Running of the Squares 5K

When all the stars, moons and celestial beings align, and a local race finds you, it's best to act upon it.

Almost always, it's the other way around.

We'd just barely gotten settled into our January snowbird dwelling, when I noticed there was a 5K race happening the next weekend (like, five days away). Honestly, I was not looking for a race. Instead, I was searching to see if there was a local running club nearby and the activity tab lead me to the weekend's upcoming events...and there it was:

The Running of the Squares 5K. 

I mentioned it to the hubby, and (much to my surprise) he said we should both do it. So we did. 

The race site was at Lake Sumter Landing, barely a 15-minute drive from our villa. The start time was at 8:00, so we arrived on the scene just before 7:30. We had plenty of time to grab our race packets, and I was able to sneak in a brief 1-mile run for a pseudo warm-up. 

The morning temps were in the mid-50F's when we arrived. Coupled with the full sunshine, the weather felt cool but comfortable.  

The Villages area, in central Florida, is primarily a "retirement living" establishment, but there was an all-encompassing mix of ages wearing race bibs. I did see several runners sporting gear with the local running club's name and logo. The hubby, having not trained (or even run in several months), opted to stay towards the back of the herd. I moved up closer to the front, though, in hopes of avoiding as much zig-zagging as possible once the race began.

The past month or so, my right hip flexor has been a little wonky. It's nothing painful, and certainly hasn't kept me from running, but it comes and goes...and it was there, on race day, making its presence known, LOL. Besides, this race wasn't planned, so I'd done ZERO prep work with speed-training. In other words, I had no grandiose goals other than to run strong and steady.

The pre-race vibes were on-point! As I was waiting for the race to start, U2's Where the Streets Have No Name came over the speaker. Let's just say everyone was grooving and dancing to that appropriate song! 

After a beautiful acapella rendition of the National Anthem, we were off and running. The entire race course was loop in and around the Mallory Hill golf course. Not familiar with Florida's topography, I hear a lot of chatter about it being relatively flat. Well, this golf course was not hilly, per se, but it did allow for some mild rolling inclines and plenty of curves, twists and turns.

Even having nudged my way towards the front region of the pack, the first mile was a cluster. There were quite a few walkers and families with little kids (holding hands, none the less) that I passed early on, but kudos to them for participating. 

Overall, I was feeling good. I think the 1-mile warm-up (in addition to some dynamic stretches and drills) were key. 

The first mile took us south out of the town square of Lake Sumter Landing and then a quick turn (going west) onto the golf cart path along Stillwater Trail. After about 1/4-mile, we took another turn, now heading south, alongside Buena Vista Boulevard. There was a lot of weaving and leap-frogging among the runners, LOL.

Once I got past the first mile, the runners seemed to spread out more evenly. I was really glad to have opted for a tank top (with arm warmers instead of a light jacket) because the bright sunshine made up for the somewhat cool temps.

Shortly after the 1-mile mark, the route then turned left, and headed east on the path alongside Odell Circle. Although the cart path wasn't as wide as a city street, it allowed for sufficient space among the runners.

I think it was just past the halfway point when the route took another left turn, this time heading north, and then ran parallel to Morse Boulevard. I tried glancing at my Garmin periodically, but it's difficult to read under the glare of the sun...so I had no idea what my actual pace was. Not a big deal. Since my hip flexor was still feeling a little weird, I doubt I'd have had the gumption to speed up much to hit any particular pace anyways.

About 2/3rd of the way through the second mile, the route looped around a mini roundabout. This took us back onto Stillwater Trail, this time going west, en route back to the finish line on Canal Street. I was still feeling strong, but didn't know how much I had left "in the tank." My legs kind of just do their own thing in the final mile (of any race), so I just let them go.

There was one last curve, going north, taking us back to where we'd started. I'd heard my Garmin buzz, at what I assumed was the 3-mile mark, but it seemed like that final ".1" was longer than it should have been. I could see the finish line immediately after we turned back onto Canal Street, and before I knew it, I'd finished.

My "benchmark" finish time for a 5K is 27 minutes. If I can finish under 27 minutes, without much extra effort, I'm more than satisfied. Upon seeing 27:xx on the clock as I crossed the finish line, I admit was a bit of a buzzkill. BUT, all things considered, I still was content since I hadn't really pushed my pace nor had I even trained for the race, LOL.   

It wasn't until several minutes later, after I'd gotten out of the glare of the sun, that I noticed my Garmin showed 3.22 for distance instead of 3.1. Curious what my finish time would have been, had the distance been 3.1 miles, I pulled up a pace calculator...and it showed my 8:29 pace would have landed me a 26:21 finish time. I know, I know, these are just numbers...but it is nice to have a better idea of how I would have actually finished had the distance been a true 5K. Not a deal breaker, though, because everyone else ran the same distance.

Anyways, here's what my stats showed:

Gun time - 27:30; Chip time - 27:13

79th of 176 (overall)

22nd of 65 (females)

4th of 9 (age group)

Splits:

Mile 1 - 8:26

Mile 2 - 8:32

Mile 3 - 8:30

   (.22) - 1:49

For swag, all participants received finisher medals and long-sleeved tech shirts. I've said it many times before, but I am not a fan of a finisher medal for a 5K, but these medals are nice (see below)! They're definitely much nicer than a generic metallic circle, LOL. The shirts are nice, too. For a unisex-cut, it actually has a good fit (not boxy) and the logo matches the medal.

Overall, I was very impressed with this race. I later found out that this venue was part of a series of races, which all are run from different town squares (hence the name of the event!); there had been a race back in October, and there's another happening in April. There were plenty of volunteers on the race course, and traffic control was a non-issue due to the golf cart paths utilized. Post-race amenities included fruit and cereal bars, bananas and water. The only glitch, in my opinion, was the distance discrepancy (and that wasn't a big deal).

So, that's what happened when I (accidentally) spotted an unexpected local race. The 5K is not my favorite distance because it demands a lot of effort in such a relatively short time. Ironically, a lot can go wrong in those 3.1 miles without much time to rectify things. Thankfully, this race went well for me...I was happy to see my splits were so even. Despite the wonky hip flexor, I felt pretty strong throughout the entire race...trust me, I cannot say that happens in every 5K!

Have you ever done a spontaneous race while on vacation (or, in my case, snowbirding)? How do you feel about the 5K distance - love it, hate it, meh? Ever have a race course measure long?

 I'm linking this with Kim and Zenaida for the Tuesday Topics Link-Up

I'm also linking with Debbie, Deborah, Lisa, Laura and Jenn for the Runners' Roundup

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