Running on my 13-Year Quit Day! - Conquer the Trails 5k Race Report

I tried a new race this weekend, the Conquer the Trails 5k in St. Augustine. Not really sure why, other than it was cheap, it had a medal, and it happened on the 13th anniversary of the day I quit smoking.

I was up at 5:30 with my OJ, and after getting hubby to work, I made my way to the race around 8:25 (cutting it close... the race started at 9).

Parking was super easy, and it ended up that I was maybe 200 feet from the finish line. Yeah, it was a small race.

It was a lot colder than I expected once I got out of the car, and I was really wishing I'd worn my tights (I had a tee, my quarter-zip, some gloves, my hat, and a fleecy ear band).

I picked up my bib and tee and headed back to the car, then checked out the really pretty clubhouse (and their very pretty bathrooms) and their amazing gym (ooh, more potties over heer... wish I knew that before I stood in line for 10 minutes).

Army-Green tee (only in XL, so it doesn't fit well)

The Trailmart Community Gathering Center

A map of the route we ran (very little "trail" on the trail run)

The large community pool (I bet it's beautiful in the summer)

I realized about 2 minutes before takeoff that I'd forgotten my water bottle in the car and (not knowing that I'd pass the car again) so I grabbed a bottle from the snack table.

We lined up and took off and I settled in to a more than a walk/less than a jog for the most part, and I was feeling good.

A nice mix of people today

Soon into the race it began to mist, then sprinkle. I just put my head down and kept my knees up and trudged along.

You can see the "trail" we're running on, on the right

Lovely, cookie-cutter houses

Probably about halfway into the race, probably around when I picked up some water, I realized there were no mile markers. At some point, we walked a little ways on dirt, so I guess that constituted the "trail" portion of the race (of which I was very thankful!).

Tiny water bottles instead of cups of water... interesting choice

I wonder what this part of the area will eventually become?

Hard to tell, but this is the exclusive Kayak & Canoe Launch

Wait... we're back to the beginning?

Pretty soon, though, I realized that... we were back at the final turn into the Start/Finish line! Holy shit!! It did not feel like I'd done a 5k. I could have done a 10k, I was feeling so good!

My car is just out of frame on the left

I decided to "run" into the finish, and girl, look at that high knee coming into the finish!

It's not a flying shot, but I still look like I'm running!

My official time was 49:50 (pace 16:03). Holy shit you guys!!! I broke 50 minutes!! I haven't done that in years!! I was 103rd out of 112 total runners (see, I told you it was small), and 15th out of 17 in my age group.

I got the cutest medal, handed out by some of the cutest little Cub/Boy Scouts I've seen in a while. It's made out of wood!

Yay, finished!

I want to put some varnish on it; right now it's unfinished

I headed back to the car for my change of clothes, and this time took advantage of a much bigger bathroom at the gym. However, because of this, when I came back out, the awards had started, and I ended up getting stuck on the walkway, so I had to wait until all the awards were given out before I could leave (well, I could have traipsed through some bushes, but nah). Since I was there, I grabbed some extra snackage from the table before I left.

Lots of space to change clothes

Lots of snack options!

I don't know what's happening in this photo, or who these people are, but his FACE!

Back in the car, I drove to a more populated part of town to pick up a soda and ended up at a Gate station (though there ended up being a much better Daily's not a 1/4 mile further down the road!) This worked in my favor though, because Gate had Borden milk on sale, and my family loves their chocolate milk, so I grabbed some for them, and a Banana Frozen Fanta for me.  It was meh. Doesn't hold a candle to a Banana Slurpee!

Ba-na-nah slushie

Then I headed into Old St. Augustine to feed my maple fudge addiction. I parked in the lot I always park in (it's a secret so you can't steal my spot!), and oh, shit, do I feel stupid... The parking lot is RIGHT NEXT to Savannah Sweets.  Seriously, look at the map below: The yellow line is how I drive into the parking lot, and the red dots are how I usually would leave the parking lot to get to St. George Street and walk to the candy shop. But the green dots show that there's a much shorter way to get there that I never paid attention to before!

My cartographer skills leave something to be desired

When I went to the Pay Meter to pay to park, there was a girl in front of me - she looked dressed as a restaurant server - and she left without taking her ticket (I think she was late for work, lol)... at first I pulled it out and looked for where she went, but she was gone (yeah, she was late), so, well... I put her ticket on my dashboard and didn't pay to park my own car. It's pay by plate, so even if she didn't have her ticket on her dashboard, she was till paid for her car, so I guess I was screwing over the parking guys, not that girl... Anyway, it took me maybe 10 minutes to pick up fudge and a few M&M-covered Oreos for the kiddo and then I was gone, allowing actual paying customers to occupy the parking spot.

There was enough time after that to grab some lunch at Panda Express (it again was meh and again I ask myself why do I do this?), and then I grabbed a soda at RaceTrac and got home to pick up Hubby from work.

Awesome!

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Hi, folks! Lazy here... 

Coming back and editing some of my posts from this year...

 

After saying that it wasn't a big deal, the White House created a Coronavirus Task Force on January 29th. The next day, WHO declared a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern"; at this point there are 5 cases in the United States. On January 31st, Trump restricted travel from China (except for 40,000 Americans returning home). As expected, Democrats called him a Racist (almost seven million people traveled from Wuhan to over 21 countries before these restrictions were in place). The Secretary of HHS declared a Public Health Emergency on this day as well.