Dances with Dirt - Green Swamp marathon

Withlacoochee River State Park
March 9, 2012

Trail marathon weekend! I was excited and nervous leading up to this race. Only three weeks since my last marathon and one long run of 12 miles on the trails a week ago was the extent of my long mileage training. I was hoping that would be enough to get me through this race. I was also excited because this was going to be my 10th marathon! Not many, by Marathon Maniac standards, but considering this was the 5th one since mid December, I was pretty proud of myself. :)

I headed up to Rhonda's house Friday afternoon. She was nice enough to offer me a place to stay the night before the race, since she lives about half an hour away from the race venue, it would be a quick trip in the morning. We had a nice dinner and a good chat before going to bed around 9:30. The alarms went off at 4:30 am and we were out the door by 5:15. We arrived at the race venue, the Withlacoochee River Park just before 6 am. We headed over to the tent to pick up our bib, t-shirt and post race meal ticket then headed back to the car where it was warmer. The race start was going to be cold! It was 43 degrees out! About 15 minutes before race start, we headed over to the porta-potties and then to the race start. It was a small group of people. 50 runners for the marathon and even less for the 50K. The 50 mile runners started earlier and the 10K and half marathoners were starting at 9am. The race announcer counted down to the start and then we were off!

The first part of the race is a 10K loop that takes us back to the start. We then continue on for a 20 mile loop. The first loop had a variety of terrain. Beautiful flat, grassy trail, single file path through very tall dead grass, sandy roads and deep muddy trails. A guy named John ran up to me and mentioned he's a maniac (I had my maniac tank on.) We chatted for a while, and while we were chatting, we missed some blue flags and went off in the wrong direction. Thankfully we heard some shouts behind u,s warning us of our error. Detour one of two. :) We continued on. We caught up with Wendy, who was down from MN. I ran with her for the rest of the loop. She was a pro at these long distance trail runs and helped me out with some advice. The temp was warming up nicely now that the sun was out, so I pulled off my arm sleeves and tossed them on to Rhonda's car as we passed the parking area. I stopped for a quick refill of my water bottles at the aid station, before running passed the start area and on to the big loop. Miles 1 through 6 - 10:26, 10:29, 11:31, 10:19, 11:01, 11:33

Heading out on the trail again, I was quickly on my own. For the rest of the race, I was often on my own, which is so different from regular races! I ran down a long sandy stretch and then out to the main road. We ran this for just a little bit before turning right, crossing a bridge and heading back onto the trails. Every once in a while I would pass someone or I would be passed. I was already see people having a hard time. It was still so early! One guy, who had passed me earlier, came up from behind me again. He must have had to take a break in the bushes. (I passed him again, for the last time, a mile later) Another guy, who had the water on his back for both him and his girlfriend, pulled off to the side of the road just before the first aid station. Never saw him again. Passed his girlfriend soon after and let her know he was a ways back and not looking to good. I stopped at the next aid station to refill my two water bottles grabbed a little snack and then headed on. Miles 7 through 10 - 12:08, 11:34, 11:44, 11:38

The next section of trail was challenging because of the little hills. I decided to walk up them after running the first one. I didn't really lose any time. The woman up ahead of me ran them and even though she pulled ahead of me on the uphill, I would catch up to her on the down hill and flat sections. A lot of the rest of the race involved running on trails with high brush and scrub, so I had a hard time seeing if anyone was ahead or behind me. I really had to pay attention to the pink flags we were following. Often, I would stop and look around because I hadn't seen a flag in a while. Luckily, I would find one just ahead and know that I was going the correct way. Miles 11 through 15 - 12:02, 11:02, 11:40, 12:50, 12:07,

The real slow down started just after mile 15. My legs were so sore! All of the uneven terrain was really taking a toll on my body. My upper back and neck was getting pretty stiff too. I decided to start taking walking breaks. Just after mile 19, we came up to another aid station (there had been one other one before this). I drank two small cups of soda ( I'm not much of a soda drinker, but this tasted awesome!) a cup of water and ate half a banana.  I then walked for almost half a mile before running again. The soda tasted great, but it was not sitting great in my stomach. There was a relay category to this race (50 miler I think) and at this point, we were seeing them run past us on the opposite side, towards the aid station. They all had way to much energy! Miles 16 through 20 - 14:57, 13:35, 13:11, 17:49, 14:47

This last part of the race was the hardest both physically and mentally. I was really hurting and the terrain was getting choppier and harder to manuever. There was no way I could run through some of these sections, even if I felt up to it! I was thinking that maybe I wasn't cut out for this type of running, that I should have trained better and that maybe I should not run the 50K next month. The weather was perfect today, but it is bound to be much hotter next month. I really need to work on some positive things to chant to myself to help get me out of these funks I get into! I missed another turn during mile 24. I passed a couple of girls who had stopped and were stretching. It wasn't until about a quarter of a mile later that I realized the trail was much rougher than normal and I couldn't find a marker any were. The girls weren't to far behind me, so I yelled back to them asking if the saw the flag. Just then, I saw a couple of runners off to the side. We had missed a sharp left turn! We back tracked and soon were on the right path. It looked like a big truck had driven through, punching a bunch of holes in the ground at random intervals. I had to walk and hop through this section. Then we got to the section that had chest high weeds. I could have used a stick or something here. My arms took on that job. I was still taking long walking breaks. Running about half a mile and then walking for a quarter of a mile. I figured I should be able to make my sub 6 hour time goal with that. Finally we hit the last aid station. I asked how much further we had and was told a mile. We made our way into a section with lots of tall cypress trees and lots of little cypress nubs sticking out of the ground. With the shuffle like running I was currently doing, there was no way it was safe for me to run through this! I knew there was going to be a river crossing coming soon, but wasn't prepared for how deep and wide it was! I had seen a video from last years race. The person was able to hop over the "river" because there hadn't been much rain. I figured it would be the same this year. No such luck. A guy just ahead of me, plowed through it. Getting his leg stuck in the sand, but pulling it out quick and making his way up the bank on the other side. I wasted a minute or two walking a little ways up the river to see if there was a better place to cross. Nope. Two other runners caught up to me. I let them go first before getting in. The water camp up to my knees and was cold! It did feel refreshing though. I made my way across and up the bank. We made our way back to the sandy path that lead to the parking area. Having soaking wet shoes and then running through deep sand is no fun! I started to walk a little, but when I looked at my watch, I saw that it was 5:52! I needed to hustle to make it in under 6 hours! I started running again. Ran through the grassy area of the parking lot, passed the aid station, gave a high-five to John (who had finished) and ran through the finish!
Miles 21 through 26.9 - 14:16, 13:55, 14:15, 18:03, 14:54, 17:29, 16:09
Finish time: 5:56:08

After I passed the finish line, a woman came up to me, asked my name and age and then told me I was first in my age group! Crazy!! I got my finishers medal, a bucket with the race logo and a pint glass with the race logo. I grabbed a bottle of water and a banana and then waited for Rhonda to finish. She wasn't too far behind me, finishing just over 6 hours. We grabbed our meal tickets out of our car and headed over to get some grub. Cole slaw, BBQ chicken and beans. Plus a cup of iced tea. Yummy! We headed out soon after. It was after 1pm! I needed to get a shower and head home.

Overall, I am proud of myself for running this race. I wish I could be faster, but that just takes practice. Most everyone is slower running the trails. I did waste a lot of time at aid stations. My Garmin shows my moving time as 14 minutes less than my overall time! Oh well. I enjoyed chatting, eating and drinking at the aid stations. :)

Post race notes: bring a towel and a beach chair to the next trail race. Not a lot of seating at these trail events. Lots of race finishers were laying on beach towels on the grass or sitting in their beach chairs. Also, bring flip flops! It would have been nice to get out of those wet socks and shoes right away. :)

Race shirt and bling. It was definitely an Extreme Trail Run!

5th Anniversary Princess Half Marathon

February 24, 2013

With Mary Poppins and her gang.

Disney weekend started out in Tampa on Thursday. I worked to help set up the Fit2run booths at the Gasparilla expo, which had it's races the same weekend as the Disney Princess half marathon. Friday, I worked at the expo and was on my feet for about 10 hours. I left downtown Tampa at about the worst part of the day, 5pm. It took me an hour and a half to get to the Disney resort, where the expo was and were I was staying that night. I made it into the expo about 20 minutes before closing. I got my bib and shirt, before checking out what they had in the race merchandise area. It was a small space, much smaller than the marathon weekend merchandise space. I didn't find the race tank I was hoping to buy, but did get a coffee mug. I checked in with the Rock n Roll/Women's half marathon booth, were I would be working the next day. I had hoped that I would be sitting a lot, but unfortunatly, the tables were set up high, so no sitting at them. I then headed off to check in and then find dinner. There was a massive line for the restraurant in the resort. I waited, got a dinner to go, then headed to my room. I was up for another hour or so before going to bed. I was tired! I was then up again before 6am. I ran 3 miles (3 loops) around the resort before heading back to the room to pack up and drive over to the parking area set aside for expo workers. The expo was crazy busy all day! I couldn't believe the lines for everything! Just as big as the marathon weekend expo. The expo closed at 6pm. We were packed up within 10 minutes and out of there. Katie, who was sharing a room with me and Brenda that night, showed up just before closing, so we headed out for dinner at Outback Stakehouse before heading to All Star Sports to check in. My 3rd hotel in 3 days!! We left a key at the front desk for Brenda, who was at a wedding and would be in later. After getting settled in and relaxing for a while, we were in bed by 9:30 with a 2:30 am alarm set. 

Me, Brenda and Katie before the race

2:30am came around quick! We got dressed, got our gear together and then headed out the door to my car. The drive to the Epcot parking area went pretty fast. I remembered to get into the far left lane, which always puts us in the parking area closest to the waiting area and finish line. We sat around for a little bit and then just before 4, we headed out. We went in search of the meeting spot for the Half Fanatic group photo. there were crazy long lines to get photos with Characters, but no fanatics. I looked on the facebook page to see if anything had changed. The meeting spot had been moved to the front of the merchandise tent, which was were we came in! So, we headed back over there. We found Della and a couple of other fanatics, took a quick photo, then made our way to the porta potties before heading off toward the corrals. Once we got near the corrals, we waited for the porta potties again before heading into corral A. It was great that the 3 of us were in the same corral. I lead us up close to the front, but not right at the front. Then we sat and waited. The time actually went by fast. Soon the lone wheel chair guy was off and then it was our turn. After a pep talk from the Fairy God Mother and a blast of fire works, we were off!

Normally I'll post my split times and discuss the miles and how I felt. But, I'm going to skip that for this report. Within the first mile, I could tell this was going to be a race for fun and not for time. My stomach was upset and my legs were tired from all the standing I had been doing. Plus, it was very warm this morning, with very high humidity. The opposite of last weekends weather for the marathon! I tried to keep a decent pace, pretty much at the fast end of my long run pace. I decided I would stop for photos and just go with the flow. I hit the first steep hill, which is an underpass leading to Magic Kingdom. I decided to walk it, since there was no point getting to tired. As I walked up, Juli passed me. She was looking so strong running up that hill! At the top of the hill, I got a photo with the Gene puppet. In Magic Kingdom, I stopped for a photo with Buzz Lightyear and then Jessie, before running through the castle. There was a long ling to get a photo with Mickey and Minnie, so I didn't stop there. I've got a couple of good photos with them already. I ran through the castle and over to the front for a photo. They had 3 photographers and only me there! Seems like not many runners in corral A stop for photos. Good for me. :) As we ran out of Magic Kingdom, I stopped for a photo with Aurora and her prince.

The rest of the race went well. I continued to just take it easy and not look at my watch to much. Since I've run this race 4 times now, I kind of remembered when to expect things. They had plenty of water stops, which was good, because I wasn't carrying any water with me. The cliff gel spot was around mile 8. I knew to wait to eat that, as the water stop was a little way down the road. I stopped for me photos with one of the Ants, Mary Poppins and then with Elastic Girl. I felt really great as we made our way into Epcot. I think this is the best I have felt while running through here! I've always felt really yucky when I get to this spot. :) Heading out of Epcot, I knew I just had a few turns before seeing the finish line. Mickey and Minnie were waiting for us as we crossed the finish line. I gave Minnie mouse a high five and then crossed the finish.

Finish time was 2:15. Not my best time, of course, but I'm happy that I ran it for fun. I'll probably not run this race again for a few years. 

A1A Ft Lauderdale Marathon

February 17, 2013

This is my first race post Disney Marathon. I was suposed to run the Clearwater marathon a week after Disney, but I got the flu. It took a couple of weeks for me to feel like I had all the gunk out of my chest and lungs, so I didn't get many longish runs in leading up to this race. The weather forcast showed a low of 43 the night before, so I thought, even though my training hadn't been great, maybe I could get a PR with this marathon.

My husband and son decided to make the trip with me this time, so we all loaded up the car and made the 3 hour trip to Fort Lauderdale Saturday morning. We got to the expo around 1 pm, after dealing with the cruise ship traffic near the convention center. The expo was pretty small, so we were in and out pretty quick. I was dissapointed to receive a men's large shirt, when I was pretty sure there had been a men's/women's selection when I registered. They wouldn't let me switch out then, but told me I could at the end of the day or the next morning. After leaving the expo, we headed over the the Westin Resort and Spa. This was located right on the course at mile 25. Easy walking to/from the finish line. We managed to swing an upgrade in rooms and ended up with an ocean front view! Awesome. After some fun times on the beach, we headed out to dinner, then back to the room for an early night for me.

I got up with my alarm at 4:30 am race morning. I hit the start button on the coffee machine, got dressed in the bathroom, grabbed my coffee and bags and then headed out the door. It was strange walking to the race area by myself. I thought I might see other runners there, but I didn't see anyone until I got to the parking area. I got right on a bus and soon we were headed to the start area. I was so happy I took the bus to the start! We could see major traffic heading towards the parking garages around the start area. After I got dropped off, I found the table with shirt exchange. I swapped out my shirt, then headed to the porta potties before heading over to the Art Museum. I met Rhonda there and a few other Marathon Maniacs. It was a nice area to hang out in. Lots of places to sit and it was a shelter from all the wind. While we waited, I told Rhonda about the Dances with Dirt marathon that I am running next month. She said she lived right by the race location. She looked it up on her iphone and signed up right then! A true Maniac. :) Not many Maniacs showed up for a photo, but we did get a 3 person shot taken by a race photographer. We had about 15 minutes before race start so we headed over to bag drop, which was at the back of the corral. The line was massive! Rhonda found her friend Sara in the crowd, so she went over to hang with her while I waited. I got my bag in the van with about a minute to spare. I found Rhonda and Sara in the crowd and hung with them because I could get not further ahead. There was a big group of people between me and the 5 hour pacer. I had wanted to start with the 4:30 guy! I was going to have some catching up to do once we got moving. Finally we made it to the start and I was off!

Lots of weaving around runners and walkers (!!!) who should have started further back. I even passed someone pushing a wheelchair! I tried not to run to fast because I didn't want to burn out later on, but I really wanted to catch up! By mile two, I had caught up to the 4:40 pacer and just around mile 3, I caught the 4:30 pacer. I ran with them a bit, but I ended up pulling ahead. I knew I was going to need to stop for a bathroom break soon, so I wanted to bank some time. I usually get in a bathroom stop just before race start, but I missed that this day. We pass by my hotel, but I see that our room looks dark, so the boys must still be asleep. Just after mile 4 we turn into Birch State Park. At mile 6, there is a water stop with a few porta potties and no line! I dash over there and make it into a stall before another woman. :) I need to learn to speed up this process as this takes up almost 2 precious minutes! Miles 1 through 6 - 9:38, 9:15, 9:19, 9:40, 9:38, 11:26

Within half a mile I catch up to the pace group again, but loose them after we exit the park and they walk through a water stop. We are now running north along the A1A. The wind is very strong with gusting winds that knock me around a bit. The lead half marathoners are already on their way back and to the finish. We have to move over to the left to give them a little space on the right. These guys are on fire! Super fast runners. :) Just before mile 9, the half marathoners turn to the right while the marathoners keep on heading north. Most of the racers are half marathoners, so once they leave, the congestion on the course is so much less. For the next 6.5 miles I try to keep a steady pace and not think about how hard it is running into the wind. I try to focus on how awesome it will be to have the wind at my back for the last 10 miles of the race.
Miles 7 through 16 - 9:31, 9:37, 10:16, 10:00, 10:22, 10:18, 10:38, 10:21: 10:30, 10:05,

Finally I am running south, to the finish with the wind behind me! It feels great. Every once in a while I get a wind push that feels like someone has shoved me in the back. It's that strong! The 4:30 group catches up to me, so I decide I will try to hang with them for the rest of the race. We are running a good pace, through it feels a little fast. After a mile I look at my Garmin to see what the split was and notice it was just under a 10:00 mile! He should be keeping a 10:18 pace! They seem to pick up the pace even more, so I decide to let them go and hope they don't get to far ahead. I know I have a couple of minutes of extra time, because I started behind them. By mile 19, I notice that I am stiffening up. I decide I will take walk breaks through the water stops. This is the first marathon in years that I have not run with intervals from the start, but I thought I would give it a try with this race. I was at 3:22 at mile 20. I should have had plenty of time to finish in 4:30. I just needed to focus on my goal. Miles 17 through 20 - 10:21, 9:58, 10:56, 10:39

Trying to finish strong even though I hurt!

The last 5.4 miles were rough. My knee hurt a few times, so I stopped and walked, giving it a break from the pounding. My hamstrings and quads were getting tighter and tighter, so I stopped a couple of times to stretch. I kept trying to push through the pain and run, even if it was a slow pace. But, I was getting slower and slower and I knew my goal time was about to slip away. When I got up to mile 25, were my hotel was, I looked around for my husband and son. I saw them up in the walkway that covers the road. They ran into the elevator that would take them to the road, so I slowed down so that I could see them. Aidan came running out and up to me. Gave me a big smile and told me to keep going. That was a wonderful thing to see! I powered ahead, trying to pick up the speed a little. I looked at my Garmin as I reached 26.2. It showed 4:35. If only that was my official time! About a quarter of a mile later, I crossed the finish line. Missing a PR by 20 seconds! Miles 21 to 26.43 - 11:09, 12:23, 10:57, 11:57, 12:33, 11:29, 4:21

Finish - 4:37:26

I hobbled over to get my medal, water and then some food. I grabbed my bag and put on my extra pullover and jacket. Once I stopped running, I started to get cold fast. I found a spot behind a truck that provide some protection from the wind, and hung out there for a bit. I was having a little pitty party for myself. I just felt really let down. I wish I wouldn't get so stiff during those last 6 or so miles. It's so frustrating! After sitting for a while and thinking over the race, I realized that this was still my second fastest time out of the 9 marathons that I have run. And I'm proud of it. One day I will get a 4:30 marathon and maybe I'll get an even faster time than that. I just need to keep running! :)

20th annual Disney World Marathon and weekend

January 10-13, 2013

Gina and I headed up to Orlando early Thursday morning. We reached the expo about 8:30, helped with last minute cleanup/setup, got our spots for the day and then the doors opened and we were busy! 10,000 runners for the 5K Friday, 25,000 for the half Saturday and 25,000 for the marathon Sunday. That's a lot of people coming through the expo. And it's not just them. Everyone comes with someone else. Many with multi family members. The first day was crazy busy. Just a non stop flow of traffic. When our lunch arrived. I headed over to the other building that had our bibs. There was no line for my number, so I was able to get in and out fast. I ate a little lunch, before heading back in to quickly pickup my shirt and get back to work. I got to see some friends come in, which made the day fun. Non stop customers made the day go fast. Finally we were done at 7:30, 11 hours later. Gina and I didn't want to wait around any longer to see were everyone was going to dinner, so we just ate at the Applebee's attached to our hotel. Finally we got settled in the room and went to bed around 9:30.

The next day we were back at the expo by 7:30 for another busy 12 hour day. It happened to be busy again, even more so than the day before. I would look up every now and then and see a stream of people flowing through the door. At lunch, I went outside to see a line of people waiting to get in that wrapped around the soccer field and out to the parking lot! My legs and feet were feeling really sore by the end of the second day. I was very happy that we were not working the following day. We got out of there at 7:30, checked into another hotel and met up with Bret for dinner at a wings place. I got the best night of sleep Friday night! We slept in Saturday. Hit a few stores at the outlet mall before resting a bit at the hotel. Gina went off to watch her daughter play in a volleyball tournament and I went to Wolfgang Pucks at Downtown Disney for a dinner with the CAPS.

Vanessa, Brenda, Katie and me before the race!

Gina, Caroline and me

Race morning: Super early start to the day. We got up at 2:45! Left the hotel a little after 3 am, arriving in good time at the parking area of Epcot. We got a great spot, close to the pre-race waiting area. We sat in the car for a bit before heading over to the waiting area for the Maniac photo and to meet up with friends. After checking in Gina's bag and a quick stop at the porta potties, Caroline, Gina and I made our way to the corrals. After a slow walk to the corrals (lots of people) Caroline headed to her corral and Gina and I headed towards ours. I decided to head to the porta potties one more time (we still had an hour to wait) before getting into the corral. Finally, we made it into the corral, worked our way up towards to front of it and then sat down to wait. Time actually went pretty fast and soon enough the first corral of runners where on their way. We were in the third corral, so we didn't have long to wait before we were the next group to go. With a burst of fireworks, we were off!

The first few miles were great. It was warm out already, but not to bad without the sun out. We ran miles 1, 2 and 3 straight through before starting intervals. Our plan was to run 4/1 intervals for the rest of the race. We saw Jeff and Bret early on. Bret ran with us for a couple of minutes before falling back with his friends. We were hoping to see Dave at some point (he had started in the first corral) but no luck. We made it into the Magic kingdom in good time. It was still dark, so the castle looked beautiful with all the lights on still. We stopped for a photo before heading in and stopped for another photo after we ran through. The trip through magic kingdom was quick and soon enough we were on the roads outside the park. So far, I had been sticking to my plan of 1 endurolyte every 2 miles. I'd had one Gu so far, with the plan to have one every 5 miles or so.
Splits 1 through 6 - 9:02, 9:11, 9:21, 9:33, 10:20, 10:28

Just after mile 7, we caught up the 4:15 Galloway pacer. The pace seemed to be about what we were running and when a runner told me they were running 3/1 intervals, I thought we could run with them for a while. So we pass 3 minutes without a walk break and then pass 4 and then 5. Finally when we get to a water station, the pacer takes a walk break! We then head down the very steep tunnel and up onto the Disney Motor Speedway. The pace group slowly gets ahead of us, but I'm good with that. Gina decides to stop at a porta potty, but tells me to go on and she will catch up. So I start my own interval watch (we had been using hers), I slow my pace a little and keep going. I thought the track was kind of cool. We were running on the flat lower section of the track. There were lots of cool cars parked on the side. At one point there was Lightning McQueen, Mater and Sally. I looked at my watch finally wondering why I heard no beep. It still showed 4 mins. Oops. Didn't press the start button hard enough! So I pressed start and kept going. I planned to stop for a character photo and give Gina time to catch up, but I couldn't find one that I really wanted. Finally she caught up with me and we were running together again. :) The next park was Animal Kingdom. We stopped for a photo with Jiminy Cricket and continued on. I was starting to feel the effects of the heat. By the half way point, I was really wishing I was running a half marathon! I still had a long way to go.
Splits 7 through 13 - 10:07, 10:11, 10:08, 10:04, 10:39, 10:07, 10:30

This next stretch of the race had to be the most boring! It was all on the roads. It took us from mile 13 to 17 to get to the ESPN complex. The only cool thing about it was being able to see runners on the other side of the road, who had already run through the sports complex. I could feel myself slowing down. As we entered the complex, I told Gina to go on ahead of me. I was going to need to slow down my pace and I didn't want to hold her back. The complex seemed to go on and on! We ran around a field or two, ran a lap around the track (which was nice) ran around the expo buildings, ran a lap around the baseball field and then made our way out of the park. At mile 20, they had all these cool giant puppets. I stopped for a photo with Tigger. :)
Splits 14 through 20 - 10:25, 10:27, 10:47, 10:49. 11:13, 12:28, 12:05

Based on my split times, my pace really slowed down the most during these last 7 miles. My feet were really hurting, I was stiffening up and I was just so hot! I wish I could figure out why I get so stiff, even in different temperatures. I just kept shuffling along. I stopped at one aid station to slather on biofreeze on both thighs. This seemed to help a little. At the next few aid stations, I was seeing a lot of runners hanging in the medical tents. I was not the only one have problems today. Finally we made it into Hollywood Studios. I didn't know how we would get from here to Epcot in just a few miles, but once we left Hollywood studios, we ran along a sidewalk, along a river, that passed by a couple of resorts before entering Epcot at mile 25. During the last few miles, I had been running with the same couple of runners. One of them, a woman who looked to be around my age, had a shirt on that said "Survived stroke, 1998, Survived cancer 2011, Anything is possible." What an inspiring person! She really helped to keep me going, just by being there and sharing her story on her shirt. I stopped for a couple more photos, one with Snow White and one with Jasmine, before heading out of Epcot and towards the finish. I was so happy to see the finish line ahead of me. I found some extra speed and ran the last bit in, passing a couple of guys, before finishing. :)
Splits 19 through 26.65 - 13:35, 12:46, 12:41, 13:30, 12:58, 13:43, 7:46
Finish: 4:55

Savage Seven Marathon - Day 5

Winter Springs, FL December 30, 2012

The Savage Seven Marathon series is one held the day after Christmas to New Years day. I guess the location moves around, last year it was in Northern Florida on a track. This year the race was held in a town just to the east of Orlando. I had been thinking of trying to make it over for one or two races, but didn't think I could make it work. So the week leading up to the race I didn't taper at all. 5 miles on Monday, 8 miles on Wednesday, a track workout (3 miles) on Thursday. Thursday afternoon, I discovered that I could make it over for the Day 5 marathon. There was race day registration available and Brenda said I could stay in her hotel the night before. I figured I would just go out and run it like a long run. The weather forecast looked good (nice and cool) and I would be able to see Brenda and Patti on their quest to become Marathon Maniacs. I worked a short shift Saturday, before making the 2.5 hour drive over. So glad I don't live in the Disney area just west of Orlando. Major traffic for a few miles through there, but I finally made it to the hotel around 5 pm. Brenda and I had a good dinner, got our gear set out and ready for the race and then got a good nights sleep.

Me and Patti.

We got up at 4:30 the next morning. I got dressed, capri skirt, compression sleeves, socks, shoes, Maniac Diva shirt, Maniac arm sleeves, pullover half-zip and visor. I hoped to at least take the pullover off at some point in the morning. The temp said low 40s, but the feels like temp was 32! The race start was at 6am. I needed to find a place to get coffee before getting to the race and registering. I somehow got my self turned around with the directions I wrote out (I should not try to find places at 5am with no coffee in me first!) I finally stopped at a 7-Eleven to get coffee and also pick up a power bar. I had left my pre race Marathon Bar at the hotel! I ate that on the way while trying to find the race. I started getting worried as the clock went past 5:30. I ALWAYS get to a race early. I wasn't even signed up yet! Finally I pulled in around 5:40. There were just a few people there at this point. I found Bettie, the race director, right away. I got signed up, got my bib and shirt and then went to my car to get my stuff set up. I had brought a TV try table to set up my water bottle, gu and wash cloth on. I figured I could stop by it as I ran by, when needed. I hit the porta pottie and then headed over to the small group that had gathered. Bettie had told me there were around 24 runners. So, a very small group of runners this very cold, winter morning. Race course: 50 loops around the parking lot at Winter Springs High School. Since I just ran a 58 loop marathon a couple of weeks ago, I knew I could mentally do this one. Thank goodness I had my music today as there was no DJ! (I wore only one ear bud so that I could hear and talk with other runners.)

I started off in the middle of the pack, but very quickly moved up front. I knew the main reason I was out front was because most of these runners had already run 4 or 5 marathons in the previous days. But I didn't care, it was a cool feeling to be out front. I was feeling good, the effort didn't feel "fast" so I went with it. By the time I had run past the start line and was about half way through my second lap, I could see I had gained half a lap. The lap counters and others at the aid station kept giving me surprised looks each time I ran by them. I guess I was going a lot faster than most of the runners had been running in the previous days. :) At mile 3, I turned on my watch that was set up with 3/1 intervals. I was feeling so good though, I figured I would walk every other time it beeped. So I was really doing a 7/1 interval of run/walk. Around mile 4.5, I stopped at the aid station for the first time, grabbed a gu and a cup of water and walked a bit while I ate and drank. Then I was on the run again. Miles 1 thru 5 - 9:32, 9:21, 9:18, 9:41, 10:12

Me and Brenda

Some time between mile 8 and 9, I realized I hadn't been drinking as much as I normally do. Usually, I drink a little every 2 miles and I also have an endurolyte every 2 miles. But today, It was so cool and it didn't seem like I was sweating as much, so I didn't even think about it. Around mile 9, I had 1 endurolyte and and another Gu with water. I was still feeling really good. I ran with Jeff once or twice during these early miles. He was on marathon #5. His lower shin was bothering him and he was hoping he would be OK for the days race. He also told me I was still in the lead. What! Even though it's such a small race, if felt pretty cool to be in the lead. :) Miles 6 thru 10 - 9:24. 9:08, 10:02, 9:47, 10:09

I made it to the half way point still feeling good. I still had on my pullover though. Every time I thought of pulling it off, I would hit the very windy stretch and decide it was still to cold to take it off. It did feel a little better out once the sun came out. Around mile 12, I had a banana and during mile 14, I had to make a pit stop at the porta potty, which cost me almost 2 minutes. :( Miles 11 thru 17 - 9:58, 9:56, 9:54, 11:42, 10:31, 10:12, 10:12

Cowboy Jeff kept me company for a couple of laps.

Based on my splits, I started slowing down at mile 18, even though I didn't notice it much when I was running. I hit mile 20 at 3 hours and 20 minutes, which was an awesome overall pace for me. If I could just hold it, I would have a huge PR! But of course, that was not to be. My body really started to stiffen up. I took a couple more endurolytes with my next Gu, but the damage was done. I am guessing I didn't get enough electrolytes and water in me during the earlier miles. I thought I wasn't sweating much, but as I discovered later, my shirt under the pullover was very sweaty! Jeff came by and ran with me for a little over a lap. he pointed out Rich and told me he was about to lap me and take the lead! There was nothing I could do about it. I could not speed up! Cowboy Jeff came out and ran a couple of laps with me. I really appreciate these guys running with me for brief periods of time. It really helped to keep me going when I felt like slowing down and walking more. By the time Rich finished, and won!, I still had one lap to go. These two high school boys, who were volunteers, ran the last lap with me. I turned off my interval watch and just ran it in as hard as I could to finish strong. Somehow, I must have weaved a quit a bit, with my stop at the bathroom, to toss things next to my car and grab things off the tray and the aid station, because I added almost an extra mile! Sucks! Of course, Garmin could be off a little
Miles 18 to 26 - 11:01, 11:04, 10:57, 11:13, 11:11, 11:19, 12:24, 13:11, 12:23 Mile 27 - 10:56

Jeff, Me and Rich.

Finish: 4:44. I ended up with 2nd overall and first female! That was the first and probably the last time that will ever happen! :) Super happy with it though. I just hope to figure out what is going on with my legs later on in the marathon. This didn't happen a couple of weeks ago. The only thing I can figure is that I didn't hydrate properly.

I think it would have been fun to run more than one day. Maybe in a couple of years when the race series comes back to Florida. Jeff is taking the 2013-14 Savage Seven to Jackson, MS. I was told it would be back in Florida for 2014-15. :)

12.12.12. Marathon of Sarasota

Gateway Whitaker Park, December 12, 2012

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

With Kimmi

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

Dave and I got our Frapps!

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

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

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

Still having fun with Dawn and Gina!

Holiday Halfathon

December 9, 2012
Madiera Beach, FL

Super foggy morning in FL race morning. I drove over to the Super Target to meet up with Gina and Ken. Ken was going to drive us to the race, which I was thankful for. It was scary driving in that thick fog. We got to the race start area pretty early. We hung out in the car for a bit, then went to use the bathrooms in the building were packet pickup was being held. We ran into Brenda on the way over, took a photo next to a shark statue outside the Firestation and then headed in. Ken picked up his shirt and bib, we got our chips and then headed back to the car for a bit. Ken decided to start early, with the walkers, because his foot was really bothering him, so we headed to the start area just before 7. I got in line to use the porta potty one more time, then we had a bit of a wait before the race start. It was warm. High 60s and super humid. Just before the race started, my stomach got queasy and my mouth started watering. Not a good sign. I quickly adjusted my time goals. This was not going to be a sub 2 hour half day. Soon, the national anthem was sung and we were off!

Just before the finish. Yeah! :)

Gina and I started pretty close to the start. We got caught up with the fast runners. I kept looking at my Garmin and seeing times in the 7 min mile range! When we got to the main beach road, I eased up the pace a bit. Gina kept on going. By mile 2, I could hardly see her up ahead of me. I was OK with this. If she was having a good day, I really wanted her to get that PR if she could. My stomach was doing ok for the first few miles, so I decided to push the pace for as long as I could. The first small bridge was at mile 4. Got over that just fine. :) Splits 1 through 4 - 8:19, 8:40: 8:56, 9:13

After we get off the island. We run east, through a very nice neighborhood. We have all of the left lane to ourselves, which is nice. My plan was to take an endurolyte every 2 miles and a gel at around mile 6 and 10. So, just after mile 6, I slowed to a walk to have the gel and drink some water (slower time). Soon, we were running the loop around a park and then making our way onto the Pinellas Trail. I stopped at the water stop for a quick refill of one of my water bottles, before continuing on. I was hoping to wait for another walking break until mile 10, but I couldn't wait. Walked a little at mile 8. I forget where the first overpass bridge was, but I did manage to power up that sucker. Splits 5 through 10 - 9:10, 9:32, 10:19, 9:33, 9:59, 9:57

The second overpass was around mile 10, I got half way up that sucker, before walking. I was just happy to be over it, because I knew it was the last one! I feel like I forgot how boring it can be to run on this trail. It seemed to go on forever! I might have to skip this race next year, but maybe that was just the heat talking to me. Just before mile 12, we turn off the trail and enter the park were the finish is located. We enter to the right of the finish area. You can hear all the people cheering, but we turn to the right, away from the finish. There is a big loop around the lake to run first. Part of that run is on a dirt trail. This didn't bother me much. Just happy there wasn't a lot of gravel! I did have to take 2 walking breaks during this last mile. If I had been "racing" this, I would have pushed through, but I knew I would get a sub 2:10, which was my second goal, so I figured, why not save something for the end. :) I was really happy to take the last corner and push it in. I even passed a guy just before the finish! Splits 11 through 13.1 - 10:30, 10:21, 11:00, 1:21

Finish 2:07:34. Happy with my finish time. Actually, considering the heat and how I was feeling, I'm very happy with it. :)  Gina almost got her sub 2! She finished in 2:00:27! Next up, the 12-12-12 Marathon of Sarasota in just a few days!