Local 5K Race Report: Deltona's Love Your Heart 2016

Training & Goals
This was my second of four races in February. I had been running 3 times per week for several months, usually two short runs of 5K and a longer run. Three days prior to the race I had my longest run at 7.5 miles. I was hoping to beat my previous 5K PR.

Race Day: February 13, 2016
I rode up to the school and looked around for somewhere to park. I secured my bike and went to packet pickup (early pickup had been cancelled last minute due to an unknown snafu). After getting my bib, shirt, and goodie bag, I went back to my bike to put everything away and attach my bib to my shirt. As I walked back to the start area I heard the emcee mention that the race was not timed. I was confused for a moment because I thought I had read it was chip-timed when I signed up. Indeed my bib was chipless though, so I guessed I misread the situation. A few minutes later the emcee corrected himself and said we'd be passing a timing mat at the start and finish of the race. Then I was really, really confused. How would they record our times? In all of my prior timed races, the chip was affixed to the bib. I found the race director, Jennifer, and asked her how it was supposed to work, and she pointed at my shoe. Huh? Oh no, I didn't get my shoe tag at packet pickup! I was paying attention at pickup, I swear, but no one offered me my tag at the time. I felt like an idiot as we ran over to the pickup tables and found my tag. There weren't any zip ties so I laced it through my shoelace and trotted back to the starting area in time for the national anthem. It was 54°F and partly cloudy at the start.

Mile 1: 10:06
Since I was late to the starting area I wound up far back in the pack, but I didn't mind. The airhorn blew and we were off. Leaving the school grounds, we had to cross a major road before hitting the bike path. Traffic was stopped for us. Somewhere before the M1 marker we passed a dead cat on the side of the road. I had seen it biking there earlier in the week. The next time I biked the path, vultures had taken care of it.

Mile 2: 10:33
Right around M1 we turned into a neighborhood for a little jog before heading back to the bike path and running towards the turn-around at Thornby Park.

Mile 3+: 10:22, 1:33
As I approached the street crossing heading back to the school, I saw that officers were letting some cars through, and stopping some runners. I was a bit bummed as I was heading for a PR. Lucky for me I was just slow enough (haha!) to miss stopping as the officers halted traffic again to let runners through. As I raced to the finish line, the race director came tearing out, apologizing to us for being stopped. She was going to yell at the traffic cops. For this race I ran 5:1 intervals (run 5 minutes, walk 1 minute). I skipped my last walk break and "sprinted" at the finish for another PR.

Chip time: 32:20 (1:14 PR)
Placement details: 10th in age, 107th overall out of 274 finishers
Race Amenities: Swag included a long sleeve ladies tech shirt and a finisher medal for all.
Cost: $25.00 (registered by post; no fee)

Report written March 9, 2016
Featured photo (c) Almost There Photography