HOT Run 5K and 10K, St. Pete Beach, FL, Sept. 19, 2013: race recap

I may have mentioned a time or 50 that summer running kind of sucks for me. So, when an inaugural summer race came about, I really debated if I wanted to do it. I thought about volunteering. But, after the majority of my running group signed up for either the 5K or 10K, I decided to go for the 5K. Maybe it would be motivating? Maybe I could finally shake my horrible running streak?

 

The race was on a Thursday evening, which was a nice change from the super-early Saturday or Sunday morning. But, it also had the potential to be hot and humid. And, it was.

 

It also had some sprinkles, which caused a slight delay in the start.

Scary sky before the start

The course was a totally flat, rectangular-shaped loop. For the 5K, it was two loops. For the 10K, it was four loops. The course went along Pass-A-Grille Beach, east to Boca Ciega Bay, north along the bay, west to the beach and south again to complete the loop. So, incredible views the entire way.

 

The idea with the 7:20 p.m. start time is that you’d see a 7:30 p.m. sunset over the Gulf and at 7:36 p.m. full moon rising over the bay. Unfortunately with the rain, you didn’t really see either. 

Sunset trying to show through the clouds.

 

I should have gone into this race with the idea to just have fun and enjoy my running group pals. Instead, I got some crazy idea in my head that some miracle could occur and I could finally get that under-30-minute 5K.

Fun before the race

I started off “fast,” and boy did I regret that. I felt pretty miserable the entire race. There’s no need to analyze each mile or figure out where things went wrong. I just wasn’t ready for a personal record (PR) 5K. That sweet previous time of 30:09 seems so far away.

 

Aside from my performance, the race itself was fun! They had DJs stationed along the course. They had fun lighting and even a station that blasted out cryogen (cold air).

 

After sweating like a maniac and crossing the finish line at 33:21, I got this sweet medal. 

HOT is from a local radio station (HOT 101.5) not based
on the temperature or the people wearing the medal.

 

I actually had to towel off (well, napkin off, technically) before this
photo because I was so sweaty.

The Hurricane Restaurant provided the post-race food (the race began and ended there), and it was pretty sweet, too.

 

While this personally wasn’t a great race for me, it was for so many people in my running group. There were PRs and age group placers galore. These peeps are amazing! And, having that group support makes a personally poor race so much more bearable. If not for celebrating others’ successes (or even commiserating about others’ bad races), I would just dwell on my poor performance and take that turn to negative town.

Fit2Run St. Pete represent!

Thanks to some of these great running peeps, I learned so many things this race:

• An injured runner is a bitter walker.
• Fourth place is a very bitter place.
• No matter how long the wait for beer is, it’s worth it.
• Watch out for piles of puke on the course.
• Celebrate others’ successes.

I also learned that the HOT Race was a blast, and I’m looking forward to running it next year.

 

Do you ever run races for fun? Have you ever done a loop course? Did you run the HOT Run? What did you think?

Women's Half Marathon, St. Petersburg, Florida, Nov. 18, 2012: race recap

It's official: I love the Women's Half Marathon!

I ran this race last year as my first half marathon, and even though I was disappointed in my performance, I thought the race rocked. It's so well done. Everything. It's organized. It's a great course. It has sufficient water (and Gatorade) stops. It has great bling. And, as a bonus for me, it's local.

So it's probably no surprise that I ran this race as my fourth half marathon, and I thought the race rocked again. 

After more than three months of training, my running group friends and I were ready for this race. We met up early Sunday morning at a hotel close to the start (for indoor restrooms and a place to gather). It was a short walk to the start line.

Lori, Christine and me outside the hotel before the race

Thankfully, we didn't get to our corral any too early. It was crazy crowded and kind of warm for such a cool day (really, pretty ideal running weather: 60s and overcast).

A few minutes after we found and squeezed into our corral, the race started. It was pretty crowded for the first mile, so Lori and I started off slower than we usually do. 

Since we are fortunate to train in the exact location of the race, the course was extremely familiar. We ran along the water, into a neighborhood and back out along the water. We took a GU gel around mile 4 with some water.

At this point, I felt great! I was a little nervous when we got to mile 6 because this is where I stopped to walk last year (and never recovered). We kept on trucking through mile 6. We even kept on trucking on the Pier, my running nemesis. It proved to be my nemesis again as it was super windy. We ran straight into a strong wind up the Pier. Thankfully, once we ran around the Pier and back the other way, the wind was at our backs.

I highly dislike you, Pier!

Around mile 8, we took our second GU gel followed by water. Aside from the pesky Pier, I think the last 4 miles are the toughest of this course. It involves a gradual incline up through downtown St. Petersburg, a trip around Mirror Lake (boring), then on to Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays, before heading to the finish. 

We knew what was ahead and prepared for this portion of the course. Our coach had us do multiple Mirror Lake repeats during training so once around the lake wouldn't seem so bad during the race. And, it really didn't seem so bad.

The run from Mirror Lake to Tropicana Field is what did seem bad to me. Even though I ran the course last year and did a 12-mile training run that included this portion of the course, I thought Tropicana Field was much closer to Mirror Lake than it really was. This part seemed long, but we kept running.

Once we hit Tropicana Field, we ran inside the dome. Yes, as a part of this race you run around the warning track of a Major League Baseball field. For a baseball-loving girl like me, this is pretty sweet. For a runner who ran 10+ miles on asphalt, this switch to a squishy surface is not so sweet. It was definitely slower going here. 

We had a gradual incline outside of Tropicana Field before we hit the downhill run back to the finish. Around mile 12, I met Denise. She was working a water stop, and I recognized her from her blog and the Tampa Bay Bloggers group. She was so sweet to jog some with me before taking a picture of our group.

Our coach joined Lori and I at this point to run with us before
going back out for the next group to bring in to the finish.

Then, it was time to really kick it in. We only had 1.1 miles left, and I was ready to run fast. It was all downhill to the finish. We took off. We ran hard that last 1.1 miles. Really hard. Really, really hard.

After a strong finale across the finish line, we received out medals from the military, grabbed some water and snacks, and met up with others from our group.

With the coveted bling

Purple power

Ahh! Grass!

I was happy with my performance. I only walked through water stops. I had a really strong finish. I ran the entire race with my running buddy, Lori, and really enjoyed almost every minute of this race. 

I was shocked to realize that my time was 2:45:33. This is only 3 minutes faster than my disastrous, walk-a-ton result of last year. Why did I feel so disappointed last year and feel happy this year? I'm not sure. I guess running the entire distance (aside from water stops)  feels better than walking portions. I'm not sure. 

The other question is: why is my time only 3 minutes better? I feel like a much stronger runner. And, the weather this year was ideal – especially compared to the hot, miserable, above-average temps of last year. Maybe I didn't push myself as hard as I could? I probably need to pick up the pace sooner. I'm just so conservative and worried I'll burn out before the finish. I need to work on that. 

As far as this race, I loved everything. As far as my performance, there are definitely things I can work on.