Race Reports/Encouragement/Kudos - April 4 and 5

[wtpclc]

Way to go Matt! You are amazing!!! Will be sending tons of on teh 19th!

 

[tiberius]

Here is my Muddy Trails 5K Report, it is pretty much what I posted earlier on the Team Ohana thread, with some of the "inside information" removed:
It turns out that the race started at 4 in the afternoon, which is a bit unusual, but fitting with the after-race events. Not long after I arrive I hear my name called and see my friend John and his son, and a short time later the rest of his family comes up, with some other relatives who drove into town for the weekend. The afternoon is a bit warm, so I figure conditions are not great for a good running time but I do resolve to have a good time while running. The race starts out on a road but hits a wide running trail in about a 1/4 mile or so. While getting near 1 mile, my side was hurting a bit because of the effort, but I hit the first mile in 9:20, which is definitely fast for me. After this I throw in a 30 - 45 second walk break about every 5 minutes or so. I figure I am doing OK, but not my best, so I hope for a time in the 32 - 34 minute range. As I come near the end and the finish line comes into sight, the clock is crossing 30 minutes and I coast across in 30:20, getting a new PR by 50 seconds and I was cheered across by my friends and their family.
After the race all runner's get huge plates of crawfish, plus any other concession-type food is available to all for a reasonable cost and a live band play zydeco music.

After a time we learn John finished first master's male finisher, and we explain to his wife how that is better than first place in the age division (which he otherwise won by 2 minutes). After 90 minutes or so, we leave and I am invited back to their house for drinks, smores and conversation around a small backyard bonfire before leaving around 11 to make the short drive home.

 

[amykab]

I forgot to have this added to the list, but I ran a 5K this past weekend. Congrats to all the racers this past weekend!

Here's a little RR about my 5k on saturday....

So, I ran the Aflac Iron Girl 5K in Clearwater on Saturday morning. Aflac does a series of 10 races and tri's all over the country every year.

Weather: Absolutely perfect. low-mid 60's, not a cloud in the sky. Perfect.

Outfit: Black running skirt, and the tech shirt that came with race registration. Tiara bondi band. I have to have an outfit all planned out, even for just a 5K.

The Race: About 1500 ish runners and walkers. The start of the race was not marked by a air horn or anything, but by the aflac duck yelling the trademark "AAFFLAAAC". Race started out uphill. Flattened out for a bit and then we made the turn to go over the clearwater memorial causeway bridge. This is the main biggest bridge out to the beaches. Ginormous. So we run up it, and I was under the impression that the turn around for the 5K was at the top. Umm, no. We ran down the other side, turned around and went back up. OMG. I took a walk break at around mile 2, right before the return over the bridge. Legs were on fire. I ran as fast as I could on the downhill. It flattened out again and then there was another hill, albeit small, but seemed huge to my tired legs. Finished in 34 flat. Just a bit slower than my last 5K. I am very very happy with this time though because of the hills, since all of my 5K's have been on pancake flat courses. My garmin says my average pace was 10:50. Holy Crap!! And my first 2 miles were sub 11 minutes. Totally fanatastic. And I placed right around the middle for my age group and overall. I am usually towards the back third. And I was almost 4 minutes under the average 5K time. So happy with the results of this race.

Pics

Me, in my post race sweaty grossness, posing by my beautiful bougainvillea plant that finally came back to life after we had to transplant it.

Delena, modeling my bling.