Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Boca Grande 5K

Yuli, Jane, Debi, Kimmi and Louis at Boca Grande

This is my favorite race! It's run twice a year, in Oct and Feb. I have run it 4 times so far. I got my PR in this race last year. 26:30, after partying until midnight and waking up at 4am!!! I think I may have still been "feelin' good"...LOL

My husband had a cervical fusion (that's neck, not cervix...lol) 3 weeks ago. He was still on leave from work and he was able to come to this race. I felt good knowing he'd be at the finish line. He feels fabulous, no pain!!!
It felt a little cooler to me, but Betty (fellow Zoomer) told me she thought it was humid while we were at the starting line. I thought nothing of it until at about 1.5 miles out when I ran into a warm cloud that stayed with me to the end. Betty was right...it was humid. I think I felt the cooler air off the ocean at first. Fooled me for the 1st half of the race!!
I've been running with my brother-in-law Steve and my daughter Kerri the last 2 weeks. Steve quit smoking and wanted to add running to his workouts. Of course he thought of ME and my cool running abilities...lol. By his 3rd run he was up to 3 miles without stopping. With a 32 minute finish! Very proud of him. My daughter Kerri has been telling me for 2 years she wants to run but never has. She came home with a new pair of Asics the other day and now she's up to 2 miles! Tomorrow is her first 3 miler and she'll do great! The coolest thing is, both of them LOVE running! One of the greatest things my coach taught me was how to love running. This is something that's so important for me to pass along, so seeing these two running and LOVING it warms my heart.
Debi is training for her first half marathon in Feb! She's going to run with us too, since Steve and Kerri are also training for the half in Feb. Well, they don't know that yet...but they are...lol. I figure I'll slowly and quietly add on the mileage and see how they feel. Right now 13 miles feels unattainable to them. Seeing how quickly they're adapting to the cardio and distance is telling me they can do it. I'm excited for all 3 of them!!!
So with being in on three people's training runs, turns out I ran 15 miles last week. Haven't done that since before that evil spinal tap. My legs are still spasming, as is my back but I can run through it. I was running through it for over a year anyway...LOL
Back to the Boca race (got off the trail....)
This was the 5k/10k run. 100 people ran the 5k and I think 125 ran the 10K. Not too many runners, maybe because of the heat, economy or a bit of both. I felt good by half a mile. I was happy to be holding a 9 minute pace. I could see Mary up ahead and I kept my eye on her. I didn't see Tina until after the turnaround and was SHOCKED to be ahead of her for once!! That gave me the boost I needed at about 2 miles. It was here that I started to pass some people. It SOOOO pays off to start off a little slow. Once you get warmed up you can kick it up a notch and start passing the peeps who go out too fast. Great for the ego...LOL
I started my sprint at the 3 mile marker, slowly picking up speed. I saw Bobby at the finish line and gave it all I had left. Ed, Joan and a few other friends were there and I could hear them yelling my name. That is such a big help! They know I've been having troubles and how happy I am to be back. I finished at 27:32. One minute slower than my PR! I am happy. Thrilled!!! =)
We went and sat down, waiting for the awards. Those tiny black bugs ate us alive! My legs won't stop itching. Anyway...I made first place in my age division!!!! I love this race!!!!


10 comments:

Lisa said...

Wow you are fast, great time on the race. So cool that you are helping your brother inlaw and daughter with running, it's nice to have people to run with isnt' it? Thanks for the comment on my blog. I think the jury is still out for me on the walking breaks... I don't feel I need them and it's hard for me to take them. It's a mental thing I guess. Glad to see you post again.

Sherry said...

Way to go, Kim! I agree... I think all of the races on Boca are terrific. I was sad to miss this one this year; but coach said, "no way! You just did a 1/2 iron!"

Of course, I had to stalk the results... looks like my 4th place finish in the 10k last year would have been good enough for a 1st place finish! LOL! I LOVE the hardware!

Congrats on your AWESOME job! You did TERRIFIC and I am so proud of you! I am a firm believer that PRs are obtained under PERFECT conditions and Florida is running waaaay hot right now (and we rarely ever have perfect conditions anyway... maybe '08 Turkey Trot and that's about it). I ran on Sunday morning as well and I mentioned to Scott that it was hotter on that day than it was last year (for the '08 race).

I think it's wonderful that Kerri is finally running. I remember way back when you first mentioned that she was interested. Get her in her first 'real' race... where she actually races for time and not just to sociliaze and I KNOW she will be HOOKED!!!!

HUGS!

Regina said...

Congratulations on your first place! I'm so happy that you did so well, especially with all you've been through physically. Well done!

I'm glad your hubby is feeling so great too. Love the cervical joke.

Nitmos said...

AG award? Awesome! Congratulations. Some warmth - even if it means black bugs - sounds good about now.

joyRuN said...

Congrats on the AG!!!

So glad you're getting happy running in :)

Steven Cohen said...

Well great race! It must be good to be back at it. So you never went back to MA for a reunion? Maybe because of hubby's surgery?

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Mel-2nd Chances said...

FIRST! That's awesome! How far are you from Orlando? I'm coming in Jan!!!!!

Danielle in Iowa in Ireland said...

Congrats on first! Way to bring home the bling!

Black Knight said...

Congrats on the race and the AG. The PR? It will come soon, keep running.