My 8th race of the year also happened to be my first race of the season. With two back-to-back half marathons coming up in November I knew I needed to get back into the swing of things with a couple of races, so I signed up for the Rock n’ Run 5k. I’ve done the race before but due to some construction they moved the location and it had a whole new course. Score!
I did the race with my friend who had only done two 5ks before and we decided to stick together. I didn’t have any time goals in mind I just wanted to participate and finish. It was a horribly hot and humid Florida morning, but that didn’t stop us from having a great time. This race has a Battle of the Bands competition and the bands are along the course so there is some fun entertainment.
We stuck to my normal intervals (2 minutes running/1 minute walking) for pretty much the whole time. Every once in awhile I’d give us an extra 30 seconds of walking to make up for the horrible humidity. I definitely wasn’t on my way to a PR but we DEFINITELY were on track for one for my friend. We powered through and she ran her fastest 5k ever!
After the race there was a Mini Craft Beer fest that was awesome. We were able to enjoy trying beer from some great local breweries – Orange Blossom Brewing, Orlando Brewing, Crooked Can, and Brew Hub. After a hot and humid 5k some ice cold beer was perfect… even if it was 8:30 in the morning.
The race was a good start to the race season and just the bit of motivation I needed. My next race is a 5 miler mid-October and it will probably be my last race before my first 1/2 marathon of the season. Did I mention how terrifying it was when on Saturday I got an email reminding me that the half is just 7 weeks away?
