10 Things that Make Florida Running AMAZING

The temps are already soaring here in Central Florida making it one of my least favorite times of year to run outside.  Of course rather than complain about how much I hate it, I thought I would recount some of the super awesome things about being a Florida runner...

People come from all over to visit Central Florida’s theme parks and beaches, making this area one of the world’s top tourist destination.  If you’re visiting during the mid-March through early October, your first and most likely continuous thoughts are probably about the heat.  We’re known as the Sunshine State for a reason.  With temperatures averaging over 90 degrees in the summer months (and summer for us is pretty much those months listed above) and reaching triple digits with the heat index, not to mention the insane humidity, outdoor activities that do not involve the ocean or a lake almost can be a little rough!

But despite the heat, believe it or not, Central Florida really is one of the best places for runners to live or visit.   

Here my top 10 reasons that make running around here so great:

It’s FLAT

We’re certainly not known for our hills here in Central Florida.  In fact, if you wish to do any sort of hill training, you will have to find you a good overpass to run up and down several times.  Quite possibly one of the best trade offs for the extreme heat and humidity is our extremely flat terrain.  Runners visiting the area may find themselves hotter than ever, but they may also find themselves with a PR on our nice, flat roads and trails.

Must Run ALL the Races

One of the challenges to living here is the urge to sign up for a race every weekend, and trust me, there are races EVERY weekend.  In fact, it can even be difficult choosing just ONE race per weekend since there are typically several!  From 5k’s to full marathons and even ultras, Central Florida offers a variety of fun races year round.  But wait, isn’t it too hot to run in the summer?  Not according to Final Mile Race Management who puts on a two incredibly awesome mid-summer events each year with a Half Marathon in June and a 5/10k event in July!  Of course the absolute best time to race each year is from February to April, and that is when you will find some of the best races in the area.

Great Community

The running community in Central Florida is like no other.  Here you will find some of the most enthusiastic, supportive and friendly runners in the world.  Whether you’re receiving friendly smiles and waves from fellow runners out on the trail or joining one of the many group runs around town, you’re sure to enjoy the positive and encouraging energy that makes our running community so great!  Most all of our local running stores including Fleet Feet Orlando, Front Running Sports of Lake Mary and or course Track Shack put on weekly group runs with product samples and of course tons of fun.  A personal favorite of mine is the monthly Fleet Feet pub run.  Running + Beer = Good Times!

 

Why Not Tri?

With lakes galore, beautiful biking trails and of course an already embedded passion for running, it’s difficult to say NO to a at least giving a sprint triathlon a shot down here.  With distances short enough to be non-intimidating up to full Ironman races, options are unlimited when it comes to triathlons.  A late summer early Fall tri is the best.  The water is no longer at boiling temperatures, the slight crisp to the morning air and the sun warms everything up just enough by the end of your run.

Easy Access

Orlando has two international airports that can take you just about anywhere you would want to go and of course getting here just as simple.  Major interstates make driving down here pretty seamless if you’re not too far for a scenic drive.  Whether you’re traveling to Orlando for a visit or you leaving Orlando for a race, you won’t have a problem traveling to and fro.

 

The Happiest Place on Earth

We do have lives outside of running, don’t we?  When we’re not hitting the trail, or of course at our jobs funding our running habit, we like to unwind and spend some quality time with our family and friends.  Central Florida may be most known for Disneyworld and beaches, but that’s not all there is to do around here!  Other than the other well-known theme parks (Sea World, Bush Gardens, Universal, etc.), Central Florida is also home to several other family attractions.  A personal favorite of mine are the several state parks offering beautiful hiking trails and natural springs.  The warm year round temperature of the springs make them perfect for swimming, kayaking and paddle boarding.

Will Run for Food (and Beer)

Being a large, diverse tourist town, it should go without saying we have some of the best restraunts in the country!  You can sample just about any cuisine from any country or culture you can imagine.  Your options for post run fuel are virtually endless.  And if you’re like me and like to carb load with some hops, we also have some amazing local breweries.  Orlando Brewing Company is a favorite of mine not just because of its high quality, delicious beer options, but also because it is Florida’s only USDA organic brewery! 

Ohhh, the “Winter” Months

For a few shorts months out of the year, Florida is quite possibly the most amazing place on this planet to run in!  With temperatures averaging in the upper 50’s to low 60’s and of course our incredible sunshine and brightest blue skies, it’s almost a surreal outer body experience running around here!  With the flat terrain and pristine weather, you are sure to have one of your best races ever if you’re running down here then!  Because the summers can be so brutally hot, this time of year is even more cherished and runners take advantage of the weather using it as the perfect time to train for longer distance events.

Who Doesn’t Love a Good Beach Run?

Whether you are staying at one of the hundred beach resorts or a short drive at one of the theme park resorts, getting in a run on the beach is an absolute must.  Crystal clear waters, beautiful skies, warm ocean breezes and nice hard packed sand make beach running an experience you wouldn’t want to miss.  If you’re in the area in early May or November, Beach Running Champions puts on an event that includes distances from 5k to half marathon, and even a barefoot division along the shore.  It’s a fun, beach themed event with a nautical finisher’s medal

Trails, Trails and More Trails

Wherever you are in Central Florida, you’re near a trail.  There are several beautiful trails all throughout Central Florida and many of them even connect, so running and biking can go on for as long as you wish!  And it seems like new trails are sprouting up all over the area, giving runners even more options to get their miles in.  If you’re more into rugged terrain, one of the manystate parks offer great off road trails with all the dirt, sand, roots and trees you could ask for.  I myself, gave trail running a shot a few years back with a Masters of All Terrain series race and was instantly hooked.  Though we may not have mountains or even great hills, our countless beautiful trial running options (paved or off road) in Central Florida more than make up for it!

Last Long Run for Marathon #5 Done!

Week 3 of 2016: MLK Day and last long run for my next marathon

Monday was in memorial of the late, great Dr. Martin Luther King.  Schools and many businesses close to honor his life and achievements, so that meant no preschool for my munchkins that day.  I did, however, still have to teach my usual spin class at LA Fitness, so to their excitement, they got to accompany me to the gym.  I knew I wouldn't get much done work wise that day having the babies home with me, but I was also super excited to get to spend the day with them.  I didn't do much weights that morning either because I wanted to maximize my time with them, so just a little core before my class.  That afternoon, we got to have lunch with daddy, ride scooters in the beautiful weather and get frozen yogurt.  I'm sure they would agree, it was a super awesome way to spend the day!

Tuesday is the day I would typically do speed-work but because I had to do my long run on Thursday, I used it as a tempo run.  I started out a little faster than I have been these past few months in hopes to start getting my base pace back up.  Surprisingly it went really well and I was able to knock out 5 miles at a 7:30 minute mile.  Not where I used to be, but seeing improvements like this definitely makes me hopeful I will soon be there again!

Rather than doing my usual heavy lift day and spend my long run the following day regretting it, I figured I should do some laps in the pool instead.  Swimming was something I always struggled with.  Back in my tri days, it was my absolute worst event (I was so glad it was first so I could get it over with)!  I avoided the pool like the plague for many years, but early last year I was feeling somewhat burnt out with running and wanted to give swimming another shot to mix it up.  I am so glad I did.  Not sure if I had just gotten stronger, leaner and more conditioned, or if I just finally decided to let go of my fears, but I felt as if I were a mermaid!  It was all of a sudden so natural to me and I found myself actually enjoying it.  I began incorporating swimming as a regular part of my training regimen until I began training for my full marathon last fall.  I was spending so much time on specific training runs that I did not have time for swimming, but when I ended up getting hurt half way through training, swimming was all I could do.  But once again, marathon training came back into my life and bye bye swimming.  Wednesday was the perfect opportunity to pick it back up and glad I made it happen.  I even made some friends in the pool and guess who is now doing a triathlon this May!?!

Since training for my last marathon this past Fall, my training runs have been all over the place.  I was finding myself getting more and more frustrated if they did not go as EXACTLY as planned.  The self inflicted pressure and stress cause me to lose a bit of my love for running, which is NOT cool.  After getting hurt last fall, my knee jerk reaction was to jump right into another race to get that BQ I have been working so hard for.  But with my poor attitude, overtrained body and not quite healed injury, I am realizing my dream may have to wait yet again.  Rather than getting pissed off, I have decided to let go (for now) and just enjoy the process more.  So with this last long run for my 5th marathon, I made a promise of myself to just run and have some fun.  Run the miles not only because I had committed to doing so, but also because I get to do so, and it is what I love to do.

7:15am start time (for safety purposes, I typically wait for sunrise) and off I went.
It was only about 42 degrees when I got going.  I was half excited about the weather and half concerned since I have not a clue what to wear! #runnerproblems  I figured I would dust off everything I have purchased over the years for cold weather running, put it all on and peel it off as I go, lol.  I did have my watch, but I changed my settings to not see my pace.  My goal was to just run the miles, and that is exactly what I did.  For 15 straight miles it was just me, the trail and my thoughts (well and of course my iPod).  One foot in front of the other, refusing to give up or give in.  It wasn't easy, I wanted to stop and walk several times, but I was committed to just run,even if it's slower than I'd like.  Then, out of nowhere, and just what I needed was a friend of mine and fellow runner, Kim.  Kim and her friend Kris had just dropped their kiddos off at preschool and were out for a 5 miler.  Just what I needed, some running buddies!  For almost 4 miles, we talked about our families, our jobs, and our running goals.  We kept a solid pace and the miles just flew by.  Before I knew it, we were back to their cars and I only had 3 miles to go.  I couldn't have been more thankful for saving my run when I needed it the most.

Having had that little pick me up from my friends was exactly what I needed to crush those last few miles and even had some great negative splits at the end!  Finished all 22 miles in about 3 hours with an average pace of 8:30.  I know this pace is not what will get me that BQ I had originally hoped for, but I am completely ok with that and am hoping to pull off a good PR for this one.  Like I always say, there will be other races.  I've learned a lot both physically and mentally over the past two years of running, more than I had learned in the first 15.  So I'm excited to move forward with a much better attitude and start crushing some goals, but most importantly, have some fun!

Friday, my legs were a little sore but I still wanted to get a quick upper body pump in after I taught my Friday morning group.  Did mostly shoulders and biceps, and of course foam rolling.  Didn't make it to hot yoga that evening, but it was probably for the best, I needed some recover.

On Saturday, I figured I could knock out my usual 8-10 miles, but I quickly realized my legs did NOT agree with me!  A super slow treadmill 5k, that even involved some walking, was about all I had in me.  I foam rolled some more then hit up the pool for about 1000m swim.  Again, really digging on this swimming.  It was ultra cold, cloudy and windy that day, so me and the boys were all bundled up.  We spent some time with some friends and had a nice relaxing evening at home!

Sunday started off pretty chilly with temps in the 30's!  By lunch time, it had warmed up to the 50's and the sun was shinning bright.  The boys' had their soccer game that afternoon and despite a bit of a chill in the air, it had shaped up to be an absolutely beautiful day.  When I mentioned how gorgeous it was after we got back from soccer, my husband said "Yeah, you should get you a run in!"  If he suggested it and it willing to watch the kiddos, I'm so going for it, and I did!  No watch, no music, just a few quick miles around the neighborhood was all I needed for an absolutely perfect Sunday afternoon run.  My legs felt great and I hadn't enjoyed a run like that in I don't know how many years!

This was a pretty good week of training.  Glad to have my last long run complete and now I can focus on some speed work then start tapering down in preparation for the big race.  I am also excited to be back in the pool and plan to make that a regular part of my training.  My lifting always take a big hit during long run weeks and that is one thing I'm missing consistently in my life.  I am looking forward to getting back after it and getting my muscles back!  Who knows, maybe I will finally work on that other fitness goal I have been thinking about for years.  Definitely quite a different direction than my endurance sports.  But we shall see!

Race Recap: USA Beach Running Championships

This past weekend was Mother's Day, and I had the pleasure of kicking off the special day with a great event in Cocoa Beach, then coming home to spend the day with the special little people who made me a mom.  I wanted to take a moment to recap this event and share my own experience from the race.

USA Beach Running Championships

I first heard about this event through my Mom's Run This Town chapter.  One of our moms posted a picture of the medal several months ago asking if any of us would be interested in participating with her.  After seeing the beautiful sand dollar medal, I immediately jumped online to sign up.  They offered two distances, a half marathon (13.1 miles) and a 10k (6.2 miles).  Now, typically I am a huge fan of half marathons and figured I would sign up for that distance.  However, despite running several off road events, I wasn't quite sure if I would be up for the whole 13.1 on the beach.  I knew the terrain would be a bit of a challenge but honestly, my biggest concern with the half marathon was my attention span, or lack thereof, hehe.  I feared that I the out and back shore line course would quickly become daunting, and so I went ahead and signed up for the 10k.  I am grateful I made that decision for multiple reasons I will get to soon.

In the weeks leading up to the event, I suffered from some serious allergies and a sinus infection.  I thought I finally kicked the sinus issues until about 3 days before the race when I began to feel bad again.  The night before the race I felt horrible and even considered not running.  But I figured I could still go and just do the best I can.  Cocoa Beach is about an hour and twenty minutes from Altamonte Springs, so I had to wake up around 4:30am and hit to hit the road by 5am.  Other than several dollars in tolls, the ride was relatively easy and quick and I arrived with enough time to pick up my packet, use the ladies room and even see the sunrise!  Fortunately, a member of MRTT had picked up my packet for me the Friday before, but from the looks of it, packet pick up seemed to be quick and easy.  There were quite a few port-a-potties as well as indoor restroom facilities, so the typical insanely long pre-race bathroom lines were actually not too bad!

Pre-Race Sunrise on Cocoa Beach

The half marathoners were the first to go out around 6:40am.  The sun was well on it's way up so the air was really starting to warm up by the time us 10k'ers make our way to the start line.  I headed up to the front as I usually do, even though I figured this one would be a rough one for me because of my sinus/allergy issues, I still hoped to hang with the front of the pack.  Upbeat music played over the speakers while we waiting for them to set the clock.  It took several minutes for them to get it going but we were soon heading out.  As I expected, the course was flat straight ahead but we were at a bit of a slant on the shoreline.  Runners were asked to stay to the right and for the most part, everyone did so.  The first water stop was shortly after the first mile mark.  They had asked us not to litter on the beach, but with only one trash bag right next to the stop, that seemed to be difficult for many of the runners who wanted to quickly drink and keep running.  Maybe placing a bag or two a several yards down would help eliminate that issues.  The second water stop was at the 5k turn around.

On the run back, the sun was fully up and the temperature had significantly increased.  The ocean breeze helped a little but the sun was really hot on our shoulders.  Since the beach cannot be closed off, having to dodge a few beach combers and fishing polls was slightly annoying but not too terrible.  The course was well marked, so even though it was difficult to see the finish line down the beach, the markers helped keep us aware how much distance we had left.

The finish line was lined with large, beautiful conch shells.  Several spectators lined the finish line and were cheering very excitedly for us runners.  As soon as I crossed the finish line at a little over 47 minutes (unfortunately not a PR but I didn't expect one that day) I received not only my big sand dollar medal but also a lay!  There was, however, not water at the finish line which was a little disappointing.  I had to walk about 20 yards up sugar soft sand to get a small cup of water.  But where the water was located was also donuts, coffee, OJ and even mimosas.

My girl Meagan and I right after the race

Many of my friends from MRTT were crossing the finish line at this time so I went back down there to cheer them on and meet up with them to recap the race.  They all enjoyed the race too but agreed the sand and sun made it a difficult one for them.  Like me, they all were grateful to have only done the 10k.  We took a few pictures there at the water and then we headed up to the post race festivities.  We enjoyed the mimosas and brunch they had available for the runners and the live Calypso music continued to offer a great beach vibe.

Some of my MRTT ladies and I enjoying the post-race mimosas

They got to the awards pretty quickly after races were complete.  Despite my sinus/allergy issues, I still managed to be the 3rd female to finish and place first in my division.  They only awarded the top male and female finisher but did go 3 deep in each division.  I received a large, beautiful clear plaque as my award for placing first in female 30-34, so I was pretty excited about that.  One of our MRTT mama's sons actually placed in his division so of course we had to get a picture together!

I placed 1st in my division

John, my MRTT mama's son, and I posing with our awards

So, To Sum It All Up...

Running on the beach was harder as well as easier than I had anticipated.  I wasn't sure how much if any of the course would be on the soft sand so I was preparing myself for some ultra challenging terrain.  Fortunately, no part of the course went on that part of the beach.  Though the area where we ran was hard packed sand, it was wet from the tide making it sponge-y and sunction-y.  I'm aware neither of those two descriptions are actual words but that is the best way I can describe it and I did feel like it had a part in my slower pace.  Also, even though it was straight and flat, the beach does decline towards the water so we were running on a bit of a slat on the way out.  Luckily it was much flatter on the way back since we were much closer to the water.  Since you're on the beach, there is absolutely NO shade whatsoever, so it did get hot quick, but like I said, the breeze did help some.

Pros: It's a well organized and put on event.  The medals and awards are super.  Beautiful scenery, who doesn't love the beach!?!  Awesome post race party.  Quick turn around from race to awards.  Great event for Mother's Day!

Cons: Beach running is tough, lol.  No shade made it a scorcher.  Starts early, so it's a loooong day for those of us with a drive.  Ugly race shirt (it's like mint chocolate or nursing home green).  Needs to have water at finish line.  No race photographer.  As event grows, consider giving overall awards three deep as opposed to just first place.

All in all it was a great event and myself and several of my buddies want to do it again.  Next year, I think I would prefer making a little vacay out of the event, staying at least the night before if not two nights, so I do not have to do the hour plus drive there and back that day.  If anything though, I would definitely like to have my family there next year, I know my husband and kids would have enjoyed watching me cross the finish line for this one.  And it would have been great to have my very own cheering section during awards, especially since it was Mother's Day!

Mother's Day fun!

Oh, and in case if anyone was wondering about the rest of my Mother's Day, it was great spending a relaxing afternoon at the pool with my husband and two precious boys.  And as far as my sinus/allergies go, I finally went to the doctor the day after the race and was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection, sinus infection and allergies.  I was given 3 medications and as of today (Wednesday) I'm finally starting to feel a little better!

Let's hope this medicine and rest helps, I'm so over being sick because it's interfering my running!!!

For more information on the USA Beach Running Championships, visit their website at http://www.runonthebeach.com.  I highly recommend checking this event out next year, you won't regret it!!!