Seasons 52 Park Ave 5.2K

Today was the big day...Scott's first official 5k (well, 5.2K). We chose the Seasons 52 Park Ave 5.2k because, well, we love Seasons 52 and were really hoping one of us would be a 52nd finisher so we could win a gift card.

Scott walked the 5.2k and I ran. I debated walking with him, but he insisted that I run and really stretch my legs to see just how fast I could go. I really had no plan on PR'ing today, I just wanted to run my race and feel good at the end, whatever time that was.

You can read all about Scott's race on his blog, Southern Fried Fat Guy. Not to be selfish, but this post is going to be about me. :)

The race went through downtown Winter Park, which is an absolutely gorgeous area with only one minor problem, brick roads. More about that in a minute.

I took off at a pretty comfortable pace and at one point realized my RunKeeper was on silent, so I wasn't receiving any of my time or mileage cues in my ear. When I finally looked at it I was at .64 miles. I hadn't stopped to walk/run or anything and figured, well just keep going. I ran my first ever straight mile in 11:09.

I know, I know. I'm about to do my fourth half marathon and I've never just run a straight mile! I'm a huge fan of Jeff Galloway's run/walk method and that's what I've always stuck with.

The course itself was beautiful, but like I mentioned before, they had these pesky brick roads (red, not yellow, it wasn't that kind of road).  While they look beautiful, they are quite the pain to run on because they're not exactly even. The girl in front of me almost face planted and then I hit a pocket at one point and thanked the good Lord my ankle didn't roll.

I kept a pretty decent pace the next two miles and was really happy to see the finish when I turned the corner. I knew it was my fastest time and I couldn't wait to cross the finish line and have it official. My 5k time was 37:10 and my 5.2k time was 38:21.  I definitely pictured this in my mind when I crossed:

I sent Scott a text to see where he was and he was almost at mile three. Thankfully, the finish line was not swarmed with people so I waited patiently to see him.

When he approached I couldn't do anything else but smile. He worked for this and I am so proud of him.

I'm also glad they called his name as he finished. There is nothing better than hearing your name when you cross, especially on your first race.

I'm beyond proud of Scott for starting this journey and now having the race bug and wanting to continue this. I cannot wait to run/walk more races with him and I look forward to the day we run across the line together.

Thank you to the wonderful people from Track Shack, Seasons 52 and all of the volunteers that made today possible! Another huge shout out to the residents of Winter Park that were basically stuck in their homes until we ran past. Thanks for letting us take over!