PRA Cross Country Trail Run Recap

I could do an entire blog just on my job these past few months!  My goodness!  The life of a school technology coordinator!

Anyway, I'm here and I want to talk briefly about my last race.  The PRA (Pensacola Runners Association) Cross Country Train Run put on by the University of West Florida Cross Country team.  For me, this is the first trail race of the season.  One of my favorite races.  As with most trail races, at least around here, there aren't many people that run this race.  Usually around 50 runners.  This time was no different.

It was a brisk morning with the temps somewhere in the mid to high 40s.  Perfect for a run actually.  Did my usual mile warm and then waited patiently for the race to start.  I thought I noticed more 'little' people then usual (kids) for this race, so I wanted to be sure to get up front.  I don't usually take off like a rocket, so I had to be sure to get some distance between me and the kids.  If you have ever run with young kids, you know why!

The race starts in a small field and then heads up into the woods after about 75 to 90 yards.  I managed to get in front of most of the kids, but not all.  Once we got in the woods, I found myself behind a young boy and his mom.  Lisa F. (from Dailymile and a local friend of mine) was in front of me and the son and mom in front of her.   Our pace was slowed way down.  I didn't check my Garmin because on a trail run, you want to keep your eyes on the trail.  Nothing worse then taking a tumble on a trail run (which btw, I have done a few times).  At one point, Lisa managed to dart past them.  The path narrowed quickly, so there wasn't time for me to get past them as well.  I had to wait a minute or two more before the path opened up enough for me to get past.  Once pace them, I settled into a pretty good pace.  This course is a steady up hill for 3/4 of a mile.  Then you get a nice steep downhill that goes past the original point of entry.  We then loop back up the hill for the second loop.  The second loop is longer and has a pretty steep uphill.  By the time I reached this point, I was plum tired!  Legs were definitely burning.  I have to admit, I slowed to a walk a couple of times going up the last big climb.  The nice thing about that last hill is that you get to go down.  I relished the downhill.  It gave me a chance to make up some of the time I lost on the uphill.  I got to the original point of entry and then there was another 100 yards to the finish.  I pushed myself as best I could on some worn out legs.  I crossed the finish line at at time of 25:13.  Not too bad.  You never know how it is going to go on a trail run.  Some say you can usually expect a minute or more slower time on a trial then on a road race.  My time would indicate that is true.

The after party was nice.  The UWF cross country team does a great job with the help of the PRA.  It was a good time spent socializing with the local runners and meeting new people.  I actually got to know the mom and her son that were in front of me at the start pretty well.  She is one of the leaders in our Grand Prix series which I manage.  Her and I are now friends on Facebook.  That is one of the things I love about running, the people.  I am constantly meeting new runners and making new friends.

Me and a pretty girl! 

Anyway, I digress.  The awards were wonderful as always.  I wasn't sure how my time would fair.  I didn't notice who was in my age group and on a trail run, it's hard to see who is in front of you.  Lisa ended up taking Grand Master, my new friend Angela took 1st in her AG and her son took 2nd.  Numerous other friends did well in their age groups also.  Me, well, I ended up taking 3rd in my AG.  No idea who the guy was the took first, but the guy that took 2nd is one of my major challengers.

All in all, another fun,successful race!  As always my friends, remember, "Real athletes run, all others just play games"!

Pensacola Beach Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis - 28 Nov

One of my favorite races of the year.  One that is very special to me.  As a sufferer of 2 arthritic conditions, I appreciate all the the Arthritis Foundation does.  This is also my first 10K of the racing season.  There have been years where the weather was a bear for this race.  Not this year.  The weather was about perfect.  Perfect for the beach anyway.  If you have read my race reports before, you know that the wind on these beach runs can be brutal.  It might not have been brutal this year, but the winds were pretty strong still.

The race got off on time at 7:30.  Since this was a 10K, I wanted to keep my pace around an 8 min mile.  I managed to keep this going until about the the 5th mile.  The winds had kicked my butt!  I usually don't stop on a 10K, but I did on this one.  And not once, but twice.  This ended up being one of my worse 10K ever. The worst one in a couple of years for sure.  I'm sure it didn't help that I had just ran a hard 5K only 2 days earlier.  Anyway, I finished at 53:25.  Good enough for 3rd place in my age group.  That was a complete surprise.  However, I was benefited by 2 of the runners in my age group winning the Master and Grand Master awards.  Hey, I'll take it!  LOL

Pensacola Beach Turkey Trot Recap - 26 Nov

My first #1 Race!

Nothing better then to run a race Thanksgiving morning.  Good way to pre-burn some calories.  This was the first ever beach Turkey Trot.  They were rasing funds for "Communities Caring for Christmas".  Participants were also asked to bring one new toy for "Toys for Tots". Both very good causes!

Marianne C from Dailymile

I also got to meet another local Dailymile member.  Marianne C. stopped by to congratulate all the runners she knew that were running the race.

Interesting note.  There is another Turkey Trot at Seville, downtown Pensacola. I heard rumor that some attorney was upset with this group for naming their race a turkey trot.  I say whatever, this area is big enough for two turkey trots.  Even more so considering this one was actually on Thanksgiving day and at a totaly different location.  That said, let's get to the race.

The race had a late start time of 8:30 which I appreciated.  I was glad not to have to get up too early on Thanksgiving morning.  Since this was a first time ever run for this group, I was curious to see how things would go.

First off, they only expected about 50 to 75 runners.  By race start time, they had closer to 300.  That should tell you right there how things might go.  They had no official time keepers and that usually means trouble. The race off on time.  They have lots of races at the beach and they used one of the usual routes.  They only problem was they started at the wrong place and ended up making the route a tad short.  Not a really biggie.

The weather was really nice, except we had a pretty strong wind East/South wind.  It had to be gusting over 20 MPH at times.  There were times when it felt like I wasn't even moving.  Pretty normal actually for the beach.  Seems every race they have there, the wind is killer.

Wind and all, I finished with a pretty good time of 24:01. Not a PR, but a dang good pace nonetheless.  Here's where the part about being a first time race comes into play.  After hanging out and congratulating many of the finishers as I always do, I made my way to where the awards were taking place.  I walked over to the table and noticed there were not many awards there.  Come to find out, they had the age groups set at 10 year intervals and not 5.  I hate that!  And, and here's the kicker, they were only awarding awards to the winner of each age group and not the top 3.  And yes, there is more. They stopped at 50 and awarded a winner in a 50+ age group.  Needless to say, I was pissed.  Why diss on the old people you know?  Oh and they didn't have a Master, Grand Master, or Senior Grand Master award either.  What really made me mad was that I ran a fast race and would have done pretty good in my age group had it been a 'normal' race.  Oh well, maybe they'll do better next time if they do it again.  If they make some changes, I'll be there with bells on.

The turkey after I told him he was going in the over!

Oh, I forgot to mention that I got a picture with the turkey too.  Yeah I know he looks more like a chicken, but hey, what can you say, he tried.

As always my friends, remember, "Real athletes run, all others just play games!"