University Park XCountry 4 miler

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

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

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

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

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

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

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