This morning we ran the Celebration of Running 5K through Track Shack. This race starts the race season officially for us this year. It is also the first run in the Track Shack Fanatic Series. I have mentioned before that we have elected to not actually sign up as Fanatics because we weren't sure about the dates of some of the latter races, but we have plans to try to run all of them. (We are already registered for the next one and should be registering for the UCF 5 Mile in the next month or so.)
We got up super early, as usual, to head out to Orlando Cultural Park which is right next to the Orlando Science Center and the Winter Park Florida Hospital. That's actually the one where Kenzie had her umbilical hernia surgery. We got there with no issues and parking was super easy. There was a nearby garage we were able to park in and we walked maybe a quarter of a mile to the park and the start of the race. We weren't so early that we had to hang around a long time and wait. We actually only walked to one end of the finishing chute and back before we decided to go ahead and get in line for the start.
For this race, Steven decided that he would stick with me. As he said, we started this to do it together anyway and as long as it isn't a race that he is focused on his time or anything, we can stay together. We lined up at the 10+ minute pace marker and waited. Then, pretty quickly, it was time to go.
The exciting thing was seeing the immediate downhill at the start... followed by an uphill. That pattern continued through the entire course. They weren't big hills but towards the end, they definitely started to hit us. This race was tough. Steven actually pulled something in his back last night but luckily, it worked its way out quickly once we started running. I was having some issues. TMI Alert... I had major cramps. That means that my back was also hurting something fierce which didn't work its way out for the duration of 3.1 miles. At times, it was better, but not always. All of that, combined with a lack of sufficient training over the summer, and some of the humidity made for a tougher run. We ran the entire first mile. Then we continued doing walking/running intervals for the duration of the race. I have to say, I'm thankful Steven stayed with me or I don't think I would have finished in the time I did. I was having a tough time but he kept pumping me up and encouraging me to run again or run farther or pick up the pace a bit. He is able to run much longer distances when he hangs with me because my natural pace is much slower. At mile 1.5, we ran by the celebration going on at Track Shack. They were giving out Gatorade and cupcakes. We grabbed Gatorade but decided a random mini cupcake in the middle of a 5K was weird, so we passed. Towards the end of the race, I was really dragging but Steven kept encouraging me. In the last tenth mile or so, I dropped behind him just a bit as we ran to the finish line. He was only about 5 to 10 feet ahead of me so we were mostly together. We ran through the chute, grabbed our medals and waters, and then headed out to the party area.
This race offered free beer so we went through the line for that. Steven got a Sam Adams Oktoberfest and I tried this sparkling spiked water thing. It was weird but I don't like beer. It was hot and we were tired so neither of us finished our drinks. We walked around the party area for a bit and took a few pictures before deciding to call it a morning and head over to have breakfast before going home and relieving Grandma and Grandaddy of kiddo duty.
On the way back to the car we talked about how Steven had a fairly easy run despite my more difficult one. It is still funny to hear him talk about how much he loves races and running. How great it makes him feel. It's funny because when I started running, he thought I was crazy. And now he does it on his own accord. He wants to do it.
We decided to go over and have breakfast at The Coop again since we were in the area. Steven had chicken and waffles and I tried the omelet. It was really good. The only problem was a slight miscommunication in the kitchen and my meal wasn't brought with Steven's. Then apparently it sat a while and they threw it out so it took until I asked for them to figure it out and get it fixed. It was worth the wait though. It was so yummy.
We made it back to the house and the kids immediately wanted to try out the medals. Their favorite part of our races, for sure.
This was the first race for the season but we have plans for at least 6 or so more together and I have the Iron Girl in April. Steven has the Corporate 5K in April and is considering a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. We are excited but it is apparent that we need to focus a bit more on our training. We have the 5 mile at UCF in October so it's time to start upping those run distances. Fun!
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