Saturday, January 31, 2015

Flapjack 5K recap 2014


The 21st Annual Flapjack 5K was a first for me.  My 10 year old, Dylan, expressed interest in running a 5K with me after I ran the Gobbler 5K.  This was a local and inexpensive race, so I signed us up to run a week before the race.

After running Rap River with Dylan in the summer of 2013, I told myself I'd never run a race WITH him again.  Dylan and I discussed running and pace prior to the Flapjack race.  He decided he wanted to run his own pace on race day and not stay with me.  I reminded him that he runs for 40 minutes at PE mileage club and he just finished basketball season where he played most of the 40 minute game running back and forth on the court.  He was completely capable of running the entire 3.1 miles.

Car selfie with my Dylan
Race morning was cold for Florida, in the upper 40s!  We lined up as close to the start line as possible because there was no timing start mat.  As the race started, Dylan took off.  I told him he was starting too fast so he slowed down and I caught up to him.  We ran together for about a quarter mile and then he stopped to walk.  I suggested he not walk the race but slow his pace.  I left Dylan and ran on through the streets of Land O' Lakes to a 26:36 finish.

With our races finished, my friend Jen joined me as I walked back along the course to find Dylan.  I figured if he kept running, he should be close behind.  Unfortunately, he didn't keep running and was in a grumpy mood.  We encouraged him to run the last half mile with us but he refused.

He walked over the finish line!!  So frustrating!  He finished in 47:54...his slowest 5K.

I won second place in my age group!  Yippee!

Age Place: 2/13
Overall Place: 78/268
Gun/chip time: 26:36

Dylan enjoyed lots of pancakes after the race and apologized for not even trying in the 5K.

I love my boy but I'm glad we each ran our own race.  I don't think I would have made it if I had to deal with grumpy Dylan during a 48 minute 5K.

Do your kids like to run races?

Friday, January 30, 2015

Space Coast Half Marathon 2014 recap


For the second year in a row, I traveled over to the east coast of Florida the weekend after Thanksgiving to run the Space Coast Half Marathon.  I enjoyed and PRed the course last year so I had to go back for more bling!

The 2014 medal featured the Challenger Space Shuttle with 7 stars representing the seven lives lost when the Challenger exploded 73 seconds after liftoff on January 28, 1986.

Denise and I drove over on Saturday to visit the expo and pick up our race bibs and packets.  The expo was at a local hotel instead of the Kennedy Space Center this year.  The expo had more exhibitors than last year but was extremely crowded and hard to maneuver.  They ran out of women's race shirts which was very annoying, especially considering I did early registration before the general public.


Expo selfie with fellow Striders



After the expo, Denise and I checked in to our hotel and then met the Striders for dinner.  At dinner, one of my fellow runners, Bob, volunteered to pace me in the half to an under 2:00 hour finish.  I just PRed at the Savannah Rock N Roll Half with a time of 2:02:26.

On race morning, I was ready to conquer my half and hopefully a new PR under 2:00.  I met up with Bob and was a little nervous for him to pace me because we hadn't ever run together before.  We lined up near the 2 hour pace group in the start corral.  Shortly after, the race started and we were off, running along the scenic Indian River.


At about mile 3, my legs were already tired (probably because I walked around Busch Gardens all day on Friday).  We ran a nice pace and did not start out too fast.  I told Bob I wasn't sure this under 2 thing was going to happen today because I already wasn't feeling it.

The 2 hour pace group (A) and the 2 hour Galloway pace group (B) kept passing each other.  At about mile 4, I needed a little walk break just to catch my breath so we stopped to walk with the Galloway group.  I figured we could catch up with the other group (A) on the next run portion.  The Galloway group started their run portion and it was a SPRINT.  This Galloway group was equivalent to running intervals for 13.1 miles!  No thanks!  We caught up to the other group (A) but after the sprint I just ran, I couldn't keep pace.  The 2 hour pace groups ran off ahead but I was ok with that.  I ran my own race and if I didn't meet my goal, there would be another race.

Bob kept me going towards the end of the course where I would have slowed down my pace if I was by myself.  It was a hot day that slowly zapped my energy for running.


The last .10 mile curved around Riverfront Park in a half circle to the finish line.  We ran over a timing mat that I thought was the finish line and stopped running.  Bob looked back at me and yelled "come on" and I heard people yelling, "keep going"!  I was not at the finish line yet but the mat that allowed the announcer to call out our names.  UGH!  I started running again and crossed the finish line about 10 steps ahead.  I was glad to be done!  I didn't finish under 2:00 but did PR by 24 seconds.



Overall Place: 434/3304
Female Place: 184/2329
Age Div Place: 33/417
Average pace: 9:19
5K time: 28:33
10K time: 57:08
15K time: 1:26:15
Chip time: 2:02:02


I love the space shuttle medal and will be back for more!  What's your favorite race medal?