Reindeer Run 5K and 10K

A perfect day for racing awaited me and my dad on the morning of December 13th, the morning where I would compete in the 5K and my dad in the 10K. I thought I could cap off my month's training with a PR. It was a frigid morning for the average guy (about 38 degrees atthe start) but it was PR weather for the 400 some runners that would race the Reindeer Run 5K and 10K in Amelia Island. The venue rings a bell, doesn't it? Yes, indeed, it was the place where I suffered through an extremely slow 10K in August at the Turtle Trot, plagued by every runner's worst nightmare thrown into one race. But, now it's December, I'm faster, the course is different, and the weather is perfect. My prerace preparations began at the usual-you know it- 6:00 AM. The race started at 8:30 AM, so we followed my mantra-the early bird gets the worm- and left no later than 6:40. I caught a quick snooze on the hour-long drive, and woke up right when we arrived. Since the venue was so far away, we had to pick up our packets at the race site. After we got ourselves settled, we went for a quick, half-mile, warm-up run around the complex to get somewhat used to the cold. After our not-so-warm warm-up, I quickly consumed my Honey Stinger Energy Chews and headed out to the starting line. I came prepared for everything and quickly put on my arm warmers and gloves. Once the cannon fired, I weaved among some people and quickly made my way into the top 20 as we turned into Fort Clinch State Park. According to the results last year, I had an outside chance at top 3 in the 5K, so I quickly chased after the lead pack, following in their wake. It took me most of the 1st mile to adjust to the cool, crisp air, but after that I was good to go. By the turn-around point, I made it into the top 10 (10th to be exact). My hope of winning was just a hope, but I felt strong at the turn-around point and a PR seemed likely. I had a competitor about 20 ft. ahead of me and I made it my goal to chase him down. On the way back, many fellow competitors who went on to do the 10K cheered me on. I passed the 2 mile mark in 12:59, right on pace to break my PR. By now there were not many 5K competitors left and I was on a lonely, desolate stretch of road with my prey ahead of me. I kept gaining and gaining on him and with about two tenths to go I pulled the plug. I let the lion out of the cage as I quickly whizzed by him and exited the park. I sprinted the downhill towards the finish and crossed the timing mats in a huge PR- 20:19. The feeling of a PR didn't hit me until afterwards. I improved my 5K time by over a minute since the end of October! But my work wasn't over yet. There was still one more PR to achieved. After I got a banana and some water, I went back out onto the course to fetch my dad. He came earlier than expected (placing 21st overall) and I brought him in with a time of 44:41, a PR by almost 2 minutes for him (and more than 2 minutes faster than the time he ran just one month ago when I beat him at Native Sun 10k. We both were satisfied with our performances and went to check the results. I placed first in my age group, beating 2nd place by almost 3 minutes, while Dad got 2nd in his age group. He let me take over the Abate family 5K throne while he prevailed in the 10K (for now). It was a sucessful day for both of us and the first time we both PRed in a race since the Run for Cover 5k in May. My next race is the Gator Bowl 5K, which is my quest to break the 20:00 barrier. Dad on the other hand is competing in the Jacksonville Bank Marathon next Sunday to try to qualify for the Boston Marathon (he needs to run a 3:30). Hopefully these can be PR races for both of us! So long and keep PRing!