How Cold Was It?

It is often said that everything is "relative". Well for me and hundreds of runners here in Orlando, it has been COLD! I guess I can look at it and say, well this is our annual one week of winter. In fact as I am writing this, it appears that our warm temperatures are returning.

Despite the cold temperatures, several mornings in the 30's, it did not deter me or many of my fellow runners from getting out there and logging some miles. If you dress properly in layers and for me my hands need to be warm. If my hands are warm I'm fine. After about a mile the body adjusts and comfort is restored.

On Saturday, I ran the "Season's 52" road race in Winter Park, how appropriate to hold it in "Winter" Park. The distance was adjusted from the standard 5K. Since the primary sponsor is the "Season's 52" restaurant, we did 5.2K. The race organizers, Track Shack, did provide a time clock and "Champion Chip" timing for the 5K distance as well.

It was a perfect morning for a race. The temperature was just above 40 and calm. A group of us did a 3 mile warm-up run to the race. We timed it so that we arrived at the start with time for a potty break and ditching the warm-up clothes. We lined up and were off before our bodies could cool down.

I felt very good in the first half-mile so I knew that I would have a good run. I settled in with two runners, Darla and John. John is in my age group and for the past 3 years he has always beaten me, but I've been getting closer. Darla is a breast cancer survivor who at best I manage to stay with for 2 miles, but today would be different.

At mile 1 my time was 7:00 minutes even, at mile 2 it was 13:50. I was now "stalking" John running just off his left shoulder at a safe distance not to impede him or the other runners. Darla was to my left and slightly ahead, but still in sight! As we approached the 5K mark I moved around John. We ran shoulder to shoulder across the 5K and the finish line. Because it was a "chip" timed race I had a 2 second cushion on John. When the results were posted I had finally beaten John by a mere 2 seconds. Darla was still ahead of me, but it was by 1 second, look out Darla!

I finished with PR's in both the 5K and 5.2K. My 5K time was 21:53, the first time I have run under 22:00 minutes. I placed 2nd in my age group out of 36. Overall, I finished 179th out of 2,407.

The photo was provided by my sister and brother-in-law who live in Central New York.