My Tavares Orange Blossom Half-Marathon Experience

Today I ran the Orange Blossom Half-Marathon in Tavares, Florida.  Tavares is in Lake County, located a few miles northwest of Orlando.  My wife grew up in that area and I even lived there a few months, back in 1987.  So the two of us made it a weekend down there, with Melissa entering their parallel 5K race, power-walking the distance in grand style.  The weather played a major, unexpected role as the temperatures plummeted while the wind whipped up strongly, with 30 mph-plus gusts.  I had a minor crisis trying to decided how much clothing I should put on for the race.  At the last minute I changed to something heavier, which I regretted soon after the start when my body predictably began to heat up from running.  So after a couple of miles I shed the long-sleeve shirt and then the run went on without a hitch.  The course began in Tavares' beautiful little downtown area, in Wooten Park on the shores of Lake Dora, and then more or less went eastward, into the town of Mount Dora and hugging the northern side of the lake. There were some loops in the course and a couple of "there-and-back" scenarios that I usually dislike; in this case, though, it gave Melissa and me the chance to touch base and encourage each other! And the sightseeing was great!

I physically did not feel as if I were running a very fast race, but feelings can often be deceptive.  I crossed the finish line with a time of 1 hour, 50 minutes, and 53 seconds, which bested my previous best by about four and a half minutes.  I finished 44th out of 229 finishers, but the most unexpected result was that I finished second in my men's 55-59 age category, garnering a little prize and a photo opportunity on their victory podium.  That was nice, but standing around in the cold park with the wind getting worse by the minute was an ordeal.  During the race, I was by myself most of the time, which was a bit different from all the others I've been in when I ran for long stretches around other runners.

I'm very glad that I did this race, and more so that Melissa accompanied me.  We had a great time driving around the area and visiting places that brought up old memories.  And, of course, we also noted how much things had changed in some respects...