Race Season

Race season starts soon...as in 2 weeks.  I'm actually pretty excited about it.  We ran 7 miles yesterday and while my legs hurt, it felt good to get some long distances in again.  I don't think I've ran over 4 or 5 since last spring.  It's still pretty warm for running here in Florida, but it's definitely getting cooler!  We started at 7:00 am and finished at about 8:15 and it wasn't too hot yet.  Although, it definitely got hotter later in the day, which is still weird to me considering it's football season.  It should be cool, crisp fall weather!  Ahhh, I'll never get over that!  

Anyway, here are the races on my schedule for this year.  Unfortunately, I can't do 2 of the races I was most excited about.  Race for the Taste I'll be on a plane headed to Las Vegas for work (I suppose it's a pretty even trade) and Tower of Terror 13k I'll be celebrating Melissa and Andrew's wedding at their reception (also I pretty good trade, I suppose.  I'm so excited for them!).  So here it is:

September:

Miracle Miles 15k

October:

None yet b/c of the above interferences

November:

Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5k

Celebration Foundation 10k-tentative

December:

OUC 1/2 Marathon

Florida 1/2 Marathon

January:

Disney Full Marathon

February:

Breast Cancer 1/2 Marathon in Jacksonville Beach

March:

Disney's Princess 1/2 Marathon

CNL Winter Park 10k

April:

IOA Corporate 5k-Tentative

Hm...I feel like I need more races.  But, I'll probably go broke if I enter many more.  Between races and concerts, well, we know where my money goes.  Speaking of concerts.  We got our tickets for the Jason Mraz concert in December!  So excited!  And we're going to see Augustana/Maroon 5/Counting Crows in less than a month!  

And best news of all, I'm going home to Ohio in 5 days.  Holla.

Okay, time to get ready for church.  Have I mentioned how much I love Sunday nights and church?  Because I do.  :)

Race Review--iDrive 5k

So this race review is a bit past due. But here it is. Saturday was the iDrive 5k and it was...on i Drive. Get it? haha. Okay then.

The race start time was at 7:30, but with summer quickly approaching here in Florida, it was very warm by 7:30 already. It didn't seem too crowded and the course was extremely flat. Unfortunately there was absolutely no shade, so the heat on the asphalt just intensified during the course.

I'm not used to running such short races anymore (ha! Never thought I'd hear myself call a 3.1 mile race short!). I'd much rather run a 10k or 15k race. It gives me time to settle into my pace and make up for slow miles. With only 3 miles, if I have a slow first mile then it's pretty much all down hill from there. Surprisingly, I didn't do too bad. My first mile was a 7:30. My second mile was about a 7:45. My third mile was a little down hill. I think it was somewhere around 9:15 or so. YIKES! But I was fairly satisified with my final time of 24:33. Definitely not my best time, but since I've been training for longer races, I was satisfied with this time.

I left right after I finished because I had to let some friends in to the parks. I found out the next day that I got 3rd in my age group so I won some prizes! But I didn't stay around to get them b/c I never place and didn't expect to here. Guess that teaches me. I was also 23 out of 313 women, 120 out of 652 total finishers, and ran a pace of 7:54. Not too bad.

I'd recommend the race. It was pretty inexpensive and pretty well organized. It's probably my last race for the season unless I throw in one more 5k in June. I might get to squeeze a relay triathlon in there somewhere. Otherwise, it'll just be training all summer long for race season to start up again in August/September.

Happy Running :)

Race Review--Minnie Marathon

What a great day for a race! I woke up this morning right around 4:30 feeling pretty energized after only about 5 hours of sleep. I had laid out my clothes and everything I needed for the race the night before so it was okay I was in a half daze as I got ready this morning. I was out the door by 5:00 and headed for Animal Kingdom. It was probably in the mid 60s when I met up with the running group at about 5:30. We headed for the start line and the race started right on time at 6:15 this morning.

I had told myself that I wasn't going to run for time, but just to get a good work out in. The race was a 15k (9.3 miles) and the farthest I've run since the 1/2 marathon in Jacksonville in February was 8 miles. I started the race with Pam and at the first mile we saw that we were at a 10:20 and we both decided that just wasn't gonna work for us (granted, the first mile is usually the slowest because of all the people, but still...). So of course, my competitive streak came out real fast and I picked up pace and took off. I was much happier to find that the rest of my splits were either 9 mins or less. Annnnd, (drumroll please), I finished in 1:23:08 setting a 15k PR for myself by more than 3 minutes! (My previous 15k time was from September. I ran a 1:26:34). I was really excited! I remember feeling utterly and completely exhausted in September after the 15k and today I felt sooo much better. I can tell my endurance has definitely improved throughout the year.

I have been having some problems with my right knee and left hip although they weren't too bad throughout the race. I think my knee is out of place again (I know, doesn't that sound fun?), but luckily I go to the chiropracter first thing tomorrow morning so he can fix that. My hip/butt/thigh/etc. all hurt, but I'm not really sure what the cause of it is. I'm sure if I quit running it'd get better, but seriously, let's be honest, quit running? I don't think so.

Everyone in the group did really well today. I think we all ran PRs, so it was a good day all around. The course is similar to part of the marathon course. We started out at Animal Kingdom, headed down Osceola to the entrance to the sports complex, did a uturn and headed back down Osceola, up the ramp to World drive (?), took another ramp to the back entrance of the Studios and then ran through the Studios, past Yacht & Beach, and through Epcot to the finish (confused yet?). It's a fast flat course so it's pretty easy to PR.

Anyhow, I'd recommend this race, but unfortunately it's the last year for it.

Happy Running :)

Race Review--IOA 5k

It's that time again. Kristi's race review. I know, I know. You've all been in suspense waiting anxiously for my next review. Okay, maybe not. Humor me. 'k thanks.

The IOA 5k is put on by the Insurance Office of America (I think? I'm really just too lazy to go Google it, so we'll go with Insurance Office of America). Anyhow, it's a corporate 5k meaning that you have to sign up as a team from your company. Disney has always had quite a few people participate, but it's typically a bunch of teams from a variety of departments. This year, however, Disney paid for entry fees so we could have one giant team. There were over 1600 runners representing Disney at the IOA 5k.

The course itself was pretty good. It was flat and fast. However, the organization of the race was not so fun. Unlike most races in Central Florida, there were no time chips, therefore, no official timing. That also meant that the clock time is your time, and for me, the clock time was 55 seconds slower than my real time (translation for you non-runners: it took me 55 seconds to cross the start line b/c there were so many people). It was incredibly crowded (which is typical of most road races), but there wasn't any pace seperation/identification at the start, so there were ultra slow walkers at the front and faster runners in the back (yes, this is a HUGE pet peeve of mine...if you're gonna walk or if you're slow--GET TO THE BACK...ai yi yi).

The weather conditions were not so ideal. Lately in Central Florida the weather has been pretty mild, but tonight it was pretty warm. At least it was just a 5k and not a longer race.

After the race, Disney gave all of it's runners a free meal and it was good, so I can't complain! There was also free beer available, but for some reason, beer just doesn't seem all that appealing after I've finished running. I'll take a bottle of water, thanks.

So there you have it. I'm glad I didn't pay for the race, but it was really cool to see a bunch of other Cast Members out there running. I saw a ton of people I knew so it was cool to catch up with them.

Now you can all wait in suspense until my next edition of Race Review. The Minnie Marathon is quickly approaching. And I'm very much looking forward to it...9.3 miles! :)

Happy Running!