June and July 2011

Spring into Summer 5k Saturday June 4th Al Lopez Park Tampa Fl
I knew eventually it had to happen. I finally "bonked" out in a race. More on that later. This was another great event put on by the "Take... The First Step" group. They put on the Madd Dash in Jan and you can read the review of that race and the same course in the Jan 2011 blog. Like the Madd race this was well organized, structured, and held. Everything from packet pickup, on time start, mile markers, water station, volunteers, and awards went well. Like I stated they do a great job!

Now on to the bad news. I did not feel good when I got up, but since i had preregistered I thought I would give it a go. Long story short I held it together until about the 1 3/4 mark. Had to make 3 "breaks" from there to walk through an upset stomach. Painfully made it to the finish in 23:02. Couldn't even muster enough to sprint it to get under 23. Like I stated it had to happen sometime. Luckily it was closer to home.

Anyway great event and will look to do in 2012.

Beat the Heat 5k Saturday June 8 2011 Thonotosassa Fl

You can read review of this race series (3 races during the summer) held by the Hillsborough Parks group in the June 2010 blog. Always enjoy this small event especially being 5 minutes from home. Wanted to better my time from last year's events of 23:06. Did just that in coming in at 21:54. Over a minute improvement from last year. Third in age group and 17th overall out of 50. Small turnout  Also ran the hilly mile on my own for the first time and after running the 5k came in with a mile of 7:08. Will see if I can improve both of those.

Beat the Heat 5k Saturday July 16 Thonotosassa Fl

Only race in July with sickness and extra heat tempatures. Wanted to improve my time, but without the training and getting over the sickness I was only able to muster 22:12. Second in age group and 12th overall out of only 30. Even smaller runners in the hot July heat.