Mardi Gras 5K 02-13-10

Saturday, February 13, 2010
While the majority of the population is spending their Saturday morning relaxing in bed, watching cartoons with their kids, or eating a tasty breakfast part of the MTB Gang is up and ready to run in a local 5K race. My parents and I began participating in 5K races about two years ago when I got the wild idea that I wanted to become a runner. All of my life I have hated running (and have been HORRIBLE at it). When I started, I was 27 years old and unable to run a single mile. My parents had recently lost a substantial amount of weight and were also eager to take on a physical challenge. So I searched the vast knowledge of the internet and found a running program for beginner runners. We started the nine-week program and followed it religiously. The results were as promised…we were all three able to run/jog for 30 minutes (about 3 miles) at the conclusion of the nine-week training. It was after we accomplished this goal that we decided to participate in various 5K runs just to keep us in shape and motivated.
This time we managed to talk Trey and his mom, as well as Brianna, into joining us for this event. We had heard all last week that the temperatures this weekend would be below normal; however we were really hoping that it would not be terribly cold. To our disappointment, the temperature was not rising above 48 degrees and the sun was nowhere to be found. Yet, there was no way we were backing out because of come chilly weather. The six of us put on our layers, hats, and gloves and headed for the starting line. The first mile would all be uphill followed by small undulations from there on. There we were, at the bottom of the hill bundled up like Eskimos waiting for the signal to start.
Finally we were off, pounding our way up the large hill. It didn’t take long for the group to separate and for each person to get into their own rhythm. It was now time to relax and enjoy the opportunity to run. Besides being extremely chilly for an event in Central Florida, the run was awesome. Trey beat his personal best finishing with a time just over 25 minutes. I improved my time as well, crossing the line in 30:48, but still have not reached my goal! I will continue my interval training and hope to reach my goal within the next 5 weeks! Looking forward to the next 5K…perhaps a 10K one day!!!!

For a copy of the 5K training program that we used, check out the "TRAINING" page on our website MTBsportsonline.com!