First Watch Sarasota Half Marathon
March 11, 2012

It's all about this bling!

Race morning, once again, started off early. Saturday night was the night to set our clocks forward, so we lost an hour of sleep. Brenda and I decided we were going to have a 4:30 wake up, which would feel like 3:30. I woke up on my own at 4:20 and decided to just get up. I reached over to turn off my alarm, only to discover that I had never set it to go off! Wow, I'm lucky! :) Brenda and I hit the road around 5:30, arriving at the Players Theater parking lot about 10 minutes later. We pulled in right next to Gina and Charlotte and when we got out of our car, we saw Dawn parked just a few spots away. This parking area was just across the street from the main parking area and the race start. Much easier to get in to and more importantly, would be much easier to get out of later! We met up with Jake, Summer, Brett and Jeff and just hung out for a while waiting for the half fanatic photo time. Eventually everyone showed up, we got our photo taken and then headed over to the corral. It was packed! We entered at the 10 min mile spot, but wanted to make our way up to the 8 min mile spot. We weaved our way through the crowd, finally getting as close as we could. They really need to change the way they do this! We only had to wait a few minutes before we were off!

Me and Brenda before the race.

Jake was going to try and lead us all to an under 2 hour race. We started off very fast and used 4/1 intervals right away. The first mile was great, then we hit the bridge. Normally, the bridge is no big deal for me, but today, trying to run it and an 8 min mile pace, I was struggling up that thing! I fell back a little from the group but caught up with them on the down side. There was a water stop at the bottom of the bridge, so I decided to take 2 endurolytes while I was there. I had forgotten to take them before the race and it was already pretty hot out.

Miles 1 through 3: 8:39/ 8:57/ 9:05

Best photo of the day!

I kept up with the group until we got to St Armand's Circle, but then fell back. The pace was just to much for me in the heat. The 2 hour pace group was there, so I decided to hang with them a bit even though they were not walking at all. The pace felt better. Dawn was running with them too. I held on to that pace until we hit the bridge, but once again, they all pulled ahead and I never caught them. I did see my group of runners ahead, so when I saw them walk, I would walk. My legs were feeling pretty good. I only had to stop a couple of times to stretch so far.

Miles 4 through 6: 9:14/ 9:39/ 9:37

I caught up to Jake and Gina around mile 8. Dawn was much further ahead and Brett and Summer were behind me. The heat was really getting to us all. This stretch of the race is on a major road. We were running north and had the far left side of the road for the runners. Unfortunately it was pretty slanted. I kept to the right as much as I could, but that was near the cars, who were driving south. I was so happy when we turned to the left and started our run through the nice neighborhood that is south of the Ringling Museum of Art. Just before the museum, volunteers were handing out cold, lemon scented washcloths. So wonderful! The best thing ever! :)

Miles 7 through 10: 10:00/ 9:07/ 10:04/ 9:58

Focused on the finish line! The
woman in blue is who I passed! :)

Around mile 11, Jake asked if it was OK for him to take off. Of course! We had really slowed him down. The last couple of miles were pretty slow for us. Gina told me to go ahead a couple of times, but there was no way I had the energy to push it any harder than I was. The only good thing was that my legs were feeling pretty good. I didn't need to stretch at all for the last few miles. Around mile 12, we caught up to Dawn. It was so wonderful to know that we were almost done! We took one last walking break around mile 12.5, then got down to finishing this thing. We ran past the relay exchange area, were runners were waiting for their partners so that they could run it in together. That gave me a nice little boost. We turned right just past the crowd and up ahead was the finish line banner. I was just behind this other woman, who had been running near us the past few miles. I pushed myself to the limit, running past her and finishing strong.

Miles 11 through 13.1: 9:47/ 10:03/ 9:26
Finish: 2:04:35

It wasn't the PR I had hoped for, but it is 1:15 faster than last week's half marathon and is now my second best half marathon time! I need to find a flat half marathon with cold temps so that I can get that PR! :)

Gasparilla Half Marathon 2012

The Sarasota gang before the race.

Race morning started off early again. I got up at 3 am! I checked the weather to see if the cold front had moved through earlier. Nope. It was 70, humid and very windy. I picked up Renee at 3:45 and then we were on our way to the Tampa Convention Center. I missed our exit, so I had to try to remember how to get there from another direction. Only added a few minutes to our time. We had a very short wait in traffic to get into the parking garage. $10 later (ouch) we were parked and meeting Gina and Stephanie right on time at 5 am. We waited for a few other friends before checking our bags and heading out into the crazy wind. It started raining just before we got out side. We took a group photo, then started the walk over towards the start. We stopped by the Publix, to see if there were any Fanatics still hanging around. We were past the time of the group photo. They were all still there, so we got a couple more group photos and then headed over to the start. They had a line of porta potties down a side street, next to the corrals, so I decided to use them. Thankfully the lines were not long here. I found one with 4 guys in it. Score! They always go faster than the women. J I think I was there for only 5 minutes. Met up with Gina and Vicky and the we headed over to our corral. We got in at the back of the first corral (no one looked at bibs. We made our way up a little then hung out. There was a light rain. I was very happy to have my garbage bag rain coat on.  Just before 6am, We all tossed off our garbage bags to get ready for the start. After the national anthem, without any blast of an airhorn or fireworks, we were off! 

Half Fanatics before the race!

Gina and I decided to run the first 3 miles and then start 4/1 intervals.  The streets were pretty wide and it was easy to get around people until we hit the ramp going up to the bridge. We slowed down quite a bit running through that tight space. It didn’t last long and soon we were at our brisk pace again. Around mile 2, we got to the first water stop. I grabbed a cup, pinched it and then tried to sip it while still running. Some got in my mouth and some got in my nose! Yuck. I decided I would just slow down and take a few seconds to drink at the rest of the water stops. At about mile 2.75, we decided to go ahead with the intervals. We are occasionally blown to the side by a wind gust, but really the wind isn’t too bad so far.

Miles 1 through 3: 9:37, 8:45, 9:17

By now my left leg is hurting. The IT band and hamstrings are tight. I start stretching for a few seconds at every other walking break. The stretching does help, but the benefits don’t last long. Around mile 6, we run back over the bridge, off of Davis Island, and start our long run on Bayshore Blvd.  It is beautiful here. Great views of the water and of the fantastic houses facing the water. There are lots of race photographers just after the bridge. One right after the other. I pose and pose for each of them. Do they get any shots of me? No!! Geesh. We can really feel the wind now, but it still isn’t too bad. Gusts every once in a while that blow us to the side, but other than that, the wind wasn’t so bad. We catch up to Summer during the 8^th mile. She ran both races the day before and is running both on this day. She decides to add intervals and run with us for a while.

Miles 4 through 9: 9:39, 9:46, 9:41, 9:34, 9:39, 10;02

This was the best photo of me on
on the course! 

Soon we are curving to the left and now running on the other side of BayShore Blvd. There is a grassy area with trees and bushes that break up the right and left sides of the road. We keep an eye out for friends that may be behind us.  Looking for friendly faces on the other side of the road helps to distract me from the IT band pain. By now I am stopping to stretch at every walk break!  After a couple of miles, Summer drops back and it is just me and Gina again, trying to keep up the pace. She has pulled ahead of me a little, but I am not far behind. With about a mile to go, we are side by side, looking forward to getting to the finish. We take one more walking break then decide to just run it in. I am pushing as hard as I can. Gina is very encouraging, which helps me to keep pushing. We finally see the finish line banner just ahead of us. I am at my max as I run it across the finish line!

Miles 10 through 13.18: 9:51, 9:56, 9:39, 8:56 (Wow!!), 1:23 (last little .18)

Finish: 2:05:50. 

This is my third fastest time and my best half marathon time in over 10 years! Very happy with it. J

Ken, Gina and me after the race!

Juli, Becki, Lori, Shannon, Dave, Me and Laura with Elastic Girl!

Me and Brenda before the race!

February 26, 2012.
Race weekend started on Thursday, when I drove up with Renee to set up the Fit2Run booth with other employees. Thursday involved lots of heaving lifting and then unpacking merchandise.It was a long day. We were back at the expo by 7:30 to set up a little more before the 9 a.m. opening. What a crazy day at the expo! I had a pretty good view of the Disney Merchandise booth. Those Dooney and Burke bags went fast! It was crazy! I was working the Skirt Sport booth both days. I kept pretty busy there, but did have time to wonder around the expo a few times to spend all my money. :) I got a new bracelet, silver ring, pink polka dot 26.2 and 13.1 bumper magnents, a princess tank and cup from the race merchandise area. I saw a few friends at the expo, which was great! I worked until 7:30 pm. Long day! My legs and feet were feeling sore. I still had another day of working! Saturday was a shorter day through. I got there at 8 and left at 3 pm. It was even busier and crazier at the expo that day! After work, Renee and I met up with Brenda at the hotel and then headed to downtown Disney. I picked up a special lego present for my son, before we headed to dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Cafe. We got back to the hotel and went to ask about a coffee pot. With a 3 am wakeup call, we knew we were going to need some coffee! They had no coffee pots and the restaurant wasn't going to be open that early. So, we made a quick trip to Wal Mart! We found a $8 coffee maker! Back in the hotel, we set up the coffee maker for the next day and got to bed a little after 9 pm.

I didn't sleep well that night, but I felt OK once I had a cup of coffee in me! We left the hotel a little after 3:30 am. Lots of traffic (much more than 2 years ago) heading into the parking area at Epcot. Once we parked, we had a pretty short walk to the first area for runners. We made a porta pottie break, took a photo then made our way to the corrals. Renee and I left Brenda at the porta potties on the other side of bag check. She was in corral B and we were in A, so we wouldn't have been able to hang out much longer anyway. Very hard to get to the corrals. So many people walking that way. I think it's about a mile to the corrals. Just before getting there, we made a pit stop at the potties and then made our way to the first corral. The group that I was trying to meet up with were near the stage, but it was part of the elite corral. We made our way towards the front of the corral and after a while, I was finally able to spot the group ahead. I figured once we got running, I could find them. We didn't have to wait to long in the corrals before the fireworks went off we were off and running!

Look at this crazy guy I found!

Renee was way ahead of me from the start. :) I quickly found the group I was looking for. I ran the race with Dave, Lori, Juli, Brandi and Shannon (Mrs. USA!). It took me a little while to get used to the pace. It was a little slower than my regular long run pace. Eventually I got behind them so that I wouldn't keep pulling so far ahead! I believe our first stop was with the pirates. A little past the pirates was a giant hot air balloon. After passing the balloon, we could see the Magic Kingdom sign up ahead. It was very dark in this section. All of a sudden, in my periferal vision, I see a woman fall to my right. Our group stops and goes back to check on the woman, who I later learn, is named Sherry. We ask her if she is OK and if she needs help getting up. She says she thinks she broke her shoulder and that she doesn't want to move. Shannon runs over to a security guard car that is just a little ways down the road. He takes a very long time to come over to us. Meanwhile half of us are standing in a semi circle around her to protect her from the on coming runners. Two doctors stop to check on the Sherry. One, Laura, stays with us. Finally two police cars show up and then a medical guy on a bike shows up. A bike! One of the police officers tells us to go ahead, they will look after Sherry. So we all take off again. Laura decides to join our group since she is way off of her normal race pace by now. We finally make it to the 5K timing mat. Time of 57:26! While waiting in line at the next photo spot, I text Brenda to see if she had passed by already. Then I checked my facebook page to see what my time was for the 5K. Saw that it was so slow, so I posted an update to let my friends know that I was OK. That's a 10K time for me!

Me, Juli, Brandi, Lori, Shannon,
Laura and Dave!

We made our way into Magic Kingdom, stopping for photos with all characters. Once we were in the park, there were even more stops! A couple of photos with the Castle behind us, Minnie Mouse, Princess Tiana, Jessie (Toy Story), Buzz Lightyear, Prince Charming, the cast of Sleeping Beauty and a few others. As we are leaving Magic Kingdom, we pass a medical tent with biofreeze and patrolium jelly. I get some of that patrollium jelly, go off to the side and put it on a couple of delicate spots at the top of my legs (under shorts) that feel like there might be chaffing! I quickly catch back up to the group. At the next porti pottie section, I notice there is no line, so I tell the group to go on, I'll catch up. I make a quick pit stop, then catch up to them again. It is getting harder and harder to run. By now, most of the people on the road are walkers. It's very hard to run around them. We are often off on the side of the road, running in the grass to pass them.

The last few miles are mostly running. Not as many character stops from mile 10 on. The slant on the couple of overpasses really irritates my IT Band, so I run up on the grass again, because it is flatter there! Soon it is raining on us, but thankfully, it doesn't last long. We make it into Epcot, so happy that we are getting close to the finish! We try a big "Dave Mari" jump in front of the big globe and then head towards the finish. We all link arms and run across the finish line together!

Time: 3:54:37! Almost 2 hours longer than my normal half marathon time!

We got a group photo taken with a few other half fanatics and then I said good bye. I sent a text to Brenda, who had waited over an hour for me. It started raining just before we meet up. We make it to the car and then have to wait in traffic for a bit before getting on the road.

I had a wonderful time running this race! Hope to make it to the finish a bit faster next weekend at Gasparilla half. :)

Sherry update: I found her on facebook! Her friend said she has a fractured humerus between shoulder and elbow. She said recovery will be 8 weeks. Good to hear she is doing fine!   

Rock n Roll St. Pete Half Marathon

February 12, 2012

Race morning started off super early and cold! I met up with Gina, Stephanie and Dawn at 4:45 am at the Starbucks by the interstate. Charlotte was supposed to be there too, but ended up over sleeping, so we went on without her.

We made it to St Pete in about half an hour and found a parking spot in the garage closer to the finish. No hassles with traffic at all! We stopped for a coffee at the Starbucks on the corner (the one we meet up with at earlier had been closed!) and then walked the 2 miles to the Tropicana Field. Once there, we met up with Brett and Ken and then huddled together to try and stay warm. Temps were in the low 40s. Wind chill made it feel like mid 30s. We are not used to these temps! I wore a tank top, with a short sleeved top on top. Arm warmers and then a toss away sweatshirt on top. Capri skirt and long compression socks kept my legs covered. I had gloves on my hands and a wide headband to cover my ears. I was ready! :) We headed towards the corrals at 7:15. I told them I would catch up with them. I had to use the porta potties one more time. The lines were very long. I waited and waited. I still had two people in front of me as the national anthem was playing. I decided to just wait it out. I was in corral 5, so I knew it would take a few minutes for my corral to get up to the start. Plus, I was planning on taking it easy this race. My congested nose and lungs were not going to let me run a fast race. And I wanted to test out how my knee would do. I finally got into the porta pottie and it was disgusting! Yuck! I did my business and was out of there fast. I made it to my corral as they were moving up to the front and about ready to start. I had enough time to get my garmin going and to turn on my music and then we were off!
Within minutes I was able to find my friends. Ken, Gina and Brett took off at a fast pace, so I ran with Dawn for a while. Within minutes we had turned two corners and were heading into the wind. That was brutal. I had various body parts that were frozen. I couldn't feel my bum at all! I kept feeling the back of my skirt to make sure it was down. It felt like nothing was back there! We kept up a pretty brisk pace for the first few miles, only stopping to walk through the first water stop. Just after mile 3, I knew I would need to get into a normal walk break schedule, so I told Dawn to just go on ahead. I then started walk breaks at about every half mile.

Miles 1 through 4: 8:58, 9:01, 9:09, 9:26.

Just after mile 4, I decided I was warm enough to toss of the sweatshirt. It was a little cold at first, but soon I was feeling fine with the temps. I kept the gloves on for another mile. When I did pull them off, I held on to them. I worried that I might get stronger wind later in the race. I wish I would have studied where the water stops were. I took my Peanut Butter Gu just after the 10K mark, thinking there would be water soon. Next water stop was after mile 7.I think it was this water stop that I noticed the big plastic garbage bin, with a liner, filled with water. The volunteers, who had plastic gloves on, were dipping cups in the water bin and placing them on the table. Gross. I had heard this was done, just never saw it before at a race!.

Once we hit the water, I was so happy to have my gloves. The wind was much stronger near the water. I was still getting in a longer walk break about every half mile, sometimes it was longer then a half mile. I was feeling pretty good through. Just feeling the congestion. Once we hit the pier, we could see runners to our left who were running in the opposite direction. I kept a look out for familiar faces. About halfway down the pier I saw Dawn running strong. I yelled out to her, cheering her on. I got to the end and walked the whole way around. Knee was feeling a little achy, but not bad. I just didn't want to push it. Once around the end loop, I started running again. Mile 10 was a longer mile. I took a much longer walking break here. It was hard passing the finish area. You couldn't see it. But I knew it was to our right and you could hear it.

Miles 5 through 10: 9:12, 9:56, 10:00, 10:06, 10:09, 11:10.

Once we got to the waterfront again, we had runners on our right that were heading to the finish. I think they were about half a mile away. I had a great time looking out for familar faces. I helped the last few miles go by fast. I saw Dr Jeff pass by and then just before the little bridge I saw Gina. I yelled out to her in my breaking voice (voice was almost gone). She was running strong. About a mile ahead of me! I kept a look out for Dawn, but must have just missed her as I made the loop around the park. Soon I hit mile 12 and was on my way back towards the finish! I yelled a hello to Anne and Claire as I saw them heading towards mile 11. I felt strong the last mile. I took one long break in the middle and then finished with a strong kick.

Miles 11 through finish: 10:35, 10:40, 10:48 and 1:58 for the last .22
Finish time: 2:11

Gina and Dawn were waiting just past the finish line. They had both PR'd! Gina got 2:00 and Dawn had 2:02! So proud of them. I hope to get close to those times at Gasparilla in a few weeks. Hopefully the congestion will be gone.

We hung out for a while watching Flo Rida. It was a fun concert, but it was cold, so we didn't stay for the whole thing.

Overall this was a fun race. I want to run it again next year. Hopefully I can give it my all! :)

Run with the Nuns 5K
January 28, 2012
St. Petersburg, FL

I don't normally run a short race like this when it is so far away (about an hour), but I loved the name of it. I was really hoping to see a few nuns out there running in their habits! Only one nun that I could see and she was on a bike, leading the runners, once we started.

I went into this race thinking I would like to make a respectable finish time. I had been sick all week. I still felt a little stuffy and my stomach was still a little upset.

I arrived a little over an hour early, the kids race was first, so I wanted to get there early for packet pickup and to find parking. I hung out in my car, enjoying my coffee, after picking up my goodie bag. The shirt was very cute and it fit!

About 10 mins before race start, I hit the bathroom one more time and then walked over to the starting area. The last of the 1 mile runners were running by, so everyone gave them big cheers. I lined up with everyone and soon we were off!

The race was run mostly on the roads in this large park. We ran out, turned to the right, ran through a parking area and then turned right again. We ended up running a big circle, passing the spot were we had started. We ran through the parking area again, but this second time we turned left. About a mile and a half into the run, we left the road and ran the next mile on a trail that was part dirt, grass and leaves. I kept my eyes on the ground, looking out for tree limbs. I was making pretty good progress up until this point. I think my time slowed down a little on the trail. I like the cushion of trails, but I like the traction on roads to help me go faster. :) At about mile 2.5, we ran back onto the road, passing the start line once again. We ran another half circle before reaching the finish line.

Overall I am very happy with my race. I could feel the effects of the cold. Even though I was dealing with that, I still had a great race. Only a few seconds off my PR! Amazingly I got 2nd place in my age group too!

Garmin time: 25:36
Official time: 25:38

Splits: 8:09 (mile 1), 8:24 (mile 2) ,8:23 (mile 3), 0:40 (.1)

So happy to say that I got a PR at the Race for Jena 5K this morning! This was a last minute race. I think I signed up for it Wednesday. But, I was feeling pretty good post Ragnar, so thought I would give it a go. I wasn't sure how much speed I had lost while dealing with my ITB pain. Well, turns out, I haven't lost to much of my hard earned speed! My time for the race today was 25:33. Average 8:12 min mile. Very happy with it. :)

I felt pretty good from the get go. Gina started out running a pretty quick pace, so I held back figuring I would try to catch up later. I did catch up just past 1.23 mile, but she pulled ahead again when I stopped for a quick drink of water. Never did catch that speedy girl! :) I ended up getting 2nd place in my age group and Gina pulled out first place.

Ragnar Relay Florida Keys
Miami to Key West, January 6-7, 2012

Team Nacho Typical runners left Sarasota in 2 vans Thursday evening around 6 pm. Van 1, my van, stopped to pick up Renee in North Port before continuing on to Miami. We had me, Sandy, our driver, Carl, Stacie, Dak and Renee. Our 6^th runner, Krista was going to meet us in Miami at the hotel.

After a little confusion on the crazy roads of Miami, we arrived at our hotel in Coral Gables and were in bed by 11, with a wake-up call set for 5:30 am. I managed to get a pretty good nights sleep, only waking up briefly when Krista came in a couple hours after Renee and I went to sleep. The team met up in the lobby before heading to Starbucks for a much needed venti coffee. The Starbucks was right on the course, so we saw some Ragnar runners pass by. Some teams started as early as 5 am!

Our next stop was the starting area. We all went through the safety presentation before getting our bibs, shirts and little cooler filled with goodies. After a van 1 team photo, we headed over to the start area. Carl was leading us off as our runner 1. At 7:15 a small group of runners started their Ragnar journey under the giant orange arch. Carl had a 5.7 mile run that took him from the island we started on, over a couple of bridges to Coral Gables were he handed off to me.

I was so excited to get running! It was just before 8:30 am when I got started. I crossed two streets before remembering to turn on my Garmin. I ended up running past the Starbucks we stopped at earlier in the morning. I resisted the temptation to stop for another cup of joe. J This area is a super nice shopping area, but it soon turns into a not so great area. I could see one runner a few blocks in front of me and there was another runner a block or so behind me, so no running company when I hit the really bad area. It would be nice if they could change this section. A lot of sketchy looking men hanging out in front of the houses and on the sidewalk. Thankfully there were not many cars on the road because I was forced to run off the sidewalk. I ran a little faster to get through it. I’m so happy I wasn’t running through that area earlier when it was still dark! A few blocks later, we had to climb some stairs to take a pedestrian bridge over a busy road and then down the stairs again. I took it easy on this. I then came to the issue with the stop lights. I had caught up with the woman in front of me and the woman behind had caught up to us both. We all waited for the light to change and then crossed. At the other corner, we had to wait again for a green light. Well, I waited but the other two dashed across the road! I waited a bit then ran for it too. Of course it was just when the cars to my right got their green light. Thankfully I didn’t get hit! The two women got a good lead on me as they were lucky to get green lights at the next few corners when I got reds. I had to stop at a total of 5 lights. It cost me a few minutes. Near the end of my run, I was happy to see the sign at the corner telling us to turn instead of going strait. A guy way ahead of me had missed the turn though, so I stopped and yelled out to him a few times. Finally he turned around and saw me waving and pointing to where we should be running. We had just a little bit to go before running into the exchange. The guy had caught up to me and could have passed, but he was nice and held back letting me go in first. I handed off to Krista and then I was done with my run for about 12 hours! Total run: 4.27 miles in 39:56.

Krista ran her 3.1 and then handed off to Stacie. She ran her 5.2 and then handed off to Dak. He ran his 3.8 and then handed off to Renee who ran 8.7 to the Miami Zoo, where we handed off to Van 2. We managed to find a Starbucks while Renee was running. I got a nice cold Frap and then changed into dry clothes. It was fun catching up with Van 2, who we hadn’t seen since the night before. We hung out with them for just a little bit before they took off after their runner and we all went to lunch at Applebees.

After lunch, we headed to the Homestead Speedway, the location of the next major exchange were our van would take over running from van 2. We had a few hours to hang out and rest before Heather, runner 12, was expected to come in. A few of us wondered over to where Ragnar had set up some food booths. I ended up running into Gina and Linda at the little fire pit where they were roasting smores. I grabbed a stick and a couple of marshmallows and hung out with them for a while. I ended up going back to the van after a bit to rest, but it wasn’t easy to rest in the van. It soon got hot. So Renee and I headed back to the speedway and hung out in the middle section to watch the runners finishing up their leg. We met up with the rest of the team back at the van and then walked back to wait for Heather to run in. Van one had let us know that she would be coming in soon. We found Liz, Lynette and Erin hanging out near the entrance to the speedway, so we hung out with them for a bit waiting for Heather to run by. Carl, Sandy and Renee went up to where the exchange was. Soon we saw Carl running by us, heading out for his second leg! Heather had already run her 2 mile lap around the speedway and we missed that and the exchange! She was not happy that we missed it when we caught up to her a few minutes later. We chatted with van 2 for a bit before heading out.

We passed Carl a couple of miles into his run. He didn’t look like he was doing so great so we pulled off to the side a little ways down to check on him. He said he was doing just fine, so we headed to the next exchange were I would take over. By the time we got there it was pretty dark. I had my vest on, a light clipped to my visor and a headlamp that was on a stretchy band that I put around my waist. I wanted as much light as I could get! Soon enough Carl came into the exchange and I was off. 

This run was the one I was most worried about. It was just under 5 miles of dirt and gravel road ahead of me. The first part of the road was very uneven. Lots of deep  groves made from the tractor wheels. My lighting was good, but it was hard to get any depth of perception. I was happy to be off of that and onto the paved road. That lasted for only a few minutes. Soon we turned onto the Southern Glades trail road that would take us through the everglades. It was a very narrow road. We were told to stay to the left. Team vans would be passing us on our right. The road had lots of rocks. They were not tiny things either. I just focused on watching the road right in front of me highlighted by my headlight. About halfway down the road I passed my friend Karen. She was a pro on this road. She had ran the same legs for this race last year.  I talked with her for a minute before continuing on. Just before I got to my exchange a guy in skimpy shorts and no shirt passed me on my left. He distracted me for just a second, but it was enough time for me to misstep and twist my ankle a little. Thankfully it wasn’t bad and I ran it in to exchange with Krista.

 Back at the van I grabbed my towel and foam roller and got down on that road in front of the van to stretch and roll. My IT band was feeling just a little sore from the uneven surface. There will be no trail runs in the near future for me. Krista had one of the hardest runs. She ran the same road I did, but her run was twice as long! She ended up having a great run. She handed off to Stacie, who had an 11 mile run that was unsupported by the vans. Thankfully for her, she was now off the gravel road and onto the Overseas highway leading into Key Largo. I slept through most of Dak’s 7 mile run. It felt good to catch a little nap. He handed off to Renee at around 1:30am. We all made our way to the next major exchange at Coral Shores high school. It was a mad house there. We drove around a bit, trying to find a place to park. Sandy found us a nice and quiet side street. We all pilled out in search of bathrooms and our van 2 team. Soon enough Renee was running into the exchange, where she once again handed off to Lynette. We made another pit stop before heading to the van. 


I was so tired at this point! I climbed into the last seat in the van, pulled my snuggie over me, put in my ear plugs and went to sleep. The rest of the team discussed whether or not we should stay at the school or drive to the next exchange to sleep. I didn’t care. I just wanted to sleep! Sandy and Carl set up their sleeping bags outside, while Renee slept on the middle seat and Dak slept on the front row seat. Krista and Stacie slept in the driver and passenger seats. We got a couple of hours of sleep before getting up and heading toward Marathon. We decided to stop at IHop for breakfast. It was so great to get another meal! I hadn’t had a real meal since lunch the day before. There were two other teams from Sarasota having breakfast there. One team was the Sarasota Storm and the other was Shane's team who had my physical therapist, Michael, on it. He asked how my IT band was doing and I told him it felt tight, but OK.

After breakfast we headed over to the next major exchange point. We were all ready to run our third and last run. Carl started us off again after Heather ran in and slapped the band on his wrist, he had a short 3 mile run, so we didn’t waste much time getting on the road. I got going around 10 am. It was a nice temp out, but I knew once I got running, I would be hot. I had just a 12 ounce bottle of water with me, some cliff blocks and 4 endurolytes. My left IT band was pretty stiff from the get go, so I took short walking breaks the first two miles. I kept my pace up, so my mile splits were still around 9:30 min miles. At the base of the bridge, I stopped to take a couple of pictures before climbing up the stairs, to get to the parking area of the old 7 mile bridge. After the parking area, we ran down stairs to get under the 7 mile bridge. I stopped for another photo there. The woman I asked to take the photo, had a little trouble figuring out how to do it, so my time for that mile ended up being about 12 minutes! Oops. J My IT band was feeling better now, so I decided to run without breaks for a while. I climbed the last few stairs and started running on the long bridge. It was beautiful out there, but so hot without any shade. We had a bike lanes width of road to run on going against the traffic. I felt pretty good until I got to the hill part of the bridge. I was making my way through my water pretty fast by then and started to get worried. I ran a little more than half way up the hill before stopping for another walking break. I also posted my status on facebook and posted a photo. Not sure I’ve done that before in a race, but what the heck, this was not your average race. J By mile 7.5 I used the last little bit of water I had to swallow a couple of endurolytes. I knew it was going to be rough for the last part of the run and my knee was starting to hurt, so I decided to start taking a short walking break every half mile. This seemed to work out pretty good. I thought I only had a total of 9.1 miles to run but I passed that mile and still hadn’t hit the exchange. I ended up running 9.54 before handing off to Krista. Total time: 1:40:03. Much slower than past runs. The last two miles really brought down my overall average.

Krista had a brutal 9.3 miles to run. While she was out there toughing it out, we stopped at a gas station, where I got another Gatorade (finished the first one fast) and a Nestle Crunch Ice Cream bar. The best tasting post run snack! We drove back towards Krista to check up on her before turning around and heading south to the next exchange. Krista handed off to Stacie, who had a shorter 4.1 mile run. She then handed off to Dak who ran a very speedy 3 miles before handing off to Renee. She had said she was going to take it easy because of the heat, but that didn’t happen. She ran her run superfast.  A little after 2 pm and we were done! Very happy Nacho Typical Runners were ready to get to Key West and check into the hotel.

We got checked into the Southernmost Hotel, which was right next to the finish line and after party. Renee and I got to our room and showered before heading out to check out what was going on. We didn’t expect Van 2 until 6:15 pm. I wasn’t feeling so great at this point. I should have eaten something real after my 9.5 mile run! I had snacked on beef jerky and a small pack of cashews and the ice cream after the run and that was all I had had since breakfast! I picked up a bag of M&M’s which seemed to help, but really, I was ready to pass out. I was so happy when the rest of the team showed up and we were all ready to run in to the finish!

Finish time: 35 hours and 31 seconds.  213 out of 246 teams in the mixed category. The winning team finished in 23 hours! Wow.

We all gathered together and hung out for a little bit trying to figure out dinner plans. The plan was to meet up at 7:30 and go to dinner somewhere. I knew I couldn’t wait that long. I ended up just eating a bagel with peanut butter and honey and an apple for dinner then going to bed at 8:30. So happy that I did, because I felt so much better the next morning after 9.5 hours of sleep!

 I would recommend this race to others. It was very organized, with great attention to details that made the race run smoothly. Kudos to Cary and Carrie! J Overall I had a great time and it was a fun experience. I’m not sure I would do it again though. I love my sleep!

Nacho Typical Runners team dinner at Blue Heaven Sunday night.