NFL Back to Football 5k - Redskins Run Race Recap

It's Saturday morning and it's race day.  I'm always up early on race day... I'm talking 4:30am early.  My family is still sleep and that's ok, because we have some time.  I'm pretty excited because I'm running in the first NFL Back to Football 5k and my boys are getting their first experience running in the Fun Run.  I never did anything like this when I was a kid and I was happy that my boys got to do something like this early in their lives.

Realizing and understanding the benefits of living healthy, has given me a strong  desire to create and mold an atmosphere of health and positive activity into their upbringing. It's extremely important to me that they grasp this lifestyle sooner, rather than later, like I did.

Anyway, I was happy that my boys and I had the opportunity to create a positive memory in their childhood.

I went downstairs to get ready like I normally do before a race. Started putting my gear on and getting my thoughts together about how I would approach this race.

My goal was to race it. I thought about the 5k that I did earlier this year. I finished it in 30:18. Perfect conditions down in Ocean City, MD and that was what I call a flat course. I was shooting for a sub 30 finish on this one.

It was really cool to have 1982 Super Bowl MVP Mark Moseley literally kick off the race!! After the national anthem was sung, he stood in front of the racers and kicked a football similar to how he did when he was playing. Now obviously, it didn't go as far, but it was much further than I could've kicked it. That was a pretty nice touch to the overall nostalgia of being there as a Redskins fan and participating in the very first run of the series at FedEx field. I'm hoping that next year, more Redskins and former Redskins will show up!!

Well we started in waves and I'm a slower runner, so we started in the middle to back off the pack. The faster runners went first and then the slower runners. The countdown from 10 began and we were off!!

I hadn't run most of the week and I was scheduled for a long run of 8 miles on Sunday as I'm tapering for my first half marathon. I wanted to really race this one and remembering the description of the course to be flat, I figured this would be great race to PR.

It wasn't as flat as Ocean City. There were some inclines... nothing really to complain about but I'd have to work to get under 30 minutes. So I felt pretty good and the strategy was to stay around 10:30/mile and really push it at the end.

I looked at my Garmin for my first mile time... 9:33. Agh!! I laughed to myself and said, "well there goes the PR." There was no way I could hold on to that for 3 miles!! But I tried... mile 2 was finished in 10:21. I knew my PR was long gone.

So I said I would make the best of this race and keep pushing. I began thinking about the times that I wanted to shoot for. I wanted to get under 33 minutes and decided to commit to that goal. That would be better than 11 minute miles and I could be happy with that.

My final mile would be done at 10:15, according to my Garmin. I ran 3.23 miles in 32:48... a pace of 10:10/mile. That's not too bad for a dzlrunner.

After the 5k was completed, me and the family walked around FedEx a little. They allowed us to go inside the stadium and see the field. I noticed that the field wasn't even painted yet for the big game against the Eagles on Monday Night Football. I took a gaze around the entire stadium and said to myself, this place is gonna be electric in a couple of days!! I got excited just thinking about it.

They began to announce the winners of the 5k and we started looking for where the kids fun run was gonna be held.

It took us some time, because it didn't seem like anyone had any answers. So if I had to complain about anything, it would have been the circles we kept going around asking about the kids run.

We finally found where the kids were lining up. My boys Kamari and Kameron were participating in this half mile run and I was hoping they would do well.

The kids were split up in two groups, by age... 10 and up were in the first group and anyone under age 10 would be in the second group. My oldest son, Kamari, is 10 and he was lined up right in front. I said to myself, "well would you look at that!" I was happy to see some type of competitiveness from him, since he's pretty low key. My youngest son is 6 and he is naturally competitive. I couldn't see him, but I was sure he would make a good showing.

What was really cool was, the kids were able to run out of the big Redskins helmet!! This was the same one the players run out of at home games!! This was so awesome and every time my kids see the big helmet on the field at the start of a Redskins game they can say that they ran out of the big helmet too!

Well the starting horn went blew and the kids came running out of that tunnel like bats outta hell!! I saw my oldest son and he was going!! I expected to see my youngest son in the next group and my running partner told me that Kam had broke out with the older kids!! I didn't see him!!

I was recording it on my phone. I stopped recording and looked in the tunnel... I didn't see Kameron!! I was pretty bummed, but then I thought to look on my video.

Lol... as the video came to a close, I saw Kameron bringing up the rear!! His face was determined!! I guess he said he wasn't running with the little kids!! He could hang with the big kids. Me and my running partner laughed because that's who Kam is. He loves taking on a challenge!!

Overall the morning was quite enjoyable and I was happy to have my wife and kids there, supporting and being involved in something positive and something healthy. I continue to look back over the couple of years that I've been working towards a healthier lifestyle. I'm happy with the progress I've made and looking forward to continued improvement of myself and my family.

You can do it too!! Just decide to take the first step towards improvement each day, and you're on that journey of success. It's that simple.

Ocean City 5k Race Recap

The Ocean City Tri-Running Island 2 Island Half Marathon/5k was my first race of 2013 and my goal was to just run the 5k hard and shoot for a PR of 31 minutes... My stretch goal was to be under 30 minutes.
I hadn't run all week since Tuesday and I found myself getting pretty anxious by Saturday. (I now know that as I prepare for longer races, I'll probably drive myself crazy during taper weeks) I weight trained Wednesday and Thursday and didn't do anything Friday, as I was trying to figure out a routine for race prep. I was also adding mileage each week up to this point and decided to rest my legs a little.
So, as I arrived to the packet pickup, the energy was definitely high. I heard motorcycles roaring all around and this was due to it being bikers weekend in Ocean City. There were people all over, cars blocking the entrance to the hotel, dogs and bikers. But the overall atmosphere was friendly.
I stayed at the Bonita Beach hotel, which was surprisingly not that bad of a hotel to stay in. The hotel employees were accommodating and pleasant. After checking into the hotel, the kids were getting pretty restless and were ready for something to eat, so we stopped at The Dough Roller for dinner. I normally do pizza the day before a long run and so I decided to keep the routine going even though the next day was just 3.1 miles.
We went back to the hotel and I started getting everything ready for my race.
My racing shirt was pretty cool. It was a black tech short with the logo on the chest and back. I pinned my racing bib to the front along with my Boston tribute bib. I was dedicating this race along with all my races of 2013 to all those connected with Boston.
I finally got in the bed and the pure excitement kept me from getting a good night's sleep. I kept waking up every hour on the hour.
It was finally time to get up officially and I was stoked. My family was there, it was my first race of 2013 and I had a goal of running it as hard as I could.
We drove to the start of the race and both the half marathoners and the 5k runners started at the same point. So I arrived extra early to make sure I saw the half marathoners start their race. In that moment, I vowed that I would run the half next year.
As the half marathoners continued, I knew it was almost time for the 5k to begin.
I started to get nervous and I got goosebumps. Excitement overwhelmed me!! We lined up by the DJ and the mayor of Ocean City's daughter gave us the directions.
The gun went off and we were off. I ran the outer border of the course in the beginning so I wouldn't have to worry about dodging around other runners. We ran around the Ocean City Inlet parking lot and onto the boardwalk. The boardwalk was an out and back.
I didn't run with music, as I have not done so for a while. So, I was able to hear all that went on around me. There wasn't much talking, just the sound of feet pounding the boardwalk in a continuous rhythm.
As I got halfway down the boardwalk, we began to see the leaders on their way back. The overall leader was a tiny guy... About 155 lbs, 5 foot 7. I thought to myself how extremely fast he was. He finished in 17 mins and some change. They tell me he actually ran the course twice...
Well, I continued on and decided that I would keep up with a woman who had a Boston dedicated bib similar to mine (which I obtained from Facebook, c/o Marathon Training Academy page). She was ahead of me the entire race and I knew she was running at a good pace that would allow me to run a good race and push myself.
I was surprised at how good I felt throughout the race, considering my legs felt like noodles when we started and I was running a faster pace than I ever had before.
As we continued on, a runner a few yards ahead of me shouted, ".2 miles guys, only .2 miles to go!!" I decided to see what I had. I always remembered someone telling me that pumping my arms will make you run faster... So I tried it. And wow!! My stride opened up!! It felt awesome!! I was running!! I was able to keep this pace up through the finish line. It was like an epiphany!! It was like I found a super power that I could put in my arsenal whenever I battle a particular distance and fight for the finish.
Everything was great!! My wife and kids were at the finish waiting for me, I finished my first race of the season and I hoped to have a good chip time.  Interesting enough, as I got a few yards past the finish, I was still breathing hard and with each breath, I felt like I would throw up. I didn't, but I guess those are the effects of pushing yourself.
There was water, chocolate milk, pretzels and other snacks in brown paper bags. I got a water and looked for the family so we could go get some breakfast.
There were other activities for runners after the race and the half marathoners were still running. But the family and I decided to go back to the hotel and enjoy the rest if the day in Ocean City.
Next year, I'll definitely be running the half. Really looking forward to it!!