Today we ventured back to what is probably very near the top of my favorite races that we do. They all really have their high points...
Iron Girl is girls and women only and along the water in Clearwater
Any Disney race is... well... Disney
The Track Shack races are so well organized and always a good time
... but this one is one of the favorites round here for a few reasons. The main one being that we get the chance to run through our alma mater including around the baseball field and the football stadium. Can't beat that. The other is the distance. It isn't as far as a 10k, but it is farther than the traditional 5k that we often run so it is more of a challenge but not so far that it is really difficult (though we know we can handle the 10k too). We knew without a doubt that we would make this race happen again this year.
We started our morning by getting up around 5:45 to head out to UCF. That was after a long night spent cheering on our Knights (at UCF... so we made 2 round trips in less than 24 hours) and getting to bed pretty late. Plus, right as we were going to bed, Will woke up with a night terror. He doesn't have them as often as Kenzie but they are still upsetting all around. It took us about 10 minutes to wait him out so he would wake up and then he easily settled back into bed. Apparently our kids were super tired (hence the night terror that is often brought on by being overtired... which is similar to how mine were as a kid) and they slept in. Will slept until almost 8. I couldn't take advantage of enjoying that though because at 8am, we were toeing the starting line at UCF.
First though we had to get there. The drive over was easy and parking was super simple as usual. We walked over to the stadium where the start and finish of the race were set up and hit up the bathrooms then milled around a bit before watching the 2 mile racers start. Once they got started, we went over to the finish to see the finishers come in. The first place finisher was a young man done in about 10 minutes. The really amazing part was the first female finisher. Coming in just over 12 minutes if I remember correctly was an 11-year-old girl. Seriously. At 11, I was still playing with Barbies and reading Babysitter's Club Books nonstop. At 11, this girl is running fast and taking names. I was crazy impressed. After we watched a few more runners come in, we went over to our own start line to get ready to head out.
Steven decided to stick with me again this year. My back was giving me some issues in the week leading up to the race but I lucked out that it was getting better by the day and as of race morning, I had absolutely no pain. So, I was hoping to be able to keep up with Steven for 5 miles. Before we knew it, we were off. The first almost 2 miles of this race continued to be somewhat boring. There isn't much to look at as the course takes you around the back side of the Athletic Village area and the stadium. Then you make the turn onto the main road that circles UCF and run that for a while before heading into the heart of campus. The bonus was that this time, I had someone with me. And honestly, if it wasn't for Steven, I would have walked A LOT more, I think. We knew we would run the first mile but before we started Steven suggested that we run 2 like we did at the Star Wars 10k. And I agreed to go for it. I may have regretted it about 1.6 miles in, but my mantra is that I can do anything for .10 of a mile. And then I had to repeat that four times. Because of all of the turns this way and that, we ended up slightly ahead of the Track Shack mile markers as far as our distance went. (By the end, we were .10 over the 5 miles.) Steven kept pace with me for most of that 2 miles though I could tell he was itching to move a bit faster. Periodically he would pull ahead some before realizing I wasn't as fast and then would slow up a bit to let me catch up. Our first mile split came in at 11:42. A bit slower than Steven's normal mile 1 in a race, but about average for me if I run the entire thing. The second mile was a little slower at 12:06. Honestly, while I was thankful for a cool morning, the random wind coming directly at us wasn't helpful. Sometimes we would turn one way and it would be so strong that I could definitely feel how hard I was having to work to move against it. So, the slightly slower second mile was likely a combination of that and my fatigue setting in some. We walked just before mile 2 according to Track Shack through the water stop but then picked back up running until we hit the actual mile marker.
We continued on walking and running through the rest of the race. When I was tired, Steven would want to run. While I did too, I have to admit that he encouraged me to do so some of those times. I likely wouldn't have run nearly as much, like I said. Our slowest mile was actually mile 4 which came in at 13:03. However, to put it in perspective for me: Last year when I ran this (with Steven ahead of me), I averaged about 13:37 and 3 of my miles were over 14:00 minute miles. The course takes you all through the heart of UCF and a lot of back and forth motion. We were prepared for it this year. I remember last year seeing people coming towards me and thinking we must turn around soon... then not actually making the full turn for another mile. This year I was prepped. We hit the baseball stadium and made our way around the warning track. I requested a short walk break in the middle (after getting cheered on by the baseball team) but we ran most of the track before exiting the baseball stadium and making our way next door to the football stadium for the final stretch. We walked a short bit as we entered and stopped for a quick selfie.
As we came through the stadium, the women's rowing team was there to give a bunch of high fives. We ran the entire length of the field (though this time on the opposite side which was cool because it was the home team side where our own team hangs out during games). When we got near the end there was a guy with a camera that announced that he was going to follow Steven and me through the rest of the stadium when we high fived Knightro and were cheered on by the cheerleaders so he requested a lot of energy. I think he really just meant "don't stop running because then I have to go back and do this again with someone else." I'm not sure if he was there for Track Shack or something else so I will be watching the Track Shack videos that show up for this race (and any other videos) to see if we make a cameo. I think the fact that we both wore our race shirts probably helped. After that we exited the stadium. Steven wanted to run the rest of the way in but I requested a short walking break before we had the finish line in sight. Then we ran through the finish to complete the U Can Finish 5 mile (again)! Our final time was 1:04:08. (Steven was a second faster.) That smashed my time last year by about 5 minutes. It was about 2 minutes slower for Steven but not bad considering he stayed with me the entire time. I'm sure he would have been faster had he gone on his own but it is nice to run together since part of the reason we do this is to spend time together without the kids always being around. Rundate day!
After picking up our waters and some bananas we checked out some of the vendors in the area (and grabbed a donut from the Krispie Kreme tent. We walked around a bit before taking a few pictures by the Knight and heading out to the car to stop for a quick breakfast and head home to the kiddos and Nana who came in to watch them for us so we could run.
This race (again) was a ton of fun. It was even better since we stayed together for the duration of it. It was fun running through the stadium again. I love that university. I have an obvious soft spot since I spent the better part of 7 years there between undergrad and grad programs and it is always fun to go back for any reason. It is even cooler to run through it. I overheard another woman talking as we were running through the stadium about how this was her first time doing this race and it was probably at the top of her favorite races ever even though she didn't attend UCF mainly because of the fact that she was able to see the campus and run through the stadium. Plus, any race run by Track Shack is usually fun and very well put together. I'm a big fan of them. I highly recommend Track Shack for anyone in the area that wants to run a race especially if you want one that is well put together and managed. And they offer a bunch of really cool different clinics such as running form and race walking throughout the year as well as weekly runs with groups. I don't take part in those, but they all sound pretty cool.
So with that, we technically close out the fall racing season. Steven is signed up for the Track Shack Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I'm not doing that one because I have to start Thanksgiving dinner pretty early and it is just easier for me to remain home. We are going to be signing up for the Reindeer Run which is a 3 mile run by Track Shack through Sea World in December. For that one we will bring along the kids and Nana. Nana and I will be walking (with maybe a bit of running thrown in along the way) with the kids in the stroller and Steven will likely run it. It is a 3 mile rather than a 5k (so minus that last .10 mile). There is also a Rudolph Run for the kids and both kids are super excited to run it this year. They even get a shamu tail or something when they sign up. Kenzie still loves her finishers ribbon from the last race and Will is excited to earn his first one. Then we hit the new year and we already have a few races planned. More on those to come!
P.S. Don't we have the world's cutest medal models?? Their favorite part of our races is when we come home with a medal and they get to wear them around for a bit before we put them up. (Side note: Kenzie is super adept at her picture poses nowadays. I can't take a picture without her trying to get a pose of some sort in.)
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