2015 Race Recap

Wrote this blog back in 2015 and for some reason never posted it! So here it goes........

This is probably something I should have done at the tail end of 2015, but since the blogging bug just recently bit me I decided to do it now.  I'm mostly writing this for me as a reflective look on the past year. I didn't have particularly the best racing times or many PRs but I am proud of all that I did last year.

So happens during the early part of last year I was racing a lot. It wasn't my intention it just circumstances just had it fall that way. On February 1st, I ran a race with a group of people from work. Then there was my half marathon 2 weeks later, then 2 weeks after that the Airport Runway race was rescheduled for the end of February, after that it just snowballed to the point I was doing a 5K race every 2 weeks. It was actually kind of fun and a little expensive but 2 of those races I got for free for volunteering and one race I only paid $5 for after a discount code. To tell you the truth I was happy my streak ended in May. Getting up early every Saturday was getting old quick! LOL
On to the races:

FTL A1A Half Marathon

A1A half marathon in 2015 was rough for me. I made a rookie mistake and wore a new insole in my shoe the day of the race by the end of mile 1 my foot started aching. I had to stop several times throughout the course to massage the knot in the ball of my foot. Then on top of that my legs felt so heavy and I felt like I was running in slow motion.  I still got a PR of 12 seconds but it was torturous.

So glad to be done!

FLL airport Runway 5K

Airport Runway 5K

This would have been a fun race since it was on the brand new airport runway. But my legs still felt so heavy from the half marathon two weeks before and then right before the race I lost my friend's car key. We rode together and she asked me to hold the key in my pouch. Somewhere on the long walk to the start line I dropped the key when I took my phone out to take pictures.  I couldn't believe I lost the key! I found the race director right before we started and told him and he said they'd keep an eye out for it. My mind was so preoccupied with the key situation and my legs didn't feel like running anyway so that meant I had my worst 5K race.  I was kind of over it to be honest. But on the way out of the runway area guess what I found on the floor??? GUESS? THE KEY!!! I was elated!  I think the heavens were too because not long after that the sky opened up and it poured down on us something massive!  LOL. but that's ok we had the key and were able to jump in the car and go home! LOL!

Shamrock 4 Miler 

The Shamrock 4 Miler was fun for different reasons. One my legs finally felt normal again, second this was my first time doing a 4 mile race and lastly it was my first time wearing a costume!  It was a hot and humid morning but my last mile was pretty fast. I caught up to a woman and kind of  kept pace with her. We pushed each other to the end. I like having someone to push me to the end.  I look forward to doing this race again. But this year the race is in the afternoon... in South Florida... in the hot blazing sun.... we shall see...  lol.

Race for Women's Wellness is a race I've been doing for 4 years now, except the one year I was pregnant. I love this race. Not sure why, I mean it's not anything spectacular, the route is actually kind of boring, lol, but they do have fun little things like this backdrop and the signs and nice giveaways. The medal, I must add, keeps getting better and better each year. It's a great race to run with my run crew! 

Andrea being a good sport!  LOL

PVAF 5K with BC crew

This next race was a PVAF 5K
This was a small race that a group from work did. It was for a great cause, there weren't an frills such as medals and just a banana and muffin and water as snacks but it was for a good cause. It benefited the Paralyzed Veteran's of America.  It was neat because they had a hand-cycle category along with the run/walk category.  This race I came in 4th in my age group!!  The girl who finished ahead of me beat me by 10 seconds. I saw her up ahead around mile 2 and closed the gap between us significantly but I ran out of steam at the end.  Next time!!

The next race I did was the Heroes in Recovery 6K!  It's a race to benefit an organization that helps those battling addiction. The race is a 6K because it symbolizes the extra effort it takes to overcome addiction. I like that.  This race is a fun one also. Great medal, a photo booth, great music and lots of vendors.  And they give prizes for the top 4 in each category instead of 3. 

Chuck from Runner's depot, Michelle and I right before the car caught us

The last race of the Spring racing series as the World Run.  Now talk about fun! I love love love this race. Why? Because the concept is so different.  It's a race with no finish line. How you ask??  Well you start racing and approx. 30 minutes after the start of the race the Catcher Car dispatches. Now the Catcher car is driving very slowly, and the goal of the race is to see how far you can run before the catcher car catches up to you and then your race is done. This was the 2nd year of this race but it was my first time.  I didn't know what to expect.  My friends who did it last year explained it to me but it's a little hard to comprehend until your in it.  I didn't know how long I'd be running. All I know I didn't want to be caught at mile 3 or something. But to my surprise I ran almost 6 and half miles before the Catcher Car passed me. By then I was ready to finish anyway  LOL.  We ended walking back to the start line which was about 2 miles away so in all I did almost 9 miles that day. The after party was great and we got to watch the final male and female runners that were still running the race! I think the winner ended up running almost 30 miles before he was caught by the car. 30 miles!! can you imagine!  LOL.

Another unique thing about this race was that it happens simultaneous around the world also. According to the World Run website there are 34 locations around the globe that participated.  Hence why it's called the World Run. The proceeds all go to spinal cord research and it's sponsored by Red Bull. Another perk we received was because of our large team. Because we had over 50 people on the BGR team they threw us a private party a few weeks after the race.  I am definitely doing this race again this year.  I hope they continue to do it for years to come. It'd be nice to visit other countries and run the race there! Run for those who can't!  http://www.wingsforlifeworldrun.com/us/en/

Walking back to the start line

      

Mommy and son!

After that came a long summer break which I needed. But I was ready to start again in the fall. September I found a race in my hometown. This race was cool because one they gave you a choice of race shirts to choose from. They had about 9 different choices. Another thing they had was a FREE kid's race!  Free is always good. And they also had free childcare for parents who were running. They'd watch your child while you run and then after I went to get him so he could run the kid race. They had fire demonstrations and they had some great post-race food. I will probably do this race again this year also.  It was fun running around my old stomping ground.  I reminisced on how I used to hate walking to work from my house. It was a mile walk and I hated every second of it. I was so happy when I got my car LOL. And look now I'm paying for the privilege to run down that same street. Life. 

Look at that form!

Next Race was the Rockin' Rib 10K. Only thing I can say about this race is it was so HOT and there was only 1 water station and I hated it.  The great swag bag and ribs won't get me this year.  LOL. Sorry. 

Next Race is another race I do annually, it's the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot! The Turkey Trot was my first race ever so it's nostalgic for me. Love getting up on thanksgiving morning and knocking out 3 miles before I go gobble on turkey and ham, stuffing, and some cake and pie!!  I mean 3 miles is nothing but it's something  LOL.  This race really upgraded from the ribbons they used to pass out. The medal this year was so cute and so was the race shirt.  One of the few times I actually wore the race shirt on race day.  This is another race that I do with my local BGR group.

BGR turned it out with the largest team!

I am finally on my last race for the year! Woohoo!  This was the Serena Williams 5k/Quarter marathon.  It benefits Serena Williams foundation. This is the second year she's involved in the race and she does come out to run the race with her sister, Venus.  It was another hot and humid one but we had some nice views along the beach.  I did pretty good on my time. First mile was kind of slow, really slow. My friend came running by me and told me to pick it up. so I did keeping up with her for a while but I was doing the 5K and she was doing the Quarter Marathon so we split off and I picked it up and completed some negative splits with the last mile being my fastest mile. I was proud of that. This is also a good race with nice nice shirts and giveaways but the worse part of the race is the it begins and ends in the sand. No bueno!

So there you have it!  Racing for 2015. I'm not sure what 2016 will look like. I just take it by ear.  So far I've run one half marathon which I recapped here.  I have a 5K scheduled for this weekend and I've already signed up for one in March but may be adding 2 more.... Shhh don't tell my husband.  LOL!