This morning we took on a new race. This is one we heard about last year but it is run in mid-July. That is an issue usually for a couple of reasons. One... it's hot. And two... we are often out of town around the time it is run. This year though, we made plans early to run it and worked our trip around it. One main bonus to it is that the race is run through St. Augustine the weekend of Grandaddy and Steven's birthdays. So, if they are home, we can stay with Grandma and Grandaddy and celebrate a couple more birthdays the same weekend. And that was the plan for this year.
Steven and I left the house this morning around 6am. The drive in was easy enough but because this is a point to point race in Downtown St. Augustine so parking was limited. We decided to park near the start by Castillo de San Marcos (the fort in St. Augustine) and we would walk back at the end of the race. This was a much smaller race than we are typically used to. Track Shack races are usually pretty large. This was maxed out under 1,200 people, I think. There were only about 1,100 registered a few days ago but we saw some people registering in person the morning of. We were able to find street parking that we had to pay for as the parking lot at the fort was full by the time we got to the starting line. We were early enough to make a potty stop and then relax a bit before the race started.
Eventually it was time to line up and wait for the starting horn. My favorite part was the National Anthem. Apparently last year the anthem messed up when they tried to play it and so all the runners sang it before the race started. This year, they tried to play it... and nothing happened. So, although the MC said he was hoping this wouldn't become a tradition, apparently it did and we all sang the National Anthem together. Honestly, it was pretty awesome. 1,200 people strong singing the National Anthem just because it wouldn't play on the sound system. Once we were done, we were off.
The race course was our first real point-to-point as every other one we have done has been a loop. We set off from Castillo de San Marcos and took a left up the Bridge of Lions. The reason it is a point-to-point is because the bridge is a drawbridge and they are only allowed to shut it down for 15 minutes to get the runners across. Therefore, they can't hold it open to let everyone return. When you have some people that finish a 5k in 15 minutes and some that take an hour, you can't keep the bridge open that long. This bridge was nothing compared to the Clearwater Causeway... but it was still a nice incline. We ran all the way up the bridge and back down again before I asked Steven to walk some with me. It was so HOT. So, so hot. So even though we probably could have run farther, but the humidity and heat was taking its toll on us (mainly me). The bridge was in the first 1k so it wasn't too bad. At that point we turned into a neighborhood off of A1A. This was an interesting race as far as course path goes. This course has 13 turns. That's more than we are typically used to, it seems. The problem is that we don't always run tangents. The course was certified and 3.11 miles. By the time we finished, my watch said I ran 3.19. We did it at an overall 12:05 pace so that was pretty good. We initially had a goal to keep it under 12 minutes but I slowed us down some.
We finished Mile 1 in 11:00. Then we slowed down some. Our next two miles were 12:24 and 12:59 respectively. At about mile 1.5 I tripped and twisted my knee a bit. It wasn't comfortable but I pushed through as much as I could. The worst part was the heat which was messing with my breathing. Steven also pushes me harder when we run together. It's good and bad. Bad because it takes more energy for me to push that hard but good because it does push me. Steven could have been faster but he stuck with me. I always try to send him ahead at points and he never goes. He said if he wanted to run a 5k that fast, he would do it around the neighborhood but this was more about us doing it together. At about mile 2.5 I got a stitch from my poor breathing but we made it work. When we got to the finish line, Steven let me stay ahead of him so I officially finished slightly faster than him. Haha. That won't happen again.
We grabbed our medals and waters (as well as a bag of ice... that's how hot it was). There was a vendor with samples of juice. We both had a yummy tangerine juice and a banana. We took some pictures and then started the approximately .5 mile walk back over the bridge to where we parked. A few more pictures including one in front of the lion on the bridge with our medals, and we were done for the morning. Always feels good to finish a run early in the morning and have the rest of the day still ahead of you.
This was a fun race. We will definitely do it again but next time we will actually expect the heat. There wasn't much we could have done to change anything, but we will make sure we hydrate more the day before. At least, I will because I think my stitches that I get are more related to breathing and dehydration. We had a great time. This was also our first non-local race. It isn't far from the house, but still not considered local for us. We have talked some about running races in other states too. Maybe as the kids get older we can find some whenever we go on trips. Then we can try to get one in every continental state eventually. #goals
Steven and I left the house this morning around 6am. The drive in was easy enough but because this is a point to point race in Downtown St. Augustine so parking was limited. We decided to park near the start by Castillo de San Marcos (the fort in St. Augustine) and we would walk back at the end of the race. This was a much smaller race than we are typically used to. Track Shack races are usually pretty large. This was maxed out under 1,200 people, I think. There were only about 1,100 registered a few days ago but we saw some people registering in person the morning of. We were able to find street parking that we had to pay for as the parking lot at the fort was full by the time we got to the starting line. We were early enough to make a potty stop and then relax a bit before the race started.
Eventually it was time to line up and wait for the starting horn. My favorite part was the National Anthem. Apparently last year the anthem messed up when they tried to play it and so all the runners sang it before the race started. This year, they tried to play it... and nothing happened. So, although the MC said he was hoping this wouldn't become a tradition, apparently it did and we all sang the National Anthem together. Honestly, it was pretty awesome. 1,200 people strong singing the National Anthem just because it wouldn't play on the sound system. Once we were done, we were off.
The race course was our first real point-to-point as every other one we have done has been a loop. We set off from Castillo de San Marcos and took a left up the Bridge of Lions. The reason it is a point-to-point is because the bridge is a drawbridge and they are only allowed to shut it down for 15 minutes to get the runners across. Therefore, they can't hold it open to let everyone return. When you have some people that finish a 5k in 15 minutes and some that take an hour, you can't keep the bridge open that long. This bridge was nothing compared to the Clearwater Causeway... but it was still a nice incline. We ran all the way up the bridge and back down again before I asked Steven to walk some with me. It was so HOT. So, so hot. So even though we probably could have run farther, but the humidity and heat was taking its toll on us (mainly me). The bridge was in the first 1k so it wasn't too bad. At that point we turned into a neighborhood off of A1A. This was an interesting race as far as course path goes. This course has 13 turns. That's more than we are typically used to, it seems. The problem is that we don't always run tangents. The course was certified and 3.11 miles. By the time we finished, my watch said I ran 3.19. We did it at an overall 12:05 pace so that was pretty good. We initially had a goal to keep it under 12 minutes but I slowed us down some.
We finished Mile 1 in 11:00. Then we slowed down some. Our next two miles were 12:24 and 12:59 respectively. At about mile 1.5 I tripped and twisted my knee a bit. It wasn't comfortable but I pushed through as much as I could. The worst part was the heat which was messing with my breathing. Steven also pushes me harder when we run together. It's good and bad. Bad because it takes more energy for me to push that hard but good because it does push me. Steven could have been faster but he stuck with me. I always try to send him ahead at points and he never goes. He said if he wanted to run a 5k that fast, he would do it around the neighborhood but this was more about us doing it together. At about mile 2.5 I got a stitch from my poor breathing but we made it work. When we got to the finish line, Steven let me stay ahead of him so I officially finished slightly faster than him. Haha. That won't happen again.
We grabbed our medals and waters (as well as a bag of ice... that's how hot it was). There was a vendor with samples of juice. We both had a yummy tangerine juice and a banana. We took some pictures and then started the approximately .5 mile walk back over the bridge to where we parked. A few more pictures including one in front of the lion on the bridge with our medals, and we were done for the morning. Always feels good to finish a run early in the morning and have the rest of the day still ahead of you.
This was a fun race. We will definitely do it again but next time we will actually expect the heat. There wasn't much we could have done to change anything, but we will make sure we hydrate more the day before. At least, I will because I think my stitches that I get are more related to breathing and dehydration. We had a great time. This was also our first non-local race. It isn't far from the house, but still not considered local for us. We have talked some about running races in other states too. Maybe as the kids get older we can find some whenever we go on trips. Then we can try to get one in every continental state eventually. #goals
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