Winter Park Road Race 10k Recap

On Saturday March 23, 2013 I ran the Winter Park Road Race 10k with some of my fellow Mom's RUN This Town members. This was the first official run with my fellow MRTT teammates and it was so nice to get out there and put our feet to the pavement as a group.

This was the final in the Track Shack running series, it starts and finishes on Park Ave in Winter Park. The 10k course is a dream with a shaded route and beautiful homes. This was also the first race I have repeated. I ran this race last year for the first time, and was very excited to be running it again. 


Race morning started off like any other morning. Woke up, had a cup of coffee, went to get my toast and peanut butter and discovered that my children ate all the bread. AHHH, now what do I do? hmm..Quick text Roybn. I was meeting my friend Robyn at her house so that we could carpool from there. Parking at this race is not the easiest, so you want to get there early to get the prime parking in the lot next to the train station. So, I text Robyn to see if she has any toast and woohoo, Robyn to the recue. I pull up and she is outside waiting for me with my toast and peanut butter all ready for me to eat. LOVE this girl.

We arrived at the parking area just in time to get one of the last available parking spots. Once parked we headed over to the starting area. It was still dark, and most of the booths were just finishing their set up, so we walked around a bit before heading over the designated meet up area for our fellow MRTT friends.

Brandyn, Okely, myself & Robyn

After taking a quick photo, Okely and Brandyn headed off for the Start of the 2 miler. This race also has a 2 mile run and Distance Dare. These two ladies were running the distance dare. We set a meeting spot for when they got back, and off they went. While we waited for the start of the 10K, I made my way over to the famous Port-a-potty village. I have to say that they do provide a good amount of potty's at this race. Lines were long as they always are, but manageable. I wasn't having to do the pee-pee dance like at the bigger races.

Then came the rain. Yup not even 5 minutes after the start of the 2 mile run it starts raining, then the rain turns to a down pour. Robyn and I ran for cover under the tent of a company called Barre. Thank you so much for that too. I felt so bad though for our friends running the 2 mile they were in the worst of the rain, then had to run the 10k right after.Soak n wet feet and all.

Start time arrives and the rain was still coming down. This is where you discover if you are really a runner or not. You have 2 choices. A) Run to your car and head home or B) head to the start line and run the race in the rain. Yup, you guessed it running in the rain was the choice. So there we stood, getting completely soaked waiting for the gun to go off.

After about mile 1 the rain stopped. WOOHOO!!!

Now mind you I am a very slow runner, and my friend Robyn is faster than I am, but she stayed with me for the first 2 miles. I thank her for that, cause with being wet and cold, I probably would have walked a lot slower than we did. She kept me going at somewhere around a 15:30 minute pace. At mile 2 I gave her my blessing to head out on her own and finish strong.

This is one of the homes on the course

A little about the course. This course runs through an area of Winter Park where the homes are huge and absolutely gorgeous. Around 2 beautiful lakes, and through a mostly shaded area. It would be a perfect course if not for the old style brick roadway. I felt like I was Dorothy following the yellow brick road. I think I actually skipped through part of it signing in my head "follow the yellow brick road, follow, follow, follow.."  you get the idea. It's really hard on the shins and lower legs to walk on this, and with it being wet from the rain it was a little slippery as well.  It's not like this the entire way, but a good majority of it, it alternated between the brick streets and the regular asphalt road.

The brick roads

At around mile 4 I met up with this really nice lady, her name was Royce. She was super sweet and kept me going at the 15:30 minute pace till around mile 4 where me knee started hurting really bad. If you read my princess review you will recall that I hurt my knee pretty badly around mile 8. Well, this is the most miles I had done since then, and with the way the road was, it was hurting quite a bit at this point.  Just before mile 5 I met up with another lady named Meghan. We discovered that we both had run the Princess Half, and of course that gave us something to talk about.

Meghan and I were both at about the same point in this race. I was cold, wet, tired and having knee pain, and I had it in my mind that I was out here just to finish and not PR. So we slowed down a bit, and just enjoyed the time talking and laughing.

Let me add a little something here about the water stops at this race. I am very upset about this. The first water stop at about mile 1.5 was fine. Plenty of water, people cheering you on, it was great. When we got to the next stop just after mile 4 it was a little disappointing. They had already started tearing down, and the table they had up only had about 10 cups of water on it. There were still a good 20-30 people behind me. The final water stop before the finish was just before mile 5. It was actually the same stop as the first one at mile 1.5, you passed it coming back as well so that was good for them as they only had to really man 2 physical stops. This one however is the one I was completely disappointed in. When we got there, they had already completely taken it down. The tables were gone, and they had run out of cups so there was only one volunteer standing there with a jug of water offering to fill a bottle IF you even had one, or let you drink from the jug, Ahhh... NO thank you, I have no idea who else may have drank from that jug before me. I just feel that water stops should be open till the last person passes. They probably need the water even more than the faster runners before them. They are out there longer and probably are less seasoned runners/ Walkers who really need that hydration. So that meant the 20+ people behind me also had to finish the next 1.5 miles with no water. (2.5 since last water stop)

Just before mile 6, we turned around to look behind us. I was very shocked to see that there was only one lady and the police car behind us. I really didn't think we had slowed down that much. There were still a bunch of people not that far ahead of us, and I remember looking back at mile 4 and there being a good 20 or more people back there. Come to find out about 20+ people dropped out behind us. Maybe from dehydration from having no water available since before mile 4.

At this point we decided to slow a little more and wait for the lady behind us to catch up. We figured why not all finish together. She was walking alone, and no one should have to run a race alone. So we waited for our other new friend also named Megan. In talking to her we found out that this was her first 10k. She had already done I think it was 6 other 5k's, since January, but this was her longest distance.

As we came up on the finish line there was my good friend Robyn front and center cheering me on. I love this girl. Just after her Brandyn and Okely, cheering ,me in as well. I must say these 3 ladies have been a big part of my life since meeting them. I met Robyn back in August 2011 when we started training with TNT for our first 1/2 Marathon at Disney in 2012. and Brandyn and Okely since August 2012 when we met training for the Wine & Dine 1/2 with Angel Snugs. They have definitely blessed my life with their support and friendship.

My new friends Meghan x 2

So there it was the finish line. Meghan, Megan & I ran in the final .1 to cross the finish line a three way victory for each of us. It was exciting because there were a ton of runners that finished before us that were still there cheering us in. The photographers at the end were still there and took our pictures. The only thing was there again were no track shack volunteers there handing out water at the end. There was for the earlier finishers, but not us. After finding my way to the area where the water was sitting unattended I was able to get a bottle of water.


Last year it was the 35th Anniversary of this race so you received a really cool medal and a wine glass. This year you received just the wine Glass. It's a very nice wine glass though and I think it's nice to get something different every now and then for your race bling. Oh, and the shirts this year where nice too. They were white instead of black like last year so it will be nice to wear during those hot summer runs while I'm training for the Space Coast 1/2 Marathon.

 

Shelley and I after the Soggy Race

At the finish area, I was finally able to meet up with another fellow MRTT and PbRc member Shelley.  As well as Cathy and her Daughter who are members of my Chapter of MRTT as well. It was nice to get to see them. I wish we would have thought to get pictures with them at the finish, but I think at this point the only thing on my mind was getting some food, so over to Panera Bread we headed for a much needed after race snack.


Over all, this was a good race, putting aside the water stop issues and the brick road and the rain,  it's still a beautiful course and I would do it again.

Till next time my friends, Run for Fun, Run for YOU, Run4Life

Megan 2 and I Running in at the end

Robyn Cheering me in at the end

My new MRTT shirt created by Off the Wall Prints in Oviedo

I have NO idea what robyn is doing to my hair??

Thoughts on #Run3rd

If you read my Princess Half Marathon (PHM) recap, you will recall I mentioned a group called #Run3rd. Not sure really if you would call it a group, I guess it's more of a TEAM. I've actually been thinking a lot about them lately. I basically knew what it was, and what they were about, because of a fellow Pacebook Run Club (PbRc) team member Tony. He is also a team leader for Team #run3rd. From what I gathered, it was pretty much like what my Run4Life stands for. Running for you & Running for others. I never really thought to take a look at it any further than that. .

However, as God always does, he laid it on my heart pretty heavily lately to learn more about this group and where it came from. What I'm about to tell you is my take on the Team, and only that, what I know and think about them. If you want to look into Team #run3rd further, then I urge you to please check them out at: http://run3rd.blogspot.com .

Ok, so what I know now is that it was initiated by Sean Astin. It began as an inspirational campaign on Twitter, and is like an invitation to anyone regardless of their gender, age, beliefs, background, and faith, to honor other threw running  The 3 keys are 1st that you run for yourself, 2nd for your Family, and then 3rd for someone else.

So to back up a bit, I first heard about #run3rd on the PbRc FB page. As I said Tony our co-founder was also a team leader for Team #Run3rd. I saw lots of post and mention of them, but just thought it was another running club that he was involved in. Mind you, I was not on Twitter at this point, and I really had no idea what the whole hash tag thing was about. After much convincing from my fellow PbRc er's , I finally took the Twitter plunge. One day when I was exploring those little hash tag words I clicked on #Run3rd. I started learning a little bit more about #run3rd, but after that day I really didn't look into it anymore. I kinda just thought hey how cool, it's pretty much the same theory as my Run4Life. Dedicating your running to others.

Then came the PHM weekend. We are all meeting up for a PbRc team photo and chicken Dance practice (don't ask). One of my friends is excited that Sean Astin might come over and talk to us. Slow little me leans over and says "Do you mean Sean Astin as in Mikey from the Goonies & Daniel from Ruby and was in White Water Summer and Boy Meets Girl?" My friend then looks at me like I had two heads and says "well, Goonies yes, and Lord of the Rings, ya know Sam?!"  My response was " Really ?" She then looks at me like I was the only person on the face of the earth that did not know he was in Lord or the Rings. To be honest You are probably right I am. Then she says "Yeah and the founder of #run3rd". SLAM the head again I had NO clue. I can be a little slow at times. Even though I work for a movie theatre I have never watched LOTR and had no clue he was in it. I knew him from the before mentioned films and the fact that he was the voice on Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles and in TV movies like the Rules of Marriage.

OK, anyways, I'm standing there going OMG...Sean Astin might say hi to us. I suddenly got a little nervous. Which is weird for me. Remember I work for a movie theatre, I have done film premieres with John Travolta and Ray Park, Leonard Nimoy, and other actors. I've done this one on one and never gone all fan girls on any of them. And I LOVE Ray Park!!! Why is this different??  Because we are talking about Sean Astin here. My first celebrity crush when I was 12 years old and first watched him in Rules of Marriage. Ok, You get the point I'm sure. I was a little excited to learn that he might show up. And he DID!!! Now I was a good girl and didn't even run up to him, I admired him from a far, and listened to what he had to say to us, and then he was gone. Ahhh, fan girl done!

Ok, so back to #run3rd. So even after finding out Sean had something to do with #run3rd, I still didn't think much about looking into more of what it was all about till last week. I was writing my blog post for the PHM Recap and for the next 2 days after that, it's all I could think about. Was it really simular to my Run4Life journey? How was Sean involved with it? Why has it become so big?

I learned that it's so much more than Run4life. Run4Life is a personal thing for me. It's all about my journey and how running saved my life from depression and cancer. How I choose now to give back through the one thing that put meaning back into my life. "RUNNING"

#Run3rd is more of a movement, about so many people like me that have found running as way to honor those around them. A chance to dedicate each and every mile to someone they know or a cause they love. A way to share that love across the social media with that little hash tag thingy attached. It may have been initiated by Sean Astin, and he may be the driving force behind it, but it is about so much more than him, and about so much more than me. It's about all of us and all those we love.

Till next time my friends

Run for YOU, Run for fun, Run4Life

Angi

PBRC with Sean Astin front and center hold his #Run3rd Sign.

Disney Princess Half Marathon Recap

I'm always running a little late on these post, but better late than never right?

I have to say, Princess is now one of my top two races, With Nike being the number one. The Princess was so much fun. I really enjoyed every moment from before the race till after. Even with getting hurt during the race (more on that to come) I still enjoyed every step and every passing moment. 

Unfortunately, I was not able to get to Disney till after 5pm on Saturday which meant that I missed all of Expo. However, thanks to my good friends Robyn & Deb I was able to at least get my princess 1/2 magnet for my car. They also picked up my race packet for me.

Saturday 5pm:

Flat Angi

I met Deb & Robyn at a little Italian Restaurant for dinner. We had to carb load ya know. After dinner we headed back to the hotel. We stayed at Old Key West. Once there we settled in and started getting our race gear ready for the next morning. Of course I had to set out my flat Angi.  What color scheme for this race, but of course I chose princess pink, a tutu and a tiara.







When I say that these two ladies are amazing, I mean that in every sense of the words. Since I was not able to attend the expo they made sure that they brought the best parts of the expo to me.  I already told you they picked up my car magnet for me and my race packet, but that was not enough for these ladies. Robyn made sure that I got the exclusive commemorative pin as well. They also found a booth with shirts that had saying on them. I believe they are called fellow flowers. This is a group that believes that Running isn't just about mileage, routes, and pavement. It's about life, friendship and defining yourself on your own terms. Well let me tell you. my two friends really know me. Not only did they get the shirt for each of us that is orange "fiercely United" which is exactly what we are UNTIED!, but they also discover my personal  flower color. Pink "Gratitude" for those that know me can read what the description is and say yup that is Angi   100 %. 

Basically everything that these two ladies had picked up had some sort of meaning behind it. I also was not able to attend the meet up for one of the running clubs we are memebers of called "I run Disney so I can eat Disney", so Robyn even picked up a goodie bag from that for me as well. She never stops thinking of others. 

Saturday 8pm:

We were finally starting to settle in for the night, and lights out. After all we did have to get up at 2am so we could catch the bus at 3am, and get to our corrals by 5am. Yeah , I don't think I actually slept more than about 2-3 hours that night. I don't know if it was the nerves, the excitement, adreniline or simply all the laughing we did. At this point I was a little worried too because the weather was a little iffy. Forecast called for rain and possibly thunder showers and lightening.. Rain I can deal with but not lightening. So I started to pray. I prayed for peace and for the weather and before I new it I was fast asleep.

RACE DAY!!! 3am:

3am and we loaded the bus at our hotel to head over to the Start line. Once we stepped off the bus you could not help but get excited. music was playing people were arriving. It was race day.  After getting bibs pinned on and taking a few pictures we started looking for our fellow Pace book Run Club (PbRc) friends.  This is another one of the three running groups that I belong to. I have to say all my groups are fantastic, but PbRc is simply amazing. It's at this time 1,002 members strong and was started back in January 2012
as a joke on a post in the Disney Marathon Weekend FB running group.  The thought was to create a group where you would have a more "relaxed" pace group for the 2013 Disney Half Marathon. Since that time it has morphed into much more. This group of people have really helped to shape and change my running life. It was so nice to finally get the chance to meet people face to face. I mean you get to know these people and so much of their life through pictures and post, but nothing compares to finally meeting them in person. I am so honored and blessed to be a part of this group, and call these amazing people my friends.



4am Picture Time:

PbRc...if you look closely in the center to will see Sean Astin..of Goonies and Lord Of the Rings Fame. 

We actually had a great surprise at our group picture. Sean Astin came out to meet us and talk to us, he gave us a great pep talk. In case you are wondering who Sean Astin is, you may know him better are Mikie Walsh in Goonies, or more recently as Samwise Gamgee in Lord of the Rings. In the running world we know him as Sean Astin founder of #Run3rd. Ok, I know I'm giving you all this new stuff tonight. #Run3rd is something that was inspired by Sean on twitter. Basically, the short version is this: I Run 1st for Myself. I Run 2nd for my Family, and I #run3rd for everyone else.  It's about dedicating your run to someone else,  to simply say that these steps I am taking are not just about me. I take then to honor another, to say that I  live for someone other than myself. 

After picture time with PbRc, it was time to meet up with my new running group, Mom's run This Town. This is a free national running group. I have actually decided to start a local chapter. There is a Central Florida Chapter, but we really needed on for Seminole County Area. So now there is one. Keep your eyes posted for more information and updates on this. 

Mom's Run This Town!!

 

5:30am Race Start:

We made it to our corrals. I was in Corral C (they ran A-H). Which is good because it gave me a good lead on that silly pacer. I started the race with a couple other member of the PbRc. I knew that I would not last long with them because they are runners, but it was fun to hang out in the corral with them and cross that starting line together. 

The first few miles I walked at my usual pace. About a 17 minute mile. I followed race rules and stayed all the way over to the right. I tend to walk about a 17 minute mile pace for the first 3 miles in all my long races. Then from Miles 3-7 I picked up the pace and did my run/walk routine. This usually brings me up to about a 16 min mile pace (which is the minimum pace for Disney) but I was really flying this day. When I checked my time, I was actually averaging about a 15:35 minute mile. I was super excited, so I decided that since I felt good, and I was so far a head, I might as well keep up my run/walk pace for a couple more miles. If I did I would set a new PR for me. I did the math in my head allowed for some extra walking time at the end and came up with a finish time of 3:35, my fastest time so far was at Wine & Dine where I finished in 3:45. 

So I'm just about to hit mile 8, I start on yet another run segment, and boom out of no where there is this lady that is passing me on the right, I took a step to my left to give her a little room, and just as I did another lady who I guess thought neither one of us was running fast enough for her, squeezed her way in between us. Now let me first say that race etiquette says that slower runner stay to the right (which I was) and that faster runners should always pass on the left ( just like road rules). Lets just say that what happened next was NOT pretty.   

Yeah all three of us went down to the ground. As I fell, I could hear a loud snap come from my left knee, and then in an instant the pain came. I had literally popped me knee out of socket. I spent the next 15 minutes in the medical tent. The medic helped to pop the knee back into place,  gave me Tylenol, wrapped my knee in ice and then told me to sit tight a Medical vehicle would be by soon. "OH HELL NO!!!!" I said. I looked the guy square in the face and said "I DID NOT come here NOT to finish this race".  I rested for about 5- 10 more minutes and I was off again. I knew that as long as I could beat the sweeper to the over pass at mile 10 I would be safe.  

As for the other two ladies. The one who was passing me at first was fine just a scrap or 2 and she was off on her way right after she got up. The lady who was impatient well, she went to the finish line but not on her own 2 feet. 

I don't mean her any disrespect, and I sure hope that she is OK. (I was told she sprained her ankle). But come on people..PASS ON THE LEFT!!!!  

Seriously though mile 8- 9 was dedicated to her. I prayed for her to heal, and thought about how awful she must have felt for not only taking down two fellow runners, but for coming all this way not to be able to finish the race. I'm sure she trained just as hard, and until that point didn't realize what one bad decision would do. I wish I would have gotten her information. I would love to let her know that there are no hard feeling and to make sure that she is OK. 

Miles 10-12 

I made it past mile 10 just in time. Last January when I did my first 1/2, I had reached this point. You come up on top of the overpass, and you can look back down that long road that you just finished walking on and see what you had just conquered. I remember stopping for a moment back then and just looking in awe at all the people that were still behind me and thinking I really did this. This time though when I stopped at that same point and looked back the road was empty, not a single runner there. I looked over the other side, and saw that much dreaded bus. I had done it again, I had beaten the bus. I WAS going to finish this thing banged up knee and all. I never felt so much emotion come over me all at once, and all I could do was cry, and thank God for getting me this far.

Miles 10-11 seemed to get longer and longer as the pain in my knee kept getting more and more unbearable. I knew at this point that I had to get my mind off of it some how. Then just as God has done for me many times in the past he placed a brief distraction in my sight. There she was Miss Peggy Sue. Holding her sign that says " Hello Complete Stranger, I'm proud of you too". I couldn't help but smile.  
 

Peggy Sue!

  See, Peggy Sue was a bit of an icon for me. I had seen her at every Disney race I had done. I was beginning to think that maybe I was just imagining her there. That she was a figment of my imagination. Then one day one of my fellow PbRc friends had posted about her too.  

This nameless stranger finally had a name Peggy Sue.  

This amazing lady comes to all the Disney races with her inspiring signs and cheers on the runners. Not knowing how just that one gesture really does help so many runners make it through. Well, she helped me make it through. I was so glad to see her that I actually ran over to her yelling "Peggy Sue Pacebook Run Club Loves you", and had my picture taken with her. It was enough to get my mind off the pain for a little while and get me past mile 12. Thank you Peggy Sue for always being there.





 Just about mile 12.5 I was beginning to feel the pain again and I was slowing down a lot at this point. It wasn't about the time anymore, it was simply about getting to that finish line. I knew that I needed a distraction again. I started talking to people at random, passing them and saying congratulations you did it...your almost there. I talked to several ladies that this was there first 1/2 and they couldn't believe they were about to finish. It was the part of these races and the running community that I love the most. It's about teamwork and helping your fellow runner with a kind word or a little emotional support just when they need it the most.

 Then once again God saw me through and gave me that last distraction that I need to get over the pain. I said hi to a girl that also looked like she was struggling. we started talking and I found out that she was 15 years old and this was her first 1/2. She was from Michigan. I saw that look in her eyes that I had when I did my first. I knew that what made me get through it was the support of Coach Rich, and having Deb there to talk to and laugh with. So I just kept talking to her and trying to get her mind off of her pain. I knew that if I could distract her it would help her make it to the finish line, but it in turn helped me too. We helped each other across that finish line. 

 












Race highlights in pictures

 
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That's it folks, 1/2 marathon number 4 in the books...what next?  Guess you will have to stay tuned to find out. 

Till next time

Run for you, Run for Fun, Run4Life

Angi