Women's Half Marathon race report

I got to my friend Karen’s house at 5:45 am. We drove up with her husband and son who were going to ride their bikes on the course to cheer us on.
I was feeling pretty good this morning, but worried about the heat. We had a light sprinkle before the race started, which I wouldn’t have minded at all if it stayed around the whole race. I had on my new waist pack, which fit great. Didn’t really notice it at all. I had my ipod, drivers license, credit card and some cash in there just in case.
The race got going at 7:30 am. There were a lot of runners, but didn’t have to much trouble with having to weave in and out. The first few miles felt great. I thought my pace was ok, not to fast, so I figured I’d keep at it as long as I could. It didn’t last long. After 4 miles the top of my right thigh was very tight and hurting.

Mile 1: 9:19
Mile 2: 9:25
Mile 3: 9:38
Mile 4: 9: 38

I slowed down my pace in hopes that it would help my leg feel better. No such luck. At the mile 6 water station I walked a bit, then pulled to the side to stretch and use my fist to massage the muscle. It helped for a bit, and I was able to run a mile without much problem. After that it started hurting again. So at mile 8 I stopped and stretched and massaged my leg.

Mile5: 10:04
Mile 6: 10:08
Mile 7: 10:58
Mile 8: 10:51
Mile 9: 11:13

After drinking water at mile 10, I realized that I was having an issue with drinking too much water and it not really helping at all. It was starting to slosh around in my stomach. Not a good feeling. This happens with me on hot days. I need to figure out a better solution. I probably needed something more than just water. I had tried one hammer pill at mile 6. I don’t think the one did much good.

Just as we got to mile 11, we ran through the parking lot of the Tampa Bay Rays stadium. We ran into the stadium and did a lap around the field. It was pretty cool. It would have been great if they let spectators in there to cheer us on. It just felt great to be out of the sun. Oh yeah, the full cloud coverage had been missing for a few miles, which didn’t help the heat factor. At this point I had been taking a walking break every mile. I took my last walking break a bit after mile 12. I had also noticed that the garmin distance was not the same as the signs on the road. I was hitting the miles before the signs.

The last mile felt very long. I couldn’t wait for the finish line to come. At least the last mile had lots of cheering people, which helped me a lot. Just as I got to the mile 13 sign, I noticed I was at 2:19. I had wanted to finish in under 2:20, so I started to push it. I crossed the finish line in 2:20:07. Garmin said I’d run 13.29 miles, so in my book, I finished a half in under 2:20.

Mile 10: 11:12
Mile11: 11:31
Mile 12: 12:06
Mile 13: 11:23
Mile .29: 8:45

I got the coolest medal. It is round with a small charm in the center that can come off and be attached to a chain. They had a booth at the finish were people would help you take off the charm to add to the chain (which they sold at the expo). They had plenty of water and Gatorade. I don’t like the lemon-lime, so didn’t have any. Drank 3 16oz waters very quickly. Then I drank an IMix drink. It’s a protein recovery drink that is pretty good. They also had a cookie station. I had a couple of those two.


I think this was a great race. The course was very pretty, most of it along the waterfront. Great medals and gift items. I plan on running it again next year, just hope for cooler weather.

Meeting Kathrine Switzer at Women's Half expo

Drove up to St. Pete late Friday afternoon for the expo. It was held in this really cool old hotel building called the Vinoy. Picked up the bib, which came in a really nice reusable bag. Lots of sample goodies inside. There was a new timing system attached to the back of the bib. Race morning you peel it back and wrap it around your shoe laces.
Next I went to the other room to pick up my shirt and free pink Crocs. This is the room with all the different vendors. It was small, but they all had things geared to women. I got a new waist pack that I was told is waterproof. It is like the Spi belt, has an elastic waist and sits low on the hips.
On my way out I spotted Kathrine Switzers booth. She was there signing and selling her book “Marathon Woman” I got up the nerve to talk to her. Told her I had her book at home, so she signed her business card for me and told me to put it inside my book. I had my photo taken with her and then she gave me a hug and wished me luck. I left feeling pretty good and pumped up for the race!

Siesta Key Sprint Duathlon

I think I’ve found a new sporting addiction! 
Sunday morning I got up at 4:50 am, got a cup of coffee and got dressed. It takes me a while to get going in the morning, so I didn’t get out the door until 6:10 am. 
The drive over to Siesta Key was pretty quick at that time of the morning, so I got there about 6:20. Pulled out everything I wanted to leave with my bike, unloaded the bike and then went to find my staging spot. I learned that I had to get my number marked on my body first, so had to wheel my bike through the large crowd to find that area. Got my number marked on my arms and leg, picked up my timing chip and headed over to my bike spot.
Right after setting up my bike, my friend Melissa showed up and I discovered she was in the same area as me. A good thing, it would have been hard finding her in this crowd!
I made a bathroom stop, then headed to the beach were the starting line was. The run started at the same time as the first wave of swimmers, so we got going right at 7:30 am. The weather was pretty good. Low 70s and low humidity.
I started out a bit fast. It’s so hard to pull myself back when the group is smallish and everyone is pretty fast. I was amazed to see my first mile was 8:19! I couldn’t believe it was a mile, I wasn’t wearing my Garmin, but found out later that it was! The run back over the dry sand to the transition was tough, but I kept up with those around me. I think I made good time in the transition area. Just pulled on my helmet and grabbed my bike and headed out.

Now the bike race part is all new to me. I was bummed to have so many people zooming past me. But the only ones doing that were those on the nice road bikes. My bike is a mountain bike with smooth tires. The tires are at least twice as wide. Anyway, I did manage to pass 4 other riders while on the course. This is when I wished I had my Garmin on. I had no idea about my speed or how far along I was. I felt like I was keeping a pretty good pace though. When I got off my bike just before entering the transition area, my right quad was very tight and I was happy to have a bit of walking before getting to the run. I got my bike on the rack, traded my helmet for a visor, stretched my legs quick, then headed out for the run.

The trip over the loose sand to the waterfront was once again tough. Again, I have no idea on my pace, but I was passing people, so must not have been going to slow.  I know I slowed down in the last mile, but kept on going and when I headed back over the dry sand towards the finish, I was still feeling strong. We ran over a small wooden bridge, took a hard right and the finish was just ahead. I tried passing the woman in front of me, but she held me off. However we both passed a guy, before running over the finish line!

Finish time 1:38:22
Splits: 2 mile run: 18:31; transition 1: 1:19; 13 mile Bike: 46:45; transition 2: 1:34; 5k run: 30:14. Much faster on the bike during the race then I was in training.
The food set up was awesome. Lots of different types of food: Pasta, breads, yogurt, fruit, sodas, water, juice. After having a snack, I checked out the race results. Discovered I was first place in the 39 and under Athena division! Woot! There were 5 total women in the age bracket. I looked at the 35-39 women’s age group and discovered with my time, I would have been first place in that group too!
I had a great time. Wish I could do another one soon. Probably won’t until next summer though. Maybe by then I can talk my dear hubby into getting me a new road bike. ;)

Fit2run 4 mile cross country race

The race was at a country club and the run was on the golf course, with a little paved road in there.
I got to the event about 45 minutes early, so sat in my car for a little while and read. The race started at 7:30, so at 7 I fugured I'd go find the bathroom. I lucked out and got to use a real bathroom, no line! Went over to the packet pickup area (I got mine yesterday) and discovered that I needed to pick up my timing chip! Since I had time, and wasn't getting a long run in today, I decided to run an easy half mile warm up, then headed to the start. We started on an uphill! The course was very congested for most of the race, even though it wasn't a very big race. Lots of rolling hills and wet grass. This cross country running is tough! It really slowed me down. Anyway, the last quarter mile I tried to pick up the pace. I could see the finish line ahead, when this blond haired woman passed by me, but didn't seem to be trying very hard. I ended up blazing past her and another woman a few feet from the finish! Ha, I don't hold back! :) So, I finished in 38:53. Not what I could do when in good shape, but I beat the time I wanted, which was 40 minutes.

What's new

Since I returned home from California, I've had to take another break from running, visit a few different doctors to get an answer about my bad back and I had a return to running again! :)
I am in my third week of training for a Duathlon. It will be at Siesta beach in early October. It's a 2 mile run, 13 mile bike and then a 5k run. Almost all of the running is on the beach!
Other races I have planned are Bill's Beer run at the end of october and the Women's Half Marathon in November.

California running.

Just back from a very hilly women's 5 mile race. The race took place in Nisene Marks State park in Aptos. Very small crowd, but friendly people. The weather was perfect. High 50s with a cool fog cover.

The first mile was tough. Right off the bat there was a very steep hill. We ran a bit of flat road for a while then a nice down hill. But at the bottom of the hill I discovered a very steep climb back up! All this in the first mile. I was worried about the rest of the run. I asked a women that I had been running next to if there were many more hills. I may have grown up in this area, but it's been 14 years since I've lived here. This Florida gal is not used to hills! The woman told me there was one more steep trail climb in addition to the one hill that we cover in the last mile.

The second and third miles went pretty well, just a few rolling hills. The water stop was just before the 2.5 mile turn around. At the bottom of two hills. Not steep, but I didn't really want to slow to drink, then have to start a climb. So I got water on the flipside, it wasn't to hard to get going again. Just at mile 3 we went off the road and onto a single file trail. My garmin wasn't working to great with all the tall redwood trees around, but based on time, I guess the trail part of the race was about half a mile. The first half was all up hill and the last .25 was down. Had to watch out for rocks and tree roots.

The last mile started off with a great down hill, then a steep uphill. I was very happy to have the last uphill behind me. :) A bit of flat road and then downhill to the finish. I tried to pick up my pace at the end to push past the woman who had been in front of me the last half mile, but she was thinking like me, didn't happen. Finished in 50:15. Not my best 5 mile time, but considering the hills, I am pretty happy with it.

The woman that I had asked about the hills came up to me after the race and said she had used me to pace her and that I helped her finish. Another woman came up to me after the race and said she kept my bright pink shirt in her vision and tried catching up to me. :) Happy to help.

Over all I have a great time running in California's cooler temps. Had a pretty good 8 mile run Friday along the cliffs in westside of Santa Cruz and ran 3 miles yesterday along the beach in Seacliff. Hope to get in one more run tomorrow evening before flying back to steamy, hot Florida Tuesday. :)

Me and Joan :)

It's been awhile since I have checked in. Had to take a break from running because of back pain. Still getting that worked on by a chiro, but back to running. Managed to get a 29:05 in a 5K a couple of weekends ago, which I was happy about.

Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson gave a talk at New College the other night. I went and it was pretty cool. She is so tiny! She brought a bunch of her personal photos and went through and talked about them all. She had one of her and Lance Armstrong. Nike wanted her to pace him for the NYC marathon. She had an event the sat night and told them she couldn't do it unless they flew her down from Maine. So of course, they did. She couldn't believe Nike chartered a Jet to pick her up at 11 pm sat night and fly her down to NY.



I went out for her "fun run" the next morning. I got up early and ran 5 miles at 6 am, came home and changed into dry clothes, took Aidan to school, then headed over to New College. There were about 15 people, so a small group. I got my photo taken with her. :) They said we would do about 4 miles, which was a bit long for me right now. My long run has been 8, so added to the 5 already would have been 9. We started out slow, which was good. Well slow for most of them and Joan. It was about a 10 min pace, which for me is a bit faster then I have been running.

The college girl who had arranged for her to speak was running with us. After about 1.5 miles, she fell back to a walk. Joan slowed down the ran slowly with her the rest of the way. I took a pic of them and then when they caught up (about 1.5 miles out) I said I needed to go back. Thanked her for coming down and that it was nice meeting her. She shook my hand and said it was nice meeting me too. :) So I ended up getting in 2.75 on that second morning run.