because of the noise and subsequent complaints. The staff had spoken to chaperones but those people didn't seem to care and the staff ended up taking everything up with the coach eventually. That explains the chaperone that just stared at me when I got onto the kids and didn't say a word to them or me. What happened to taping kids into rooms in hotels? That's what I remember about being on a school trip. We had a curfew and were taped in. If the tape was broken, we were in trouble in the morning. Then, shortly after they quieted down, there must have been a big accident or something nearby because for the next 30 or so minutes we heard emergency vehicles going back and forth in front of the hotel. Good thing I don't sleep much the night before races anyway because this kept me up even more. Danielle eventually fell asleep and then Mom but I laid away for a while. I tossed and turned a lot at night and was up crazy early but adrenaline got the best of me anyway so I knew I would be fine.
A 5am alarm is an early thing when you didn't sleep much the night before but there it was. We all got ready and headed out (after a stop in the lobby for coffee).
The weather was pretty perfect for a race. It was a bit chilly at the start at about 58 degrees or so but I knew once the sun came up and my blood started moving, I would be warm. I elected to keep my jacket on for this race though and it didn't end up bothering me much. Before we knew it... we were off. I split from Mom and Danielle when we hit the start line and was on my way. I remembered the course from last year but totally forgot about the small-ish hill right at the start. The people around me were cracking me up. Complaining about the hill because all we were thinking about was that upcoming bridge and we didn't want any additional inclines. Once up the hill, I rounded the corner and knew I had some flat running before turning again and heading up the bridge. I spent the time listening to other people's music since not everyone uses headphones, other people breathing, my own breathing, and people chatting around me. I especially like the people encouraging their running partners to keep moving and keep pushing. This race is fun because there are mother daughter teams. Some are adult teams but a lot are kids with their moms. The moms encouraging their kids is awesome. Though my favorite was the little girl I heard tell her mom that she was doing great and to keep going. I kept with my 3:1 intervals all the way to the bridge. At the point that I hit the bridge, I was 1 minute into a run interval. I ran for about another minute and almost half way up the bridge before I succumbed to walking. I wanted to take pictures at the top anyway so that worked out because it let me get my phone out easily. As expected, the sunrise was gorgeous. I wish this picture did it justice but I was moving as fast as possible and didn't want to actually pause for a picture so I didn't get the best shot.
Once I crested the hill, I ran down. I ended up dropping my running belt as I was trying to get my phone back in at one point so that slowed me down a little because I had to turn around to grab it from the ground but once I picked it up and walked through the water stop, I ran again. The turn around is right after the water stop so I ran again until I reached the return incline on the bridge. The first time up the bridge seems bad. It is a long incline because it climbs slower but the return is definitely worse. One because you have already done it once and are tired and two because it is a faster climb and far steeper. I knew after that climb though, it was literally all downhill from there (plus some flat spots) so away I went. I decided to walk it regardless of intervals. I laughed when a couple of women came by me running and chatting about getting new glasses like this was nothing. The one woman was upset with Lenscrafters and the other woman was recommending a local shop. I don't even know if they knew each other. The things you hear when you have no headphones. Haha! At the top of the bridge, I took a deep breath and settled into another run down the other side. I started to develop a stitch in my side on the way down that hurt bad enough to make me slow to a walk once I hit level ground. I ended up trying to run/walk the remainder of mile 3 knowing that I was getting ready to hit the end of the course soon. It took a few short intervals of walking to work out the stitch. It came on after I drank a bit of water so I'm wondering if my body was just wondering what on earth I was doing. I don't typically drink anything during my 5k distance runs. Once I rounded the final corner, I could see the finish line and broke into a run that carried me to the end. My official chip time was 37:45 with an average pace of 12:11. This was a new PR for me! I was so excited. I remember last year hoping I could beat 45 minutes and coming in at just over 41. This year I wanted to beat that and was going to be stoked if I could beat 37 to 38 minutes since that sits right around my average 5k time now for my current runs. I ended up placing 660 of 1554. That means that for the first time, I finished better than 50% of the overall participants. I was in the top 47%. To me, that is a major milestone. I was so excited. I don't think I have ever smiled so much coming through a finish line.
This also meant that for the first time since I started racing, I finished ahead of the people I knew meaning that I could wait for them to get pictures or video of them coming through the finish line. I ended up running around the finish line looking for the best vantage point before settling on the water side where less people were. I waited for Mom and Danielle. I knew from when we walked with Mom the one time prior to complete a 5k, she can average around an 18 minute mile but I didn't know what the bridge would do for her. Turns out, at about 50 minutes in, I caught sight of her orange jacket. There was my mom, at 60-years-young running towards the finish line at a road race for the first time in her life. If I thought I was excited coming through, her excitement was even greater, I think. She clocked in (chip time) at 50:56 for a pace of 16:26. She told me that she ended up running a few times, mainly on downhills and through that finish line because she was ready to be finished and say she did it. She did awesome.
A few minutes later, I caught sight on Danielle making her way to the finish line. Danielle finished in 55:25 at a pace of 17:53. Danielle has done a few walks before she said but it has been a while and she finished with a smile on her face.
Both of them impressed me to no end. When I first started running, my average pace was around 15 minutes. They finished a full 5k complete with a massive bridge (twice) with amazing times! I am so proud of them! They also set PRs! (First race=PR... the best part about a first race).
Other random race info: The first place finisher in the 5k was 12-years-old. Twelve. As in... a middle schooler. She schooled all of us too. Just over 19 minutes. Amazing. Second place was a 58 year old woman about a minute later. Runners are amazing people. Age is nothing more than a number. In between Mom and Danielle coming to the finish I got to watch the first place finisher for the half come through. It was cool watching the people working the finish line wait for her arrival. They were calling back and forth on walkie talkies so they could prep the ribbon for her. I've never seen them do that before and thought the process was interesting. (One of those people is the man in the reflective vest you see walk in front of me when I was videoing Mom coming into the finish.) She finished in 1:20:33. That's just over a 6 minute per mile pace. For 13.1 freaking miles. Complete with 3 bridges. Twice each. 6 massive inclines plus any other hills and an average pace of 6 minutes. Holy cow. Top it off, she came through the finish line with a smile on her face and looked like she was enjoyed an easy short run at the park or something.
Once we all calmed down some from the excitement, we took some pictures. Then we went over to check out the food. On the way there we found the results tent. I didn't hang around long enough last year to see if they did it this way so it was the first time I saw results given like this and I LOVED it. You go up to a keypad, enter your bib number, and it spits out your unofficial results. Awesome! So much better than everyone and their mother (at this race it likely would have literally been everyone and their mother) crowding around a printed sheet searching for their names and climbing over one another to try to see. I also checked in at the finish line and found out that someone had turned in my headphones before the race. Thank goodness! I would miss those.
The sponsors for Iron Girl are Outback, Carrabas, and Bonefish (along with other things but those are the restaurants) which means that afterwards, there are some awesome food options. We waited in line for quite some time and I made friends with the people in front of me who where two women from a work release center that were telling me all about what it's like to be in the center or "behind the fence" (prison). They are allowed to leave the center periodically (other than work which they do 5-6 days a week usually) to run races or volunteer at events such as races. Both ladies had ankle monitors so they were complaining that they can't do triathlons since they can't get wet. Some of the women and men from the center were volunteers as well at the race so they were telling me about them and what privileges each group could or couldn't have. I actually found it all super interesting. One of the ladies was also a cancer survivor. You meet all sorts of people at races.
When we got up to the food we started by checking out the normal "breakfast" and "after race" options. There were pieces of cut up fruit, pastries, and drinks... but then came the good stuff. A blue cheese pecan salad, Bang Bang Shrimp, sirloin tips, and ravioli. Yes, please. It was all so good! We sat down at a table and chatted with a woman that recently relocated from DC. We were talking about the differences in weather and how it affects running and races in each place and I was telling her about some races in Central Florida I know about (because she asked).
We checked out more of the expo after the race and while I really wanted to buy the tank top with the picture of Florida and the word "Home" on it, I didn't. I just didn't feel like spending the money and I wanted to save some funds in case I find something I like at the Star Wars expo. I really want a 10k magnet for my car. Other than that, most of the sponsors had tents but they weren't anything we really wanted to check out. We did spin a wheel and Danielle and Mom won rice. Weird... but true. I won a nail file but Mom and I switched since she ctually uses nail files and I would cook the brown rice.
We then went back to the hotel because we had a bit before check out and wanted to clean up and pack up to head out. The drive back to Apopka to drop me off was uneventful. I drove Mom's car just because once they left me, they still had to drive back to Palatka. We met Steven and the kids at Steak n Shake once we got in for lunch. The kids did great while I was gone. Daddy has never actually had them overnight by himself just because of how our schedules work out and he had to also get them dressed and to church on time. That is a feat for me who does school 4 times a week just because any time you have to get two small children out of a house on time, especially in the morning, it is a bit crazy. To top it off, Steven had to deal with Kenzie's hair. I think that might be what he was most afraid of but he did great.
The race weekend was awesome. We are talking about trying to make this a yearly girls' weekend. I think Mom and Danielle caught the race bug. It's not hard to do. I'm excited for the next year of races and prepping to take on that bridge again. We have plans to beat the bridge again. Bring it on Iron Girl!
And every one of us has to face that day
Do you cross the bridge or do you fade away?
~Elton John
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