SeeJennaRun

Rock n Roll St. Pete Half Marathon

2012-02-16T17:05:00.000-08:00

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! :)

2012-01-31T16:34:00.000-08:00

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)

2012-01-14T17:07:00.000-08:00

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.

2012-01-12T06:36:00.000-08:00

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

Team Nacho Typical runners left Sarasota in 2 vans Thursdayevening around 6 pm. Van 1, my van, stopped to pick up Renee in North Portbefore continuing on to Miami. We had me, Sandy, our driver, Carl, Stacie, Dakand Renee. Our 6^th runner, Krista was going to meet us in Miami atthe hotel.

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

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

I was so excited to get running! It was just before 8:30 amwhen I got started. I crossed two streets before remembering to turn on myGarmin. I ended up running past the Starbucks we stopped at earlier in themorning. I resisted the temptation to stop for another cup of joe. J This area is a supernice shopping area, but it soon turns into a not so great area. I could see onerunner a few blocks in front of me and there was another runner a block or sobehind me, so no running company when I hit the really bad area. It would benice if they could change this section. A lot of sketchy looking men hangingout in front of the houses and on the sidewalk. Thankfully there were not manycars on the road because I was forced to run off the sidewalk. I ran a littlefaster to get through it. I’m so happy I wasn’t running through that areaearlier when it was still dark! A few blocks later, we had to climb some stairsto take a pedestrian bridge over a busy road and then down the stairs again. Itook it easy on this. I then came to the issue with the stop lights. I hadcaught up with the woman in front of me and the woman behind had caught up tous both. We all waited for the light to change and then crossed. At the othercorner, we had to wait again for a green light. Well, I waited but the othertwo dashed across the road! I waited a bit then ran for it too. Of course itwas just when the cars to my right got their green light. Thankfully I didn’tget hit! The two women got a good lead on me as they were lucky to get greenlights at the next few corners when I got reds. I had to stop at a total of 5lights. It cost me a few minutes. Near the end of my run, I was happy to seethe sign at the corner telling us to turn instead of going strait. A guy way aheadof me had missed the turn though, so I stopped and yelled out to him a fewtimes. Finally he turned around and saw me waving and pointing to where weshould be running. We had just a little bit to go before running into theexchange. The guy had caught up to me and could have passed, but he was niceand held back letting me go in first. I handed off to Krista and then I wasdone 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 ranher 5.2 and then handed off to Dak. He ran his 3.8 and then handed off to Reneewho ran 8.7 to the Miami Zoo, where we handed off to Van 2. We managed to finda Starbucks while Renee was running. I got a nice cold Frap and then changedinto dry clothes. It was fun catching up with Van 2, who we hadn’t seen sincethe night before. We hung out with them for just a little bit before they tookoff after their runner and we all went to lunch at Applebees.

After lunch, we headed to the Homestead Speedway, thelocation of the next major exchange were our van would take over running fromvan 2. We had a few hours to hang out and rest before Heather, runner 12, wasexpected to come in. A few of us wondered over to where Ragnar had set up somefood booths. I ended up running into Gina and Linda at the little fire pitwhere they were roasting smores. I grabbed a stick and a couple of marshmallowsand hung out with them for a while. I ended up going back to the van after abit to rest, but it wasn’t easy to rest in the van. It soon got hot. So Reneeand I headed back to the speedway and hung out in the middle section to watchthe runners finishing up their leg. We met up with the rest of the team back atthe van and then walked back to wait for Heather to run in. Van one had let usknow that she would be coming in soon. We found Liz, Lynette and Erin hangingout near the entrance to the speedway, so we hung out with them for a bitwaiting for Heather to run by. Carl, Sandy and Renee went up to where theexchange 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 thatand the exchange! She was not happy that we missed it when we caught up to hera 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’tlook like he was doing so great so we pulled off to the side a little ways downto check on him. He said he was doing just fine, so we headed to the nextexchange were I would take over. By the time we got there it was pretty dark. Ihad my vest on, a light clipped to my visor and a headlamp that was on astretchy band that I put around my waist. I wanted as much light as I couldget! Soon enough Carl came into the exchange and I was off.

This run was theone I was most worried about. It was just under 5 miles of dirt and gravel roadahead of me. The first part of the road was very uneven. Lots of deep groves made from the tractor wheels. Mylighting was good, but it was hard to get any depth of perception. I was happyto 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 throughthe 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. Theywere not tiny things either. I just focused on watching the road right in frontof me highlighted by my headlight. About halfway down the road I passed my friendKaren. She was a pro on this road. She had ran the same legs for this race lastyear. I talked with her for a minutebefore continuing on. Just before I got to my exchange a guy in skimpy shortsand no shirt passed me on my left. He distracted me for just a second, but itwas enough time for me to misstep and twist my ankle a little. Thankfully itwasn’t bad and I ran it in to exchange with Krista.

Back at the van I grabbedmy towel and foam roller and got down on that road in front of the van tostretch and roll. My IT band was feeling just a little sore from the unevensurface. There will be no trail runs in the near future for me. Krista had oneof the hardest runs. She ran the same road I did, but her run was twice aslong! She ended up having a great run. She handed off to Stacie, who had an 11mile run that was unsupported by the vans. Thankfully for her, she was now offthe gravel road and onto the Overseas highway leading into Key Largo. I sleptthrough most of Dak’s 7 mile run. It felt good to catch a little nap. He handedoff to Renee at around 1:30am. We all made our way to the next major exchangeat 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. Weall pilled out in search of bathrooms and our van 2 team. Soon enough Renee wasrunning into the exchange, where she once again handed off to Lynette. We madeanother pit stop before heading to the van.

I was so tired at this point! Iclimbed into the last seat in the van, pulled my snuggie over me, put in my earplugs and went to sleep. The rest of the team discussed whether or not weshould stay at the school or drive to the next exchange to sleep. I didn’tcare. I just wanted to sleep! Sandy and Carl set up their sleeping bagsoutside, while Renee slept on the middle seat and Dak slept on the front rowseat. Krista and Stacie slept in the driver and passenger seats. We got acouple of hours of sleep before getting up and heading toward Marathon. Wedecided to stop at IHop for breakfast. It was so great to get another meal! Ihadn’t had a real meal since lunch the day before. There were two other teamsfrom 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 exchangepoint. We were all ready to run our third and last run. Carl started us offagain after Heather ran in and slapped the band on his wrist, he had a short 3mile run, so we didn’t waste much time getting on the road. I got going around10 am. It was a nice temp out, but I knew once I got running, I would be hot. Ihad just a 12 ounce bottle of water with me, some cliff blocks and 4endurolytes. My left IT band was pretty stiff from the get go, so I took shortwalking breaks the first two miles. I kept my pace up, so my mile splits werestill around 9:30 min miles. At the base of the bridge, I stopped to take acouple of pictures before climbing up the stairs, to get to the parking area ofthe old 7 mile bridge. After the parking area, we ran down stairs to get underthe 7 mile bridge. I stopped for another photo there. The woman I asked to takethe photo, had a little trouble figuring out how to do it, so my time for thatmile ended up being about 12 minutes! Oops. JMy IT band was feeling better now, so I decided to run without breaks for awhile. I climbed the last few stairs and started running on the long bridge. Itwas beautiful out there, but so hot without any shade. We had a bike laneswidth of road to run on going against the traffic. I felt pretty good until Igot to the hill part of the bridge. I was making my way through my water prettyfast by then and started to get worried. I ran a little more than half way upthe hill before stopping for another walking break. I also posted my status onfacebook and posted a photo. Not sure I’ve done that before in a race, but whatthe heck, this was not your average race. JBy mile 7.5 I used the last little bit of water I had to swallow a couple ofendurolytes. I knew it was going to be rough for the last part of the run andmy knee was starting to hurt, so I decided to start taking a short walkingbreak every half mile. This seemed to work out pretty good. I thought I onlyhad a total of 9.1 miles to run but I passed that mile and still hadn’t hit theexchange. 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 myoverall average.

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

We got checked into the Southernmost Hotel, which was rightnext to the finish line and after party. Renee and I got to our room andshowered before heading out to check out what was going on. We didn’t expectVan 2 until 6:15 pm. I wasn’t feeling so great at this point. I should haveeaten something real after my 9.5 mile run! I had snacked on beef jerky and asmall pack of cashews and the ice cream after the run and that was all I hadhad since breakfast! I picked up a bag of M&M’s which seemed to help, butreally, I was ready to pass out. I was so happy when the rest of the teamshowed 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 bittrying to figure out dinner plans. The plan was to meet up at 7:30 and go todinner somewhere. I knew I couldn’t wait that long. I ended up just eating abagel with peanut butter and honey and an apple for dinner then going to bed at8:30. So happy that I did, because I felt so much better the next morning after9.5 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.

2011-12-17T12:23:00.000-08:00

The 15th Annual 5K Jingle Bell 5k Run/Walk for Arthritis

It's not often that I run an evening race. It always hard to figure out the best way to be ready before the race starts. I went to the gym for a short workout in the early afternoon after I got off work. I rode the stationary bike for 10 minutes and then did weights and core work for 30 minutes. I decided to eat a little something that would get me through the race, but not be to filling. I got an order of fries and a side salad at the nearby Wendy's. :) I then went to do a little Christmas shopping before heading over to the Starbucks near the start of the race. I got there just before 5pm, I ordered a Venti peppermint mocha and hung out until my friend Dawn showed up. Race start was 7 pm. Once Dawn showed up, with her daughter, we hung out for a while, then decided to walk around outside and check the vendors that had set up booths. Before we knew it, we had about 15 minutes until the start. We hit the porta potties then went to find a good spot to start the race. The street was packed! Over 2500 people had registered. We managed to get a spot that wasn't very far back from the front/ start line.

Soon we were off! I felt good. My IT band and knee didn't feel tight at all, which it often does in the morning. I didn't have my Garmin on or my music with me, so I just went at a pace that felt good. I hadn't planned on pushing it at all. It's a "fun run" so there was not going to be any official timing. About a half a mile down the road, I heard a guy next to me tell his friend that we were running an 8:40 pace. That worked for me. Not as fast as I would have fun it in October, but my body isn't in as great as shape as then. I past the first water stop because I figured it would be better to get water when we passed it on the way back, it was an out and back course. But, on the way back, just before mile 2, all the volunteers were facing the runners heading out and when I stopped to ask for water, they all ignored me. I grabbed a cup of water, but all of the cups were empty. :( So, I just decided to keep going.

During the last mile, I was starting to feel thirsty and really hot. It was a very humid night. But, I pushed through it because my legs were feeling good and it looked like I was going to have a good finish time according to my watch. About a half a mile before the finish, the walkers who were walking the 1 mile distance merged with the runners. I was dodging people and little kids left and right. I think it's great that people bring there kids to these events, but they should not let a little 2 year old walk back and forth in front of people running! I was almost tripped twice!

Finally I get to about mile 3. The finish line is straight ahead. I just have to run through the intersection and then the finish line is a little ways down the road. All of a sudden the light turns red and we are forced to stop and wait!! I have never been held back at a red light before! I guess because it was a "fun run" they thought it was OK to do this, but it really sucked! Everyone was complaining. I stopped my watch. I was about to have a great finish time, it wasn't fair that I had to stop! Lots of poeple caught up to me at the light and ended up passing me when we were allowed to start running again. I finished strong through and was very happy with my time of 25:37! I wish this had been a timed race (with no stopping) because that's a PR!

Not sure I will do this race again. I know the money is going to a great cause, but the hassle of dealing with all those people is just not worth it.

2011-12-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

10th Annual Holiday HalfathonMadeira Beach, FL 12/11/11

I ran this race for the first time back in 2002. It was the first year forthe race. I remember it being a little challenging because of the 2 hills(bridges). It was also a memorable race for me, because it was to be my lasthalf marathon for a few years. I found out two weeks later that I was pregnantwith my son. This year was the 10th anniversary for the race, so even though Iwasn’t able to run very far without pain, I wanted to go out there and do thisrace.

My plan was to walk the first two miles, then start a run/walk of quartermiles each. I had tried this method for 8 miles earlier in the week and itworked well. No ITB pain at all.

I arrived in Madeira Beach about an hour before the walkers start time(runners started a half hour later). I picked up my chip and then hung out fora while with a couple of my running club friends. Soon enough it was time toline up for the start. There was actually a pretty decent crowd of walkers. Iwas worried there would only be a few of us. I got to stand at the very frontof the starting mat, my first and last time probably! Therace director gave us some instructions, including the fact that we should stayon the sidewalk until the runners caught up to us. The roads were technicallyclosed until then. The National Anthem wassung for us and then we were off!

Right away I was being passed by many walkers and people who were slowlyrunning. I didn’t like that at all! But I stayed with the walking, like a goodgirl. I actually was keeping up a pretty good pace, less than 15 min miles,which is a fast pace for me. By mile one, I couldn’t take it anymore anddecided to just run one quarter of a mile to try to put some space between meand some of the other walkers. I picked up the pace to an 8 min mile for thequarter of a mile. It felt awesome to zoom past a bunch of people! Plus, I hada little extra space on the tight sidewalk. By mile 2, I was really happy tostart my run/walks. I kept up a pretty good pace, sub 9 min miles, for a fewmiles during the running portions. This allowed me to gradually get past a lotof the walkers and slower runners who had started off with me. By mile 4, Istarted looking over my shoulder every once in a while because I expected thefast runners to catch up to me at any moment.

Miles 1 through 5: 14:06/ 12:37/ 11:24/ 11:03/ 10:55

The next few miles went by with no problems. I felt great. No aches andpains. I had plenty of energy and despite the warm day, I felt perfectly fine.Just after mile 6, we looped around a park and then entered the Pinellas Trail.We would be on this until just before mile 12. As I left the park area, I sawthe lead runners off to my left, making their way toward the park. The leadrunners caught up to me by mile 7.5. It was pretty cool running with the fasterrunners for the next few miles. They sure make running look effortless andeasy!
My running pace started to slow down a bit during the second half of therace, but I was still pretty happy with my pace. I stopped a couple of times tostretch out my hamstrings, which felt a little tight.

Miles 6 through 9: 11:44/ 11:45/ 11:39/ 12:15

By the time we got to the last water stop, just before mile 12, I wasstarting to feel my knee stiffen up. It wasn’t painful yet, but I knew if Ipushed much more, it would become painful. So, I walked a little more duringthis last mile. Normally I would be beating myself up because I was slowingdown and walking more, but for this day, it was part of the plan to finishinjury free and ready for Ragnar in a few weeks. I enjoyed the view of the lakeand watched out for the guys playing disk golf. Imanaged to finish the last .1 with a run and run it in strong.

Miles 10 through 13: 11:49/ 12:10/ 12:13/ 13:21

Finish: 2:38

I'm pretty happy with my finish time considering I only ran about 5.5 miles of the race! I got my awesome finishers medal before heading over to get water and a banana and my bag. I found the medical guys to get an ice pack from them, then sat on the grass and stretched a little and iced my knee. I didn't stick around to long because I wanted to get on the bus and back to my car as soon as I could. No waiting for the bus, which was awesome!

2011-11-29T13:44:00.001-08:00

This is how I feel! It is so hard not being able to run right now!

IT Band Knee pain

2011-11-26T08:09:00.001-08:00

I went for my second run of the week today and it didn't go well. I had taken off 4 days after realizing the pain in my knee wasn't going away. Thursday's 4 mile run went fine, so I thought I'd push it to 6 miles this morning. I got in 3 before the pain started up. By mile 4.5 the pain was pretty bad. I ran very slow to finish out 5 and then walked in the last mile.

I'm not sure what to do! I've been icing, foam rolling and using the stick on my IT band. I guess I should take off at least a week, if not 2 weeks. I need to get in a workout though or I will not be fun to live and work with. Just need to figure out what is safe. I might try the elliptical at the gym on Tuesday.

Wish me luck!

2011-11-21T15:12:00.001-08:00

Women's Half Marathon
St Pete, FL
November 20, 2011

This is the third year of the race and also my third time running it. Even though I ran a marathon last weekend, a marathon the weekend before and my knee had been hurting, I decided to run this race, but with no time expectations. I just wanted to go out and have fun.

Dawn and I drove up early, getting there around 5:30 am. We got everything ready and then walked across the street to the Hilton, where Brenda was staying. We used their nice bathrooms and hung out in the lobby for a while, waiting for Brenda to come down. We decided to head over to the race area at 6:15, even though Brenda hadn't come down yet. Couldn't get her on the room phone and I forgot my cell phone in the car. Thankfully we ran into her down near the porta potties. We made one more pit stop before heading to the corrals. Dawn and I were in corral 2, while Brenda was in 3. We managed to sneak her in with us, yeah! :) After only a few minutes, we were off!

The first part of the race was new. We headed in the opposite direction then in previous years, turned right and then right again heading north. Another right turn a few blocks later and we were back on the regular, waterfront course. I was feeling pretty good and keeping up a fast (for me) pace. I tried my best to keep off the slopes of the streets and run down the flat middle. We crossed a small bridge just before mile 3. There is a short out and back section here. I saw the 1:45 pacer and right in the thick of the runners was Renee! I yelled out a hello to her and continued on. I yelled hello to a couple of other friendly faces before hitting the turnaround. I slowed and walked through the water stop and then kept an eye out for any friends heading my way. My knee was feeling a little tight, but otherwise it was OK.

Miles 1 through 4 - 8:33, 9:04,8:55, 8:54

Just before mile 5, we hit the water front area again and also the brick street. Most everyone, including me, jumped to the sidewalk and ran on there for the next mile or so. I was still feeling good as we headed back toward downtown and the pier. Lots of crowd support once we hit Bayshore drive. We took a left onto the Pier, ran down to the end and came back around. I saw Dawn on the otherside and yelled a hello. Comming off the pier we turned left and then pretty quick after that turned right heading up 1st Ave. This is a long. slight incline. My knee was really feeling that incline! I could tell I was starting to stiffin up.

Miles 5 through 9 - 9:20, 9:19, 9:29, 9:21, 10:03

Just after mile 9 we turned right towards Mirror lake. We ran a loop around the lake and headed back to 1st Ave. The road around the lake was really slanted. I had to get on the sidewalk because my knee hurt on the slant. We ran a little past Tropicana Field, then turned around and headed back. New course change here. We turned right towards the Trop building, cutting out a huge block of parking lot that we had to run through the year before. The little downhill and astroturf in the Trop did me in. I got in there and walked most of the lap around. I managed to get into a slow run for the photographer, but once I made it back outside, I had to walk again.

Miles 10 and 11 - 9:59, 10:25

I tried to get back into running in the parking lot and then again on 1st Ave, but it wasn't working. My knee was really hurting. I stopped at a medical station around mile 12 to get ice. I wasted over a minute here while they tried to bandage on an ice pack. It lasted about half a mile before starting to slide down my leg. I stopped and took it off. I just decided to walk it in. My knee wasn't hurting while I walked, just felt stiff. It was super hard to walk that last mile in. So many people cheering on the course. My name was on my bib and a lot of people were calling out to me to keep going. After the turn back onto Bayshore, I tried to walk it in faster. As seen in the photo at right, I wasn't feeling so hot, but I kept it up and finished with a pretty decent time considering I walked most of the last 2 miles.

Miles 12, 13 and .25: 13:25, 17:36, 3:45

Finish: 2:18:05

Even though it was super warm and humid, I felt great through the race. If it hadn't been for my bum knee, it would have been a great race. I'm trying not to be dissapointed with my performance. I know there wasn't anything else I could do. I wish I had had a better race, but it is what it is. I had a PR in my 5 mile race 3 weeks ago and a marathon PR 2 weeks ago that I am proud of.

Once home, I iced my knee and then went to the Children's reading festival and walked around for an hour that afternoon. The knee is feeling better, but I still plan on taking at least a week off from running. I want to be in good running shape for the Ragnar Fl Keys in early January.

2011-11-15T04:34:00.001-08:00

Love this! :)

2011-11-11T13:31:00.001-08:00

11-11-11 Marathon of SarasotaWhitiker Gateway Park, Sarasota, FL

The morning started off cold and windy. I was back in FL andnot expecting Savannah race conditions! I picked up my bibs, one with numbersfor front and one with my name for my back. I also got my timing chip. I hungout with all the Marathon Maniacs who were in town for the race. There were 7of us that would qualify for Maniacs today and two runners who were runningtheir first marathon. We got lots of photos taken near the water and once thebathrooms were opened (yeah!) we started the race. It got started at 7:30, alittle late, but we needed to wait on the bathrooms.

Gina, Stephanie, Dawn, Jeff and I all started off togetherrunning 3/1 intervals. I had no time expectations. I just wanted to finish.Really, I hoped for a sub 5 hour finish, but wasn’t going to push it. It was alot of fun through those first few miles. Dave Mari was taking photos all thetime. Endorphin dude was there and entertained us by stopping to sing on the DJ’smicrophone. Liz and Renee stopped by to cheer for a while. It was great seeingtheir smiling faces every lap.
Somewhere around mile 6, Gina slowed down and we all got ahead of her. SoonJeff and Dawn started running a bit faster, so Stephanie and I held back. Ididn’t want to push the pace too hard. We ran the first 13.1 in 2:15, which wasonly 4 minutes slower than last weekend.

Miles 1 through 7: 9:51/10:07/10:00/10:35/10:14/10:42/10:29Miles 8 through 13: 10:13/10:44/10:22/10:26/10:40/10:18

We definitely slowed down during the second half, but forthe most part I felt good. Everyone was friendly. Many people said my name asthey ran by and wished me luck. The volunteers, some of whom are friends, weregreat. They had a table set up by the water with anything a runner could need.I tried a half a banana during the race for the first time. My friend Susan sprayedsunscreen on me at one point. The temps stayed cool and very dry. I was hardlysweating and I tend to sweat a lot! I could feel the saltiness on my face formost of the race. Stephanie is a hoot. Her friends brought her a bloody maryand she drank from it each time we passed it. We came up to Leah, who wasrunning her first time marathon, when she had 10 laps to go (we had 15 Ithink). She was struggling, but decided to hang with us and take walkingbreaks. She ended up with a great finish and a time of 4:08!

Miles 14 to 18: 10:53/11:28/11:06/10:47/11:23

I caught up with Dawn at some point during this time. Shewas not having a good race and saying she was never running a marathon again.She ran NYC last weekend and it wasn’t a great race for her. We went back andforth for a bit, but soon she pulled ahead again. She ended up finishing acouple of minutes before me and feeling pretty good about it.

Miles 19 through 23: 11:24/11:33/11:53/11:55/11:49

The last 3 miles were very painful. The side of my left kneehurt a lot. It felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife! But, I keptgoing. A very slow shuffle. Idid get to see the couple from England get married and have photos taken. Ithink I passed by them 3 times during this process. The woman came in first overallwoman and the man was second overall man.
I was so ready for the last lap. I tried to speed upmy pace a little, but couldn’t do it. My knee almost collapsed a couple oftimes. I was so happy to finish!! I got my finishers medal and my 2^ndplace age group award. There were only 3 people in it, but so what! I’ll takeit. J

Miles 24 through 26: 13:19/13:17/14:08

Finish time: 4:49:08 for 25.96 total miles. It’s still a marathon to me! J

I didn’t hang around too long before making my way to themedical tent. They taped a bag of ice to my knee and gave me some Tylenol. Ihobbled over to the food area and then on to where I had left my bag. We sawGina pass by a couple of times. She was not happy, her knee was hurting a lottoo, but she didn’t want to give up. I made it back to the finish line in timeto see her finish. I got a couple of photos taken with my medals and my “I justqualified for Marathon Maniacs” sign, before heading home to spend a relaxingafternoon on the sofa.

It is now a few hours post race and my knee is feelingtender but better. I will take it easy this week and will decide by Friday if Iwill run the Women’s Half Marathon on Sunday! What was I thinking??? J

One thing I’ve realized post race is that I didn’t encounterany stomach issues and for the most part I didn’t cramp up. I think the twohalves of banana I had, one around mile 18 and the other a few miles later,really helped. I also didn’t wear a waist pack today, so nothing compressing onmy stomach. I was pretty good about eating when I should and taking theendurolytes when I should. I drank more water today too.

2011-11-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

Rock N Roll SavannahMarathon
November 5, 2011

Race morning started off early. Brenda and I got up at5:30am and had plenty of time to get layered up for the cold morning walk overto the start line. So happy we were staying so close to the start. Gina, Donna,Stephanie and Charlotte stopped by on their walk from the hotel they got movedto. (long story) We got there in plenty of time for the big maniac/fanaticgroup shot. It was so fun to be in a race with a large group of them. I hope tobe joining the maniacs next weekend! I also got to meet Kate, one of my teammarathon bar members. After the photo, we went in search of the baggage checkand then bathroom breaks. The lines were so long for the porta potties, so wedecided to go down this ally and squat behind some cars. A couple of women cameriding by on their bikes and told us that we could get in a lot of trouble forurinating in public. She was very nice though, and offered the bathroom in heroffice, which was right there! We made it into the corral area about 10 minutesbefore race start. Most of us were in corral 12. After the first wave start, weslowly made our way closer to the starting mat. It was about 15 minutes afterofficial race start that our group got going.

Gina and I decided to stick together as long as we could. Wewere running 4/1 intervals, which seemed very doable in this cold temp (45ish).The first mile was straight running and it felt great. The runners had about 4lanes of road to run on, so we were not too packed in. The first few miles werea little fast, but I wasn’t out of breath and I was feeling good, so we kept upthe pace. We ran through some rough looking areas outside of the historicsavannah district, but the people were friendly. Lots of people came out oftheir houses to cheer us on. Bands were at about every mile, which was a bigenergy boost to the crowd of runners. One woman in front of me ran up to thefront of the band and did a cartwheel! Funny.

Miles 1 to 6- 9:18/9:29/9:47/9:54/10:03/10:04

It was great to be back into the historic district. Lots ofcrowd support here. At one point Gina yells to me, “There’s Dave!” I look allaround me and then spot him to my side. He runs over and puts his camera infront of us to take a photo. Then asks who is with me. I tell him Gina is andruns over and snaps a photo of the tow of them, then he runs in front of us totake a photo of us. He tells us we are running fast and falls back. We yell tohim to “have a great race” and continue on. Lots of great characters running inthe race including a guy dressed up in a Beeker (from The Muppets) suit. Crazy!Lots of great signs being held up too, like “Run, Stranger, Run.” My favoritesaid: Your feet hurt because you are kicking so much ass! Around mile 9 thecourse started to head out of the historic district and into a niceneighborhood with beautiful older houses and tall trees that provided someshade.

Miles 7 to 9- 10:20/9:58/10:12

By mile 10, we are both wondering where the split for thehalf marathoners was. We didn’t want to miss it! Thankfully it was hard tomiss. Around mile 11 there were signs on the road and volunteers on the courseyelling out which way to go. It was nice to see the half marathoners breakaway, since most of the runners were running that distance. Once we were on ourown, we had a lot more space to run and it was easy to get to the side to takeour walk breaks. Mile 12 was run on a highway. We could see mile 24 on theother side of the road. Soon police cars started driving down it and followingthem was the first marathon runner heading home! He was smokin fast and lookedlike he was out for an easy run. Just before mile 13, we took the off ramp fromthe highway and ran through more neighborhoods. We hit the 13.1 mile mark at2:11. That was a pretty good pace and ahead of our goal pace.

Miles 10 to 13- 9:58/10:14/10:05/10:12

The rest of the race was a large loop through the southernpart of town. By mile 15, I noticed my left Achilles tendon was feeling strangewhen I stopped to walk. At mile 16 we passed the Savannah State Universitycampus. That was a lot of fun. Lots of students were out cheering. The band wasthere playing too. I decided to stop anduse the porta pottie at mile 17. I told Gina to go ahead and I would try tocatch up with her. There was someone in the bathroom already and one guywaiting. While I stood there, I stretched a bit, which felt good. I waited fora couple of minutes and the first person was still in there, so I decided tojust keep running. It was really cold still. It seemed like the wind wasgetting stronger. I still had on my arm sleeves and kept ahold of my gloves incase I needed them later. I decided to run through every other walking break inhopes I could catch up with Gina. Eventually I saw her up ahead and slowlycaught up to her after a couple of miles. It was good to have my running buddyback by my side! My Achilles felt better after the stretch, but I could tell Iwas slowing down. My muscles were really stiffening up. I need to figure outhow to stop this from happening! I was eating my cliff blocks when I wassupposed to and taking my endurolytes on schedule too.

Miles 14 to 19- 10:13/10:40/10:36/10:32/10:52/10:22

I managed to plod along and a decent pace for the next fewmiles. I don’t feel like I hit the “wall” until mile 22. My stomach wasbothering me. It felt bloated and my waist pack made it worse because it feltso tight. I ate my last cliff clock around mile 24 and within a minute Ithought I was going to throw up! It hit my stomach hard. I took of my waistpack and immediately felt better. I thought of just tossing it since I got iton sale for $10, it wasn’t a big waste, but decided to hold on to it for a bit.It wasn’t too bad carrying it. Gina started pulling ahead of me during theselast few miles. I told her to go ahead, but thankfully she stayed near me. Ithink I might have really struggled to stay running if she hadn’t been there. Runningdirectly into the wind and having to run over so many over passes was reallytaking it out of me! Soon we left behind the highway and started runningtowards the historic district and the finish. Gina pulled ahead again aroundmile 25, which was fine with me. She looked strong and I didn’t want to holdher back any longer. I grabbed a bottle of water from the medical tent justbefore the next water stop and ended up drinking half the bottle! I guess I wasthirstier than I thought! This last bit was tough, but knowing the finish linewasn’t too far away, kept me plodding along. I managed to run through the lastwalk break and even pick up my pace a little just before the finish line. Sohappy to be done! And with a PR!

Mile 20 26.2- 11:09/10:54/11:37/11:12/11:16/11:57/12:29/3:29

Finish 4:37:07 a PR of 28 minutes!
Overall: 2619 out of 4722
Division: 207 out of 421
Gender: 1156 out of 2473

Gina was waiting for me after I crossed the finish line. Wewere both so happy about our PRs! We got out photos taken with our bling thengrabbed some food and drink. I really needed to sit down and get off of myfeet, so we walked over to get our bags, meet up with Brenda and then Stephanieand then walked over to the large grassy park to hang out and listen to theband playing. Within a couple of minutes of trying to stretch my legs, my calfmuscles seized up. And then the front of them did too when I flexed my foot. Icouldn’t unflex my foot! Brenda rolled my water bottle over the spot for meuntil it loosened up. I’ve never had that happen before. It hurt!

So happy I ran this race! We had some issues with housingand hotels during this trip, but the race and spending time with friends was sofun. Look forward to the next girls racing weekend!

2011-10-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Bill's Beer RunCasey Key, FLOctober 30, 2011

I had a great time at my 5 mile race this morning. I crushed my previous PR by 5 minutes and got 4th in my age group.

I got to the race site super early, because the parking lot (at the beach) is small and I wanted to make sure I got a good spot. I hung out in my car for about 40 mins and then met up with my friend and we hit the bathrooms. Lots of friendly faces at this race, so we chatted with people for the next 45 minutes until the race start. A lot of my ragnar team was there dressed up as 80s fitness stars. Suzanne Sommers, Jane Fonda, Richard Simmons and Suzanne Powers.

A guy sang the National Anthem and messed it up big time. I felt so bad for him, but he tried to recover and we all gave him a big cheer at the end. All of a sudden the gun went off. I hit my watch about 8 seconds after the official start (so my official time is a bit off). I felt really good going out. I had to weave through a bunch of people, but soon had some good space. I made sure I didn't start to far back today because I knew I wanted to go for that PR.

Mile 1- 7:55

I was surprised when I saw my first mile time! Even though I felt good, I thought maybe I should pull back a little, but ended up keeping pretty close to the first mile pace. There was a water stop at mile 1.5. I grabbed a cup and tried to drink a little without stopping. I got a little in my mouth and a lot on my hand. :)

Mile 2- 8:06

Starting to feel the hard pace here, but seeing all the runners coming back my way kept me going. Soon I see speedy Renee and yell out encouragement to her. She is about the 10th woman heading back. I hit the turn around and I’m happy to start seeing people on the other side of the road behind me. I see Gina and she tells me to keep up the pace. With that encouragement and seeing all my competition behind me, I keep at it. Just before mile 3 I finally pass and leave behind this speedy little girl. I was wondering if this 10 year old was going to stay with me the whole way! She was fast.

Mile 3- 8:14

I spot a woman in an orange tank top and decide she is a good one to try and pass. Before we get even a half a mile down the road, I have past her. Still feeling good, but decide I should slow it down a little so that I have something left at the end.

Mile 4: 8:19

I pick out an older guy in a bright green shirt to pass next. I gradually gain on him and end up passing him before getting to the water stop. Again I grab a cup of water and try drinking it without stopping. It slightly wets my throat. :D Not so good at that. Now I start to notice my bottom lip is going numb. This happens to me on cold, windy days sometimes. I think it’s a combo of being hot and sweaty and then getting a cold blast. The last quarter mile was a little scary because my top lip was also starting to go numb. I was breathing deeply, so it wasn’t lack of oxygen. As I was about to finish, I could hear a guy just to my back left. He tried to pass me at the end, but I got across the line just before him! Once I stopped and drank half my bottle of water, I felt much better and my lips went back to normal. I stood on the sidelines and watched some of my friends come in.

Mile 5- 8:14
Total: 5.04 miles in 41:08

I hung out for a long time to find out the race results. They gave awards 10 deep in age groups! I thought I had a chance of placing. I ended up with 4th in my age group. A few of my friends placed in their age groups too. It was a great day for a race!

Florida 1-Day Relay

2011-10-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

Bradenton to Venice, 50plus miles.

Team Sisters with Blisters was made up of me, Dawn, Gina, Stephanie and Linda. We all arrived in downtown Bradenton at 7 am. Race start was 8am, but we needed to be there early for the race directions meeting and to decorate Dawn’s car. The hour went by quickly, and before we knew it, Linda was lined up at the starting line with about 14 other runners. The race had a little over 50 teams. There were staggered starts of 7, 8, 9 and 10 am.

After loading into the car, we followed the path Linda had just run. She was the third woman and hot on the heels of the woman in front of her. We drove on to the exchange point to wait for her and write a few more things on the car windows. Soon, Linda came in and slapped the bracelet on Dawn. We all loaded into the car and I drove us to the next exchange point at Palma Sola Causeway Park. It was here, out in the open, with water on both sides, that we noticed how very windy it was. It was great for the people running toward the island because the wind was at their backs. I knew for me, when I was running off the island later this morning, I was going to have the wind coming at me. Dawn came in at a good pace and Stephanie ran off. Stephanie just ran a marathon last weekend! She did great on this leg, running a good pace. We all loaded back into the car and drove to the next exchange at Bradenton Beach were I would start my first run.

For some reason I was so nervous to run! Maybe because it was a team event, I felt like I needed to run a good pace. My run started off great. My garmin was having issues with the signal, so every time I looked at it the display would show anywhere from 10 min mile to 7 min mile pace! I ran down a curved neighborhood street that put me out onto the main road of the Island. I had to cross to the other side. I lucked out here as the light was already green, so I didn’t have to stop. I ran in the bike lane, no sidewalk, facing traffic. First mile was 8:14! A little fast, but I figured I’d push hard for this first leg. About a half mile later, I had to cross the street again at a pedestrian cross walk. Thankfully, the cars in both directions stopped for me right away, so that I could cross the street. Lots of team vehicles out on the road honking and yelling in support of all the runners. It was great. They strange part was being out there pretty much on my own. I saw one guy way up ahead of me and that was it. It was fun running this route, since I used to live on the island and would run this all the time. I passed by my old place at one point too. Mile 2: 8:32. I caught up to the runner in front of me at about mile 3: 8:38. The last .8 was all under the trees on a path next to the beach. It was beautiful out. I finished strong and handed off to Gina. Total time for 3.8 miles: 32:21 with an average pace of 8:30!

I changed into a dry shirt and stretched a little before we loaded into the car to head towards the next exchange. We stopped a little ways down to get out and cheer Gina on as she ran by. She didn’t have much shade on this section, so she was pretty hot when she came into the next exchange and handed off to Linda. We again got into the car and drove down the road a bit to find a good spot to cheer on Linda as she ran by. Then headed to Ken Thompson Park for the next exchange were I would be running again. I changed back into my race shirt and then we all hung out on the swings while we waited for Linda to come in. It was still pretty windy with partly cloudy skies. I decided to leave my visor in the car so I wouldn’t have to fight the wind to keep the visor on my head. Linda came in and I took off!

My second leg of the race started around noon. Thankfully the temperature didn’t feel too bad because it was so windy. I had the wind at my back for a very short distance, but then I changed direction and it came at me from the side. Mile 1: 8:44. When I ran over a small bridge and got the full force of the wind, it was so strong that my skirt lifted up around my waist. Good thing there are built in shorts under it. :) Just past the bridge I turned into a neighborhood that went along the water and ended at the major road leading to and from the Island. This is where I started running straight into the wind. Mile 2: 9:00. It wasn’t too bad for the first half mile because of trees and buildings on my left that helped to block a little of the wind. But then I got to the open and the flat bridge and got slammed. I powered through it to get to Bird Key Park were my team was waiting to cheer me on. We had to cross the street here and use the light. I was so lucky that a truck was already waiting at the light so that when I got near the cross walk, it had turned green. I ran fast through the intersection because the light didn’t stay green for long. Now I had to power up the bridge. Running up that bridge into the wind was so tough! But I did it! Top of the bridge was end of mile 3: 9:49. Running down the bridge felt great! Even with the wind hitting me, I felt my pace pick up. I passed a runner going down the bridge and then passed another as we ran near the Kissing Statue. I ran into Marina Jacks for the hand off to Dawn. Last 1.09 mile was 8:58. Total miles 4.09 in 37:17 with a 9 minute mile average pace.

I was tired after this leg. It was really hard. I stretched a bit before we loaded into the car. We drove down to Southside Elementary to park and wait for Dawn to run by. While Linda, Gina and Stephanie played on the playground, I hid behind the car door and changed out of my sweaty sports bra and top into dry stuff. I got into the car to change my bottoms though.  We stopped at another spot on Siesta Key to watch Dawn run by before heading to Siesta Beach to wait for her to run in. This was the longest leg of the day with 7 miles. We hung out with some other teams at the transition spot waiting for Dawn to run in. She made great time and soon we were on our mandatory 45 minute break. At this point all teams needed to load into their cars and drive to the next exchange just over 9 miles down the road. It’s not a great area of 41 for runners to run on, so the race organizers cut this section out of the race. My teammates were nice enough to stop at the gluten free bakery for sandwiches on our way to the next exchange. I got a yummy turkey and avocado sandwich and a brownie to save for after the race. By the time we left the bakery and drove to the next exchange, we had only a few minutes to wait before Stephanie took off on her last run.

This part of the race was run down Casey Key. The runners were warned to run against traffic and to be very careful because there were no sidewalks and the road is very narrow. The roads were extremely narrow! So happy that Stephanie made it through that section safe and sound. It was pretty crazy with all the team cars on the road, plus other cars on the road heading towards our runners. Soon Stephanie was handing off to Gina. We all used the bathrooms here and then took off to find Gina on the course. We got worried after a while when we couldn’t find her and noticed missing signs on the road. Stephanie noticed a friend of hers in his front yard, so we stopped to talk with him for a while before driving on. We kept looking for Gina, but could not find her, so we drove to the next exchange point at Nokomis Park. The runners had to run down part of the Legacy Trail (rails to trails path) so we couldn’t drive on that section of the course. Soon we saw some runners that had started after Gina at the last exchange, so we got worried that she was lost. Dawn and I left Linda (the next runner) and Stephanie at the exchange and then drove back along the course looking for Gina. We still couldn’t find her, but just before getting back to the exchange, I called Stephanie, who said Gina had made it in and Linda was off and running. We picked them up and headed to the next and last exchange by the Venice Airport. Gina said some of the runners that we saw come in ahead of her had missed a turn and ended up running a shorter distance, that’s why they ended up ahead of her. We grumbled about that for a little while waiting for Linda to come in. I got my gear on and got ready for my last leg. It was now about 4:30 and the wind was even stronger now, but I didn’t think I would be running into it much. Linda came in strong and handed off to me for the last leg of the race.

I started off my last leg way to fast. I got a side cramp right away, so slowed down a little in hopes it would go away. I noticed a guy from another team a ways behind me, so my goal was to keep him there (and I did). :) The first mile was along the intercoastal waterway. Not much to see here, but it’s a quiet, peaceful place to run. Mile 1: 8:38. Soon, the course curved to the right, and we ran past a playground and through the beach parking area. Then we turned again to the right and headed into the wind once again. Mile 2: 8:56. This last 1.3 was tough. I was so ready to be done! Running hard 3 times in one day takes a toll on the body! I was so happy to see my team waiting for me at the turn into Sharky’s restaurant. We all got together and headed across a grassy area to the finish. Yeah!! Mile 3: 9:22 and last .34: 2.5 for a total of 3.34 in 29.48. Average mile pace of 8:56.
Sisters with Blisters came in 4th out of 20 in the women’s category! So proud of my team! I hope we can all run it again next year. :)

Running Skirts

2011-09-29T10:45:00.001-07:00

I love running in skirts! Pretty much all I run in now. Skirts sports "Happy Girl" and "Happy Hour" (grey skirt on the right)styles have always worked the best for me. Since I am taller and suffer from "chub rub", I need a longer skirt with longer shorties underneath. The skirt sports brand does it for me.
I used to wear the Running Skirts brand, but would have to add longer compression shorts under to cover more of my legs. This morning I decided to try out the Running Skirt (white print on the left) during a short run to see how I did with it. The run went pretty good! The skirt (athletic stye, slightly longer than their normal style) is still a bit shorter than I feel comfortable with, but the shorties under did not ride up. The best thing about this brand is that they have lots of fun prints to choose from. I might be adventurous and wear this shorter skirt out more in the future. :)

Firecracker Triple - 4th of July Weekend

2011-07-03T20:08:00.000-07:00

Stars and Stripes Half Marathon, Beaverton, OR
July 2, 2011

I had a great time running the first of three half marathons this morning. Met lots of fanatics, maniacs and another Team Marathon Bar member. And of course I got to meet Ruthie from the WW Marathoners Board! I was chatting with a couple of people when I see this woman holding up a big sign that says "go jenna" I say "hey that's my name" and start walking over there. I then notice Ruthie HOLDING the sign! :) It was great of her to come out for the race. She ended up going to get her camera from home while I was running my third lap. She was like my own personal race photographer!

I ran 3/1 intervals during this 5 lap course, so that I wouldn't be tempted to run too fast. :) I started out wearing my waist pack, but decided to drop it by my car as I ran by it after 2 laps. Each lap was a little over 2.5 miles, so I figured getting water once each lap would be enough and it was. I kept a pretty fast pace for the first 4 laps during my running portions, then I slowed it down a lot during the 5th and final lap.

Although it was a course that we had to run 5 times, I didn't get bored with it at all. It was fun to see familiar faces many times on the course. There were lots of shady parts and also stretches were you could enjoy some of the sunshine.

I stretched out a lot after the race, so I think I'll be ready for tomorrow's Freedom Half marathon! My time was slower than normal. 2:19, but I am cool with that. It's not about the time, it's all about getting to MARS status in the Half Fanatics! :D
Time: 2:19:50
18th out of 51 overall

Freedom Half Marathon, Greshem, OR.
July 3, 2011

The Second half marathon of the weekend is done! A lot cooler this morning. I ran 3/1 intervals again today. I felt great going into the run, but by mile 2 I felt hungry! I realized I probably didn't eat enough yesterday, specially low on carbs.

First 7 miles went by at a good pace, about the same as yesterday. Around mile 7.5, I sped up to try and catch the green light at the cross street (there were 2 busy streets we had to cross each way). I made it, but I used a lot of my extra energy for that surge. I started to feel very light headed and began sweating even more than normal. I walked a little bit then tried to run again, but got dizzy again. So I decided to walk to the next water station that was about a half a mile further. I got there, ate 2 cliff blocks, drank water and then walked a little more. I did start running again, but kept the pace slow. This worked and I kept the slow pace going for the rest of the run.

This was an out and back course on a rails to trails paved path. Because the race was so small, at times, it felt like I was the only one out there! Interesting sight of the day. Two big peacocks. One with it's feathers spread out. Pretty impressive. :)

Lots of great food at the finish. I don't normally eat after a race, but I got a plate and put chips, hot dog and beans on there! Plus 2 pieces of watermelon. Did I mention I was hungry? :)

Time: 2:26:09
32 out of 59 overall

Foot Traffic Flat Half Marathon, Sauvie Island, OR
July 4, 2011

What a beautiful morning for running a race! Temps in the 50s with clear skies. I got to the start area super early. I couldn't sleep, so decided to head out early and get a good parking spot. It gave me plenty of time to finish my pre race organizing in the car before heading over to meet with other runners competing the Triple. We had a group photo taken for the maniacs/fanatics and then for all those running the Triple.

I made one last trip to the car to get my mp3 and drop off my coat before heading to the start. I set up my garmin for 2:15/1 intervals because I figured my body was tired, so I wouldn't push it. Well, the race started a bit late, so when we got going, I realized my Garmin had set back to watch mode! I crossed the starting line and then set my watch back to intervals while running slowly.

I skipped the first interval because I wanted to let the crowd thin out a bit before taking a walk break. After the first few walking intervals, I realized I was feeling pretty good, so decided to run 5:30/1 and then go back to 2:15/1 for a while. I ended up running most of the rest of the race at 5:30/1 intervals because I was feeling so good and not pushing the pace while running.

During the race I had a chance to talk to fellow fanatics Marie and Stephanie for a little bit before they ran on ahead of me when I walked. They both had great races too. this race was pretty flat. I was amazed because it was in hilly Oregon! I took my endurolytes and Cliff blocks right on schedule, which also helped me to have a good race. Plus, I didn't hold back on eating yesterday!

I was so happy to come into the finish and see the clock at just over 2:16! The fasted time I had of all 3 races! I got my medal for the race and then found Steve (race director for the Triple) and got my special Firecracker Triple medal also. I enjoyed a yummy Strawberry Shortcake (minus the cake) after stretching out in a grassy, shady spot. I also remembered to eat my Marathon Bar protein bar soon after finishing too. Recovery eating is important!

Time: 2:16:20; 62/113 age group; 979/1639 overall; 535/1068 female overall

Thoughts on the Triple:
I went into these races thinking I could definitely run them, but did worry about injury. I think what helped me the most was making sure I ate and hydrated properly during the runs and after. I wore compression sleeves on my calves during the races and I wore my Saucony recovery tights each night.

Zombie Runner Half Marathon

2011-06-18T19:47:00.000-07:00

Trail race in San Francisco, June 18, 2011

What a challenging race for my first trail half marathon. I didn't see the elevation chart until a couple of days before the race. If I knew what it was going to be when I found this race a few months ago, I might not have signed up!

I drove from Aptos to San Francisco very early this morning. I ended up making pretty good time, getting there at 6:45 am. I had to sit in my car for a little bit until packet pickup opened at 7. When I got out of my car, I saw that Jen and Jenni (two other half fanatics) had just arrived too. We picked up our gear, then hung out near our cars for a bit. After a couple of photos, I went in search of a bathroom. They had just 3 porta potties for us, but it was a small race. I am glad I went early, because as I walked to the race start at 7:50, there was a huge line.

The race director gave us some instructions about looking for flags before starting the race. We headed south for a little bit, then turned around and headed back towards the Golden Gate bridge. About a mile into the race, a large group of runners merged in with us. It became hard to see who was part of the race and who was just out running. I've never had that in a race before!

Around mile 3, I was running along at a great pace and enjoying the nice flat, gravel surface, when I realized I hadn't seen a course marker for a while. Lots of people running in front of me, so I kept going toward the base of bridge. I get towards the end when I discover that it's a dead end. Lots of other racers were in the same boat as me. We started running back the way we came, figuring we missed a turn some where. As other racers came towards us, we would tell them to turn around. A lot of people who had been behind me caught up to me. :( This detour added half a mile. Bummer. Around Mile 4 we started to climb up the mountain. Steep dirt trails and steep steps. Great views though. At the top, we ran through a path right under the bridge to the other side. A bit of flat trail for a while until we encountered more steps. There was a stretch for about a mile or so that was single track (very narrow) that didn't allow passing. I got caught behind some runners here. It was frustrating not being able to get around them! It was also scary because there were parts were there were no bushes or trees on the right side of us. Just steep cliff.

I'm a little hazy on some of the descriptions at certain mile markers. We did encounter about half a mile of deep sand that we had to run through. This ended at the first aid station. I thought we would turn around here, but no. Only the 10K runners headed back. The half marathoners continued on. A climb up a hill lead us to a neighborhood. We stayed on the paved streets for a bit until we entered the Lands End part of the Coastal Trail. Many, many up and downs for the next 4 miles. Very steep climbs and downhills that I couldn't even run down because they were so steep. We turned around just before The Cliff House and then ran all the wonderful steps and hills again. :)

When I got back to the aid station near the sand. I filled up with water and grabbed a handful of M&Ms. I walked the sand portion back. Just didn't have it in my legs to run it. I ran the short, flat part, then had to walk the next mile that was all up hill. I managed to run at a good pace all the rest of the flat parts. A few people passed me on the steep down hill leading from the bridge, but I managed to catch up to the during the last mile, which was nice and flat. :)

Time: 2:41:40 for 13.6miles (extra .5 because of the wrong turn)
127 out of 156; 11 out of 16 in age group

Overall I am happy that I ran this race. The time is no where near my normal half marathon time, but as I understand it, most people are slower on trails. I would like to run another trail race one day, but I'll train for it next time! :)

3rd Annual Sammy's Run 5K

2011-05-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

May 28th, 2011

What a great 5K this morning! It was hot and humid out, but that didn't stop me or a few other hundred runners from having a great race. This race always brings out the fastest runners from throughout the county. I started off pretty fast, but I was trying to keep Gina and Linda in sight. Soon they were both way ahead of me, so I just decided to run my own race. I finished strong and with a PR! 26:11 was the official chip time. Very happy with this. More than a minute faster than last years race and about 25 seconds faster than my last 5K PR.

Official stats: 12 out of 47 in age group.

8:27 pace per mile.

Other great news:

I am a sponsored athlete with Team MARATHON® Bar for 2011! So happy to represent this brand. Keep a look out for me at races. I should have some tasty samples for you to try. :)

Florida International Triathlon – Sprint Duathon

2011-05-21T13:18:00.001-07:00

1 mile run/ 13 mile bike/ 5K run
May 14, 2011
Race morning started off early. I got up at 4:45 am, got dressed and had a cup of coffee while I watched a little t.v. I headed out the door at 5:45 am and got to Siesta Beach just after 6am. They had people directing cars into lanes and parking spots for this race. It made parking much easier than previous races at this location without help. I got a great spot just one row over from the bike racks. I sat in my car for about 10 minutes drinking my coffee before deciding to head over to check on my bike, get my chip and see if I could trade my shirt. So happy I could trade in the medium sized shirt they gave me at packet pickup on the day before. It was skin tight! The large is still a little snug, but much better fit. While setting up stuff next to my bike, a guy came over and started touching my bike and checking it out. I asked him if I could help him with something and he tells me that I had been missing an end cap (?) and that he was just checking that one had been placed in the handle bars. Wow! Never noticed the race officials being so official at the past races before! I then headed back to my car to finish off my coffee, eat my cliff bar and check the internet on my phone for another 20 minutes. A little after 7 am, I made a trip to the bathrooms and then sat on a bench on the beach to watch some of the triathletes start their waves. The duathlon participants were not scheduled to start until 8:05 am. I finally headed over to the waterfront were I had to wait until 8:20 to get going. We were all ready to go!
The tide was almost at high tide, so there was very little hard packed sand to run on. The run went by quick and before I knew it I was running into the transition area.
1 mile run (really only .9) - 6:28!!

I got on my bike pretty quick and got out on the road after dodging a few people who were slow getting their bikes moving. I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to pass here, so I held back until we were on the main road. I was very worried about the officials DQing me for some violation! The ride always stresses me out. I worry about getting a flat tire and then missing out on the rest of the race. I saw 3 people in the first couple of miles walking their bikes back! I managed to keep up a pretty good pace on the ride. Passed a lot of people and I was also passed by a lot of people. The ride went by very fast and before I knew it I was turning into the parking lot and headed for the transition once again. I had a little trouble racking my bike, but finally managed to shove it in and then grab a drink of water, put on my visor and head out.
Transition and Bike - 47:37

I wasn’t feeling to great right off. It was HOT. I loved the little bit we had in the shade before heading on to the beach. The beach was brutal. Tide was all the way up at this point. There were many spots were we had to run to the left to run around a large area of water. Some people just ran through it, which was a straight shot down the beach. I added distance on by running around the water. The turnaround was tricky. Two people just ahead of me passed the small sign. They turned to look at it again just as I came up to it. We all stopped and looked at it again and wondered if we do turn there (the Olympic distance runners ran past the sign). We turned and headed back. There was a water station just after we turned around, so I asked to make sure we had done the right thing. They should have had a volunteer there! I struggled big time on this run. I slowed down a lot in the last mile. I did run through a couple areas of water because I didn’t want to use the energy to go around them anymore! I was so happy to see the area where we turn and start to run off the beach. At the “200 meters to finish” sign I passed 2 women and then just a few yards before the finish I passed a guy!

I stuck around for a while to see how I placed. I hadn’t been able to tell before the race who might be in the Athena category with me. I ended up placing first! If I had stayed in my regular age group, I would have taken 4th. I was 4 minutes behind the 1st woman.
Transition and 5K – 28:15 (the 5K must have been very short. I spent up to a minute in the transition and there is no way I ran this fast!)

Finish: 1:22:18
Garmin shows a total distance of 16.36 miles ( did not hit the split buttons between run/bike/run)
Total distance should have been 17.1 miles (not including running through transitions)

Clearwater Iron Girl Half Marathon

2011-04-10T15:44:00.000-07:00

April 10, 2011

Race morning started off early. I got up at 3:45am, got some coffee and computer time in, then grabbed my race bag and purse and headed out the door to meet up with Gina and Charlotte. I picked them up near the interstate, then we headed to Clearwater. We got to the parking lot at 5:45 and saw Brenda heading to the super long line of women waiting to get on the trolley to take them to race start. I yelled "hello" out the window and then managed to snag one of the last few spots in the parking lot. We waited in line for almost an hour! Charlotte and I used the disgusting porta potties in the parking lot just in case we didn’t have time when we got to the race start. It’s a good thing I did, because we got off the bus to hear the National Anthem playing. Yikes! Gina and I speed walked toward to starting area. It was all blocked off on the sides, but Gina had the great idea to pull down one of the mesh like barriers so we could climb over and get in the starting area. 2 minutes to race start! I stretched a little and before we knew it, we were off.

I felt pretty good for the first couple of miles. I knew the big bridge was coming up quick, but was not afraid. I’ve run it at mile 12 of the Clearwater Halfathon twice. After the bridge, we ran south through a very nice neighborhood near the water. By mile 3 I was sweating like crazy and very happy that I decided to wear my belt with a couple of water bottles. I saw Gina a few times ahead of me for the next couple of miles, but then didn’t see her again until the end of the race. We had a short out and back on a side street around mile 4 that was just wrong. We ran down a small hill then had to turn around at the base and run right back up it. The next few miles consisted of beautiful big houses facing the bay and a few small rolling hills. I ate one cliff shot block at mile 4 and took 2 endurolytes at mile 6. Normally I eat 2 blocks, but with the heat, I didn't think it would sit well in my stomach.

Mile 1 – 9:12
Mile 2 – 9:34
Mile 3 – 9:13
Mile 4 – 9:41
Mile 5 – 9:53
Mile 6 – 10:03
Half way point: 1:03. I thought that even if I kept an 11 minute mile pace in the second half, I could make it in around 2:10. Nope.

By mile 7 my left periformis was showing its displeasure. I kept getting sharp pains that would strike my bum, then my leg would feel like it was about to give out. My left Psoas muscle was also acting up. I stopped around mile 8 to kneel down and stretch it out. I swallowed an advil in hopes it would help deal with the pain. When we turned the corner and headed west towards the next bridge I got a big surprise. I thought for sure that the bridge would be a drawbridge, which would have made it not much of a “hill.” Boy was I wrong! Another steep bridge greeted me. I made it up and almost to the bottom before I pulled off to the side again to stretch out my legs. While on the bridge I gazed off to the distance and noticed another bridge that I had forgotten about. I’ve run it a couple of times during the Clearwater Halfathon and knew I’d be running it again today. It was on the way to the finish! I tried to put it out of my mind, because I knew it was a steep one. At the bottom of the bridge I stopped once again to fill up my water bottles at the water station and ate one more (and last) shot block. From here on out, I started taking walking breaks often.

Mile 7 – 10:44
Mile 8 – 11:16
Mile 9 – 11:42

The last 3 miles were tough. I was feeling very hot. My feet were burning! My legs were cramping. I knew this was not going to be a finish time I would be happy about, so I decided to just finish and be proud of that fact. After each walking break, I would actually feel pretty good for a short time. I probably should have added regular walking breaks earlier. I swallowed 2 more endurolytes at mile 10(these help a lot!). Finally, just before mile 12, we came to the last bridge. I ran up about a third of it and then thought “screw it, I’ll walk it,” which is what I did. At the top I started running again. At the base of the bridge another Half Fanatic ran by saying “hi” as she passed. She motivated me to keep going. I stayed behind her for a bit, until her watch started beeping and she took a walk break. As I passed I introduced myself. She told me her name was Stephanie. Turns out she is Gina’s friend that we had tried to meet up with before the race started! The last mile went by quickly. I found some extra energy from somewhere and ran the rest of the race in strong.

Mile 10 – 10:46
Mile 11 – 11:42
Mile 12 – 12:16 (evil bridge)
Mile 13 – 9:58 (!!)
Mile .16- 1:25

I found Gina and Charlotte just past the finish line. A few minutes later, Stephanie came in. We all walked over to the food area, grabbed some grub, a table and dug in. Couldn’t eat the breakfast burrito or the muffin, but did enjoy a banana, yogurt and a bottle of Muscle Milk. We met a couple of other Half Fanatics and finally saw Brenda! The wait for the trolley was once again long. This time we were tired and standing in the sun.

Overall I am happy to have run my 28th Half Marathon. I wish my body would have held up better though. I think I could have managed the heat issues better if I didn’t also having to deal with the pain in my leg. I'll probably run this race next year. But I would either get there early or figure out a different way to get to the start. Maybe bring my bike and get a nice warm up by riding the 2.5 miles to the start. :)
Finish: 2:17:33 (official time is 2:17:30)
Age group 89/268. Overall 576/1640

Sarasota Half Marathon

2011-03-14T04:34:00.000-07:00

March 13, 2011

Race morning started off with an hour less sleep. We had to "spring forward" our clocks before going to bed. I didn't sleep all that great and knew when I got up that I was in for a long day. Amy picked me up just before 6 am and we made our way to the race. We found a parking spot a couple of blocks away, which was great. There were a lot of cars on the road already looking for a place to park. We hit the porta potties (short lines) then looked around for friends that were running the race too. We talked with half fanatics Chester "Southernmost Walker" Kalb and Gerda Kalb for a little bit. Chester has completed an impressive list of races.

With 15 minutes to race start, Amy and I hit the porta potties again and then wormed our way through the packed group of runners in the corral. The closest I could get was to the 11 min mile pace. To slow. I had all my gear ready. Garmin, headphones plugged into my mp3, shot blocks in one pocket, Endurolytes in another. A last minute addition was my waist pack to carry water and my phone. Big mistake!

The race started just after 7am. It took about 2 minutes for me to cross the start line and then I had a lot of people to weave through to get out of the mass. Right away my waist pack was bothering me. I had worn it before with the running skirt I had on, but not with the tank I was wearing. The tank was to short, so the pack was riding up and rubbing my stomach. This was going to be a problem. As we came up to where we had parked I thought maybe I could toss the pack to the side and just hope it was there later, but my phone was to heavy in my pack skirt pocket. I took off my sweatshirt and as I ran to the side to toss it, I noticed Susan (my dentist's wife) on the sidewalk taking photos. I asked her if she would mind holding the pack for me and thankfully she said yes! So thankful to her! It would have been a miserable race if I had that thing on for 13 miles.

The next mile was a breeze. :) I ran up the bridge at a good pace and then took it easy on the downside. I didn't want to aggravate my hips. I grabbed a cup of water at the first water stop at the bottom of the bridge and then began the watch for familiar friendly faces of the runners heading back towards me on the other side of the road. At mile 3 we turned and headed back to the bridge. It was fun to see all my friends and call out to them as we ran by each other. I ended up running a bit fast during this time, but I slowed down again as we started up the bridge and into the headwind.

Mile 1: 9:43
Mile 2: 9:23
Mile 3: 9:24
Mile 4: 9:43
Mile 5: 9:52

From mile 6 to just past mile 8, we ran on one of the main north/south roads in the city. Very boring! It's also a big area for the local prostitutes to patrol. Only one Ho sighting. :) My hips and psoas muscles started to get tight during this stretch. At the next water stop they had a medical tent where I was able to get some tylenol and then was on my way again. The course moved off the main road and through a nice neighborhood near the water. The next few miles went by pretty smoothly. I slowed my pace a bit, but was still making better time that I thought I would before the race.

Mile 6: 10:10
Mile 7: 9:49
Mile 8: 10:05
Mile 9: 10:51 (stop for tylenol)
Mile 10: 10:08
Mile 11: 10:21
Mile 12: 10:11

With a half a mile to go, I noticed this woman ahead of me who I had been running near the entire race. My goal was to catch up to her. I did that by mile 12.75. I hung back a little, thinking I would pass her closer to the finish. But she slowed down, so I surged ahead. The last .1 to the finish was great. I had some speed left and turned it on. I passed a few people on my way in and passed 2 women just before we crossed the finish line. :)

Mile 13: 9:59
Mile .1: 55 seconds
Finish: 2:10:36

After finishing, I made my way back to the sidelines, so that I could look for Amy and cheer her on as she finished. She did great, breaking her previous record by over 20 minutes! We hung out for a bit after the race then headed back to the car. Luckily, both our tossed sweatshirts were waiting for us on the grassy area were we had left them earlier. Before taking off we had our photo taken with the Leprechaun from the Lucky Charms cereal. I can't believe he carried that box for the whole race!

Best shirt of the race: "Can't wait to finish... That's what she said!" :)

Beauty and the Beast Royal Family 5K

2011-02-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

Epcot, FL February 26, 2011

This race was all about Aidan (my 7-year-old son) and keeping to a good pace for him to finish the race.

We got to the parking lot about an hour before the start. I gave Jodi( a friend from the WW marathoners group) a call so we could meet up. We hung out with Jodi and Kevin for a little bit before heading over to the start line. Aidan and I got in to the 11 to 13 minute per mile area.

Soon enough we were off! The huge crowd kept us from starting out to fast. Aidan was kinda frustrated with all the people blocking his way though. The first mile was mostly through the parking lot, but miles 2 and three were both through Epcot. We had numerous walking breaks, but they were quick and Aidan was soon ready to run again. We stopped for photos twice, when there were only a couple of people waiting. Some lines had at least 10 people in them!

When we reached mile 3, Aidan asked if he could run all out. I told him to go for it. He passed at least 20 people as his speedy little legs ran to the finish line. That was a very fun race. We have already talked about running it next year. Hopefully I'll be able to run the Princess half the next day too. :)

Aidan's finish time: 36:56
I was about 10 to 15 seconds behind him. :)

Cupid Shuffle 10K

2011-02-12T09:31:00.000-08:00

American Red Cross Cupid Shuffle 10K, Tampa, FL
February 12, 2011

Amy and I headed out early for this race. It was a little over an hour drive up, so we left at 5:15 am. Registration opened at 6:30 am and Amy needed to register still. We got off on the correct exit and drove for a few miles but couldn't find the place where the race was being held. So we turned around and drove back to ask directions at a Circle K. Amy was told that we had to go the same direction we had been heading! We did find it and got a parking spot across from the registration area.

We got there way to early. They were still getting the registration set up even though it was after 6:30. So we hit the bathrooms in the clubhouse then came back out. I got my bib, t-shirt and goodie bag and Amy got registered. The webiste said it was chip timed, but the volunteers at the tables didn't know anything about it. We took our stuff back to the car and then settled in for a while to wait for the race. The 5K racers started at 8 am, so we got out to watch them start and cheer them on. We had one last porta potty stop and then headed to the start line. There were only about 50 people running the 10K. Most were running the shorter race. This is one of the smallest races I've ever run. It was super cold out, low 40s, so I pulled out the valentines long socks that Amy had given me that morning and put them on my arms. I was styling. :)

The race got started on time and we were off! I had no idea of my pace for the first two miles since I couldn't see my Garmin (covered by the sock). But I just went with what felt good. My legs felt a little stiff from the cold, but other than that I felt good. The entire course was on the road through the gated community and the road was brick. Not good on my legs, but I managed OK.

Mile 1: 9:07
Mile 2: 9:15

The socks came off after mile 2. It was still cool but the sun was out in force now. As we ran by the start again at the 5K, I got my first drink of water, tossed the socks onto the front of my car and carried on. The runners were very spread out now. There were only a few in my general area. One woman in a pink top passed me around mile 4. I thought she would be a good one to try and keep up with and pull ahead of. I ended up pulling past her at the water stop at mile 4.5.

Mile 3: 9:26
Mile 4: 9:39

Mile 5 and 6 were a little harder. I could feel my muscles tightening up like they have been latley. ITBand on my right leg was feeling tight too. In the last mile I did get passed by two guys and one woman, but managed to stay ahead of the pink shirt lady until the end! :D

Mile 5: 9:39
Mile 6: 9:23

Garmin time: 58:03

I can't believe I got 2nd in age group (40 to 49) with that time. That's what's good about small races I guess. :)
Congrats to Amy who got a PR for the 10K!

DeLeon Springs Half Marathon

2011-01-02T16:05:00.000-08:00

January 2, 2011

I woke up race morning at about 5:45, 15 minutes before my wake up call. I played online for a bit and checked the weather. It was wet outside. Thin lines of showers were moving through. I was glad that I brought my older shoes just in case. I didn’t want my new adrenalines to get wet the first time out. I realized after a bathroom stop that I wasn’t as hydrated as I should be. I kind of had a feeling this would be the case last night when I was feeling dehydrated. I got dressed, made sure I had all my gear in the bag and headed out. There was a Duncan Donuts right next door to my hotel, so I walked over and got a coffee before hitting the road.

I managed to find the race start with some luck. I saw a car with a 13.1 sticker in front of me so I decided to follow behind him in hopes he was going the same way. He was! It was a good thing I turned off the main road when he did, because I did not see the sign for the park until I had already turned onto the correct road. I got a good parking spot and then headed over to pick up my bib and shirt. The shirt was kind of boring, but the type down the arm was cool. I was back in my car within minutes and had about an hour to kill before race start. I enjoyed my coffee and a cliff bar while reading the newest Runners World. With about 20 minutes to spare, I figured I’d hit the porta potty. I also found someone who could tell me how many water stops there would be. The guy said there was one at 1.5, 4 and 6. It was an out and back course, so I figured I would be good without my own water. (mistake #1) I got in a very long line for the women’s bathroom and waited and waited. Finally got a stall with two minutes to race start!! That was the fastest I’ve ever gone! I entered the crowd of waiting runners and found myself next to a group of fellow Half Fanatics! We said "hi’s" and "good luck’s" and then we were off!

I started off at a good clip. My pirformis was feeling a little tight, but I took two Advil earlier, so hoped that would carry me through. I also had two Endurolyte tabs in hopes that would help with hydration. The water at mile 1.5 was needed and hit the spot. It was feeling very humid already. Around mile two, one of the Half Fanatics, Kevin, caught up to me. We ended up running the next 2 miles together. It was nice having someone to chat with for a while. I had two Clif blocks while walking through the water stop.

Mile 1 – 9:04
Mile 2 – 9:34
Mile 3 – 9:50
Mile 4 – 10:07

My skirt bounces a lot in the back!
(thanks http://halftriing.blogspot.com/ for the photo)

From mile 4 through 6 I felt pretty good. I actually felt like my pace was better than it had been. It must have been the caffeine in the blocks. There was one woman running who would pass me and then would slow down to a walk, and then I would pass her. This happened a lot until mile 6 when I pulled ahead for good. One of my goals was to stay ahead of her to the finish and I did.:) At the mile 6 water stop, I had my endurolytes out and ready to swallow once I got my water. When I pulled them out of the baggie, one fell on the ground! I needed that sucker, so I picked it up, dusted it off and swallowed it! It was a good thing I was paying attention to the runners ahead of me because just past the water stop we turned left down a side street. No course markers and the 2 teenagers at the water stop said nothing!

Mile 5 – 10:08
Mile 6 – 9:58

Lots of great shade for the next half mile or so before we turned back out to the main road and started the run back to the finish. I was really regretting not bringing my sunglasses (mistake #2). The cloud cover was gone. The sun shining on the puddles and wet road was very bright and uncomfortable. As I got closer to the water station that was at mile 6 again I could see that some runners had missed the turn and were heading my way. A woman ahead of me waved her arms at them, pointed to the street and yelled that they needed to turn. They all gave the girls at the water stop a dirty look as the passed by the table on their way back to that side street. The next few miles were hard. It was getting pretty hot and there was NO shade at all.

Mile 7 – 10:31
Mile 8 – 10:23

We finally got shade around mile 9 and the water stop was a welcome site. I had two clif blocks in my mouth when I grabbed a cup water from one of the teenagers working this stop. I walked a bit then lifted the cup up to take a sip when I noticed dirt (or something) floating in my cup. Not just a few particles but a lot! I dumped it and walked back for more water. I looked in the cup this time before walking away. That was just so gross! Why would she give runners a cup of dirty water?! I really should have brought my own water. I was pretty thirsty at this point. There hadn't been any water for 3 miles which is just to long of a gap for such a hot morning. The next few miles were mostly shady with a bit of a breeze, so that helped a lot. The turn into the park was a welcome sight. At mile 12.3 we turned a corner which had us running in to a strong wind. I was hoping to pick up the speed a little for the last half mile, but I just couldn’t get going any faster with the wind. The final last little bit was just after a turn to the left. I say the clock getting very close to turning to 2:16, so ran it as hard as I could. I ended up finishing right at 2:16!

Mile 9 – 11:06
Mile10 – 10:28
Mile 11 – 10:45
Mile 12 – 11:27
Mile 13 – 11:09
Mile .13 – 1:19

They had our medals waiting at the finish line and a table set up with small cups of water. I understand why races don’t like to use plastic bottles, but come on! I wanted some good tasting water after drinking yucky tap water for the last 2 hours! Thankfully my car was right next to the finish line. I had a good bottle of water waiting for me in there. I dried off a bit with the beach towel I brought and then grabbed my yoga strap to find a place to stretch. I could feel my leg muscles were pretty tight. I actually felt pretty tight for the last 2 miles which shows in my much slower times. The only thing I could eat on the food table was a banana, so I grabbed that and then found a place to stretch. Before leaving I chatted with Kevin. He had a bad race as well and a few other guys in our area mentioned that they did as well. I didn’t stick around for the awards ceremony. I was no where close to the top 3 in my age group. Plus It was 11 am already and I had a noon check out time. On my way out of the hotel I ran into the Southernmost Walker, a Half Fanatic, and his wife. The race was a rough one for them too.

I wouldn’t run this race again, however I am happy that I did run it. I would recommend it to people who live close and want to run a small, community type race. They don’t have the volunteers or set up for a large group of runners. I plan on emailing them and letting them know that they should bring in porta potties next time. 4 stalls for all those women was not enough!

Manatee River 5 mile run

2010-12-26T12:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 26, 2010
Palmetto, FL
Last race of the year! :)

A great run! Not my fastest 5 mile race, but I am happy with it. My hips were very sore and painful yesterday. I went to bed thinking maybe I shouldn't go to the race. But I got up this morning and they felt a bit better. I think the massage Friday made me sore! She pressed hard on those trigger spots.

It was very windy this morning. 18 mph and gusting to 35! Temp at 50. The course was on paved roads and trails. The trails felt great under my legs. :) We had a brief glimpse on the Gulf and the Skyway bridge in the distance before running the last 1.5 in.

It was chip timed, but no starting line mat to read them. I was stuck behind a lot of walkers, so lost about 10 seconds at the start. I should have started further up but I didn't want to block any of the fast runners. This was the RRCA 5 mile state championship race also. The guy who won ran it in 25:29!!

Unofficial time (watch): 46:53.
splits: 9:19, 9:30, 9:42; 9:26; 8:53! (most of the wind behind me on the last mile ;)
Official time: 47:02.
7 out of 20 in age group. overall: 184 out of 334

Women’s Half Marathon

2010-11-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

November 21, 2010
I got up at 4 am race morning to have a cup of coffee and watch a little TV before the drive up to St. Pete. The weather channel showed that the temp was already 69! It was going to be another hot run in Florida.

I made good time on the interstate and found a parking spot right away in the lot closest to the start. For some reason they had no one there charging for parking! Score! I made a call to Brenda and we decided to meet near the start line. She had parked quite a few blocks north of me. We ended up meeting near the porta poties because I couldn’t wait any longer for her! We got our photo taken a couple of times then headed over to the corrals. I decided to stay in the third one with Brenda instead of going up to the second corral. I planned on taking it easy. I just wanted to finish this race without injuring myself anymore than I already was. For the past week, my left hip was out of alignment, which caused pain all down my leg. Two visits to the chiropractor helped a lot.

We got started right at 7 am. Not even a quarter of a mile down the road, I saw my friend Gina. I made my way over to her to say hi and wish her luck, then I ran back to the middle of the road. I wanted to stay on the flattest surface I could find, so my plan was to stay near the middle. The first 3 miles were good, though I had a little pain in my leg.

Mile 1 - 9:20
Mile 2 - 9:13
Mile 3 - 9:37

Around mile 4.5 I stopped at the water station to eat my cliff blocks and swallow 2 advil and 2 endurolytes. That stop added to my mile by more than a minute, but it was worth it. Taking those endurolytes helped me keep the dehydration feeling away until the last mile. This was a beautiful part of the course near the water. The only downside was the road made of brick (I ran on the sidewalk) and low tide, which made it kind of stinky.

Mile 4 - 9:41
Mile 5 - 11:09
Mile 6 - 9:41
Mile 7 - 9:52

By mile 8 I could defiantly feel myself slowing down, but the pace felt good, so I didn’t push it. We ran down towards the Pier and back. There were a lot of people cheering us on for the next few miles. We then headed away from the water. This was a slight uphill. I didn’t mind to much because we now had a great breeze and I knew the downhill on the way back would feel great.

Mile 8 - 10:09
Mile 9 - 10:37
Mile 10 - 10:34

During mile 11 we ran through the parking lot of the Tropicana stadium. We then ran into the stadium and ran around the outside of the baseball field. Such a nice and cushiony surface! It felt great to be out of the sun for a short while also. By the time we headed out of the stadium, I was starting to feel dehydrated and in need of water. I was happy that I had made it so far in the race before getting this feeling though. Usually on a hot race day, this feeling hits much sooner. I had two more cliff blocks at the water stop just past mile 12. It was just what I needed to pick up the pace for the last mile. The slight downhill towards the waterfront helped a lot too. The last little bit to the finish line took forever! A woman pulled ahead of me with just a little bit left to the finish, so I picked up the pace and beat her just as we crossed the finish line. :) I grabbed a bottle of water and my finishers medal. Had my photo taken with it, grabbed a banana and yogurt then headed right to my car. I wanted to get home as soon as possible to spend a little time with my family before going in to work at noon.

Mile 11 - 10:25
Mile 12 - 11:10
Mile 13 - 10:28
Mile .16 - 1:29
Finish time: 2:13:29 (Chip)

I am very happy with my finish time. It’s over 6 minutes faster than last year at this race! So happy that my leg wasn’t too much of an issue. Looking forward to next year.

Stats: place: 1303/4746; Division: 234/793

Marine Corps Marathon Weekend Race Report

2010-11-02T12:46:00.000-07:00

October 29-31, 2010

I traveled up to the D.C. area Friday morning. My friend Melissa from the WW Marathoners group generously offered a room in her home. She picked me up at the airport, we dropped off my bags and then walked to the metro. We got to the expo and met up with first Heidi and then Vanessa. The shirts we got were men’s sizes and fit very snug around the waist but big in the arms. So I decided to buy a nice shirt from the Brooks booth and also a visor. We all wondered through the aisles, finding lots of fun stuff to sample. I bought a tank top at the one more mile shop that says “Will run for coffee.” After 2 hours at the expo we headed out to lunch and then they left me at the Spy Museum. It was very crowded, but a fun place. I would like to go again one day when I am not so tired and my feet don’t hurt so much. I spent a lot of time on my feet Friday. Saturday morning we met up with a group of ladies from the board for coffee then headed back to Melissa’s for a relaxing day on the sofa watching the Rally to Restore Sanity. I wanted to go, but I didn’t want to tire my legs and feet by standing so long out there. We had a nice walk around Old Town Alexandria that afternoon before heading back to the house for dinner. We watched Spirit of the Marathon before heading to bed early.

Me, Sondra, Kelly and Melissa

Race morning started at 4:30 am. We had time to get dressed, have some coffee and a snack and take a group photo before heading out to the Expo. Melissa’s husband gave us a ride so we didn’t have to walk the mile to the nearest station. Melissa and I headed off on the Blue train, while Sondra and Kelly had to wait for the yellow, to take them to the 10K. We arrived at the Pentagon station and then had a long walk to get to the race start center. We found a group of port-a-potties with no lines! Hit those up before dropping off out bags with the UPS trucks. I tried to get a hold of my friend Gina, but she never texted me back. Should have thought of a meet up plan the day before! By then it was about 7:30 am, so we started the walk to the starting area. Again, we found a group of Port-a-potties without lines! So we took one more pit stop before heading to the 4:15 to 4:30 area. This was a little slow pace for Melissa, but speedy for me, so it was a good in between spot for us. We tried looking out for Katie, B.J. and Alison, but didn’t see them at all.

At exactly 8 a.m. the guns blasted and we were off! Well sort of off. It was a slow walk to the starting mat that took just a little over 5 minutes. Melissa and I started off together. I figured I would run at least the first two miles slow but without intervals. About a mile or so into the race we came up to friends Vanessa and Heidi. It was fun to talk to them for a little before wishing them luck and moving ahead. The first two miles seemed to be mostly up hill. Just before mile two, I told Melissa that I was going to start my 4/1 intervals, so she should just go on ahead. I tossed my jacket soon after hitting that first water stop, but I kept my gloves on. It was still pretty cold. When my watch started beeping after 4 minutes, I noticed the time went back to 4 minutes instead of the one minute for walking. What a pain! By my walk break at around mile 3, uphill again, I tried to fix the problem with the time. But I haven’t used it much, so I couldn’t figure out how to make two different times appear. So I finally just kept it at 4 minutes and worked in the one minute of walking, which meant a lot of looking at my watch. That walk break ended up being a little long too.

Even with all the hills, I was feeling pretty good. I enjoyed all the beautiful scenery along the river and tried not to pay attention to all the men (and a few women) on the side of the road going to the bathroom. The course was very packed with runners still. It was very hard to get to the side for my walking breaks. I was constantly trying to run from the middle, flat area to the side for walking that in the end, I had run .3 mile more than I should have!

Mile 1: 10:19
Mile 2: 10:05
Mile 3: 10:20
Mile 4: 10:06
Mile 5: 10:31
Mile 6: 10:11

At the water stop just before mile seven, I tossed my gloves. Mostly because I couldn’t open the baggie that had my endurolytes. I unfortunately forgot to take any before the race like I normally do, which I think lead to the problems I had later. At mile eight, we had a crazy steep downhill. We then entered an area with lots of spectators. For well over a mile there were just tons of people cheering us on. It was great, except that I hated taking walking breaks with people yelling my name (my name was on my tank top) and encouraging me. Just after mile nine, the volunteers were handing out orange slices. Those suckers were dangerous on the ground! I really had to watch my step so that I wouldn’t slip on them.

Mile 7: 10:45
Mile 8: 10:18
Mile 9: 10:18
Mile 10: 10:12

From mile 11 to 13, the cheering crowd was smaller, but still there. It was nice to have a bit of peace actually. I got to the mile 13 water stop in good time. I was thinking that even if I slowed a little, I could still make my 4:45 time goal. Once we passed the water stop though, we changed direction and that was right into the wind. It wasn’t too bad, it just made it colder. Unfortunately there wasn’t a water stop again until just after mile 16. I really needed it by mile 15. I was behind on eating my cliff blocks and taking my endurolytes. Before getting to that water stop, I saw the Washington monument to my left, so stopped for a few seconds to snap a photo of it. I think I drank a bit too much at the water stop, I was already feeling like it wasn’t helping like it should. I was still thirsty. My muscles were tightening up and I was feeling tired, so I talked myself into trying to keep this pace for a couple of miles before switching to a 3/1 interval. This didn’t work so great. By mile 17, I had to stop at a curb and tighten the laces on my left shoe because I could feel my foot sliding to the outside and pinching my little toe. While bent over doing this, my calf muscles really tightened up. So after a few steps of walking, I had to stop at the curb again and stretch my legs. At this point I decided to just change to 3/1 intervals. It would make the tracking on my watch easier. I could just stop for a walk when it beeped and then start again when it showed 3 minutes.

Mile 11: 10:21
Mile 12: 10:43
Mile 13: 10:54
Mile 14: 11:15
Mile 15: 11:31
Mile 16: 12:25
Mile 17: 12:36

Just after mile 18 we came up to the Capitol. I stopped and asked a woman to take a photo of me with the building behind me. This took at least a minute because she had a hard time figuring it out! Next time I look for a young person who knows how to work a phone with a camera. Lots of course photographers past this point. Hopefully I got some good shots. I tried smiling when I got close to them. By mile 19 I had switched to the 2/1 intervals that had got me through a summer of training in Florida. Soon we were heading onto the famous bridge. This is the bridge you have to run over by a certain time or you get picked up by a bus and can’t finish. It wasn’t so bad, just super long! When we got to Crystal City at mile 21 I was feeling like crap. I drank 3 cups of water. Of course this made my nauseous. I think I walked the whole 3 minutes after this water stop. So for the next 3 miles I was struggling to keep those 2/1 intervals. I had quite a few 1.5/1.5 intervals in there. When I got to mile 24, I knew there was no way of making my under 5 hour second goal. I didn’t feel too upset about it, but I did try to keep to those 2/1’s more. At mile 25 we started running through the area we had been at before the race started. We ran past the starting line and then past mile 26. Then came the crazy last hill I had heard about. Nothing could really prepare me for it though. It was the steepest uphill yet! I made it half way up and then had to walk. It flattened out a bit before curving to the right. I saw the finish line up ahead, so powered through the last part of the uphill and finished!

Mile 18: 13:21
Mile 19: 12:26
Mile 20: 12:33
Mile 21: 12:07
Mile 22: 12:30
Mile 23: 12:46
Mile 24: 13:31
Mile 25: 13:23
Mile 26: 13:42
Mile .5: 6:11 (if I hadn't done so much weaving, I could have taken at least 3 minutes off this time!)

I got my medal and mylar blanket and then started looking for water. After getting my power aide I noticed that not many people were getting their photo taken with the Iwo Jima statue behind them, so I headed over and had that done quick before sitting on a grassy spot to stretch and call my boys at home. The finish area was a crazy, packed mess. A huge crowd lined up for a bag of food and then to get up the hill to the finish festival. It would have been so much better if they hadn’t allowed family and friends here. I stopped at the Brooks booth to buy a nice long sleeved finisher shirt and then stood in line for 30 minutes to get into the metro station. Finally I got to the station near Melissa’s house. I decided to stretch my legs and walk the mile back to her house. I made sure to stop in the Starbucks for a Venti Mocha on my way back. :)

During the race I thought that I would never run this race again. But I want a sub 5 hour marathon!! I know I have it in me, I just need to get my fuel and water situation worked out. Maybe a flat course would help. I think I'll try to get down to my goal weight and then start training again. I'm sure these extra pounds don't help me out.

I need to add that this is a PR for me! :) My first marathon was in 1998 at the first San Diego Rock N Roll. The clock time was 5:36:21. I don't know about my real time because this was prior to having a chip on your shoe. I was in one of the last few corals. I know it took me about 25 minutes to get to the start, but even so, Sunday's race was still a PR! My 39 year old self beat the skinny 28 year old I used to be. Just proves we can get better with age. :)

Ready for the Marathon!

2010-10-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

Marine Corps Marathon is 6 Days away!!
So excited to be heading up to D.C. on Friday. I have been planning and training so hard for the race, I almost forgot that this is also my last week of being a 30 something. :) The big 4-0 is next Tuesday.
Goals for the marathon:
1. Run it in by 4:45.
2. Run it under 5 hours.
3. If I can't get 5 hours, than I want to at least beat the 6 hour time of my last marathon. Everything went wrong that day, so hope for a better race this time around.

University Park XCountry 4 miler

2010-09-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

University Park (Sarasota) September 11, 2010

This is my second year running this race. It's a tough course, but a good challenge. I got to the race venue with an hour to spare. I did not want a repeat of the Orlando race. They had people in golf carts giving rides from cars to check in so since it was pretty dark, I went for a ride. :) Picked up my gear and shoe tag, then headed back to my car for more coffee and a Cliff bar.
Just before the race I met up with Renee, Karen and Amy. We chatted for a while before Renee headed to the front of the pack (she's fast!), while Me, Amy and Karen hung out in the middle of the group.
The race started out at the bottom of a grassy hill. We headed up it to cross the start line after the horn went off. I felt pretty good from the start, but knew it would be tough in the heat. No wind to be found. I had to dodge quite a few people who were moving slower than me, but there was a lot of space to get around people. Most of the race was on the grassy part of the golf course in the full sun. This means lots of rolling small hills. Every once in a while we got to run on the golf cart road.
I got a drink of water at the first water stop just before mile 2. Walked a bit while I drank, then started to run again. A woman breathing very loudly had been near me for a while. Even with my music on I could hear her! So I decided to speed up just for a bit to put some distance between us. Much better. :)
All those little hills and soggy grass were making my legs very tired! But I managed to keep a pretty good pace the last mile. Just before the finish line, when I was giving it all I had, a woman ran by me super fast! AARRGG!! That sucks!
My garmin time was 38:14. I beat last years time of 38:53, so pretty happy. :)

I've got a 23 mile run to look forward to next Saturday!

Celebration of Running 5K

2010-08-18T05:15:00.000-07:00

August 14, 2010. Orlando
This was a rough morning. I don't know what ELSE could have gone wrong. I didn't drink enough Friday, so I went to bed already feeling dehydrated. No wake up call, but thankfully I got up on my own just before they should have called. Left my water bottle on the counter at the hotel room and I missed the Starbucks and had to drive a few miles before I was able to do a u-turn. I really needed that morning cup of coffee! :D I managed to find the right exit off the interstate, but was then stopped by a train for a few minutes. I finally got parked, on the top floor of the garage, with only 10 minutes to race start. I ran down the stairs at the parking garage, ran to packet pickup and then pack to the car to drop off the shirt. With a couple of minutes to spare, I was able to get in a quick line for the porta pottie (wow!). Very hot already and HUMID. No breeze.
There were alot of runners out for this race. I expected that after seeing that last year had over 1500. I put my self in between the 8 and 9 min mile signs. We got started with out to much delay. There was a hill in the first mile. I was surprised to see that! My first mile was 9:45. WHAT! That's crazy slow for me. I wore my smaller sized running skirt and noticed about this time that it was sliding down my bum! I had to tuck it into my waist band of my compression shorts to keep it up. I had to keep checking it every once in a while to make sure it was still up. Geesh. No more skirts from this company. I wore it last week, and I guess my waist pack had kept the skirt in place. The second mile was still tough. I walked through the water station at mile 2. I made it about another half mile before I had to walk. I never do this in a 5K! I was just not feeling great. I walked for a couple of minutes and then made myself get going again.
I must have gained some speed somewhere because my finish time was 29 minutes! Garmin showed only 3 miles and not 3.1. It was a major bummer that my time was so slow, but I'll shake it off. Next race will be better.I need to remember that it is the hottest month of the year in Florida. :)

Firecracker 5K

2010-07-03T15:41:00.000-07:00

North Port, July 3, 2010

This was a small race down in North Port, about half an hour away. I drove down with a new running friend, Liz. We got there with plenty of time to spare. My friend Karen showed up just as we did, so we headed over to pick up our bibs and T-shirts. Just cotton shirts, but they are nice ones. The price of the race was only $12 for preregistration, so I wasn't expecting much! We hung out and talked for a while until it was time to line up for the start. The course was out and back. Not the most exciting. We ran on a road that's on the side and back of a housing development, with not a lot around us, just trees. The sky was overcast, so that made the summer conditions much more easy to run in.

I started off a bit fast, but found a good pace that I could keep. Mile 1 - 8:25
There was one water stop at about the half way point. I was happy to grab a cup and walk for a few seconds while I drank it down. I had been thirsty before we even started! Mile 2 ended with another good time - 8:44.

The last mile was a bit tough. A woman just ahead of me was making a lot of loud grunting noises. As I was about to pass her and ask her if she was alright, the guy in front of her stopped and talked to her. He got her to stop running and just walk a bit. I then came up to a father and young son. They had been ahead of me the entire race. I told the kid he was doing great and asked the dad how old the kid was. Seven years old! (He is in the photo above) Mile 3 - 8:53

In the last bit before the finish, I heard the father tell his son to pick up the pace, this is were they race it in. They both passed me! I finished strong though. :)last .1 - 0:46.

My time was 26:48. I got 5th out of 19 in my age group. I am very happy with this time. It's 50 seconds faster than the 5K from last month. Considering I had no taper at all, I ran 18 miles this week and rode 16 miles on Tuesday, I was very surprised to have run so well. :)

Publix Family Fitness Duathlon

2010-06-13T13:56:00.000-07:00

June 12, 2010

Race morning started dark and early at 4:30 am. I wanted to leave the house by 5:45. I had some coffee and watched a little tv before loading my bike and my gear in the car. Left the house right on time.

By the time I got to the parking lot, it was about half full. I found a spot right away and then headed over to the timing chip table. I got my race number and age marked on my body, then went back to the car to eat my power bar and relax in the air conditioning for a while. It was very hot and humid already. Temps were in the mid 70s at start and low 80s when the race was over. Of course with the humidity factored in, it felt A LOT hotter!

I headed out toward the water and the race start at about 6:45 am. No one seemed to know where the duathlon start was, so we all just kinda hung around together. Finally about five after 7:00 am, an announcer let us know where to go and told us that we would start in a couple of minutes. The group for the duathlon was very small. It looked like my competition was going to be tough. I kept looking around at the back of women's legs to find who was in my age group, but didn't see anyone.
Finally we were off! The run was only a mile and went by quick. I just had my regular watch on, but it would get my total time for the race. I had no way of knowing my pace. The run back over the sand to the transition area was tough! Lots and lots of loose, deep sand.

I got my bike pretty quick. Took off my visor, put on my helmet and headed out. The woman in front and to the left of me was taking forever to get her feet clipped in, so I went ahead of her on the right. I was worried for a few miles if I was going to get a penalty for that. The ride went pretty good. It felt pretty hard though the whole time. I really wasn't well trained for this. I hadn't been out on my bike much in the past couple of months. I did manage to pass a few people, but I got passed by lots.

The second transition was pretty easy. Jumping off the bike and walking fast into the transition, my muscles were supper tight! I knew once I got running they would loosen up. I got my helmet off and my visor back on. Grabbed my dry wash cloth, I use it to wipe the sweat off my face, and then headed out for the 5K. I ate one powergel bite and drank a little bit of water before really getting into the run. We had to run back over the dry sand and then we were able to run along the water were the sand was hard packed. I could tell most people were really feeling the heat. No shade out there on the beach, so with the heat, it was brutal. I think my once a week run on the beach for the past 3 weeks helped me a lot here because I passed quite a few people on the run. I got water at the stop just before mile two, which in a normal 5K I would not have. Just before the turn around I saw to women that were already heading back. I picked them as my goal people to pass. I actually passed them about 5 minutes later and one was in my age group! I got water again at the next stop and also ate one more gel bite. I just kept thinking "It's almost over, It's almost over." Finally we were heading off the beach toward the finish. I kinda looked behind me to make sure no one was coming fast, and then pushed it hard over the finish line.

I got a couple of drinks and some fruit and sat for a bit to cool off. Then I noticed the Breyers Ice Cream stand. Wow, that oval ice cream bar hit the spot! There was no waiting for the free chair message, so I went and had one of those done. Felt great! I hadn't planned on staying, because the announcer had told us before the race started that the computer was down and we wouldn't have official results until later. So age group awards would be mailed. I hadn't even thought that I might place, but when they informed us that the computer was up and running and that results were posted, I headed over to check them out. I was very surprised to see that I had second place in my age group! There were only 4, but I don't care, that's 2 other people I beat! So, I called Kevin and Aidan and told them I would stick around for the awards. I got some fruit and a couple of drinks and then sat in a shady spot for what turned out to be close to 2 hours before they finally got to the awards!!

Overall I felt like this was a great race. Lots of course support and plenty to eat and drink at the finish. The age group awards are very nice. The shirts aren't so great, but you can't have everything. I might do the duathlon up in Ft Desoto Park in August that is part of the same series. It's a short ride and run, so shouldn't make a bad impact on my marathon training.

Overall Details
Time: 1:24:42
Category Place: 2 of 4
Overall Place: 49 of 83
Gender Place: 19 of 43

Run: 7:56
T1 - 1:04
Bike: 44:05
T2 - 0:56
Run: 30:41

Island 5K

2010-05-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Anna Maria Island, May 2, 2010

Aidan and I had a pretty good race this morning.

It was hot though! Already close to 80 at the start. This race, in the county north of ours, is on one of the barrier islands. I used to live down the street from the race about 10 years ago. Oh how I miss island living!

Aidan started off fast but then got a side cramp by the half mile point. So from then on we walked/ran the rest of the way. He did great though. Passed quit a few people in the last mile. I told him to go all out when we could see the finish line up ahead. So he finished a couple of seconds before me at 38:30. He ended up getting 2nd place in his age group of 9 and under. There were quit a few kids that ran the whole race too.

There was a raffle after the race. I won a runnergirl backpack and DS won a $25 gift card for the local running store! (not mine) The first thing he asks: "Do they have toys?" :) He said I could have it. So we stopped by there on our way home. I got a One More Mile shirt that says "Kick Asphalt" :D

Shark's Tooth 10K

2010-04-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

April 10, 2010

I had a great 10K this morning! My back, which was hurting when I got up, was feeling better by the time I got there, but then I was having tummy issues. I had to go to the pora-tpotty 3 times before the race started, but once I got going, I felt great. Just a little dehydrated. I was very happy to see the water stop at mile 2! The course starts in a lot off to the side of the Venice airport. We run through a neighborhood, then back around the airport parallel to the beach. We then go through Caspersen Beach parking lot (dirt) and take a dirt trail for a bit before running along the canal and then back to the finish.

I felt pretty good the entire race. For most of the second half of the race I saw this woman far ahead of me with long blond hair in a pony tail. I gradually got closer and closer. At mile 6 I was at 56 minutes on the dot. The woman was just ahead of me, so I got my speedy legs going in an effort to pass her. Well she turns her head to the left a bit, sees me and then speeds up! Her husband on the other side of her was telling her to keep it up and that I was on her heals. So we both ran all out to the finish. At the end she said sorry, but I told her "no problem, you helped to get me moving faster so that I could catch you!" :) Garmin time was 57:29. Clock time should be pretty close to that as this was a small race and I didn't start to far back.
This race was a lot of fun. Hope to run it again next year.

Time: 57:31.8; age group: 12/29; Overall: 145; Pace: 9:17/M

Florida Beaches Halfathon

2010-03-23T15:30:00.000-07:00

March 21, 2010

I was excited to run and finish this race. It would be my fourth in 22 days! As part of the Half Fanatics group, this would put me up to the fourth level, Jupiter.
Sunday morning started out early, 4 am. I got up had a cup of coffee and watched a little TV while I tired to wake up. I was out the door by 5 am. I made good time driving up to Ft Desoto Park, getting there just after 6 am. I stepped out of my car to go get my chip and then had to turn around and grab a sweatshirt. It was cold with the wind! I was a little worried about this. I hadn’t checked the weather before leaving the house, but a few days ago it had said it would be sunny this morning.

I hung out in my car for a while reading the latest issue of Runners World. At about 6:30 I gave Brenda a call to see where she was at. She was just finishing up a 3 mile pre race run. I left my sweatshirt in the car and thenI hit the porta potties, then went to find Brenda at our meeting spot. I ended up finding my friend Melissa and one of her friends. Brenda came up and we chatted for a couple of minutes before going to find a spot behind the starting line. Brenda said there was a chance of rain later and I just hoped it would hold off until after the race.
We got started right on time. We started our run in the parking lot, then headed out to the main street and then ran a loop through a pretty tree lined area. After exiting this area, we ran north, then came back around toward the finish. I felt pretty good, but now we were going to have a long stretch of running into the heavy wind. From about mile 3 to 5.5 the wind was strong, but then we turned to the east and now had good protection from the trees to the side. Just as I passed mile 5.5, the lead man passed me heading home.

Mile 1 – 9:12
Mile 2- 9:22
Mile 3 – 9:30
Mile 4 – 9:57
Mile 5 – 10:10

I am still feeling pretty good at this point. Just a regular long run day with a bunch of other runners around. Just after mile 7 we were running out in the open with no trees on our right to protect us from the strong wind. It was a beautiful view of the Gulf, with the Skyway bridge in the distance, but so windy! The rain had started about half a mile before this and stayed with us for a couple of miles.

Mile 6 - 9:46
Mile 7 – 10:12
Mile8- 10:19
Mile9 – 9:48

The rain was gone by mile 10. I kept trying to get a good look ahead so I could see the next water station. We got to the spot where it should have been (it was there the first time we ran by) but they must have packed up and left when it started raining! I needed that water! Thankfully there was another one at around mile 11. My stomach was getting a little upset here, so I didn’t eat anymore of my fuel.

Mile 10 – 10:03
Mile 11 – 10:30

As I passed mile 12, I had a time of 2 hours. I thought I could finish this race at about the same time as last week if I could pick up the pace. So I started to run faster. Big mistake. My stomach didn’t like that one bit. I ended up having to walk a half mile later. I kept it short though and just took it easy until I saw the mile 13 sign. We turned a corner and headed back into the wind. The finish banner was just ahead, so I put the speed on. I passed a guy at about 13.05 and kept my lead on him into the finish. I held up 4 fingers to proudly proclaim my Jupiter status!

mile 12 - 10:43
Mile 13 – 10:30

I got my starfish medal and a bottle of water and then walked around a little bit. I stopped off at my car to grab a sweatshirt because it was cooling off fast. Then I went to the food table and got a banana and a cookie, then headed over to the finish line to keep an eye out for Brenda. I got a photo of her just before she crossed the finish line and then we hung out for a bit before leaving. As I was heading to my car I saw my friend Melissa heading in to the finish. Stopped to cheer and clap her on before heading out.
I am so happy that I did all these races back to back. It was a lot of fun, but now I need a rest! Surprisingly I feel pretty good post race. I’m not sore at all. Makes me wonder if I could have pushed myself more. Off to the next challenge. My first triathlon? New York Marathon? Disney’s Goofy? We will see.

Stats
chip 2:11:28; time: 2:11:38; age group 35/64; women 171/357; overall 392/644;Pace 10:03

Sarasota Half Marathon

2010-03-16T06:43:00.000-07:00

March 14, 2010

Sunday morning I left the house at 5:45 a.m. and drove over to my friend Karen’s house. She had bought a VIP parking spot so we could be right next to the start area. The morning was a coolish 60 degrees. It felt colder in the wind, but Karen and I found a sheltered spot to hang out at for a while, so I was comfortable in my tank and shorts. About 15 minutes before the start we decided to get lined up behind the start sign. There were signs for the different paces, but they were to close together! I ended up standing behind the 13+ mile sign, which normally would have been too far back. Looking behind me though, I could see a lot of people, so figured I was somewhere in the middle and that would work.

The race got started on time at 7:15 am. It was still a little dark out, but not as dark as previous years. I had to maneuver around a few walkers that had started to far forward, but soon I was able to run at a good pace without weaving. The first 3 miles are though a nice neighborhood near the water. After we turned on to Tamiami trail, we had to stay to the right lane of the road because cars were allowed to drive in the lane next to us. I hit the water station at about mile 4, grabbed a cup of water and had my first bit of fuel. We ran to the right, through a parking lot next to the Van Wezel and coast guard station and then back out to the main road.

Mile 1 - 9:54
Mile 2 – 9:38
Mile 3 – 9:35
Mile 4 – 9:36

This part of the course is great. Lots of people cheering on while we run by. I was at about mile 4.75 when the first half marathoner ran past me heading home. About a mile down the road, we turned to the right and headed toward Ringling bridge. We stayed to the right, ran next to the bridge and then under and back around to the other side. Going up the bridge wasn’t too hard. It’s the bridge I run my repeats on, it's the steepest "hill" around. Mile six ended at the top and I noticed on my Garmin that I didn’t lose much time. I passed a bunch of people on the down side. At the bottom we once again ran a loop under the bridge and back around. I walked through the water station here and had more fuel. We then turned and headed back over the bridge. I kept a look out on the other side for my friend. At the top I finally saw her and yelled out a greeting and waved. She heard me and yelled back.

Mile 5 - -9:40
Mile 6 – 9:59
Mile 7 – 9:44

I felt pretty good heading into mile 8. I noticed that if I could keep up 10 minute miles I would finish with my fastest time this season and close to my course PR. I tried not to get too pumped about it though, thinking of my last 2 weekends of races. By mile 10 I started to feel some pain. My right knee was hurting, but then I moved to the middle of the road and it felt better. I had been running to much on the down slope of the road. Running back through the neighborhood was tough. I told myself to just make it to the 11 mile water stop then I could take a longer walking break. I got there had more fuel and water and did walk a bit longer than I had before. Once I got going I felt a bit better, but then a mile later I was hurting. It wasn't so much a body hurt as a mental tiredness. I once again told myself I could take a walking break once I turned the corner and was about half a mile from the end. Then I saw this woman I often see out on my long runs. She has always been a person that I challenge myself to keep up with, so I once again tried to keep up with her. She was struggling to. I passed her twice, but then we got to mile 12.5 and she passed me. I couldn’t stop and walk! So I kept going and tried to make a strong finish. Got to the finish line, held up 3 fingers to show I’d finished 3 in a row! Got my medal and a bottle of water and then remembered to turn off the Garmin!

Mile 8- 9:53
Mile 9 – 10:06
Mile 10 – 10:25
Mile 11 – 10:30
Mile 12 – 11:03
Mile 13 – 10:24
27.71 feet – 0:05

Chip Time: 2:10:29. The one thing I noticed on the course was that my garmin was showing the miles well after I passed the signs. So I think I ran less than a 13.1 according to Garmin. That’s a first!

Overall this is a great race. The shirt wasn’t so great, but the medal and post race food was good. One more race to go before I move to the Jupiter level of the Half Fanatics!
Age group- 68/143; Overall- 824/1750

2010-03-07T16:11:00.000-08:00

Disney Princess Half marathon, March 7, 2010
The day started off early. I got up at 3:15 a.m. because I planned on leaving at 3:45 and I wanted some time to have a cup of coffee. I had bought a 3 pack of the Starbucks VIA the night before. I just brewed some hot water and poured in the packed. Perfect.
I left the hotel on time. I got to the Epcot parking lot pretty fast. My hotel wasn’t that far away. I talked to Brenda and made a plan to meet her and Joanne. I found Brenda first, and once we made it through the baggage drop off tent, we found Joanne. We hit the porta-potties then started the long walk to the starting line. It was cold! I was happy that I brought the mylar blanket from last weekend’s Gasparilla half. I also had on my arm sleeves, which defiantly helped. We got a group photo taken before Joanne headed off to her B corral. Brenda and I hit the porta-potties one more time before going to the Group A corral. We were pretty close to the start line, it was a great spot to be. I think they had groups A through E. They started 7 minutes apart. I was happy that I didn’t have to wait any longer than I already had to, which was 30 minutes.
A big spray of fireworks started us off. I tossed my mylar off to the side and tried to stay behind groups of people to keep the cold wind off of me. Normally I like to get out on my own, but since it was crowded anyway, I thought I might as well use it to my advantage. It helped a lot. Somewhere in the first couple of miles I saw a few of the men of Disney movies on a stage, so I ran over and got my first photo taken. This was my plan for the race. Go out and have fun. Take lots of photos. I pushed pretty hard last weekend, so I wasn’t too worried about time today. Even though I had to deal with the crowd and stopped for the photo, my first few miles where fast!

Mile 1 -9:39
Mile 2- 9:09
Mile 3 – 9:26
Mile 4 -9:39

I’m feeling pretty good at this point. I needed to make a pit stop, but they were all pretty busy and I didn’t want to waste time waiting for one to open up. By mile 5, just before running into Magic Kingdom, I spotted a large group of porta-potties, so ran over to use one there. I added a good minute here, but no worries. Running through Magic Kingdom was great. So many photo opportunities! Running down main street, heading toward the castle was great. Lots of cheering people. I stopped and asked a guy to take my photo with the castle behind me. We then ran a loop around to the back of the castle. Then I stopped to get a photo with Minnie and Mickey before running through the castle. I stopped again right in front of the castle for another photo before continuing on. I stopped again for a photo with the Genie before we ran out of the park. Still feeling good. At this point last year I was miserable. The only issue I started to notice was the small blister on my second toe on my right foot. I could feel that it was going to be a lot bigger when I got my shoe off. Thankfully it wasn’t painful. The next few miles went by fast. A few more photos with with Belle, the Beast, Sleeping Beauty and her Prince.

Mile 5 – 10:53
Mile 6 – 10:16
Mile 7 – 10:18
Mile 8 – 10:23
Mile 9 – 9:41

By mile 10 I was starting to feel tired. My quads were getting tight and my feet were hurting. It’s time to retire these shoes. They have close to 500 miles on them. I couldn’t believe how cold it still was! Much colder than last weekend. I still had on my arm sleeves. So happy that I made them out of socks. In the last 3 miles, I got photos taken with Jack Sparrow and with Tinker Bell and friends. I was so happy to make my way into Epcot knowing the finish line was less than a mile away. I was walking a lot at this point in last years race. I took off the arm sleeves in the last mile, didn’t really need them anymore. I was so happy to be feeling pretty good and running pretty strong. I was very happy to see the finish line ahead. I didn’t push it hard, just ran it in with a big smile on my face.
Mile 10 – 10;08
Mile 11 – 10:25
Mile 12 – 10:45
Mile 13 – 9:47
Mile .27 – 2:29 ( a little more than the .1 it should have been!)

I got my beautiful finishers medal, got a photo taken with it and then headed for the drink table. I saw a big jug of Biofreeze at the medical tent. They had paper cups next to it, so I grabbed one and pumped about 5 good pumps of the biofreeze into the cup. I knew I would need it after a shower. After picking up a banana, I thought of trying to wait for Brenda or one of the other WW ladies, but I was getting cold, so just decided to head to my car and take off.
I am very happy with the results of this race. Much better than last year, about nine minutes faster, and I had a lot more fun with it too.
Now I just need to figure out a good recovery plan for this week leading up to my 3rd half in 3 weeks!
Stats:
Chip time – 2;12:56; overall- 2397/11324; Division: 469/2052; pace- 10:01

Excited for the Princess half!

2010-03-04T12:29:00.000-08:00

Getting excited for the race on Sunday. I plan on driving over to Orlando late morning. I'll hit the expo before checking in to my hotel. Then it's off to Wolfgang Pucks to meet up with some ladies from the WW Marathon group. Should be a fun pre race meal.

My crown for the race. :)

Gasparilla Half Marathon

2010-03-01T07:08:00.000-08:00

February 28, 2010

Race morning started off at 3:15 a.m. I wanted to leave by 3:45 a.m. and I needed some time to drink a cup of coffee before getting in the car and driving for an hour.
I got to Tampa just before 5 a.m. Just off the interstate, cars were backed up pretty far, but they seemed to be moving at a decent pace. I got a great spot on the first level parking garage next to the convention center. I got all my gear on, double checked that I had my race tag for my shoe and other needed things, then headed inside to meet up with friends Katie and Brenda from the WW marathon group. After making a pit stop, I found Katie and her husband waiting for me at our planned meet up place. We hung out and talked for a while, but Brenda didn't show up. Was a little worried she got held up in the traffic.

At 5:40, I decided to make another pit stop at the real bathrooms. Katie and her husband decided to head on down to the start line. I was not too far behind them when I ran into my friend Susan and her husband. Talked a little with them as we walked towards the start. I went off on my own and moved through the large crowd. Got as far forward as I could get. About in the middle of the large group. I could see the 4:30 marathon pace group just ahead of me, so I figured I was in a good enough spot.

The race got started pretty much on time at 6 a.m. It was pretty congested for a while, but thinned out a bit after a couple of miles. My first mile was pretty slow for a race, but maybe this was a good thing. I got a drink at the first water stop, but didn't eat any of my Sharky's fuel yet.

mile 1- 9:52
mile 2- 9:42
mile 3- 9:37

By mile 3 I was thinking that it was a mistake to have worn a long sleeved top. The weather forcast had shown temps in the mid 40s and with the possibility of the wind coming off the bay, I figured this would be a good thing to wear. The first 6 miles were fairly protected by homes, so no wind and I was very warm. I hoped for cooler breezes once we hit the water front. At around mile 5 I had my first 2 sharky bits and some water. My plan for the race was to walk fast through water stops every couple of miles. I would drink a little water and have 2 sharky bits. (similar to Luna moons) At around mile 6 we ran back over a small bridge toward the finish line. But of course it was too soon to finish, we ran down a lane bordering the finish! Lots of crowd support here. We ran by the post race food area. The smell of cuban/mexican food at 7 am is NOT pleasent!

mile 4- 9:45
mile 5- 9:52
mile 6- 9:52

We ran a loop back towards the start line and then around to the waterfront. This was familiar ground for me. I ran the 15K here 2 years ago. Lots of beautiful houses to look at and a good amount of people cheering us on. I had a pretty good rhythm going, even though I was still hot. I started planning what I was going to wear for next weeks race already! short sleeves and a toss away long-sleeved top! The 2:10 pacer passed me around mile 8, she was going fast! I couldn't believe her pace was on target. My plan was to keep her in my sights for as long as possible.

mile 7- 9:42
mile 8- 9:58
mile 9- 9:37

I was very happy to turn around at about mile 10. I could see the finish area off to the distance. I was still feeling pretty good. My drinking and snack plan seemed to be holding up. I didn't really have to make a pit stop ( my biggest worry with day 2 of monthy visitor here). At mile 11 ish I had my last drink of water and 2 more sharky's. I knew I had it in me to run the last 2 miles at around 10 minutes each. I got excited that I might beat my last race time of just under 2:12! The last mile was tough. The heat was really getting to me, but I kept seeing those race photographers and giving them a big smile. I tried to keep up a good, strong pace for the last half mile. I was passed by a few people, but didn't have it in me to run any harder than I was already going! As I got closer I saw the clock show 2:12 and change, so I pushed it hard trying to get in as quick as I could to beat chip time of 2:10. I ended up finishing 2:10:10.

mile10- 9:39
mile11- 9:55
mile12- 10:10
mile 13- 9:57

Overall I am very happy with this race. I hope to run it again next year. It's a fun event, lots of great support and nice finishers medals. Looking forward to next sunday and the Disney Princess Half Marathon!

Chip- 02:10:10; clock- 02:12:32; overall- 1917/3896, Gender- 823/2129; division- 176/389; Pace 9:55

Clearwater Halfathon 2010 Race Report

2010-01-27T04:22:00.000-08:00

January 23, 2010
I got up race morning just before 4 a.m. I had trouble sleeping the night before. I was worried about my alarm not going off.
After having a cup of coffee and hitting the bathroom, I loaded up the car and hit the road. My stomach was feeling a little upset. I had made the mistake the night before, of eating something new. I got up to Clearwater and had to stop at a gas station for another bathroom break. I was getting a little worried that is was going to happen throughout the race!
The race start was set up next to a park with a large parking lot from the library right next door. I got a great spot, put on a toss away jacket over my tank, because with the wind, it felt pretty chilly. In the chip line, I met a woman who was wearing a Half Fantatics shirt too!  I got my bib, t-shirt and timing chip and then headed back to my car. It was a little after 6 a.m. and the race didn’t start until 7. I got my shoes on, pinned on my bib and looked through a magazine before hitting the porta potty line. Sigh. I was feeling a bit better, just really hoping that this was going to be my last pit stop. I kept the jacket on, because it was still chilly and we had about 15 minutes to stand around.
The race got started just after 7. We headed up a hill and then around the front side of the library. I decided to toss the jacket in the bushes next to the parking lot thinking it might still be there after the race. We turned to the right and then started running up the first big bridge. This thing is steep! I flew down the other side. I looked at my garmin and noticed a 7:30 pace! I was feeling great though, so I just went with it. Even when I got to the bottom and was running on flat ground I was going at about a 9 min mile and felt great. This is when it popped into my head that the wind was behind me and I was not going to be feeling great running IN to the wind and over UP the bridge on the last mile. Beautiful course the first 2 miles are next to the water. We then turn south and start running next to the beach. Just before mile 3 we get to the first water stop. I didn’t bring my waist pack with me, I just didn’t want it sitting on my stomach, so I needed the water break. The biggest bummer about this race is that the water stops are set up kinda wacky. I ate 2 luna moons, had some water and kept going.
Mile 1- 9:45
Mile 2- 9:00
Mile 3- 9:35
Just before mile 4 we start up the second steep bridge. Ugg. At the bottom of the bridge is another water stop, just outside a park. I drink a small amount of water here before turning in to run a big loop through the park. This section is kind of boring, but it just lasts a little over a mile. Just before leaving the park, we hit mile 6 and then a water station. I have 2 more luna moons and water.
Mile 4- 10:07
Mile 5- 9:30
Mile 6- 9:59
The next 3 miles we run on the road heading south through Condo Canyon. (This is what the DJ called it before the race and it fits!) We get to the turn around at about 7.5 and start heading North, into the wind. This was not pretty. I could feel myself slow down a bit. I kept my sights on the walker who I met earlier at the bib line and who was wearing her Half Fanatics shirt. I got up to her and yelled “go fanatics”” as I passed. The next water stop was just past mile 9 before we started back up that second bridge (3rd up hill) That was a long way to go before having a water break. I had the 2 last luna moons in the packet and then started chugging up the hill. It was slow going, but I made it without walking. The downside was great and then the next mile or so was nice because the buildings to the right blocked a lot of the wind. I had some more water at the next stop, at around mile 10.5.
Mile 7- 10:02
Mile 8- 9:52
Mile 9- 10:11
Mile 10- 10:41
We passed the beach again and then started running back toward the northeast. WIND! The last 2 miles were the toughest with the wind. Around mile 11.5 was the last water stop. I decided just to have a little water and not bother opening the other packet of Luna Moons. I was feeling pretty good actually. My breathing was going well. I had been working on taking nice slow deep breaths through the race. I tend to take short shallow ones, which adds to the bloated feeling that I get during races.
Just after mile 12 we started the last steep climb up that first bridge. I told myself to just get up half of it and then I could take a break. I ran up half and then walked for a bit, until I saw the race photographers at the top, same spot as last year. I started running again so that I could get a nice looking photo.  I zoomed past a few people as we ran down the other side. Just before we reached the bottom, we turned to the right and ran down this spiral walk way down to the road below. The last quarter mile is flat to the finish. I was going as fast as I could, but other people had more juice left in them. I was passed by about 6 people! Bummer. I finished the race strong and with a big smile on my face!
I was so happy to see that I had a 2:11 on my Garmin. Considering how my stomach felt, I was thinking I would be lucky to get the 2:15 of Decembers half. So with hills and the other issues, I was thrilled to see such a good finish time.
Mile 11- 10:18
Mile 12- 10:50
Mile 13- 10:30 (wow, and that’s with walking a bit of the first part of that mile up hill!)
Mile .1- 1:23 (think I slowed down a bit here)
I grabbed a banana, an orange slice and a piece of bread before heading up to my car. After getting my G2 (can’t drink the stuff they make at races) I walked over to where I had tossed my jacket. There it was! I’ll save it for the next colder race. I stretched a bit next to my car, before heading on out of there.
Treated myself to a grande peppermint mocha at Starbucks before getting onto the interstate and driving the hour home.
Official chip time is 2:12:18. What? This is the second race with this same company doing the time and I've had a chip time more than clock time. It will be interesting to see how the Gasparilla half time turns out.

Holiday Halfathon 2009, Madeira Beach, FL

2009-12-14T06:20:00.000-08:00

I got up early, 4 a.m., race morning and checked the weather first thing. Temp was 70 degrees and high humidity. Yuck! I had a cup of coffee, got ready and then hit the road.

The drive up was uneventful and very foggy. Got a call from my friend just as I pulled into a parking spot. We met up near packet pick up, got my shirt and bag and then hit the port-a-potty line. :) We had about 45 minutes to hang out and get ourselves ready before the race started.

The walkers got started a little after 7 am, which pushed our start back a bit to. I ended up a bit farther back then I normally start, but this was a smaller race, so it didn’t take too long to get to where I could run comfortably without weaving in and out of other runners. The first few miles were very foggy. I kept a pretty even pace, which was a bit slower than normal for the early miles of a race for me, but I didn’t want to bonk out like I did during the last race that had similar conditions.

Mile 1: 9:33
mile 2: 9:27
mile 3: 10:01

Just before mile 4 we ran over a bridge with a decent incline. We were now street running in a neighborhood, heading east towards the Pinellas Trail. I noticed another runner next to me holding her sunglasses and realized I’d forgotten mine! I hoped that the fog would stick around to keep the sun out of my eyes for the rest of the race. Thankfully, it did.

At mile 4 I had my first 2 luna moons with a little bit of water. My strategy for this race was to not over drink. I didn’t want to have the sloshing in my stomach again.

At around mile 6, we connected with the Pinellas Trail. I had 2 more luna moons here with water. We had a pretty steep bridge to run over, but I ran up it and then really enjoyed running down the other side. I was still feeling pretty good, just very sweaty! People around me were just drenched, so it wasn’t just me. :) I got water at the next water station, close to mile 8, but forgot to eat more moons.

Mile 4: 9:59
Mile 5: 9:51
Mile 6: 10:07
Mile 7: 10:27
Mile 8: 10:13

Just before getting to mile 10 I started feeling like I could really use a walking break. I told myself I would wait until I got to the next water station and then walk a bit then. I figured it would be at mile 10 or soon after. Wrong!! It was nowhere to be found. Also at this point, I looked down at my garmin and discovered it wasn’t on any more! I turned it back on, but it shut down again within minutes. I guess the battery was dead. Bummer. I ran until I got to mile 11, then took a short walking break.

Mile 9: 10:11
No garmin breakdown for the last miles. :(

Finally just before mile 12, we entered the park that the finish line was located in. The last water station was much needed. I got half a cup of water and then managed to spill half of that while trying to get the last 2 moons out of the bag. I drank my little bit of water and just kept going. The last mile was tough. It was a pretty area, around a large lake, but I was just tired. I took 2 walking breaks. I managed to run the last quarter mile of the race with a strong, fast pace. Clock time finish was 2:15:44! Better than the race 3 weeks ago. I think I’ve figured out the way to run these races in the heat/humidity. :)

Over all I am happy with the race. I wonder if I’d had my garmin working, if I would have pushed myself a bit more at the end in order to finish sooner. My course record from 2002 is 2:13. But I did beat results from 2006, which was 2:21. Official results posted give me a time of 2:15:44. What? It took me at least 30 seconds to cross the starting line! It should have been less than the clock time. We had timing chips.

Stats : 2:15:47; Jennifer O'Horan, 39; 52 out of 100 in age group; 10:22 (pace)

Women's Half Marathon race report

2009-11-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-21T13:13:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-05T03:41:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-19T09:25:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-06-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

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 :)

2009-05-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

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.

Max Bayne race report

2009-03-29T15:08:00.000-07:00

What a race!

The morning started off rainy with thunder and lightning. We were not sure if they would cancel the race, but decided to drive up anyway. The race was at Fort Desoto park, an island out in the Tampa bay. Not a lot of protection out there, but on a good day, it’s very pretty. Got there about 7 am, picked up our shirt, bib, chip and headed back to the dry car. I was glad I had my flip flops on, because when we got out of the car, both of us put our feet in deep puddles! I decided to wear the Garmin, but leave the Ipod and waist pack in the car. We headed to the race start at about 5 minutes before 8 am. There was a light rain, so we had on our garbage bags, to try and keep dry. Both of our shoes were already full of water with just the walk across the parking lot.

Everyone was in groups on dry patches of the road. But when the race started we all merged and splashed through ankle deep water until we got out of the parking lot. Of course just as we started, the rain came down harder. The first 2 miles we ran in the rain. I kept up a good pace.

The rains stopped for about a mile, but started up very strong as the 5k runners headed home and we split from them. Then the thunder and lightning started. One strike was very near to us off to the left, which was pretty scary. But thankfully that was the only close one, it was a light rain for the next few miles. I started having my usual stomach/breathing issues by mile 6. What a drag. I wasn’t planning on a fast race because of the conditions, but I didn’t want to have to walk. Ended up taking short walking breaks during the last 4 miles. The only plus side here was that it was no longer raining.

This race had a lot of fast runners. I only had 4 runners behind me at the turn around! I was just happy to not come in last.

Time – 1:49:00. About 9 minutes slower than I had hoped. Not more racing for me until I figure out what is going on with my back pain that prevents me from breathing deeply.

tshirt logo idea

2009-03-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

Looks like this is the one everyone likes.

St. Patty's 8k in Tempe, AZ

2009-03-15T19:15:00.000-07:00

I ran the st patty's 8k this morning in Tempe, AZ. We are in Scottsdale for a week, so thought, why not! :) I did make the mistake of eating to much mexican food last night, ug. I was feeling it this morning.
Nice and cool this morning. Low 50s and very low humidity!!
This was a small race, a great change after last week's big race. I started out good. Keeping a mid 9 min. pace. Right off the bat there were some hills. At about .6 of a mile we went off road and ran on a dirt/rocky road. That lasted almost a mile. The course took us through and around this large park with a lake in the middle. Very pretty, but lots of rolling hills, which are tough for this florida gal! We had one more short section on that dirt path in the last mile. And just before the finish there was one last tough hill. Finished in 48:49. garmin showed 4.98 miles, though I thought an 8k was 4.8 oh well. :) No PR for me. Just had fun and enjoyed a new course. Loved the no humidity!

Time: 48:49, Pace: 9:50, 135 out of 203 total runners.

Princess Half Marathon

2009-03-09T07:42:00.000-07:00

I drove over to Orlando Saturday, arriving at the expo place at 2pm. Got my bib and then went to get my t-shirt. I got a large, tried it on and it was tight! So I tried to exchange it, but all they had were smalls and mediums. So I walked around and ended up buying a shirt that says "I need my beauty sleep." and on the back has the race name and date. I also got a 13.1 charm and a couple of water bottles. Headed to the hotel next, checked in, then went to the outlet mall just down the road. Went to the Nike store and got a new top and light weight dry tech running pants to wear the next day.

That night I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. Once I got to sleep, around 10ish, I just kept waking up every half hour or so. Got up at 4:15, but because we lost an hour due to the time change, it felt like 3:30. I was out of there by 4:40 and made it to the parking lot at Epcot just before 5 a.m. I gave Brenda a call. She had just pulled into the parking lot too. We planned on hanging in our cars for a little bit then meeting up. Around 5:15 we met by my car, found someone to take a photo of us, then headed over to the porta potties. Got in pretty quick. I decided not to check a bag, so we walked back to my car, which wasn't far, to drop it off. We saw that people were walking to the start already, so started heading in that direction with them. It was a bit of a walk, I don't know, a quarter to half a mile. Stopped at the porta potties again then headed to our corral. We were both surprised that we were in the first one, but it was great to be so close to the start. There were 3 corrals. Any men running in the race were placed in the 2nd or 3rd area.

It was really great to have someone with me to talk to while waiting there for the hour before the race. The temps were in the mid 50s and it was dark and foggy.

The race had a very quiet start. I was surprised there were no fireworks like they have for the January race. I wished Brenda a good race, then we parted ways.

I started out good. There were a couple of hills early in the first mile, made it through those just fine. I was keeping a good pace through mile 5, but then started to feel the slow down. At this point we started running through the Magic Kingdom. That was fun. Lots of crowd support. I ran through the castle, noticed lots of photographers, but it was pretty crowded, so not sure they got a shot of me. When we got to the front of the Castle, there were a couple of photographers taking photos if you wanted to stop. So I ran over, stood for 2 seconds while they got the shot, then ran on. :)

splits, mile 1 to 5: 9:23, 9:36, 9:51, 9:53, 9:55

At this point I really wanted my sport beans and water. I didn't carry a bottle of water with me this race, so had to wait til I got to the water stop. Just after mile 6 I got there. I ate half a bag of sport beans and drank water while walking through the stop.

Splits, miles 6 to 9: 10:25, 11:30, 10:26, 11:06

I was slowing down alot, but just wanted to keep going. My toe that had a major blister on it from the marathon really hurt. At the next water stop just past mile 8, I walked for a bit and then again at mile 10. The last 2 hills were tough, and had to walk those two. At the 12 mile water stop, I looked behind me and saw Brenda not to far back. That motivated me to keep going! :)

Splits, miles 10 to 13: 11:29, 11:30, 11:59, 10:50

The last mile was the longest ever! I felt like I was going to throw up! But I made it to the finish line. Finished in 2:20:12. This is not a great time for me, but not my worst and at 3 weeks post marathon, I'll take it.

Got my very pretty finishers medal, a banana, water and poweraide, then headed on out of there. I just wanted to get back to the hotel for a shower. I was very sweaty!

I would love to run this race again next year. The water stops were great. They had about 3 different kinds of fuels at the mile 8 stop. Lots of food and drink at the finish. At the most of the water stops after mile 5 there were volunteers with vaseline and Biofreeze. The only downside was the shirt. But now I know they run very small.

Feeling good

2009-02-19T16:03:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling pretty good right now. No issues with sore legs. Just have a few blisters on my feet that I hope clear up soon.
I plan on trying to run 8 miles Saturday instead of the 3 miles on the recovery plan. I'll just go out and see how I feel.
Since I didn't "race" the marathon, I hope to have a good race for the next half marathon in 2 weeks. Wish it was sooner. I want to get back out there and do better!

Sarasota Marathon report.

2009-02-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

That was the worst race ever!

The morning started out fine. I got up at 4 am, after having a pretty good night's sleep. Had a cup of coffee, then loaded up my gear and headed for the race. Got a parking spot right away, about 2 blocks from the race start. I found my friends right away, talked for a bit, then headed to the porta-potty line. The weather wasn't so great. It was overcast with temps in the low 60s and high humidity (sucks).

I started out with the 4:30 pace group. The 10:30ish per mile pace has been standard for me in long runs. I was doing fine for a while, but noticed the pacer was going much faster than he should have. Sometimes I was at a 9:30 pace! By mile 4 I let them go on and held back a bit. Figured I'd find the 4:45 group.
At mile 5, I was still doing good. I ate my sport beans and within a minute or so, it hit my stomach hard. It just didn't sit well, plus I was pretty hot and sweaty at this point and maybe drinking to much.
By mile 6 I had to take a walk break. That's so early! I was really hurting and thinking of giving up already. Around mile 7 the 4:45 pace group caught up, so I thought I'd try and hang with them. It didn't last all that long. I was walking again by mile 8. Soon enough the 5:00 pace group came up. The guy was really nice, told me to join them. They were running 5 minutes, walking a minute. I thought that would work great. But when they were running, it was at a 10 min pace, and with my tummy issues, this was just to fast. I stayed with them for more than a mile, then let them go.
Pretty much from mile 9 to 15 I was able to run for a half mile or so, then walk for a bit. My husband and son were waiting for me at mile 16. It was great to see them! Wish I could have run stong after that, but no. I was into pretty much walking more than running now. Once I got to 19/20. It was almost all walking with bursts of quarter mile running every once in a long while.
The last 6 miles were bad. The bottom of my feet hurt and I could feel a big blister on a couple of toes on my right foot. My friends husband and son were on their bikes and hung back with me the last few miles. It helped alot, there were not many people left at this point! According to my Garmin, the course was a bit long. I would hit the mile markers about half a mile before their signs. So I got to 26.2 on my Garmin in 5:54, but still had lots to go on the course! ( I talked to a few other runners, they all had the course as to long)

I finished in 6 hours 13 seconds. Bummer! Really wanted to get in under 6 hours at least.
I really don't know what caused the issues with my stomach. I felt over heated most of the race, and due to the cold of the past week, I needed to blow my nose a few times to. So all that phlem was not helping either.
I am back to half marathons. I enjoy them. They are still a challenge, but don't cause as much pain. If I ever run a marathon again, it will be in a cooler area of the country. Florida is not the best place for a marathon. Even in the middle of February, you cannot count on cooler temps.

Top photo: Me, Karen, Daniel and Sheila before the race.
Middle photo: Me about a quarter mile from the finish.
Last photo: After the finish, showing off the medal I earned for making it through the marathon.

Marathon is tomorrow!!

2009-02-14T15:38:00.000-08:00

I am so nervous! Hope I can sleep tonight.
I've got all my gear set out and ready for the morning.
I signed up at the expo to run with the 4:45 pace group. It's a 10:53 pace, so should be pretty easy for me. I am still thinking about starting off with the 4:30 group, then falling back if need be. not sure. 10:53 is slow for me during faster runs, but then don't want to push to much early on.
Goals:
1. to finish!!
2. I'd really like to finish in under 5 hours.
3. The best would be to finish in 4:45.

I made it through the 20 miler.

2009-01-25T14:21:00.000-08:00

Friday night was rough. Both my hips were hurting. :( The advil wasn't even helping the left side. I had to sleep on my back because laying on my side hurt to much. So, I didn't get a very good nights sleep prior to the big run. I wasn't even sure I could run in the morning, but when I woke up, I was able to walk with out much pain, so figured I would try the run.
Got up at 4 am so that I could get an early start and run a good chunk before the sun came up. Took me a while to get moving though, so I didn't get started until almost 5:30 am. Temps were mid 40s, so I wore my long sleeved tech shirt and running pants. I am glad I did because just before sunrise the temps were close to 40 degrees and I was cold! Once the sun came up I warmed up quite a bit.
This was the slowest run ever! Even in the early miles I was moving slower than I normally do. Oh well, just happy to have finished! I had to take some walking breaks every mile once I hit 12 miles. 20 miles in 4:11.
I think my fueling plan worked well. I had 4 bottles of half water/half G2 and 3 packs of sport beans. Beans every 5 miles. I refilled the 2 bottles with water at the bathroom at mile 14.
The rest of the day was rough. Everytime I got up from the chair was painful.I had to shuffle not being able to lift up my legs much. Today is much better, but still stiff. The massage I have scheduled for Tuesday should feel good.
I am wondering if I am in shape for this run, but now that I have passed the 20 mile run, it's down hill until the race. So, I'll get some time to heal and hope to be ready for the race in 3 weeks!

Photos from Clearwater Halfathon

2009-01-22T15:04:00.000-08:00

Clearwater Halfathon race report

2009-01-18T15:23:00.000-08:00

I am so happy that I was able to run this half marathon!

I got up at 4 am this morning. Had a little coffee and a banana. Got out the door just before 5 am. It takes a little over an hour to get to Clearwater. Needed to be early for packet pickup.

I managed to find the place without getting lost! :) Got my bib and t-shirt (no goodie bags here) and headed back to the car to keep warm. Took 3 advils with water, with hopes it would keep the pain away. Temps were in the mid 40s. I wore my running pants, long sleeved wicking shirt and a vest that I got at the thrift store as a toss away if I needed to. I brought a short sleeved top to change into if I needed it, but it was still so cold at the start, I left on the long sleeved.

About 25 min. before the start I made a portapotty break. The race start was on the waterfront, so thought I would go take a photo with my little camera I planned on running with. That's when I discovered the battery was not charged! :( So I pulled out my cell phone that has a camera, took a photo of the big bridge we will run over twice, then went back to the car to drop off the camera. Got back to the starting line about 10 min before the race started. Tried to turn on my Garmin, but it wouldn't turn on! I had charged it all night, and had this problem before where it gets locked up. You use two buttons at once then turn it on. But of course I couldn't remember which two. As I walked back to my car again (good thing it was close) I tried a bunch of combos, but couldn't get it on. :( So, no camera and no watch to check my pace.

The race start was at 7:05, but I think it got going a little late. Anyway, no gun went off, the crowd just started moving. I placed myself in the middle, thinking I would keep a slower pace that way. Had a small hill right away as we ran away from the waterfront. Ran through the downtown area, then turned toward the bridge. That was a tall bridge! It was just about mile one when we got there and that's where they had the first photographer. Right in the middle of the huge crowd! Bad planning there. She must have missed 75% of the people.

At the bottom of the bridge I ran next to this guy who had a garmin. I asked him his pace, 10:15, so decided to stay with him for a while. It must have been around mile two (missed the sign) that I tossed the vest to the side of the road. I was warm already and wishing I had changed shirts.

At about mile 3, we got to the beach, ran next to that for a while. The perfect spot for a race photographer to snap our photos, but none there.

Hit the top of the second large bridge at mile 4. For some reason I thought it was mile 5, so when I got to the bottom and looked at the race clock that had 45:30, I couldn't believe it! I had my first full pack of sport beans as we turned into the waterfront park. We did a big loop through here. Soon enough I saw the 5 mile sign and knew I wasn't going to fast.

Just before leaving the park we ran past the 6 mile sign. The clock here had 1:01:43. Got a water here and walked through while drinking. I was feeling ok, but did start having some pain in the backside and leg. I got worried, because I didn't have any advil with me and I was only half through the race! But I put it out of my mind and the pain went away.

We had the turn around after mile 7, maybe 7.5? And started heading back. Hit the bridge again around mile 9 I guess. No sign. When I got to mile 10 I opened my second bag of sport beans. This is when I noticed that I had lemon lime! I don't like that flavor of Gatorade, so was worried, but they were good. Got water at the next waterstop and walked through it again. Still no clocks. I don't like not knowing my pace and time! Feeling much better than in previous half marathons, I guess because I was taking it easy and not "racing."

Hit the last water stop just before mile 12 and again walked through that. No clock. The tough part of the race was just ahead. The last big bridge starts around mile 12. I made it most of the way up, before taking a walk break. There were two other women walking near me, so I kept pace with them. Near the top I notice the race photographer ahead snapping photos. What! Taking photos of us as we struggle up the bridge! I started running. I wanted a nice photo! :) So I pulled ahead of the two women, so the photographer just had me to take photos of for quite a while as I ran towards her. :)

The best part of the race was this last half mile or so. Down hill! Down the bridge, then a ramp down to the waterfront, then a bit of flat, straight to the finish line. Since I didn't have my garmin to turn off as I ran across the finish line, I looked right at the photographer and raised up my arms and smiled. :) The clock time was 2:18:??. I was kinda surprised It wasn't a little faster, but happy with it. That is about my time on an average long run. Maybe my chip time will show about 30 seconds less.

After the race I got a banana and two bottles of water, then found a place to stretch.

Overall this was a good race. Nice course, but tough with the "hills." I'd run it again.

Results:
Chip time: 2:18:22; age: 38; Pace:10:34; age group: 25 out of 39; over all place: 363 out of 495

Still dealing with the pain

2009-01-17T07:57:00.001-08:00

My running has come to an end the past few days. I had a massage on Wednesday that I hoped would help with the pinched nerve in my left leg. But it didn't seem to help much. Thursday evening I was in a lot of pain. Friday I got up and it felt much better. Went to the gym and did upper body weights and a lot of stretching. Came home and used the Wii Fit and did some yoga moves. By the afternoon it hurt alot again. I actually think I know what is making it worse. Yesterday while sitting in the car, waiting for my son to get out of school, I was sitting with the bad leg bent and up on the dash board for about half an hour. When I got out of the car it hurt like crazy. Sometimes I sit in my chair at home with my leg bent like that and the same thing happens when I get up. So I'll try not to do that with my leg today and see how it goes. I really don't want to miss the Half Marathon tomorrow, but I know it's more important to get better and be able to run the Marathon next month.

18 miler

2009-01-09T13:01:00.000-08:00

The run today was hard! The weather was great. Sunny and mid 50s when I started. Low 70s when I finished. I didn't get started until almost 9 am. I don't normally run so late. I went to run in this area that is usually pretty shady, but the city had gone through and clipped back alot of the trees over the sidewalk. bummer! I used some of the chi running principles today. It felt really good and the first few miles were easy. I had to slow myself down! stopped to get water at the CVS just before mile 11. Filled up all my bottles then poured some on top of my head. yowza! by mile 12 I decided to take a short walking break while eating sport beans. by mile 14 I needed to take a .25 mile break every mile. but even with that my miles where around 13 mins. so not to bad. If I can keep that up in the marathon I should be able to finish just under 5 hours. The other issue I was having was that the water wasn't giving me enough to help the thirst. I need to look into taking in salt maybe?

Training update

2009-01-07T13:25:00.001-08:00

My marathon training is going along great. I ran 16 miles last Saturday. The first time I have run more than 14 miles in many years. The only issue I had was not having enough water. Need to take all 4 water bottles with me on my waist pack and carry money just in case I need to run into a store to buy more. I think I have the fuel figured out. Half a bag of sport beans every 4 miles.
I did wake up Sunday morning with a pain in my sciatic nerve. It was pretty painful for a few days, but I used the roller on it last night and that seemed to ease the pressure in that area.
I've got an 18 miler planned for Friday morning. Will not get started until after I drop my son off at school, so it will be lunch time before I am done! But by running on Friday, I can go home after the run, shower, eat and then take a nice long nap. :)

Photos from the Jacksonville Half

2008-12-23T16:39:00.000-08:00

After seeing these, I've really got to work on taking off some pounds!

Jacksonville Bank half marathon report

2008-12-21T16:13:00.000-08:00

December 21, 2008

I drove up to Jacksonville Saturday with Susan. We left around 11 am, made a couple of stops, and arrived around 3:30. Our first stop was the running store to pick up our bibs, chips and goodie bags. Took a look in the store and ended up buying a 26.2 training shirt and a box of special mint chocolate flavored Gu.

It took us a while to figure out what to do for dinner. I ended up ordering some pasta to go from Chili’s. Had a quiet night at the hotel and surprisingly got a good nights sleep. The beds at the Embasy Suites are very comfortable.

Got up at 4:50 Sunday morning and made some coffee. After having coffee and a breakfast bar, we made sure we had everything, then headed downstairs to the bus. The bus trip to the start was pretty quick. We got in line right away for the porta-potties. Hung out in the gym for a while, then got back in line for the porta-potties again. By then it was time to head to the start of the race. This is where I made a big mistake. I decided to try the new Gu. I never have these things before a race! It tasted great, I thought I would be ok. I lined up between the 4 hour and 4:15 pace group. I figured I would try to stay with the 4 hour runners until we split from them. The temp was around 60 with high humidity. Not the best of conditions, but I’ve been in worse.

The race started pretty much on time. There wasn’t a huge crowd, so I was able to move along pretty smoothly. Pretty much right away, I could feel the Gu not sitting well in my stomach. I just tried to push it out of my mind and keep running. My first 6.5 miles went great. I had kept pretty close behind the 4 hour group and was feeling good when we parted ways. My time for 6.5 miles was 1:01:08.

I stayed feeling pretty good until about mile 9. My stomach was not feeling so hot. Maybe the combo of Gu and then half a bag of sport beans (at mile5) did not go well together. By mile 10 I was feeling pretty bad. Stomach was very upset. I wasn’t even going to try and eat the rest of the sport beans. So the last 8 miles of the race I just had water. This is when I really slowed down. I took a short walking break here and had to take a couple more before the end of the race. About a half a mile before the finish the path went off road onto dirt, then grass field, then a very rocky road (which did not feel good on sore feet!). Finishing the last 100 yards on the track was awesome. Just before the finish line I pulled ahead of the woman who had been in front of me! My finish time was 2:11:01. Not what I wanted, but a few minutes better than my November finish.

There was lots of water, bananas and bagels at the finish. After eating the banana and stretching a little, I headed to the bus pickup. Got right on and about 15 minutes later I was back at the hotel. Took a shower and rested a while before heading back out to the finish to watch my friend come in after running the Marathon.

It was a long drive back home. But I felt pretty good all afternoon, just tired.

I would recommend this race. It had good post race food and drink. But only for the half marathoners, not much left for the full marathoners. The shirts are the nice dryfit kind. The host hotel was comfortable. The only issue we had was that checkout was at noon. My friend didn’t finish until after that time and they wouldn’t give us a late checkout. The race flyers said there would be showers open at the school after the race, but the doors were locked. So my friend had to clean up in the sink of the bathroom before our 4.5 hour trip back home.

Chip time: 2:11:01, age group: 55 out of 106; 662 out of 1101 total half marathoners

2008-12-12T16:16:00.000-08:00

Half marathons I've run:

Disney Princess Half Marathon, Kissammee, FL, March 8, 2009
38 (age); 2:20:12 (time); 10:27 (pace); age group: 430 out of 1211; 1995 out of 6150 finishers.

Clearwater Halfathon, Clearwater, FL January 18, 2009
38 (age); 2:18:22 (time); 10:34 (pace)

Jacksonville Bank Half Marathon, Jacksonville, FL, Decmeber 21, 2008
38 (age); 2:11:01 (time); 10:00 (pace)

Blue Moon Half Marathon, Palm Harbor, FL, November 2, 2008
38 (age), 2:14:45 (time)

Sarasota Half Marathon, March 2, 2008
37 (age) 2:06:51 (time), 9:36 (pace), Age group: 66 out of 185 runners.

San Francisco Half Marathon, July 29, 2007
36 (age), 2:16:35 (time), Place overall: 2526 out of 4924. Women: 1173 out of 2767. Age group 30-39: 412 out of 926

Sarasota Half Marathon March 4, 2007
2:07:40 Age group: 35-39, 125 runners. Placed 60th
Naples Daily News Half Marathon January 20072:19:59( 13.25 miles)

Naples Daily News Half Marathon January 21, 2007
Time: 2:20:17

Florida Gulf Beaches Holiday Halfathon, Madera Beach, FL, December 2006
36 (age), 2:21:08(time), 10:46(pace)

Florida Gulf Beaches Halfathon, Madera Beach, FL, December 2002
32 (age), 2:13:20 (Time) 10:11(pace)

Verizon Wireless Half Marathon, Tampa, FL, December 2, 2001
Time: ?? (need to find this)

Latin Half Marathon, Lakewood Ranch, FL, November 11, 2001
Time: ?? (need to find this)

Florida Gulf Beaches Marathon , Clearwater, FL, January 2001
30 (age), 4:24:20 Jennifer Feurtado Kevin Horan ( Kevin ran the first half, I ran the second.)

Silicon Valley Half Marathon, San Jose, October 29, 2000
29 (age); 2:04:45 (time); 9:30 (pace)

Max Bayne Half Marathon, January 2, 2000
29 (age), 2:05:59 (time)

Disney half marathon, Orlando, January 1999 - PR
28 (age), 2:04:05(clock) 2:03:17 (chip time) 9:28(pace) 50 out of 363 in age group

Nokia Sugar Bowl Mardi Gras Half Marathon, New Orleanes, 1998
27(age) 2:08:18(time) 9:47(pace) 523(overall place)

A new blog, a new WL start

2008-12-12T15:55:00.000-08:00

This is my second go at a blog. I started one months ago about my love for running half marathons. They seem to me to be the perfect race. A real challenge without leading to a major burnout. The last few weeks I have been thinking about pushing myself a little more and thinking of switching from a planned Feb. 15th half to the full! It seems like the perfect time for it. It's a local race, I know the course well, there will be pacers, my husband and son can get to the course and cheer me on and I can bring my ipod with me.
I am also making a commitment to eating right, even while marathon training! I need to lose these 20 pounds that have been hanging on for far to long.