4th of July 5k 2018

Another year, another 4th of July 5k. It's always a hot race, but it's good to be forced to get in a run on a holiday. And let's be serious, I had to show off my A. Ham shirt.

 It was cooler than I expected actually, but the humidity was at 87%, which made it gross and sticky. The first mile was in the park, which was mostly shaded, until the last 1/4 mile. I started with my 5 minute walking warmup, which meant tons of people passed me. But I felt strong and was trying to keep a good pace with my :45/:30 intervals. The second mile was mostly in the sun, on the road circling the park, but it wasn't too bad.

There were water stops about every mile, but I only took from the 3rd one to throw water on my head. I had my own water bottle and was drinking from that. After mile 3 started we were back in the park. I felt a little tired, but kept up my pace. I started passing some of the people that passed me at the start.

Once I turned the corner to the finish line, I pretty much ran the last .1 mile. I really tried to run fast at that point and finish strong. I thought I would be a little faster than I ended up being, but it has been faster than any of my other runs lately. The crazy humidity definitely slowed me down, and sweat was dripping everywhere.

But I grabbed a cup of water (a bottle would have been much appreciated at this point), and got in the beer line. It was great that the beer was from a local brewery. Went to grab some fruit, but it was just bananas and oranges. I was looking forward to a piece of watermelon, like they had last year.

Glad I got out there and got in my run. I even saw some friends out there running too. Next race is the Labor Day 5k. Fingers crossed it's overcast.

Star Wars Dark Side 5k

I haven't done a 5k in a while, and I haven't done a runDisney 5k in what seems like forever. But Kris's dad wanted to take a shot at a Walt Disney World 5k, and asked us to join him, so we did.

He decided on the Star Wars Dark Side 5k. This is one of the best race weekends that runDisney offers. It always has a great vibe. Since the race was on Friday, I decided to make a long weekend out of it, and took the bus up on Thursday to go to the expo and get our bibs. 

Thursday we hit up the expo and got our bibs and some merch. I got us a room in Disney Springs, so we could sleep in as much as we could before the race. Thankfully it started at 6am, and not 5:30. But Kris's dad wanted to make sure we got there with plenty of time, so he came to pick us up at about 4:15 and with our Leia buns ready, we headed over to Epcot.

We got to the start area and headed to the corrals. And hung out until it was time to start.

And I'm totally digging the new corral waves send off. It keeps the people really moving to the start. There is way less waiting for your corral to start, plus lessens up the crowding. This is a total win runDisney. Definitely keep this.

Kris and I set up an easy goal for this race. We'd run (no intervals) from character stop to character stop to get all of the pics. We set off with a little walk to start and then it was a run to the first line. I stayed at the end of the line, as Kris went ahead to see who was there. It was the ewoks, and we decided to skip that long line for them.

The next stop was around the back employee entrance to Epcot. It was the imperial throne. As we waited for this stop, we were able to see Kris's Dad walk by. We finally got on the throne and took our pic.

Then we ran into the World Showcase. I've run a bunch of races through Epcot, but never did we come in next to Mexico (all the way at one end). It was pretty cool to be able to run so much of the "world." We even caught up to Dad around Africa, and were able to snap a selfie.

We heard rumblings through the crowd that R2D2 was in America. We knew that was our next stop. The line was LOOONG. But this was the point of the race for us, so we waited. And got some pretty cute pics with R2.

R2's line took forever, but then we went out through the rest of the World Showcase. There were tons of photographers, but I seemed to miss them all, or I thought I did, as I passed them. But Kris told me about one coming up, so I threw up my hands and hoped for the best. Best race pic ever!

We headed out the international gateway and looped around and saw Chewbacca. Since Chewy is usually available for pics in Hollywood Studios, we skipped him. Then, we ran back into the park and into Future World. After we rounded The Living Seas, Kris and I took our only walk break, and of course there were photographers there!

Pretty fast after that we were heading to Spaceship Earth and back out to the parking lot and the finish line. It's odd to me that the 5ks aren't timed. There wasn't even a timing mat to see when I really finished, but hey, I did it.

I got my water, and the all important bling. The medals for the 5ks are actually metal now, and the design was so cool.

We headed out of the finishing area got the famous runDisney food boxes. Now, I'm gonna get real here, this processed cheese and salty chips are life after a race. I'm so spoiled by this. I need something salty when I'm done with a race now! LOL

Since there are characters available after the race, we got in line for Darth Vader, cause it is the Dark Side after all. He was HUGE.

Star Wars Dark Side is such a fun race weekend. This 5k was great the course was through a LOT of Epcot. I don't even thing in a 10k I had that much park time. Even though I only did the 5k this weekend it was still so much fun. Everyone is in such a great mood and looking to have fun. Having done lots of runDisney races Star Wars Dark Side is def my current favorite.

And seriously, the Dark Side has cookies!

Which is your fave runDisney race?

2017 Tropical 5k Recap

I never had any intentions of doing the Tropical 5k. But then I saw that it could count as part of the Florida Storm Series, which means more medals. I had already done the Ft. Lauderdale 13.1 and the Turkey Day 10k, so I only needed 1 more race to get the Category 3 medal. Who am I to turn down more bling? Especially when it's just a 5k! I signed up and was ready for my category 3 medal.

The 5k is on Saturday, and though I scoured all of the information that was sent to me and the website, I didn't see it listed anywhere if they had day of packet pickup. So, to be safe, I left work a little early on Friday and headed to Marlins Ballpark for the expo. I had been to the Miami Marathon expo a couple of years ago when I did the half. Then it was at the Miami Beach Convention Center, meaning most horrible parking of all time. Marlins Ballpark was a WORLD of difference. Parking in the garages (I had to pay parking, but they were sure to tell you the rate in the pre-race info) was easy and painless. I picked up my number, and checked out all the vendors. And I may have picked up a few things too. 

I headed home and started to prep my race day outfit, but it was gonna be 50! That's coooold for this Caribbean creature, so long sleeves were needed. I also pulled out my gloves, cause I'd rather have them then not. I went to bed early and go some sleep before my early morning drive to the beach. 

I headed to the beach in the dark and the ride was pretty smooth. I really only hit traffic when it was the exit to get to the start. The start was at the Miami Children's Museum. There was some parking there, and more across the street at Jungle Island. 

I was lucky enough to get one of the last spaces at the Children's Museum, and those spaces were free. Score, free parking!

It was chilly out there, but I started walking towards the Museum building and the start. That's when I saw a few tents with race day packet pickup. They really could have mentioned this in the emails and the website. Especially for those only doing the 5k, going to the expo isn't really necessary.

I headed back to the start and got into the corral and waited. I found a friend out there, and we chatted and caught up a little before we started. 

The anthem was sung and it was time to get going. It was crowded. Really crowded. I always start with a 5 minute walk, and I might have gotten elbowed a couple of times. My intervals started soon enough, and I was off. I was glad to be running cause I wanted to warm up. 

The course was great. It was across the causeway to South Beach and alongside the port where all of the cruise ships are. By the time Runkeeper told me it was mile 1, my pace was already fast. I knew it would be with the cold, but it was really good. I wasn't pushing too hard either. 

Mile 2 came up and I was shocked at my pace again. I knew what my PR was for the 5k was (36:38), and thought I can get a new PR, probably by a few seconds. At about mile 2.5 there is a slight uphill, then a gradual downhill while you get off the bridge and onto the mainland of the beach. I decided to let gravity do it's thing, and ran down the entire downhill, ignoring my intervals.

We went a little farther down the street, and I started up my intervals again. Then we turned and there was the finish. I ran all the way til I crossed the finish. It was crowded when I came in, but I think I might have one decent pic.

I crossed and remember looking back and seeing 36:0?. I knew I did it. But overly cautious me, needed proof before I celebrated. 

I headed out to get my medal and here's where the good race got messy. There were hoards of people trying to get medals, and not enough handing them out. I had to search for a bottle of water. There were just buckets on the floor with gatorade and water. No one was handing them out, and I had to push myself through a crowd to get one.

Then there was another hoard by the race pics. I know the storm series has free pics, which they will even post to your Facebook for you. Pretty cool, and since I was there alone, I waited for my pic. There were people that were skipping in front, hogging the background. So rude.

Once I got out of that mess, I walked about another block to the beach. The after party was at Nikki Beach at South Point (the most south point of South Beach). I headed onto the sand for some pics on Miami Beach. Then I headed to Nikki Beach for some food and to grab my Category 3 medal. I looked around for the marketing tent, which is where the pre-race email said the medals would be. I didn't find it, so I asked one of the race staff. He called in and told me that I could pick up my medal the next day at Bayside. That is the day of the half and full marathons in downtown Miami, not closer at all. I told him I was only doing the 5k, and I only did it for the medal. He said I could contact the race office and have it mailed to me.

I headed back to the shuttles back to the start, since this was a point to point race. The shuttle took a bit to get there, but while I was waiting I checked the website, and there it was. My new PR! 35:11!! And then before I knew it I was headed back to the start and my car. 

The race itself was great. Flat, cause let's be serious, this is Miami, we're at sea level. But the communication and definitely the post race area needed help, badly. This isn't the first race, so I'm not sure why it was so disorganized. But I'd def give the Tropical 5k a second try.