New PR!!! IOA Corporate 5k

What an interesting race! I must say, last night's IOA Corporate 5K was a "one-of-a-kind" race experience...some of the highlights:

• I decided to take the Lynx bus shuttle from the Amway Arena to the Citrus bowl instead of trying to park their since I knew it would be full. Good idea in theory...took forever though. I must say, it was my first time on a Lynx bus and I found it to be really clean and nice.
• Over 10,000 run/walk participants congregated inside the Citrus Bowl at their respective company tents, the Protiviti Team tent rocked, thank you Katie and Jon for setting it up! (Team picture to follow soon)
• Those 10,000 run/walk participants were supposed to start at the same time, with the runners in the front, walkers in the back. What do you think the chances are that actually happened?
• I did not cross the start line until 8:15 into the race start
• The first mile was an adventure...to say the least. I had really hoped to get a good time this race, so I didn't want to be left behind, so I weaved in, and out, and around all of the walkers that were moseying along the course. This had me running in people's yards, the sidewalk, gutter, and medians. I am amazed I did not sprain my ankle.
• While most of the race consisted of me dodging walkers, once we got to mile 2 it opened up, a little.
• The "spectators" on the course had to be some of the most interesting I had ever seen. Street corners lined with liquor stores, convenience stores, and barber shops had Parramore's finest rooting us on. A few points along the course I even encountered a few homeless people running along with us. Priceless.
• Considering the obstacles I ran through to make it to the finish line, I still managed to get a new PR, 27:06, which was good, but knowing that had it been a less crowded course I could have scored a 26:00 was somewhat frustrating.
• My boyfriend Jon participated in his first 5K and I was very proud, he did awesome :)
• The Protiviti Team rocked, our captain, Jeff Tecau, ran an awesome 18:33. And I was pumped they used my time as one of the 3 team scores entered into the company competition.

So overall, it was a lot of fun, not a runners race by any means, but I didn't expect that going into it. I think my favorite part of the evening was my journey to the race. On the bus I sat next to a very nice older woman who was very chatty and kept me entertained on the 30 minute ride over. She was so excited to be doing her first 5k, she was a walker and was very proud that she lost 6 pounds in her training for the race. She commented to me about how some of the "runners" she saw amazed her with all of their fancy sneakers and outfits. She was wearing her gardening shoes and visor and was completely content with that. I did not have the heart to break it to her that I was one of those "runners" (although not ridiculous enough to be one who wore a fuel belt to a 5k). I humored her amazement and shared some helpful tips for navigating her first race.

It was really refreshing to talk to her. It allowed me a moment to reflect on how far I had come since I started running last year. I remember how excited I was running my first 5K, the Wendy Chioji Run Around the Universe in February of 2007, with a finish time of 30:50. At the time that seemed like a huge challenge, and I was so proud to accomplish it. Now a little over a year later I'm training for a marathon...crazy. I've come to a few realizations since I started running...but I'll save those for a future post :)