Corporate 5K 2011 Kick Off

It's that time of the year again to begin planning for the Corporate 5K. Beth will be my co-captain this year, and we are excited to begin recruiting and training for this awesome event. Last year we had 31 participants, and we had a great time. Can we make it 40 this year? Yes, we can!

Last night was the Captain Kick Off at Mojo Cajun Bar and Grill and we had a blast (see the photo evidence to the right). They had a raffle and I won a golf bag. Since I do not play golf, I'll be giving it away to one of you along with some other Corporate 5K swag (like coffee mugs). Register and join our team by February 11th for your chance to win.

If you want to train with us, we'll be meeting on Mondays and Wednesdays in the P2 parking lot at 5 p.m.  starting next week, January 31st. Walkers and runners of all levels are welcomed.

Let's do this!

Join Our Team Now!

Corporate 5K Quickie Race Report

I need to write a proper race report for this year's Corporate 5K, but I still have not gotten around to it 2 weeks later. So I figured I might as well post this mini race report in the meantime.

1. According to Track Shack, the race had 617 teams and 12,633 runners/walkers!
2. Team Stats:
• 34 registered participants; 31 completed the race (we had 9 last year + 1 cheerleader)
• 12 completed their first 5K!
• 7 returned from last year, and our cheerleader Sammy did the race this year
3. One of our runners, Bob Reed sang the national anthem at the race with his quartet Makeshift. View the video on YouTube.
4. Per my garmin, I ran 3.13 in 34:37 (11:03 min/mile pace). My clock time was 43:20 as it took almost 9 minutes to cross the start line. Read my mini race report on dailymile.
5. Below is a group photo of most of the team before the race. You can see more photos on Flickr, and I'll be adding more to that album soon.

not pictured: Alison, Beth, Bob, Danny, Don, Manny, Matt, Patricia, Regina, Shannon

Well, I stayed too late at the office (everyone say "aaaaaah") and arrived at Kitzzy's place too late to find parking! Not being familiar with the neighborhood I joined the magnificant motor parade of other drivers also looking for an empty spot and finally decided to bite the bullet and pay for a parking garage. Needless to say, in a crowd of 12,500+, I never reconnected with the team .....

The good thing about not walking while also talking is that you can set your own pace. A key objective for my participation in the 5K was to see how the nerves and muscles in my legs and arms would hold up to a steady pace for 3 miles on a paved surface.

With double compression stockings on my left leg, the body did fine. I crossed the finish line at 1hour 2 minutes - Kitzzy thinks that my actual time was less by about 10 minutes because of the lag time in walkers getting to the Start line.

I regret having to miss the pizza party afterward - final projects are due in both of my doctoral courses this week - but enjoyed seeing all the pix. I'm sure that somewhere in all of the thousands of photos taken, there's one of me crossing the Finish line ......

Patricia

1:55

12000+ runners. I've always started a race near the back close to the walkers. This time I was at the starting line for the National Anthem, so I joined some team members behind the barricades to try and get into the race. Mike Durso and I spotted David and Austen near the front, so we busted into the large queue and surged across the starting line at only 1:55 after the starting blast.

Its a different race that close to the front - not nearly as congested as the back half, and I was passed more often than passing. Mike and I quickly lost the other guys, but we finished together at about 36:36.

Get Active in Your Community (and don't pass out)

Below is my review of the race/push to get others to try it out. Thanks guys for the support and fun!

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So tonight I ran my first 5k! I never thought it would be my bag and I still don't think it is but I'm glad I did it and I may do it again. So I guess it's my minibag, a satchel per say.

Some Background:

So you guys know I'm getting married in 6 months. Haven't been so successful in losing the "new job 20". Kitzzy & Jason my awesome coworkers at Online@UCF/CDL/UCF (where I work) decided to put together a group for the Orlando Corporate 5k, the biggest sporting event in Orlando with 12k people! Really its a stroke of genius because coworkers feel the pressure to bond/participate, its short enough to walk, office workers always need exercise and this is a gateway activity. So CDL set up a team and a blog and though my knee and extra bone in my foot makes it hard to run I felt this was a perfect opportunity to jump start my routine.

Didn't work that well. But I tried. Allergies/sickness and lethargy kept me to only training 2-3 weeks for it. But the beauty is, with a 5k you can always walk!

Why I'd Do It Again

Not sure I'd TRAIN heavily for a 5k again (due to knee/footness I'm sticking to biking) but I'd do one again. Especially if I move to a new city. Because:

• You get to see the city. Roads blocked off, bands playing (mariachi!), running in mass, its a pretty awesome sight.


• You get to meet people. Like 12k of them... all in mass. Running. Humanity running, often in funny outfits.


• Entertaining t-shirts: Everything on them from godzilla killing a city to threats of being superior to commands to "eat your dust" to ascertains of their physical prowess over you. Okay, really there are just a lot of threatening t-shirts. In fact, I think our team was one of the few positive ones, with affirmations blaring on the back.


• Feel accomplished: Run as much as possible, walk, then jog, do whatever. No matter what by the end you feel pretty good!


• Community outreach: Not only can you reach over and touch your brother but many of these events are charities. And charity is good, as well as, brotherly love.


• Pack Mentality... I mean Spirit! It's just a good bonding experience where people are taken out of their element and must rely on each other for support. Not that I talked much, what with concentrating on breathing, but it was nice to have them there (nicer than I expected as I liked training in quiet). I'm not sure I'd want to do it without seeing the happy affirmations on the backs of my team member's shirts... as I pass them... like Godzilla. ;p At least, you'll know who you can outrun in the office, for when the zombies attack.

So I guess what I'm saying is, not sure I'd do more then a 5k but its a fun occasional community activity that should not be intimidating!

How'd I do?

Why thanks for asking. Did it in 36-37 minutes (not good at this number thing). I jogged/ran the whole way except for one minute. Pretty proud I must say. Austin pushed over some grandmas to make his time of 25.5 minutes. You see it is a race to him.

Possible pictures to possibly come.

run sheila run - S

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Originally posted on sdeflores.wordpress.com