12.12.12. Marathon of Sarasota

Gateway Whitaker Park, December 12, 2012

Even though this was a local race and would only take me 15 minutes to get there, the morning started off at 3:30 am. But that was my mistake. I managed to hit the wrong button on my clock, making it an hour later. Oh, well, I was able to play around on the computer, have a cup of coffee and make sure I had everything packed up that I wanted to bring. I got to the park early, backed into a parking spot that was right on the course, and waited for everyone to arrive. When Dawn and Gina got there, we hung out for a bit before I went back to the car to set up everything in the trunk. I had an extra shirt, a cooler with ice, towel, gatorade and water, some fuel and my music (in case I needed it at some point). It was great having this set up. I stopped at my car quite a few times during the race. We all gathered near the gazebo and waited for the big group photo. The race was set to start at 7:12 am, but things got delayed. We got our group shot and then headed to the start line. Not sure what time we actually got started. Some where between 7:30 and 8 am, I guess. The temp was warm, but not to bad yet. Soon, we were off!

With Kimmi

It's hard to remember all that happen at certain mile points when you are running in .44 mile circles. Really, I can break the race down into 3 parts. The first half went great. Gina, Dawn and I were running together. This was our last long training run for Disney marathon next month, so we didn't want to push it. Though I did want to get in under 5 hours. Which should have been doable. We had a lot of fun posing for photos every time we ran by the race photographer. We stopped once to jump in the air and stopped to have a photo with Santa, who showed up to cheer us on. I had my first and only Gu at mile 4. By mile 6 I was feeling very hot and sweaty and ready to change into my dry top. But I only had one extra, so I figured I would wait until the half way point. I was also thinking of the Frappachino that Kimmi said she would bring me. I thought it might happen around the half way point. Around mile 10, I ate half a banana. I had been drinking water and gatorade every couple of miles and also taking my endurolytes every 2 miles, but my fueling was starting to fall off. Splits 1 through 6 - 10:07, 10:00, 9:59, 10:36, 10:29, 11:11
7 through 13 - 10:24, 10:39, 10:50, 11:22, 10:57, 11:14, 11:59

Dave and I got our Frapps!

Just after mile 13, I stopped at my car for a fresh tank top and a dry wash cloth for my face. The sun had come out and it was getting wicked hot. Kimmi brought my Frappachino sometime during mile 13. I was so happy to see her! The first few tastes were awesome, but when I tried to drink too much, it didn't sit well in my stomach. I stopped with her for a little and waited to see if Dave was anywhere close. She had brought a drink for him as well. I think we managed to both be with Kimmi on my third time around. We got a photo together with our drinks, before continuing on. I ended up setting my drink inside my cooler. I got a few more drinks from it during the rest of the race. My fueling plan fell way off. I had that drink, some gatorade and water at various stops, and another few bites of a banana, and that was it! I know I should have had more, but I just couldn't think of eating anything else. I was no longer running with Gina and Dawn. I would just see them every once in a while. I did get a chance to talk with other people though and that was nice. Splits 14 through 19 - 13:05, 10:39, 11:39, 11:54, 11:59, 12:46

I guess I really hit the wall just before mile 20. I started walking a lot more. I probably would have done better if I had set up my own interval timer. Hearing the beeps really motivates me to get moving again. But I had just been taking short walk breaks by the water table. The walking breaks got longer and longer. It was hard to start running again when it was so hot. I do not handle the heat very well. Finally I was on my last lap. Happy day! I ran it in and finished with a smile. Splits 20 through 26.2 - 13:03, 14:00, 15:56, 13:07, 13:56: 13:44, 13:41. They last bit was .9 on my garmin and not .2, so the time was almost 10 minutes. :(

Finish: 5:19. I'm good with it. I just hope we have better weather in a month for the Disney Marathon!

Still having fun with Dawn and Gina!