Azalea 5k Trail Run

The Azalea Trail Run 10k/5k run was in Mobile, AL on March 22nd. I originally thought I signed up for the 10k, but I discovered the night before that I had actually chosen the 5k. I was a little bummed, but then I just figured I had a good chance to get a new 5k PR.
We ended up getting lost twice on the way there and finally got to the stadium with about 25 minutes to find parking, locate packet pickup, find the bathrooms, and then find the start. Tears were flowing. Chris ended up just kicking me out while he found a spot to park and I rushed around trying to get everything I needed. They got lucky and found parking pretty quickly, and then amazingly enough found me!
My daughter was super excited because she was running in the one mile kids fun run. She was not happy, however, to find out that she had to wait until Mommy was done racing for her to go.
The 5k went fairly well for me. I was too fast on mile one and suffered for it on mile three. I ended up finishing 9/159 in my age group with a time of 28:11 (pace - 9:04). Overall, a really great race for me! Not as scenic as I was hoping, but still a fun race. The after run snacks left a lot to be desired. Plenty of water and a banana, but then they had sugary muffins and donuts. We headed back over to the expo area and actually found a couple stands that were down an alley by the entrance to the back of the expo - they had chocolate milk and Panera bagels - SCORE!!
My daughter was super excited to run her kid run and Chris ran it with her. She was not happy about that, but since it was a mile through town I wanted one of us to be with her. She didn't want him in her pictures either - lol

 

 Denver and I waiting on Chris and Katelynn.

 

 There they come!!

She got a special ribbon that she loved because it was pink! Although the ribbon did say 2 mile fun run - HA! Chris said she had a really good run and ran it until some little kid tripped her. She got back up and ran some more but then fell on her own, and that pretty much did it for her, she walk/ran the rest of the way.
I was worried that the falls might have made her not want to run anymore, but on the way home she said she wanted to run some more races, but she wants them to be closer to home. That's one thing I haven't been able to find a lot of in Pensacola - kid runs (less then a 5k).

Overall a really great day for this little family!

UPDATE:

My medal came in the mail!! Turns out I finished 8th in my age group, not 9th - Sweet!!

 

Flora-Bama's Beach 5k Run for America's Warriors

Normally when it comes to a race it's me, me, me, but for once I let my husband, Chris, run a race, and he is never going to let me live it down either. Chris doesn't like running, so he normally only does it when he has too. I had heard about this 5k (and half marathon) taking place on the beach close to our house. All the proceeds went to the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. He said it sounded like fun, so we signed him up and the kids and I tagged along and hung out on the beach while he ran his first 5k since back when we lived in Colorado and ran the 5k Homerun for the Homeless at the Rockies stadium (2010) together (while pushing a single jogger with a flat tire - what a race that one was!). 

Anyway, there was a fairly decent turnout for being a race entirely on sand. Results have 92 finishers posted.

 The kids and I just hung out, played in the sand, watched the waves, and waited for Chris to come back...

Here he comes! The kids ran out to greet him and tried to follow him up to the finish...

 

He did awesome!! I was so proud of him, he was grinning ear to ear. We decided to hang out and have some post race goodies - they actually had a delicious pasta bar that the kids tore up! We got a little silly with some funny billboards...

 

They posted the race results while we were there and it turns out Chris won an award!! He finished third in his age group!! In fact he did really well for not liking to run. He finished 19/92 with a time of 1:05:07 (pace - 20:58). 11 seconds faster and he would've been 2nd in his age group and 30 seconds faster he'd been first in his age group!! The top finisher was 17 with an 18:07 pace! The times look funny when I saw them, but it was a 5k ran entirely on sand. 

I'm so proud of him!! It's definitely got him motivated, now he's training to do a duathlon. He loves to bike, so I just know he'll do amazing!!!!

McGuire's St Patrick's Day 5k Prediction Run

 

I finally got to wear my four leaf clover socks!!

My second run of the year was on March 8th. It was a very unique race for me in that it was a prediction run - you predict the time you're going to run the race and then try to get that time. The race was HUGE! There were people in all kinds of costumes. In my opinion, it is one of those races that you only need to do once (or at least I only need to do it once) - like a color run or glow run. Tons of people, lots of obstacles, and since I'm one of those people who likes to actually run (and I don't drink, at least not after a run) it wasn't a lot of fun. It's all about the atmosphere, so you just have to kick back and have fun with it. I mean seriously you're "running" with people pushing shopping carts and drinking beer. Of course that's part of what makes predicting your time so challenging. I was told this is one of those "must do" races, so if anything, I can now cross it off my "must do" list - HA!
I met up with Laurel and Higgins, and about a mile into the "race" Stan caught up to us and I finished with him.

They do actually time you, I finished in 36:36 (pace of 11:46). Craziness, but definitely fun times.

15k Double Bridge Run

 

I got it in my head that I NEEDED to do this Double Bridge 15k run that everyone was talking about on the Team RWB Ft Walton page, so I signed up. I do NOT know what I was thinking! The race was on February 1st, only 3 weeks after we moved here. I hadn't been running much, maybe three to four miles at the most. I had just signed up for a 9.3 mile race across not one, but two bridges!!!

On race morning Chris dropped me off at the baseball stadium in downtown Pensacola which was the start of the race (the finish was on the other side of the two bridges in Pensacola Beach). I was super excited to finally be meeting up with the Team RWB Ft Walton crew, so I scanned the crowds eagerly for red shirts. I found Stan, Tammy, and Jessica. They were awesome! They ran with me the entire race and kept me going those last three miles, especially Stan. He's the one that snagged all the pictures for us.
The bridges were a little hilly!

 

Of course what goes up, must come down! Always the best part of any hill...

 

Needless to say, the race was tough. Next year, I'm going to blow my time out of the water!!
I finished 108/220 for my age group with an overall time of 1:36:11 (pace - 10:20). It wasn't as bad of a time as I was expecting, but those last three miles were really rough. The great thing about being a part of a team like with Team RWB is that you can move from MD to FL, show up on race morning, and find people you've never met before who cheer you on and encourage you through a race. I'm so glad I found Team RWB!!
One last photo from after the race. The medal was actually pretty cute - a flip flop!

Welcome to FL!

 

We moved to Florida the first week of January and were fortunate enough to stay at the Navy Lodge which backed right up to this gorgeous view! The Navy Lodge also happened to be right next to a six mile running trail. I haven't done the whole six miles yet, mostly because I took such a long break from running that I'm just now starting to get my miles back up. While we stayed there I did manage to get out for a few short runs and the view was truly beautiful. My pictures do not do it justice.

 

 

 

 

I even took my new shoes out for a run on the beach.

 

I discovered that if you go left at the start of the running trail you can add another three miles onto your run via a paved path along the seawall. I didn't take any photos, but I did find two online to share.

 

It also did not take me long to discover that there are not one but TWO Starbuck's on post. An excellent after run recovery, and probably a good reason not to run on base too much!