My Walk into the Future allowed me to venture to Fargo, North Dakota to tackle another half marathon and live that running tourism life.
Here are a few shots from my trip:
Fargo Dome
Downtown Fargo
More of downtown Fargo
Fargo alley art and a meal at the Jasper Hotel (I’m from Jasper, Florida) 🙂
(Meal at the Pizza Ranch)
(Pre-race views)
(Victory!) 🙂
Running season is here!
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“Running is a gift.”
(Amy Burfoot)
My Walk into the Future got an early start to the 2025 running season this year. I ventured up for the 2025 Fargo Half Marathon in May and back over to Winter Park for the 2025 Watermelon 5k for July 4th. I rarely race in May, June or July but decided this was my year to expand my race portfolio and get in more running tourist activities.
I don’t know when I made the decision, but the rest of 2025 will showcase the most aggressive running schedule I have created for myself. The quote above is poetic and I’ve embraced the total gift of running. The running tourist moniker will continue to pop up considering I’m looking to travel to 7 new states this year while visiting several of my old favorites.
The official running season starts for me in Madison, Wisconsin. They host the 2025 Midwest Financial Group Madison Mini-Marathon (13.1) this weekend, and this seems like a great way to see the city. The Wisconsin Badgers play in Camp Randall stadium and I’ve seen how passionate the fans are when they all get together and sing The House of Pain song Jump Around. The Badgers will not be in town when I get there but I’m hoping the race organizers allow runners to get in the stadium and jump around a bit—pun intended! 😊
My marathon training plan calls for a 15-mile long run while in Madison and the Madison Mini-Marathon will allow me to get in the first 13 miles—I will get the other two miles in via my warmup for the race.
I return to Winter Park, Florida the following week for the 2025 Celebration of Running 5k. This race normally kicks off my racing season, but I wanted the challenge of a half marathon to gauge my progress towards my Atlantic City Marathon goals.
The Virginia Beach 10-miler is back on the race schedule, and I love the weekend music lineup they always have. It’s a four-day running and music festival on the Virginia Beach board walk and the people are friendly. I plan to keep this race on my running calendar because it is a great location and course. They normally bring in at least one national music headliner, so I’m excited to see who they have scheduled this year.
I scale down a bit in September for the 2025 Outrun Hunger 5k back home in Fort Pierce. This race is hosted by the Treasure Coast Food Bank, and they reached out to see if I would be interested in joining their team this year. I accepted because of all the great work this organization has done in the local community. Not sure how the team concept works for the 5k but didn’t see any harm in joining the team. 😊
October will be the largest test for me during this running season. I am travelling to New Hampshire for the first time to tackle the 2025 Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon. This is a new state for me, and I plan to visit Vermont and Maine while I’m in that part of the country. These are my last New England states to visit so I’m happy to cross them off.
The 2025 Atlantic City Marathon is two weeks later, and I’m excited to test myself against the 26.2-mile course. My friend Lauren Apgar is running this race, and it will be great to see my friend in New Jersey. My goal time is in the 4:45 range and I’m feeling good so far in this training cycle. 😊
Here’s my full running schedule so far:
| 5/31/2025 | 2025 Fargo Half Marathon * | Fargo, ND |
| 7/4/2025 | 2025 Watermelon 5k | Winter Park |
| 8/9/2025 | 2025 Madison Mini Marathon (Half) * | Madison, WI |
| 8/16/2025 | 2025 Celebration of Running 5k | Winter Park |
| 8/31/2025 | 2025 Virginia Beach 10-Miler | Virginia Beach, VA |
| 9/20/2025 | 2025 Outrun Hunger | Fort Pierce |
| 10/5/2025 | 2025 Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon * | Hampton, NH |
| 10/19/2025 | 2025 Atlantic City Marathon * | Atlantic City |
| 11/9/2025 | 2025 Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon * | Fort Lauderdale |
| 12/6/2025 | 2025 OUC Half Marathon | Orlando, FL |
| 12/13/2025 | 2025 Palm Beaches Half Marathon | West Palm Beach |
| 1/25/2026 | 2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon | Celebration, FL |
| 2/14/2026 | 2026 Fleet Feet Run for your Heart 10k | Jensen Beach, FL |
| 3/1/2026 | 2026 Marathon of the Treasure Coast (Half) | Stuart, FL |
| 4/4/2026 | 2026 Louisville 10 miler * | Louisville, KY |
| 4/25/2026 | 2026 Rock N Roll Nashville Half Marathon (Half Marathon #50) 😊 😊 😊 | Nashville, TN |
(*) denotes a new race for me
I’m still looking for additional half marathons to add to the list. The 2026 Rock N Roll Nashville Half Marathon will serve as the end for my official racing season. The goal is to see progress with each race AND enjoy the process. The gift in running is I’m staying active, traveling and having fun with the process. I wake up in the morning looking forward to my training runs and count the miles as I go. Fun fact—I’m on pace to going over 1,500+ miles again in 2025. Let’s see how far these old legs can take me. 😊
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“Take a deep breath and just enjoy your run.”
(MonitortheBeat)
“I think goals should never be easy; they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time”.
(Michael Phelps)
Maria, I agree, this Five-Minute Thursday writing prompt is here for the long run! 😊 This process continues to provide the Walk into the Future blog with additional outlets and enhances my ability to leverage topics quickly.
Let’s give the Five-Minute Thursday prompt another run.
I shared that I create yearly goals for myself in early January to help guide me through the New Year. My goals are broken up into different categories: reading, writing, travel, exercise, family, etc. My 2024 running goal was to run 4 days a week with a target of 30 – 40 miles per week.
The seventh prompt for Five-Minute Thursday is: 2024 Running Goals.
My running focus was to get myself in great physical shape so I could improve my full marathon time. I was able to train and complete multiple full marathons, but I knew there was another leverage of training I needed to reach. I didn’t just decide to increase my mileage but wanted to break down the process and ensure I could enjoy the training without injuring myself.
The 4 day a week concept comes directly from my full marathon training program. I ramped up my training once I entered the 18-week marathon training program in the past but decided to keep this volume for the entire year. Seems simple but I didn’t want to leave anything to chance this year when it came to fitness and being ready for the 2024 Chicago Marathon.
So, where does 1,500 in the article title come from? Great question, Melissa! 😊
I’m currently sitting at 1,548 training miles for 2024. This is the highest amount of training miles I have completed since I started tracking my run progress. I mixed in a few exercise bike miles in this total but 95% of my training was pounding the pavement or treadmill when the weather did not cooperate. This additional mileage total correlates to my 2024 weight goal to get to and maintain 198 pounds.
FYI—I did not write 1,500 down as a mileage goal but got to this number by meeting my goal to run 4 days weekly. Incremental steps and going to bed at 8:30 pm nightly allowed me to get up and grind on my run days.
Not sure how many miles I will log in 2025, but I have a great blueprint on the correct way to increase mileage without injuring myself.
Let’s thrive in 25! 😊
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time”.
(Unknown)
“It takes an endless amount of history to make even a little tradition”.
(Henry James)
The Walk into the Future blog has a ton of history with the OUC Half Marathon. I started my half marathon journey at the 2013 OUC Half Marathon on the promise to run with a seasoned running friend. She convinced me to step up from running 5ks and jump into the half marathon arena with the promise we would run it together. Well, my friend Lauren and her family moved to Dallas, Texas before race day and I decided to still run it since I committed to the process. The 2013 OUC Marathon is the slowest I have ever run a half marathon, and I am always trying to improve my time when I toe the line in downtown Orlando.
So, as you can see I have a lot of tradition with the OUC Half Marathon and Track Shack. I look forward to this race every year. The 2024 OUC Half Marathon was my eleventh time running the event. I decided not to run the 2018 version to avoid the miles of brinks on the course. The course was changed in 2019 to ensure runners did not have to endure the same number of miles running on the brink streets. What’s the big deal? Most of the brinks are uneven and cause some runners to stumble and makes you slow down to avoid a misstep while on the brinks. I was happy that Track Shack adjusted the course to protect runners towards a safe race outcome.
I entered the 2024 OUC Half Marathon without a preset finish time in mind. I did not complete a specific training program for this race since I was still coming off the Chicago Marathon high. I ran consistently in November with a 6-mile run during Thanksgiving week being my longest run in the training cycle. I had multiple 5-mile training runs leading up to race day but did not extend to double digit runs since my fitness levels were still high off the Chicago Marathon training cycle. I did not know how this would translate to race day, but I was content to give this process a run. My legs felt fresh so I knew I would complete the half marathon; it was just a matter of how fast I would run on race day.
Track Shack upgraded the EXPO experience this year and moved it to The Plaza Live. This was the first year the EXPO was not located at the Track Shack location but provided a larger venue and parking space for race participants. The bib pickup process was seamless and there were several vendors at the EXPO including local TV stations to promote the race and the impact Track Shack has on the Orlando running community.
I was in communication with the Track Shack Vice President of Communications prior to the EXPO and we conducted an interview at the EXPO to highlight my Walk into the Future and how running with Track Shack helps me with content. I’m not sure when this footage will be released but I will share when it drops. 😊
Fast forward to race day and the temperature was 42 at the start. I made a Goodwill run the night before to get a throw-away sweatshirt to wear prior to starting the race. I learned about this trick at larger races and used this concept at the 2024 Chicago Marathon. Most race organizers collect these items and donate to homeless shelters. This was the best $6.99 investment I have ever made because 42 is cold to stand around without warm clothing.
I got to the start/finish line in plenty time to warm up and get a few pictures before the race started. I originally positioned myself towards the back of the starting corral but decided to move up towards the faster runners since I felt good about my fitness and decided to commit to running fast. I was not sure what fast meant but the weather conditions were favorable to get out fast and maintain the pace. I did not set a time goal but going out hard and controlled were the main things I wanted to accomplish.
Track Shack changed the course again this year to make the race a better experience for all runners. I did not know the impact of the course change prior to the race but enjoyed running on less bricks this year. Did I say I hate running on the bricks? 😊
Fast forward and I ran 2:10:39 (9:53 per mile) this year. This was my 5th fastest of 37 lifetime half marathons. I ran my fastest half marathon during the 2019 OUC Marathon (2:05:51 / 9:33 per mile). Not bad considering my long run since Chicago was 6 miles. I trained between the two races but did not dedicate time to long distance running. Looks like my fitness levels still got me around the course. I was able to finish the last mile of the race with a nice kick and a smile on my face. FYI—the lack of humidity in the air really is great for runners. I did not want to waste this opportunity to go fast this year. 😊 Fastest mile was #3 @9:32 and slowest mile was #12 @10:28.
I got my beer and some pictures in the race village but didn’t hang around as long this year because it was still in the 50s. I did not have my throw away sweatshirt anymore so I decided to head to my vehicle so I could get back to my hotel and warm up.
I am happy with my results this year and look forward to a fast 2025 racing season.
Lining up some new races for 2025 to bring to the Walk into the Future blog.
Thanks for joining me!
Irie!
Calvin Williams
“Tradition is a guide and not a jailer”.
(Brainy Quote)
“The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus”.
(Bruce Lee)
Let’s give the Five-Minute Thursday writing prompt another run. I’m starting to love the simplicity of this writing concept and having fun generating content for the Walk into the Future blog.
My fitness journey primarily chronicles my running program and the tourism opportunities this brings to me throughout the year. I also write about being goals oriented but, I don’t believe I ever identified one of my 2024 goals was to get to and maintain my body weight at 198 pounds or less.
The sixth prompt for Five-Minute Thursday is: 2024 Fitness.
My normal weight over the past three years was right around 205 pounds. This was fine as I increased my running program and got a bit more serious with my marathon pursuits. I completed marathons in 2022 and 2023 with my weight at 205 pounds. I was able to get the training done but wondered what would happen if I trained AND got my weight down a bit. I set my weight goal back in January 2024 and put effort to meet and/or exceed the goal this year.
I started January 2024 at 203 pounds after taking three weeks off from running after my 2023 Garden of Life Marathon in December 2023. I reevaluated my training program and my diet to determine the adjustments I needed to get my weight down. Again, I was not looking to lose substantial weight, but I wanted to get down to see how it impacted my daily life and fitness levels.
I changed my diet and decided to stay out of the drive-through lines more in 2024. Yes, I write about my running program, but my diet has never been the greatest over the years. Also, it is so easy to hit a drive through after work instead of going home and cooking. I didn’t eliminate this process completely, but I put a huge dent in making these stops on the way home. I got more use out of my grill in 2024, and this helped me with better meals throughout the year.
I also rededicated myself to following my training programs especially with my 2024 Chicago Marathon 18-week training process. My goal for this training block was to not miss a session to ensure that I give maximum effort to get ready for the Chicago Marathon. I only used the exercise bike as a warmup for my runs—this was a bit different from previous cycles. I also adjusted my bedtime to 8:30 pm daily and woke up at 4:30 am to ensure I had time for morning runs before work. Going to bed at a consistent time helped me get prepared to get up and run in the morning.
The 18-week marathon training plan increased my mileage weekly, and I incorporated additional mileage in my training process. I’m on pace to finish 2024 with over 1,500 training miles which would be 300 miles over my previous maximum running year.
Fast forward—I got down to 192.5 pounds on 9/14/2024 and ran the 2024 Chicago Marathon at 197 on 10/13/2024. I’ve consistently met my goal to stay under 198 this year. My fitness levels are much higher within this weight range. Fun fact—I have started to order new pants since my old ones don’t fit as well now. 😊
Not trying to get down more but want to maintain this new level of fitness and keep my weight right around the 195 – 198 range. My friend Lynn calls me skinny now—not sure I agree but I have a new level of fitness and I’m happy with it. 😊
What 2024 goal are you proud of accomplishing?
Irie!
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be”.
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)
“A marathon is hundreds of miles. The finish is the last 26.2”.
(Running Quotes)
This quote identifies my current Walk into the Future. I started the Chicago Marathon training cycle on 6/10/2024 and have logged 561.89 miles to date. I’m flying to Chicago tomorrow morning, so I have completed all the prescribed miles on my training plan.
There have been a lot of early mornings to beat the Florida heat and humidity but I’m feeling good about the work I have put in this year. I used lessons learned from previous training cycles to improve my mental and physical preparation to ensure I get to Chicago in great shape to compete with my fellow runners.
I started this training cycle at 207 pounds and have been as light as 192 pounds. I tipped the scale this morning at 194 pounds right before I start the carb loading process. I will toe the line at the Chicago Marathon lighter than my last marathon and this should translate to my performance. Again, I decided not to take any short cuts this time around and made sure I put in the work mentally, physically and with my diet. Feeling good! My friend Lynn keeps saying that I’m skinny now—not sure I buy that but have lost three inches on my waist and none of my pants fit me now. Will have to see if I maintain this weight before I invest in a new wardrobe. 😊
I touted being 32 – 0 during my last Chicago Marathon update. I never thought I would remain undefeated throughout the entire training cycle, but I wanted to maximize each run to ensure I performed well at the Chicago Marathon. Well, let’s cut to the chase—I missed a few sessions either due to travel or illness. I missed an entire week of training when I returned from the Virginia Beach 10-miler. This may also explain why my time in the race was slower than last year. Imagine that I completed a 10-mile race while I was sick. 😊
Here’s my weekly miles update:
| Week 9 | 37.39 |
| Week 10 | 34.49 |
| Week 11 | 26.03 |
| Week 12 | 34.58 |
| Week 13 | 2.03 (Sick this week) |
| Week 14 | 42.7 |
| Week 15 | 30.85 |
| Week 16 | 33.77 |
| Week 17 | 27.11 |
| Week 18 | 5 |
| Total | 273.95 |
I’m flying up to Chicago tomorrow to get acclimated to the city and weather. I’m excited to go to the race EXPO for the opportunity to meet some of the elite runners scheduled to be there. I’m sure I will not see them much on race day so will enjoy the opportunity to share the same venue with them. There are a few Orlando Track Shack runners coming up to Chicago and I want to catch up with them at the EXPO as well. Friday will be my day to get some sightseeing in and deep-dish pizza. I will stay off my feet as much as possible on Saturday to conserve energy and keep my legs fresh. There will be an organized shakeout run on Saturday morning, but I have not decided if I want to participate. I’m sure it will be exciting and a great opportunity to meet runners who have gone through the same experience as me to get ready for the Chicago Marathon.
The weather is projected to be in the mid-40’s and warming up into the low-60’s. This will be a welcomed change from the Florida heat and humidity. Really looking forward to see how my body adapts to running in cooler weather without humidity.
Well, the training is done! It’s time to put all this effort into action on race day to see how well I perform.
Thanks for coming along on this journey with me! Will see you on the other side of the 2024 Chicago Marathon finish line! 😊
Irie!
(Image by CoupleStyle from Pixabay)
My marathon training program begins again next week. Decided to stick with the 18-week training program I used last year. This program provides a gradual mileage build-up and allows me flexibility to train and still get normal life activities completed.
The 2023 Palm Beaches Marathon will provide another mental and physical test for me to continue to challenge myself to get better daily. I feel like a veteran this time around since I got my initial marathon under my belt last year. I’m excited for the opportunity to train and improve my race outcome this year. There were several lessons from 2022 that will help me with my journey this year.
Exercise bike
I mistakenly believed I could replace running miles with miles on my exercise bike. Numerically the miles are equal but there is a difference between hard work on an exercise bike and outside miles in Florida. There is a time and place for the exercise bike, but I will not lean on this form of training as much as I did in 2022.
Speed work
I concentrated on building up my mileage base in 2022 but not as much on speed work. I did several sessions on the local track to work on tempo and speed but know I will need to work pace runs in more this year. My training plan has several tempo runs inserted and I will do a better job of following the pace days as outlined. The tempo runs will help me convert my physical fitness into a better race day pace.
Heat and humidity
My weekday training runs were completed with 5 am training sessions. I started my runs at 5 am to beat the heat and completed them prior to my workday during the week. My weekend runs started around 7:30 am to get out and back before the south Florida heat kicked in. This was a solid plan, but I did not log many miles in the heat of the day. Sounds like a smart training plan but the second half of the Palm Beaches Marathon is run in direct sunlight with minimal shade. It was not overly hot in December, but the sun was on me from the 18-mile marker until the end of the marathon. I did not handle this part of the race well since I avoided running in/with the sun during my training phase. I will SMARTLY look for ways to incorporate more training to leverage the south Florida heat and humidity to enhance my training program.
Here’s the 18-week training program I will launch next week:
I will document my training progress again this year with updates on how I’m doing with mileage, nutrition, and thoughts. Excited to Walk into the Future again and tackle the 2023 Palm Beaches Marathon. Looking to run substantially faster than 2022 and cross the finish line again with a smile on my face.
Irie!
My 2022 running season was an aggressive approach for me. Wanted to continue to test myself and see how much I could improve my running performance.
I did not see any personal records (PRs) in 2022 but my conditioning and endurance were on display with each race.
The ultimate challenge was stepping up and competing in my first full marathon. I have been back and forth for years on running one but finally got the courage to sign up, show up and finish one. Super proud of this fact.
Now, I find myself signing up for half marathons as a normal part of my training program. My training focus used to be getting ready for my next half marathon. I’m at the point where I can run one on short notice and still compete well. That’s well and fine but looking for a few PRs in the 2023 – 2024 racing season. LOL.
I want to PR a 5k, 10k, half marathon and the full marathon this season. Aggressive I know but, that’s why we make goals.
Here’s my tentative schedule so far:
| 8/19/2023 | 2023 Celebration of Running 5k | Winter Park |
| 9/3/2023 | 2023 Virginia Beach 10-miler | Virginia Beach, VA |
| 9/16/2023 | 2023 Out Run Hunger 5k | Fort Pierce |
| 10/8/2023 | 2023 Hutchinson Island Half Marathon | Fort Pierce |
| 10/22/2023 | 2023 Cocoa Beach Half Marathon | Cocoa Beach |
| 11/4/2023 | 2023 Hollywood Half Marathon | Hollywood, FL |
| 12/2/2023 | 2023 OUC Half Marathon | Orlando |
| 12/10/2023 | 2023 Garden of Life Marathon | West Palm Beach |
| 1/21/2024 | 2024 Vero Beach Half Marathon | Vero Beach |
| 1/28/2024 | 2024 Town of Celebration Half Marathon | Celebration, FL |
| 2/10/2024 | 2024 Fleet Feet Run for your Heart 10k | Stuart, FL |
| 4/27/2024 | 2024 Nashville Rock N Roll Half Marathon | Nashville, TN |
| 6/1/2024 | 2024 San Diego Rock N Roll Half Marathon | San Diego |
May add a few additional races to this list but this should keep me training and competing this fall and next spring.
What challenges are you tackling this year?
Irie!
“There will be days you don’t think you can run a marathon. There will be a lifetime of knowing you have”.
(Unknown)
My Walk into the Future continues to move forward towards the Palm Beaches Garden of Life Marathon in December.
The 18-week training plan I’m using allows me some flexibility, but the one constant is a progressive long run on the weekends. I am leveraging local races to energize my long runs and tackled the Game On Half Marathon in Fort Pierce in October. This seemed like a nice local race, and I signed up for this half prior to committing to run a marathon. Luckily, this race and distance fit right into what I needed to keep moving towards the marathon start line.
The Game On Half Marathon is fairly new on the circuit—last year’s race was the first running. I did not know about this race prior to this year but may keep it on my regular rotation since there are not travel costs associated with a race in the town I live.
This was a smaller race with the projected number of runners less than 300. I normally avoid smaller races since they do not have the crowd support like the Rock N Roll running series. It may seem simple but having a crowd of stranger cheering for you helps when the miles start to get tough. Also, the larger races have a ton of volunteers to man the water/Gatorade stations. I was pleasantly surprised this race had fuel stops at 1.5-mile intervals and this really helps with the process of completing a half marathon.
Again, smaller race so there was not an EXPO experience. Race bib pickup was scheduled the day before the race at Causeway Cove Marina. The process was simple, give them your name and they hand you a bib, t-shirt and four safety pins to attach the bib. That’s it—no vendors to visit or anything to buy. I got a quick picture in front of the Game On promotional truck with my bib and went about the rest of my day.
I started my carb loading process earlier in the week and went to get some more pasta to continue to ingest carbs. Also wanted to get off my feet to ensure I was ready to toe the line in the morning—I find it harder to just kick back when I’m competing in a hometown race. Feels like I should do normal, daily activities but this can lead to tired legs on race day.
Made a point to get to bed early so I could get up and make it to the start line with plenty of time to warmup. This race started at 6:15 am to get and stay ahead of the South Florida heat—yes, it’s still hot and humid down here in October.
Got to Causeway Cove Marina in plenty time to park, stretch and warmup prior to the race start. Made my way through the darkness towards the start line and got in the corral with the other half marathon runners. The race organizers did not have runners line up based on projected pace time—no big deal for this race since it was only about 150 runners for the half marathon. There was also a 10k being run with those runners starting 10 minutes after the half marathoners got started.
I did not have a projected pace or finish time in mind since this was part of my long run. I just wanted/needed to get miles in and the pace for this day was not as important as it normally is when I run a half marathon. My goal was to start, finish and enjoy the race as much as possible.
This was an out and back race so wanted to enjoy the course and have fun. We started in complete darkness so decided to leverage other runners as pacers and to ensure we did not go off course. The half marathon organizers mapped out the course to be completed on Seaway and Ocean Drives on Hutchinson Island, which is completely flat, no bridges to cross which was a welcomed addition.
I started with a comfortable pace and did not push myself hard in the beginning. Paced with a couple runners for the first three miles and then decided to pick up the pace a bit. We turned onto Ocean Drive and headed south towards Jensen Beach. Interesting thing happened at the 4-mile marker. Another runner pulled up next to me and began a full conversation on life, hobbies, and the type of work we both do. I have talked with other runners during races, but it is normally just small talk before we get down to the real racing. Found out this was her 5th half marathon and she had friends running but she wanted to go faster so decided to tag along with me.
We had a nice conversation going for the next 4 miles before she decided to pull back since my pace was pretty good at this point. The great thing about running and talking with her is it created a nice distraction from the race. I focused more on the conversation than my pace so can’t tell you how fast I was running at this point, I was just putting one foot in front of the other.
Leveraged Miles 8 – 13.1 to test my endurance levels to determine adjustments I need to make to my training and nutrition program. I felt good physically but need to ensure my carb loading process is improved. I also need to map out my fueling process (time, distance) to keep moving forward with pace during races. My lactic acid threshold is getting better but need to work on my glycogen levels consistently.
Finished in 2:23:41 (10:58 per minute pace) which is not fast for me, but I still took third place in my age group. I’ll take it considering this was part of my weekend training run. Got an additional 5 miles in after the half marathon for a total of 18 for the day.
Still have work to do as I prep for December but happy with my progress so far.
What challenges are you facing right now?
Irie!
“A marathon is like life with its ups and downs, but once you have done it, you feel that you can do anything”.
(Unknown)
“Life is for participating, not for spectating”.
(Katherine Switzer)
The theme lately is training and racing! Don’t think that is going to stop anytime soon since I have a marathon to get ready for.
Happy to leverage local races to supplement my training program since running in races is a lot more fun than just training miles. Discovered 5k’s can be fun again and a great way to warm up my legs prior to my long training runs. Fun fact, either I am getting faster, or the competition is just letting me run by them—still trying to figure out which. LOL.
The latest Walk into the Future race was the Race for Recovery 5k hosted in Port St. Lucie on the Indian River State College Pruitt campus. I consider this to still be a hometown race since the campus is only about a 20-minute drive from where I live in Fort Pierce.
It rained the night before and I considered bypassing the 5k but knew I still needed to log weekend miles so took a chance and headed to Port St. Lucie to toe the line again.
I did not get a chance to pick up my race bib during the week so needed to arrive a bit early so I could get my race swag and prep for the race. Check-in was painless, and I made my way back to my vehicle to get organize, stretch, and get a quick jog in to loosen my legs.
There was not a huge turnout for this race but the folks there were friendly and ready to run. It started to sprinkle a bit, but I was committed to run since I made it to the start line. Made my way to the start line to ensure I did not get caught up in traffic to start the race.
I did not have a preset race time or pace in mind but wanted to enjoy the course and get some miles in before heading off for my long run.
This course starts within the Pruitt campus and then heads out for a 3-mile loop before coming back on-campus for the finish. It is completely flat, and we never had to cross traffic which is always a good thing.
I went out with a controlled pace to allow other runners to spread out a bit to avoid bumping into anyone. I located a runner I knew who normally runs a great pace so decided to use her as my pacer. That only lasted for about a quarter mile since she was not pushing the pace and I felt like I wanted to go faster.
Mile-1 was completed in 8:58. Mile-2 went down in 9:17. Mile-3 clipped by at 9:22. We got hit with a heavy rain down pour right after the Mile-1 marker so I’m happy with my mile splits. This is because there is nothing worse than running with water drenched shoes and socks. My feet felt like I was running with weights around my ankles but wanted to keep pressing forward to see what I could do in these conditions.
Turned the corner to head towards the finish line and coasted a bit. The funny part here is the runner I mentioned above who was not running fast enough for me was using me as her pacer. We crossed the finish line in a dead heat, and she thanked ME for getting her across the finish line. 😊
Both of us clocked 28:04 and finished first in our respective age groups. Had a good laugh as we collected our awards and headed our different ways. I still needed to get in additional miles so headed home to dry off, change my clothes and put on a dry pair of running shoes.
Got my remaining 11 miles done before relaxing and enjoying the rest of the day.
The 5k races were done to get me mentally ready for the 2022 Clearwater Rock N Roll Half Marathon. Found out yesterday this race was cancelled due to Hurricane Ian lurking in the Gulf of Mexico. Looks like this race is reschedule for October 2023—hope to run this race one of these days.
May look for another 5k to keep me running fast—we will see.
What are your running goals for the rest of 2022?
Irie!
“Sometimes you just do things”.
(Scott Jurek)
Walk Into the Future 