Race Season #2

My race season is finally over. (I have to stay strong though and not sign up for another race until this fall; I must save money!) I had a lot of successes in my second race season.

My successes:

• I finally PRed by getting under my long time goal of a sub 30 minute 5K. Now it is pretty standard for me to run 3 miles in 30 minutes or less (if I try).
• I finally logged 1000 miles of running as of last week. I got over 1000 miles a while ago for all activities (running, walking, biking, elliptical, etc), but I finally actually hit that mark for JUST running.



• Since the start of this race season, I have lost 4.5 pounds.
• I am FINALLY in single digit pants and dress sizes.
• I can do real push ups. No more lady push ups for me.
• I can hold a plank for longer than a minute!

The races:

1. Run for the Fallen
2. UNCF Walk for Education
3. Lady Speed Stick Half Marathon & 5K
4. Florida Holiday Halfathon
5. The Color Run
6. The Glow Run
7. The Warrior Dash Florida
8. The Rock & Roll Half Marathon 5K
9. Gasparilla 5K
10. Tampa Bay Corporate 5K
11. Iron Girl Half Marathon & 5K
12. The Urban Chicken Scavenger Hunt

I tried to do a lot of races that were an “experience” of some kind such as the Color and Glow Run and the Warrior Dash. And for some reason, I almost exclusively did 5Ks this race season. Only two of my twelves races weren’t 5Ks (#4 and #12).

That will definitely change next race season as that one is all about distance. Wish me luck.

The Urban Chicken Scavenger Hunt

This race was quite expensive, but thanks to a deal, it was affordable.

The swag bags were very sad, but they contained a water bottle, and we got a t-shirt.

My team was named The Bad Chics. We had chicken hats and made chicken feet.

The way it works was as a team we sought out to solve 12 clues. We had to take a picture at very clue, and the whole team had to be in it.

The most evil stations had us working out. One station required us to do 10 push-ups, and another had us doing yoga poses. The most notable clue was a house that Ty Pennington built on Extreme Home Makeover for a family whose house was destroyed by a plane.

When finished, we crossed the finish line, received our time ticket, and had our photos checked to confirm we actually finished.

First of all, it was horribly hot. There was very little shade through the majority of the search. Also, it would’ve been much more fun in a place we were more familiar with.

With the help of other groups, townspeople, business owners, the postman, a map, and our phones, we finished in 2 hours and 50 minutes. The winning team clocked in at an hour and fifteen. When all was said and done, we ran 5.5 miles. I haven’t run that much since some time in December, and I am so sore.

Post race, there was fruit. We also got a free alcoholic beverage, and there was a costume contest and a live band.

I’m not opposed to doing a scavenger hunt again, but a couple things will have to be true. 1- I have to be in a place I know better. 2- It cannot be in such hot murderous weather.

4 5Ks

The end of my race season was inundated with 5Ks. I signed up for a bunch out of excitement for the PR, but by the time I got to these, I was bored with the 5K race. From February to April, I was annoyed that I had to keep waking up early for these, but I managed to do them.

1. Roll & Roll Half Marathon & 5K (29:05)
This organization decided to add the 5k (the mini marathon as they called it) pretty close to the date of the race. I signed up with the amazing sale price.

Pre-race:
Packets had to be picked up during the expo the two days before the race. The expo was on the field at the Tampa Bay Rays stadium which was pretty cool. I only managed four hours of sleep before the race, so I felt like crud while I ran it.

Race Day:
The 5K started first. I struggled pretty hard to keep my race pace. This one didn’t loop back around, so essentially I ran 3 miles away from car. I slowed down a lot mile 2, but my friends were at mile 2.5 setting up a cheer station for the half marathon and started yelling at me because they knew I could run faster. So, I did.

Closing Thoughts:
I had to walk 2.3 miles back to my car. The other option was paying $15 for parking and the shuttle back. That was a rip off to me until I had to walk back to my car. The medal was quite underwhelming.

At the end of the race, I got chocolate milk, water, Gatorade, strawberries, and a banana. If I wanted, I could’ve also gotten beer, bagels, and various nutritional bars. So on the food front, this race was great. Everything else was meh.

Gasparilla Race Weekend (30:47)
On Saturday, there’s a 5k and a 15k. On Sunday, there’s a half marathon and an 8k. Originally, I was going to do the challenge that did the Saturday races and the half marathon, but I got so burned out training for my half that I only signed up for the 5k.

Pre-race:
Packets had to be picked during the expo which went on Friday and Saturday at the Tampa Convention Center. I got so many freebies, but I also bought a headband and a handheld phone holder for while I run; no more Ziploc baggie for me.

Race Day:
It was disgustingly hot and was such a cluster eff. There was not one point in the race where I wasn’t running in a thick crowd of people. Very early on, I knew I couldn’t PR because I couldn’t get far enough ahead of the crowd, so I slowed down and ran it with a buddy from one of my run clubs and pushed her.

Closing Thoughts:
The medal was alright.

I only got water and a banana. The other free stuff required walking to the race festival after. I did spend the rest of the afternoon as well as Sunday morning and afternoon cheering for the other races which was fun.

Next year, I am thinking I have to do the challenge that does all 4 races, but that heat situation was really awful.

3. Tampa Bay Corporate 5K (30:28)
This was a Thursday night race, and I signed up for it a week prior because it was comped through one of my ambassadorships. It is a team event that people run with their colleagues. I ran it with a running store I’m an ambassador for.

Pre-race:
I did this with a friend, and she picked up our packets. All that came in the bag were the t-shirts. This was literally the worst swag bag I have ever received, but this car sticker was in it:

Race Day:
This race was in downtown Tampa. The park where it started was beautiful, but the neighborhood we ran through was a bit of a mess. It was disgustingly hot, and there was a really rough bridge that we went over before the first mile ended. Then came back over it at the start if mile 2. It was awful, but only because of the heat.

Closing Thoughts:
There was free beer and wine post-race which was awesome. The snacks were laid out on an unmanned table so that was a hot mess. I did thoroughly enjoy how melty the chocolate chip cookies were. There was no medal, and my size medium t-shirt was from Baby Gap. If this race had cost me money, I’d be really upset about its general jankiness. But it was free, so no complaints.

4. Iron Girl Half Marathon & 5K(32:20)
This race is similar to the Women’s Half Marathon in that it was only women running.

Pre-race:
Packets had to be picked during the expo. I didn’t go to avoid spending money like I did at the Rock & Roll expo, so a friend picked it up.

Race Day:
As a Clearwater race, it was incline central. Going over the bridge towards the beach and back was beautiful though. The bridges were very steady inclines, so they weren’t terrible. Difficult, but doable. I knew I couldn’t PR, so again I kept pace with a friend which I think helped make the bridge portion so manageable.

Closing Thoughts:
Between the medal and the free pancake breakfast after, this race made me happy. I may have interest in it next year.

Finally. Done with my 5Ks. At least for this season.

Last Night…

Last night, something very strange happened.

I was driving home from a friend’s place. I watched a man stumble on the sidewalk then fall into the street. He hit his head pretty hard on the road. Instead of getting out of the street, he sat on the curb with legs still in the right lane.

I watched him almost get hit by two cars, so I pulled off onto a side street. I went to him along with another woman who pulled off too.

The man was inebriated beyond belief. He kept mumbling about how he lost his glasses, and that’s why he fell. He refused to move back away from the street. We watched him almost have his legs run over several times by passing cards that could barely see him because of how dark it was.

During most of this, the other woman was on the phone with the police. Te man was shouting at us to not freak out every time we almost saw his legs ripped off.

When he did finally get up, he started staggering toward us in pursuit slurring “Let’s get this straightened out.” We both ran away, but by this time police were near. I hopped in my car and drove off.

Throughout the entirety of this incident, I was scared shitless that I was going to watch a man die. All I could think of was the time my friends and I passed a dead Fed Ex driver at an accident scene. The truck was smashed in a way that his body was stuck, but the emergency workers had taken the door off in their efforts to get the body free. So the bloody, maimed body was out for all to see.

Anyhow, the drunk man kept shouting at us and calling us bitches because we were so worried about him.

I had to remind myself that this isn’t Indiana anymore. I’d stopped being a Good Samaritan after living in Florida for a month. And his rude behavior despite the fact we were trying to help him reminded me why. Also, this is a “Stand Your Ground” state, so I definitely have no business sticking my neck out for crazies.

Ain’t nobody got time for that.

Warrior Dash Florida

This is officially my favorite race, surpassing #5 from this list.

Sprinkled into a 3.3 mile race were amazing obstacles. I can safely say had I done this race last year, it would not have been as much fun. I’m not by any means strong, but I do have some upper body strength that served me well. The obstacles were not the hardest part; I think running in deep loose sand was difficult. It was a nice butt workout for sure.

I did all but one obstacle. It was through a “pond” that required wading through water, climbing over a large floating obstacle, then wade, then climb, then wade, then climb, then wade out of the water and back onto the land. The volunteers were shouting that if you couldn’t swim not to do it, so I went around it and waited for my friend to go through it. As I watched the participants struggle through it, I was jealous and decided I definitely could’ve done it.

At the fourth to last obstacle, we waited for over fifteen minutes in line to do it. As we waited, we both decided we were DEFINITELY doing the Warrior Dash again somewhere. I think this obstacle was supposed to be the hardest one, but I didn’t think it was that bad. It mostly required climbing four attached mountain-like structures and thinking of how to get across to the next panel without breaking your neck. I finished it pretty quickly which was quite empowering.

Before this obstacle, we had barely gotten muddy, though we got very wet. After this obstacle, we had to roll through a mud pit and avoid really low barbed wire so muddiness ensued.

The last challenge was to jump over fire after which we got our medals which are also bottle openers.

When the race was over, timed chips could be exchanged for a free beer which was nice. And runners could donate their shoes to charity and get a free pair of flips flops:

Next time, I am going to actually have a costume; not one with a hat however because that will be lost very quickly.

If you decide to participate in this AMAZING race:

• Pre-sign the waiver by downloading and printing it from the website.
• Bring baby wipes. A great friend of mine warned me about this, and she was right.
• Make sure Google maps is actually taking you to the ranch which is on a county road, not a random street in town. We thought we made it, but were actually half an hour away from our destination.

H, out.

The Glow Run 5K

The Glow Run 5K was almost exactly like the Color Run. Thankfully, it wasn’t as expensive.

Like the Color Run, there were thousands there, no timing chips, and we were started in waves. The swag bags were nothing to write home about except that they contained more glow stuff.

The only water station was over two miles in which is ridiculous on a hot (winter!) day in Florida. I wasn’t running my hardest by any stretch of the imagination, but I really needed water (which runners pass after 1.5 miles, but are not allowed to partake in till the turn around…) and wasn’t getting it!

After the participants crossed the finish line, there were volunteers haphazardly handing out water bottles and granola bars. It was such a mess and not everyone got water.

There was a huge stage with a DJ and a ridiculous dance contest happening. There was a photo booth with glow lights; the line for said booth was unreasonably long. They announced that there was free beer in the beer garden, but they were out within half an hour.

Post race, there were no bananas or snacks (well, accept for the granola bar) or food.

I would be really pissed off about a lot of these things especially the lack of bananas, but we got a REALLY nice medal. I’m assuming the money they spent on medals made it so other parts of the race were lacking.

Will I do it next year? Probably not, but I did have fun.

H, out.

So,

I’ve decided to stop starting my entries with “so.”

“H, out” is still in.

Some entries may still lead with “so,” but this one and most won’t anymore.

Did you even notice they all but the last 2 start what way? Probably not.

H, out.