Scolding Hot Chocolate (Hot Chocolate 10K 2023)
So, last year I decided to sign up for the Tampa ‘stop’ in the Hot Chocolate series because I’d been intrigued in participating for a few years. I had so much fun that I decided on doing it again!
Leading into the weekend however the nerves set in. Not about weather I’d be able to finish..heck after noting that my time minus the character stops at Wine and Dine would of been a new PR I fully had the mind set to race for one this weekend. No, the nerves were the 40-80% chance of rain possibly storms that the weather apps were showing. Thankfully the precipitation was later in the day so I didn’t have to deal with a slick bridge or possibly shortened courses and I was ready to have at it.
I grabbed my bib first and noted that I was in group N when last year I was in group I. Okay were there THAT many more runners as I’d heard that this year they had double the number of participants as last…was the 10K field going to be staged to release after the 15K field…shaking any number of what if situations from my head I noticed the table with food in the middle of the room.
Last year I didn’t know if this area was paid or if it was complementary however this year I was able to tell it was the latter and so I grabbed a marshmallow on the way to shirt and promo pick up and on the way out grabbed a hot chocolate
I grabbed my GOODYBAG which was my included race sweatshirt and a set of safety pins as well as a Mr. Beast Chocolate bar from the stack on the table. The Volunteer said to take as many as I wanted but I wasn’t going to be greedy so I just took the one. I then head down to get the promotional item that was offered when I signed up. Last Year it was an isolated backpack, hat, magnet, candy bar and two cocoa packets. This year it was a Hot Chocolate Tampa Tee Shirt.
There was also a spot to grab Legacy Gifts, Sign Up For Next Year, Purchase Hot Chocolate Branded Merchandise as well as a few photo ops and other venders. I attempted to take a few selfies but the angle was unflattering.
My OOtD for Race Day was inspired by my favorite Chocolate Loving Queen of Ariendale … Anna which is a slight plus up from when I ‘bounded’ as her during my first 10K in 2016.
It was composed of a blue Livi Skort, Pink BondiBand, Long Sleeve Reel Legend top and Livi Tank
I was dropped off at 7:05 AM which was about 7 mins later than the year before. The 5K waves were already going off and I had to wait until they allowed for pedestrians to cross mid wave. I headed into the Franklin Entrance to see if the restrooms were blocked off like they had been the day before and thankfully they were not. I used the restroom, pinned my bib and made my way towards the ‘finisher village’ , already beginning to regret wearing long sleeves with roughly a half hour until race start. That’s because at 66 degrees it was 10 degrees warmer than last year and the feels like was 13 degrees warmer… and climbing.
I made a mental note that the 5K corals were A-F instead of E like last year and also that while in the ladies room I saw coral N bibs in both the 10k & 15K colors so I knew the 10K runners were not being staggered at a later time.
I lingered around the finish area vibing, attempting selfies, and listening to my podcast before making a second restroom stop on the channelside side of the convention center. As I was heading back out I noticed some of the wave A 5K participants entering the lobby and so I made my way to the stage area noting that corals went I-N (it was F-I last year)
At 7:36 I entered the coral (the event started at 7:55) and waited near the front. For a moment I pondered if perhaps I was in M because there were a bunch of people seeded in L standing in front of the rope… however there were also a bunch of M & N people in front of the rope as well making me realize they don’t police corals like other events do.
I crossed the start mat at 8:05. The mindset going in was to not pay attention to the pacers as I knew they for the 15K field but to just try to be aware of when the “Sweeper” past me to gage if I were better or worse pace wise than last year.
I came in hard…maybe TOO hard as when I got to the Platt Bridge I let my eye dip to my phone and it said I was at a 10 m/m in the moment. Unfortunately the slowing down of the bridge tapered my momentum a bit.
I reached mile marker 1 with my fitbit saying I was 1.06 with an elapsed time of 15:50 and a pace of 14’51. This was about half a minute slower than my first mile last year with last year just missing a PR by sixty-seven seconds …but I could pick up my pace right?
At 1.29 I noticed the “Winners” starting to make their way down the opposite side of Bayshore something that I didn’t note in last years report.
At 1.41 I reached the first aid station. Where as last year it had gatorade, water, and chocolate melts this time it just had water. If you can even call it water. IDK if due to the increased field of runners they had ran out of cups and chocolate or what as the water was being given out in sample cups that were pretty much a 1-2 oz shot sip and that’s just me being generous… and remember it was 10-13 degrees hotter and I stupidly wore long sleeves… ALSO…at this point the 15K Sweeper passed by me which was about a 10th of a mile sooner than last year though I pushed it to the back of my mind knowing they still had three extra miles on me.
At 1.75 there was a wayfinding sign which said 10k/15k straight 5k turn
I reached mile marker Two at 2.09 in 32:55 and a pace now up to 15’42 m/m There wasn’t a mile marker two in last years report to compare my pace however I reached mile three with my fitbit saying 3.11 and an elapsed time of 50:00 and pace of 16’06 . This was a little over two minutes slower than last year and well past my 5K PR even with another 10th of a mile to go to make it to that point.
At 3.24 there was another aid station with another water tease as well as chocolate melts. I slowed down a bit so that I could enjoy the chocolate as since it was warmer I didn’t know how they would fare being dumped in my pocket and well if you don’t have chocolate during a hot chocolate race did you even do it.
for reference these were the cups the water was being served in and they were maybe 1/4 filled
The 5K mat timing mat was instantly after this stop
At this point my fitbit said I had ran 52:19 with a pace of 16’06 with my OFFICIAL split as 52:29 still about 3 mins slower than last year. At this point I knew I wasn’t going to PR in time and with the heat I wasn’t even thinking about a PR in fun just to finish upright.
At 3.40 another wayfinding sign showed up showing that it was the 10K turn around. I also noticed a flagger waving everyone to turn around vs going straight to where the 15K course continued which didn’t occur last year. At this point last year I had another official split labeled “Cheater” which I didn’t get with this years event. That said my fitbit timestamp at the turn had me at a pace that was two seconds longer on average than I was at with the cheater time last year.
At 3.53 I saw the pace car start moving up the opposite side of the road which was about a 10th of a mile earlier than I saw it crossing my path from across Bayshore last year
At 3.59 was a third aid station on the reverse side of the median as the one at the 5K mark. This station also had teases of water and chocolate melts however I just grabbed the water sip this time.
About a quarter of a mile later the heat was getting to me and I tried placing my phone into my pocket so that I could pull my side braids back into a ponytail. Well, the music kept pausing and I was worried my fit bit would pause so I ended up pulling off to the side for a brief stop… all and all it took two minutes extra.
I passed mile marker four at 4.02 with an elapsed time of 1:05:14 and a 16’12 pace last year I didn’t catch a marker four on course though I took mile seven for the 15K pack to be the equivalent though I didn’t pass that for another 10th of a mile.
There wasn’t a marked mile five and at 5.39 I reached the final aid stop where I took another sip of water and pressed on for the final stretch.
My Fitbit was at 6.1 as I reached my PR point and 6.27 when I reached the proper marker six in 1:45:28 and a 16’48 pace
I crossed the finish at 6.48 miles and a time of 1:49:16 unofficially 1:49:08 officially
As I finished the race and began to head toward getting my finisher's mug of goodies I felt off. I Don’t know if it was due to dehydration of if it was due to the cold that hit me like a ton of bricks by the time I got home Sunday afternoon and is still running it’s course Tuesday evening as I write this up
While I doubt I’ll sign up now with my “Lowest Price of the Season” offer I may wait until the summer to see if I get another email with a promotional item included and if by then we don’t have any end of the year family plans that could hinder my participation I may do it again (or perhaps do “Just” the 5K if I can get a friend or two involved) If I do participate I should get a 3 year in a row legacy gift so…we shall see.
And now my Run The Edge Update. Going into this event I knew I would not make it to 2023 miles moved in 2023 so my secondary goal was to make 10,000 steps a day. Unfortunately my illness the past few days broke THAT goal is to just best 2020’s 1942.49 miles which honestly is still going to be a stretch with only 1818.66 miles moved in 2023 so far and 19 days left of the year
That said since my last post I did earn my 1,700 and 1,800 badge
As well as badges for the November Streaker (Donut Badge earned twice)
I’ll post my final tally as well as my December Heroes Journey progress in my next race recap so stay tuned
UPCOMING RACES:
LCMA Knights on the Run 5K 1/27
Gasparilla 15K 2/24
Gasparilla 8K 2/25
Promise Run 5K 3/2
Springtime Surprise 5K 4/19
Springtime Surprise 10K 4/20
1M {15:26} 3K {30:59} 5K {42:46} 8K {1:13:59} 10K {1:42:52} 15K {2:19:09} 10M {3:01:51} HALF {3:54:55} FULL {7:08:15*} *virtual full run in increments
Comments
Post a Comment