Boo Run 5K, Honeymoon Half MarathoMyakka River 5K race recaps

Well, obviously I am very far behind on writing race recaps! I've been dealing with a pain in my shoulder that has made running difficult. With each swing of my arm, I get a sharp pain in my shoulder blade. Started to become painful with the Boo Run and got worse. Training suffered. Here are short recaps of the past 3 races.:

Boo Run 5K - October 31, 2015

The Boo Run is held in Lakewood Ranch every year. Since there were a few people from my training group signed up to run the race, I decided to move our Saturday run from downtown Sarasota to Lakewood Ranch. I brought my bike out, since I was just going to run the 5K and then get a long run in on Sunday. We got started just after 6am. I rode ahead/behind the group as they ran down Lakewood Ranch Blvd. It was nice to have a change of venue. It was a beautiful morning out. Not as cool as we would have liked, but better than it would be Sunday.

The location of the race start changed from the previous year. It started in the back parking lot, behind all the Main street shops. Gina and I got out there pretty early, and noticed the timing mat only covering half the road (slightly wider than one car). We figured they would put down the rest once the road was closed. Well that didn't happen! The hundreds of runners packed into the 2 lane road, had to squish over to fit on the one side, so they could all run over the timing mat. I didn't get to close to the start, since I wasn't planning on running very fast or going for a PR. My back had been hurting all week. I just wanted to get the miles in and focus on getting the back better for next weekends half.

Once we got going, I held back, while everyone surged forward fast. I felt the stabbing pain in my right shoulder blade. It was much worse than I had been feeling up to this point. I just tried to breath through the pain. The course turns right, out of the parking area, and heads down Lakewood Ranch Blvd. There is a water stop about a mile down the road, and then a U turn before heading back. There are lots of kids running this race, which I think is awesome, but it would be nice if they were given some advice on how to share the road. So many of them started at the front of the pack and then were walking by half a mile. Forcing everyone to move around them. One girl was running slowly, but weaving all over the road. She bumped into me as I tried to pass by her. I kept up a pretty consistent pace, around 8:30, which I was happy with, finishing with a strong kick in the last stretch to the finish.

Time: 26:05 (8:25 pace)

Honeymoon Half Marathon - November 7, 2015

This turned out to be a super hot day! I decided right away that I was going to take it easy. My doctor had put me on muscle relaxers and a strong pain medicine. Thankfully, I got a good night of sleep. It has been a while! The past week was the worst! The massage/cupping I had done really made my shoulder 10 times worse!

So, like I said, it was a pretty hot morning. The race was too loops, starting on Honeymoon island, running over two low bridges, and then back to the island. Pretty much zero shade.

The Pros:
Start of with the good right? Well, not much good here. Good friends to share the journey!
Pretty nice finisher medal.
Um, trying to think of a third.

The cons:
No race sweatshirt. When we registered during the low pricing blitz last year, we were promised a shirt AND a sweatshirt. They decided a couple of weeks before the race to not have the sweatshirts made. Didn't even tell anyone!
Disorganized race start. Very confusing where we were starting.
Limited supply of water on the course.
Poor post race food and drink. Only warm water and pizza. I don't eat anything with flour, so that meant I didn't have anything to eat! Not even a banana!

Needless to say, not one of us will run this race again!

Finish: 2:08:49

Myakka River 5K - November 21, 2015

I got a comp entry for this race, otherwise I wouldn't have run it. I was in no shape to run a race. Still on the pain meds, with make it hard to put in any effort. Mostly I was out here to support the runners from my training group, who were running the half marathon. For some of them, it was their first!

I pushed it hard the first mile, then struggled to keep a good pace for mile 2 and 3. I guess the muscle relaxers make my muscles not want to work.

Finished in 25:38.
5th overall! 2nd female and first masters female. :)

Next up: Space Coast Marathon, November 29
Yeah, so not ready for this. It's going to be another hot day in Florida. I'll just do my best to get through it! No PR's this year!