Disney Goofy Weekend

Half marathon and marathon over two days
January 10 and 11, 2015

Fun times at the expo

With Bart Yasso

Carolyn and I arrived at the ESPN Sports complext around mid day, for the Disney expo. As we headed up to the main building, we saw vendors outside the ball park. This was new. Normally, they are all inside the main building. We looked around a little, but decided to check it out more, on our way out. We made our way to the special bib pick up area for Goofy and Dopey runners. Since Dopey runners had already run two races, there were only goofy people picking up. We walked right up to the booth, got our bibs, then headed over to have our photo taken. Disney was taking our photos, to make sure we ran with our own bibs! No photo, no Goofy medal! After the photo, we headed downstairs to get our shirts, then we headed outside to go to the main expo building. Once inside there, we made our way to the back of the room first, to check out what was left of the official race merchandise. Not a great selection! Thankfully, we had given our friend, Silvana, money, so she could shop for us on Wednesday, when she and Heather got to the expo. We both got the goofy tank tops we really wanted. They only had one hoody left, though, so I let Carolyn have that. I bought a half marathon tank top and a special runner micky figurine. That's it! I would have bought a visor if they had one. After wondering through the rest of the expo and getting a little shopping in, we headed over to our hotel. Thankfully, we were able to check in, even though we were an hour early. We relaxed for a bit before heading out to meet Emma and Jackie for dinner. Lots of great laughs and a yummy dinner later, we were back in the room, getting everything ready for our 2:30am alarm.

Pre half marathon. It's cold!

January 10, Half marathon: 2:30 am is a ridiculous time to get up, but that's what time we needed to. I get ready pretty fast, so I was able to drink a cup of coffee and check out the internet, while Carolyn got ready. We left the hotel around 3:15 am. The drive over was pretty easy. Just one wrong turn. :) We arrived early enough to get a good parking spot, close to the entrance to the waiting area. We hung out in the car for about half an hour, before getting out into the cold. Temp was in the low 40s! So cold! I was not prepared for this! I had one thin toss away sweater. No pants to put over my skirt. Thankfully Carolyn had an extra pair of gloves for me. We made our way through the security bag check, quickly. This was new since the last time I had run a Disney race two years before. After the bombings at the Boston Marathon, they added this extra security check point. Once we got into the waiting area, we took some photos, then took our bag to bag check and then started the long walk to the corral. We made a pit stop at the Porta pottie one more time before getting into our G corral. We found Katie and her husband, David, a few minutes after searching. We had a 30 ish minute wait before we were able to start. After the first wave went off, I started to make my way towards the front of the corral. I was going for a PR today. I figured it was a good time to try. My biggest issue was going to be dealing with the crowds. Finally, we were at the front and I was really close to the start line. After a blast of fireworks, we were off!

I sprinted out fast, happy to be free of the crowd. It was great starting forward, I didn't have to weave around anybody. Yet. Within minutes, we hit the back end of the F corral. Lots of people walking, many people across. Then we got to the first water stop. I ran down the center, I didn't need any water withing the first mile. By 1.5 miles, I hit a huge crowd of runners. I was off to the right, but could not get around everyone without running in the grass. So, that's what I did. I just kept telling myself to pick up my feet. I didn't want to trip over anything. When I could, I would hop back onto the pavement, only to have to get back on the grass again a little later. Once we left the narrow road and entered the 3/4 lane road, I was able to get away from the masses again. These first few miles are pretty boring, but it was still dark, so not much to see anyway. We passed the first character spot, Jack Sparrow, before heading to the park entrance to Magic Kingdom. This is were all the cars enter, to make their way to the parking lots. We still had a few miles to get to the actual park. At some point between mile 4 and 5, we hit the big hill. It's a steep down hill and then a steep uphill. This slows me down just a little. It's my slowest mile so far. Just before entering the park, I toss off my zip up sweater. I had it unzipped for a while now. I didn't want to get to warm and sweaty, because I knew I would really feel the cold once I took it off, if I was already sweaty. Plus, I knew there would be a lot of photographers in the park and I didn't want to be wearing the ugly sweater. :D I eat my first Gu and drink some water. I know I haven't been drinking as much as I should. A common problem for me when it's cold out. Running in the Magic Kingdom is awesome. My favorite park is running down the Main Street towards the Castle. There are tons of people on the side, cheering us on. The castle looks awesome, decorated with lots of ice lights. We have a little more running left in the park, before we head out. Miles 1 through 6 splits - 8:13, 8:14, 8:15, 8:16, 8:32, 8:35

As we head out of the Magic Kingdom, the scenery becomes boring again, but the road opens up, so I have more space. I feel my pace slowing a little, but overall, I am still feeling good. My face is still a bit numb, which doesn't go away for the entire race. I'm lucky I had some nice looking photos, considering I couldn't feel my smile. I take my second Gu around mile 10 and grab some water from a water stop. There is a crazy tight curved ramp, leading to an overpass. I go ahead and take the inside tight curve, but the slant sucks. I'll feel all the slanted roads while running tomorrow. As head head into Epcot, I know the end is close, I've run this same course more than 5 times now, so it's very familier. We run by the giant ball, loop back around and then head out of the park. A couple of little turns later, I see the finish line just ahead. I keep to the right, give Mickey Mouse a high-five, then cross the finish line. I look at my watch to see a PR! So happy!! Miles 7 through 13.1 (13.25 on Garmin) splits - 8:28, 8:19, 8:30, 8:39, 8:40, 8:40, 8:28, 1:57

Finish time: 1:51:51 (official)

January 11, Disney Marathon: Carolyn and I took it pretty easy after the half. We had a good dinner with friends, but I think my one big mistake was not hydrating enough during the day and then drinking a beer with dinner, which I never do! So race morning was very similar to the previous morning. We got to the parking lot about the same time. This morning, we met Jackie, Soli and Emma in the staging area. We chatted for a bit, before Carolyn and I started to walk over to the corrals. I guess we left a little later this time, because the porta potties had much longer lines. We got into the corral late, but still managed to find Katie and David again, plus we Kathy. We got to talk for a little bit, before the first wave took off. Then, we made the slow progression to the front. Carolyn and I planned to try to stick together today. We wanted to take photos and just run it at an easy pace.

Kathy, Katie, me and Carolyn. Wasn't as cold today, so used the garbage
bags for the hour or so we had to wait before we started the race.

Once we got going, we kept the pace around a 10 minute mile, which felt pretty good considering how hard I pushed it the day before. We skipped the first couple of photo opportunities, since it was so dark still and the characters were not that big of a deal to us. As we headed into Magic Kingdom, I told Carolyn to stay to the left. We got to high five some of the crowd that was out there cheering us on. We we got to a great photo spot, with the castle behind us, we stopped for a photo. We stopped for another photo as we came out the otherside of the castle as well. This lead to the 12:29 mile! Miles 1 through 6 splits - 9:58, 9:45, 9:53, 9:48, 9:57, 12:29

Just after exiting the Magic Kingdom, we come up to the spot that has Snow White, the Prince, Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. So, we stop to wait in that long line for a photo. Just before we get to the front, the Prince and Snow white take a break. :( We do get a photo with the other two. Then, we head out towards the race track. Once we enter the track, I start to feel a little light heade

d. I realize I need to eat something right away. I tell Carolyn I need to stop and walk while I eat something. I eat half a bag of Power Bar gel chews, drink some water and walk for a couple of minutes. We then start to run again. It takes a few minutes to feel better, but once the sugar rush kicks in, I do feel better. For a brief time. My next issue is my stomach. As we get closer to Animal Kingdom, I tell Carolyn I'm going to need a restroom! I hold out until we get to the park, so I can use a real restroom and not a porta pottie. Thankfully, just after entering Animal Kingdom, there is a restroom to the left. Miles 7 through 13 splits - 15:40, 10:34, 10:02, 10:49, 10:14, 11:02, 12:34

Me, Sarah and Leah

After the pit stop, I felt better for a little bit of time. We had a couple of slow miles again, while we stopped for some photos. Thankfully, most of them had very short lines. Just before mile 17, I found Sarah and Leah at their water stop. It was great seeing them! I stopped for a quick photo, before catching up with Carolyn, Once we headed into ESPN, I felt the need to use the restroom again. :( This is one of my least favorite parts of the race. We spend a lot of time in this area. It just seems to take forever to get to the ball park. We miss a restroom earlier on, but manage to find porta potties just before the entrance to the ball park. I head in, then have to wait a little for Carolyn, who had to wait to use mine. Even after this pit stop, I am feeling dehydrated and yucky. As we leave the ball park and run through the next water station, I tell Carolyn to go ahead. I need to walk more. So, I don't see her again until the finish. We hit mile 20, just after leaving ESPN.Miles 14 through 20 splits - 10:28, 12:40, 11:10, 10:32, 11:38, 10:17, 14:55.

The last almost 7 miles are long and rough. I manage to pick up my pace while running, but still have to take more walking breaks than I would like. And, the walk breaks become more frequent. When I hit any sort of hill, I walked it. Somewhere around mile 22, it started to sprinkle on us. Then we got a light rain. As we head into Hollywood Studios, there are tables handing out little chocolate squares. I grab a couple of those. Yummy! Can't make my stomach feel any worse at this point! I stop for a photo with Mike, from Monster's Inc, and then take a few "selfie" photos with the giant Micky magicians hat, that is being taken down. We head out of Hollywood Studios, we take a scenic route to Epcot, along a river. Just before entering Epcot, I see Della, April and some of their friends, cheering on runners. I call out a greeting, hold out my hand for high fives as I run by. What a much needed boost! We head into Epcot, running around the different countries, before running by the Giant ball and heading out of the park. Once again, it's the same couple of quick turns and then the finish line is in sight. I tried really hard to get in under 5 hours for the race, but the extra distance from pit stops and weaving, added a half mile to my overall distance. Otherwise I would have come in just under 5 hours! Miles 21 through 26.71 splits - 10:27, 11:36, 12:33, 12:58, 12:33, 11:10, 7:46 (for .71!)
Finish: 5:03

Katie and me with our bling.

Goofy bling, Marathon bling and Half Marathon Bling.

2014 year in review

My races for the year:

Jan 1- Savage 7 marathon, 2nd female finisher

Jan 19 - Clearwater marathon

Feb 1 - groundhog jog - 5K, masters winner!

Feb 7-8 Ragnar Fl Keys

Feb 22-23 Gasparilla races - 15k, 5K, half marathon, 8K

March 1 Springfest 7.5m

March 16 - 50K, 2nd overall female!

April 5 - Mote Turtle Run 5K

April 12 - Shark's Tooth 10K

April 19 - Boston Strong Run 5.2m, 2nd in age group

May 10 - Run for the Music 5K, 1st place age group

June 22 - Mammoth Lakes Half Marathon, 50th half!

June 28 - Half marathon, new pr!

July 4 - Firecracker 5K

July 12- Moon Over Croom 14miler

July 19 - Englewood Triathlon

Sept 13 - Life's A Beach tri

Sept 26 - Boca Lupa 5K, 1st in age group

Oct 11 - SUP 5k race

Oct 25- Boo Run 5K, 3rd in age group

Oct 26 - Bill's Beer Run 5 miler, New PR!

Nov 9 - Ft Myers Marathon

Nov 22 - Harvest Hustle 5K

Nov 30 - Space Coast Marathon, New PR!

Dec 13 - Hillsborogh River Half

Dec 19 Jingle 5K, New PR!

Dec 27 Manatee River Run 5 Miler

Manatee River Run 5 miler

December 27, 20014

Last race of the year! I signed up for this race very early (notice the #10 on my bib!), as soon as I saw the cute long sleeved hoodie that we got. I've run this race a few times, but it's been a couple of years. My back was really hurting in the days leading up to the race. It was very locked up. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to run! But, I wanted to finish it, not matter what. Even if I walked the whole thing.

Gina and I got to the race site pretty early. The race starts pretty late, 9am. We sat in her car for a while, before heading down to the race start area, just under a mile down the road. Nice little warmup walk. We watched the last kids race, chatted with some people, then finally got lined up at the start.

We head east on the main road through Emmerson Point Park. About half a mile or so down the road, we turn left, onto the first trail loop. It's very crowded on this trail, good for two runners across. Since it's so early in the race, the trail is very congested. One guy almost runs me off the trail! We exit the trail, cross the main road near the start, then run a loop on the trail that is on the other side of the main road. The runners have spread out a bit more here, so I don't have to worry about shoving. Thankfully, this train is pretty smooth, not many roots to watch out for, but I still keep my eyes on the ground in front of me. Around mile 2.5, we exit the trail, turning right onto the main road. We run this all the way down to the end, which hits the Gulf of Mexico, before heading back. I've felt pretty good for the first couple of miles, but by mile 2, my back was getting stiffer. I just pushed through as best as I could. Finally, I see the last turn. The finish line is just ahead. I see that the time is 41 and change. I push as hard as I can to get in under 42 minutes. I finish in 42:05, just missing it.

Overall, happy with my last race of the year. Looking forward to lots of running in 2015!

Jingle 5K

Lakewood Ranch, FL
December 19, 2014

This is my second year running this race. I don't normally like evening races, but this was my PR last year, and, the final race of a 3 part series, so I definitely wanted to run this race. My legs were feeling sore, from the tough workouts this week, so I really wasn't expecting much. I figured I would go out and try my best, but wouldn't be surprised with a slower finish. I wore a cute elf long sleeved shirt. I hardly every wear long sleeves. It's got to be in the 40s for me to wear sleeves, yet I went for it tonight, even though the temp was in the low 60s. Yeah, long sleeved cotton is not a great choice in running shirts! Gina and I met up in the parking lot, then walked over to the party area near the start. It was a mad house. Around 1500 people signed up to run this race! 3 corrals, with the first corral being for finishers under 28 minutes. Gina, Donna and I got lined up with the first corral and got ready to go.

The course was super crowded, even starting close to the start line. We run out and then take a right. The course is pretty much exactly the same as the Boo Run course, we just start at a different section of the main road, so we turn around further down. About a quarter of a mile down, It feels like my shoe lace is untied. Sure enough, it is. Rookie mistake!! I briefly consider letting it go, and running with it loose, but I am way to clumsy to do that, so, I pull to the side, bend down and tie and knot it. I probably only loose about 10 seconds or so. Gina has passed me during my little shoe tie break, so I try my best to catch up with her. Probably go a little to fast trying to catch up, but, what the heck, I'm not expecting much from this race. I am surprised to see my mile 1 split, Not bad considering the stop. The road is very dark in spots. There is one section that is completely black. I made sure I was picking my feet up, not dragging. I didn't want to trip over something I couldn't see. Finally, we get to the turn around spot. It's a tight turn. We are now on our way back, on the other side of the road. It's nice to see all the people behind me. :) I grab a drink of water at the water stop, slowing briefly so I don't pour it all over my face. By mile two, I do feel a little slow down. I pass Mike, say something like "Why are you letting me pass you". I guess I was a little motivator, because he passes me knot long after the comment! :) As I get closer to the finish area, I start to push my pace. Just before the left turn, that takes us to the finish line, some teenager, jumps off the curb to my left, dashing across the road RIGHT in front of me! That was a close call. I might have let a curse word fly in his direction. ;) That provided a nice surge of adrenaline for the final push. I finish strong.

I was really happy with my finish time. I had no idea until I got home, that it was a PR time! Super excited about that. :)

Splits - 7:46, 7:42, 7:51, 0:22
Finish: 23:43; 4th out of 112 in age group

Hillsborough River Half Marathon

Hillsborough River Trail half marathon, December 13, 2014

Gina, Carolyn, Wendy and I headed up to the Tampa area around 6 am race morning. We got to the race site, picked up our bags and then waited in the car until we needed to head to the start. It was a cold morning! Temp was low 40s. We all were trying to decide if we needed to wear a top layer or not. About 10 minutes to race start, we got out of the warm car and walked down the road to the start line. I found Brenda and Vanessa there. Got a quick photo, while we listened to the course directions. Just before we got started, the lead marathoners (who had started about 10 minutes before us) came running through. We had a little loop at the start of the race, before heading out to the trail. One runner had brought her dog. He/she wasn't on a leash and for some reason decided to run across the road, right in front of the lead female runner, tripping her! She recovered quickly, smiled and waved and continued on. We all gave her a big cheer. We then got lined up and got ready to go.

Giant puddle covering the road.

I lost Gina and Carolyn right away, even though it was a small group of runners. The dog and it's owner came up on the left side of me, then cut across and stopped. The woman was yelling at the dog, telling him to stop acting crazy. Not sure why the dog was allowed to run the race, specially without a leash! As we finished off the first little loop, the dog stopped, squatted and pooped on the road! I pulled ahead of them and thankfully didn't encounter these two again on the course. Hope they didn't trip up anyone else. Just before mile one, we made the turn to the right, off the paved road. I drop my zip up hoodie here, as I'm starting to warm up. We soon encountered the large puddle, that covered the entire dirt road. There was one little area to get around it, but it was pretty muddy. I managed to get though without getting my feet wet. The course changed from wide dirt road, to hard packed dirt road and then to single track trial, with lots of roots. This section wasn't very long. Less than two miles maybe. My favorite part of the run, even though it slows me down a bit because I've got to change my gait to avoid tripping. One guy, who had been running behind me for a while and was breathing very heavy, passed me and then soon tripped on a root! I made sure he was of, before continuing on. Slightly happy to not have his crazy breathing behind me anymore. :) The next section of the trail is high grass trail. My least favorite section. Not much traction on my older Hoka shoes I was wearing. Finally we hit an aid station, made the turn to the right to start the second loop, back on the dirt road. Splits for miles 1 through 7 - 9:00, 8:29, 8:50, 9:04, 8:55, 9:15, 9:08

Hard packed dirt road.

Started to slow down during the second loop. My hips were feeling pretty tight. I knew it was going to be a tough run just two weeks after Space Coast Marathon. Plus, I ran a total of 20 miles already during the week, so no kind of taper leading up to this run. My only goal was to try and beat last year's time of 2:05. By the time I hit the single track trail section, I was feeling pretty stiff, but kept up running. This section is right next to the river, but I can't really enjoy the view, because I'm afraid to take my eyes off of the trail in front of me! I don't want to fall and get hurt. As I hit the grassy trail section, which is full sun, it is finally warm enough to push down the arm sleeves I'm wearing. I plod away, finally reaching the aid station. I get to turn left this time, heading back to the main road. I manage to make my way through the big puddle again, without getting my feet wet. When I his the main road, I pick up some speed. We do get off the paved road, toward the end, running the trail next to the river again, up to the finish line. Splits for miles 8 through 13.1 - 9:11, 9:28, 10:04, 10:24, 9:44, 9:37, 1:01
Finish - 2:02 (three minutes faster than last year!)

Half marathon finishers medal

Before leaving, we enjoy a nice hot breakfast in the restaurant of the park. It's free for runners. They had pancakes, eggs, sausage, fruit, coffee and orange juice.

Space Coast Marathon

Finally, it is Space Coast Marathon weekend! I've been training all summer for this. This has been my highest mileage marathon training. I had many high 40 and low 50 mile weeks. My goal time was 4:10 - 4:15. I believed it to be doable. My previous best time was 4:22:04. Even though I'd been sick and was dealing with some hip/piriformis pain, I still had high hopes for this goal race.

Carolyn and I drove over Saturday morning, getting to the expo mid-day. What a packed mad house! I thought there might be more room, since they moved the location this year, but it wasn't any better. It was hard to move around. I'm so bummed that I missed seeing Bart Yasso! He was sitting in one of the booths, but because there was so many people, I didn't even see him. :( After the expo, we checked into our hotel, did some shopping at the surf shops, then met friends for an early dinner. I had a yummy gluten free white pizza with grilled chicken. We got back to the hotel early, got our gear layed out, watched tv, then turned in early. We had a 4 am alarm set.

Carolyn, Jackie and me.

Race morning: Carolyn and I were out the door by 4:30. We made it to the parking lot, near the finish line, in good time. There were still plenty of parking spots left, but that didn't last long! We had a long wait, but it was worth it to not have to search for a parking spot. Just before 6, we made our way over to the start area to find Jackie and Emma. The half marathon started a half hour before the marathon. We got a photo, wished Jackie luck and then headed back over to the finish area to use the porta potties. Once again, it took me a little while to find the marathon maniac photo spot (moved from where it was the previous year),but I got there just in time to get in the group photo. We then made our way back over to the start line, a couple of short blocks from the finish area. We wished each other luck then went to our pacers. Carolyn was going to run with the 4:20 pacer and I planned to run near the 4:15 pacer. The national anthem was played, then they put a recording of a shuttle launch on the big screen at the start line. The count down started. There was a blast-off and we were off!

The first mile, around the downtown area, is very crowded and has lots of turns. I separated from the pace group, but still had them in sight. We made a left hand turn, to head out of the downtown area, which took us to the road along the water. We would run north on the Indian River Drive, until we turned around at mile 7ish. We had the Indian River on our right and beautiful houses to our left.The road is two lanes and for the early miles, we had it all to ourselves. I ended up pulling ahead of the pace group. My right hip and piriformis was already starting to hurt. I wanted to get some sort of a time buffer early, before I had to slow down do to pain. Around the 5.5 mile mark, the lead runner passed by on our left. Gradually, we started to encounter more and more runners on our left, so I had to keep to the right side of the road. I tried to find the flat sections, which tended to be in the middle of the road. The road is pretty curvy, so by staying in the middle, I wasn't really able to take the tangents, which lead to a longer overall distance. I saw a few people I knew from Sarasota with the fast group, which was pretty cool. The turn around point, was a very nice bike in the middle of the road. I hope nobody knocked over that bike! Miles 1 through 7 - 9:11, 9:00, 9:10, 9:10, 9:09, 9:15, 8:56

On the way back to the start area. Around mile 8.

As I headed back, I had to put my sunglasses on, as we now had the sun in our eyes. I stated seeing more and more runners. I saw the pace group, which was only a minute or so behind me. A few minutes later, I saw Carolyn with her pace group. The course became very congested. Lots and lots of runners out on the road now. There was one section of our lane, that was under water. We had to run single file along the middle yellow line to get around it. While it had been pretty nice out at the start of the run, now, I was feeling pretty warm. I was sweating alot. I tried to make sure I was drinking enough and taking in nutrition when I should. We headed back into the downtown area just before the half way point. Lots of spectators out here, which was awesome. I stopped at a water table just after mile 13. This is where I took my first walk break. Half marathon time: 2:00! Maybe a little fast! Miles 8 through 13 - 8:58, 9:06, 9:18, 9:23, 9:25, 9:22

Once we head out of the downtown area, we are one again running with the river to our left. I try to continue a good pace, but I feel my legs start to stiffen up. And, as you can see from my splits, I start to slow down. One family, has a big spread of food and drinks (bloody mary's!) out on tables in their front yard. I stop and ask for advil, but, that is the one thing they don't have in their little first aid kit! The heat is really starting to get to me. I start dumping water on my head at every other water stop. We pass the mile 20 marker (for the runners heading back) which lets me know we are getting to the turn around. So happy! There are water tables on both sides of the road. I grab water and start walking, but then talk myself out of it, because I know the turn around is very soon. Just around the corner, we make a sharp u-turn, heading back! Miles 14 through 19 - 9:28, 9:39, 10:19, 9:50, 10:23, 9:48

On the way back, I stop again at a water table. At this one, they have iced cold towels. Oh, that feels wonderful! We turn another corner, now heading north again. There is a wonderful breeze coming off of the water. I have a second wind. I feel stronger, but not for very long. Legs are feeling super stiff. I manage a shuffle/run until I reach water stations, then I take a walking break, before resuming my shuffle. I notice another runner sitting on the side of the road. He has a couple of people with him, checking on him already. He is the third runner I've seen down. The heat was rough on everyone. As I get closer to the finish area, more and more people are out cheering. Bart Yasso is out on the road, yelling encouraging words to the runners. He says "Looking good Marathon Maniac!" I yell back, "Thanks, Bart Yasso!" :) Since I ran this last year, I am more prepared for the weird way we finish. We leave the main road, hop onto the sidewalk, then run this before entering the park. Run along a sidewalk in the park before crossing the finish line. Miles 20 through 26.4 - 11:14, 10:58, 11:50, 10:27, 11:31, 11:04, 10:45, 3:53

Finish time: 4:20:43. Even with the slow shuffle and extra .2 in distance, I manage a 1 min 21 second PR! It's not the sub 4:15 time I wanted, but I'll get there. Maybe next year in Chicago? :)

Holly, Me and Carolyn after the race.

Ft Myers Marathon

November 9, 2014
Ft Myers, FL

What a great summer of training. I followed a more aggressive training plan over the summer. Many weeks of high 40 and low 50 mile training weeks. Finally, it's the weekend to put all that training into practice. I eagerly checked on the weather forcast in the days leading up to the race. Every time I checked, the morning low showed low 60s and rain. Not good. In the back of my mind, I knew this could turn into a training run, since I have Space Coast Marathon in 3 weeks.
Gina and I headed down to Ft Myers early Saturday afternoon. It was only a 1.5 hour trip, we could have driven the morning of the race, but a friend said we could stay with her Saturday night, so why not get down there and sleep a little later in the morning. We got to the race expo, after a little detour around the downtown area. Not much of an expo. There were some booths set up in the parking lot and then 4 booths in the event room of the host restaurant. We were in and out in about 15 minutes. We had time, so we wondered around the local mall before heading to my friends house. We hung out for a bit before heading to Outback to meet Darlene, Carolyn, Ariana and Wendy for our pre race dinner. After a great dinner, it was back to the house and then to bed early. Race morning, we were out the door before 6am. Quick stop at Starbucks for a coffee and then on to the race site. We got there earlier enough to get a great spot a block from the starting line. We got all our gear ready, then headed over to the restaurant to meet everyone. A big group was here from Sarasota! After lots of pre race photos, we headed outside, where thankfully it wasn't raining, and waited for the race to start.

Running over the first bridge.

Carolyn, Gina, Darlene, Ariana and I all started off together. We had run most of our long training runs together, so we figured we would stick together for at least part of the race. I felt pretty good right from the get go. The rain started within a mile of the start. Thankfully, it was pretty light, so not an issue. The half marathoners and marathon runners all started together. We had a two lane road to use, so it was never over crowded. There was a strange turn around, early, for just the marathoners. So when we turned, we were able to see some our friends who were behind us. After a couple of miles, I was finding it hard to hold back my pace. I told Gina I wanted to run a little faster. I pulled ahead of the group, but figured they were not far behind. Mile 2 is also the start of the first bridge. We take the Caloosahatchee Bridge over the Caloosahatchee River. This is a 4 lane bridge, with one of the two northern lanes closed for the runners. Just a line of cones holding the cars away from runners. I stay to the right. I don't trust drivers in this rain. Because it's still early, there are not many cars out yet. We run along Cleveland Ave for a couple of miles, before turning right. We are on this road for about half a mile, before we turn left on Tamiami Trail. At this corner is a sign saying "first lap, left. Second lap, left. Third lap, right." What?!? A half a milish down the road, we turn right. At the end of this road is a water stop. We turn right at the end of this road turn left, taking us back to Cleveland Ave, were we head back to that sign for the second loop. Along this stretch. I catch up with a guy (Joe) who has on a Bill's Beer Run shirt. We start talking. He is from Sarasota too! We end up running a mile or so together before he pulls ahead while we are on Tamiami Trail again. As I head into that water stop, I see Joe ahead, running straight on the road past the water station, instead of turning right. I stop and ask one of the volunteers, which way I'm supposed to go. The girl says to go straight. Signs would have been helpful!! I make the left turn back onto Cleveland Ave, make the left on to the other road, then finally turn right on Tamiami trail, instead of running another loop. What a depressing area we have been running in so far. Cleveland Ave was OK, but Tamiami Trail had a lot of closed businesses or run down buildings. Not much to look at around here. Just before mile 11, we make our way over the other bridge. We make a right onto the road that runs along the water. Just after mile 12, we turn to the left, while the half marathoners head straight, on their way to the finish.
Splits for miles 1 through 12 - 9:37, 9:33, 9:00, 9:18, 9:16, 9:22, 9:07, 9:18, 9:19, 9:05, 9:09, 9:13

I go over the map in my mind, thinking we should be running on this side of the river for a while. This does not happen. We make a right turn, starting the climb up the Caloosahatchee Bridge again! This was not on the race course map! This is not good. I make my way over the bridge, hoping that we don't have to run that strange 2 loop course again. We do make a right turn on the same road as before, but stay to the southern side of the road. No double loop! We get to the end of this road and make another right turn on Tamiami Trail, heading back to that second bridge. This explains the 16 mile marker sign I saw on the bridge earlier. This will be bridge crossing #4. Just before getting to the bridge, I see runners on the other side of the road, heading off the bridge. This really shocks me, because now I realize we will have to cross this bridge again. Twice, because we will need to get back over to get to the finish line. I was not prepared for 6 bridge crossings! As I make my way down the bridge, my legs are already starting to feel sore. At the bottom of the bridge, we make a left turn and then a short while later, make another left, to head back up the 3rd bridge. Bottom of the bridge is mile 17. As I am slowly making my way up, I hear a couple of women talking behind me. One sounds like Gina. I turn my head and sure enough, it's her! She yells out that she is trying to catch up. I tell her, she will have no problem! She does catch me at some point on the down hill. My legs are really cramping and my bladder (which has been giving me problems for a couple of hours now) is full. I need a porta pottie! Gina and I run together for a few minutes, before I tell her not to slow down for me. I tell her to go on with out me. She is having an awesome race. I feel happy for her! We make a right turn off Tamiami into a neighborhood. Just before mile 19, I see a water stop and a porta pottie. Thankfully, there is no one inside. I try to make it quick, but with the stop there and then water, a banana and walking after the stop, I add a minute and a half to the pace I had been keeping up to this point. :(
Splits for miles 13 through 19 - 9:35, 9:30, 9:40, 9:33, 9:55, 9:53, 11:34

One of the 3 bridges we crossed.

I thought the stop and little bit of walking and stretching might help give me a boost for the last 10K, but this did not happen. If anything, I started to feel more tight and stiff. My running really slowed. I needed to take more walking breaks. We ran two big loops through this neighborhood, before heading back to the main road. On my second loop, I caught up with Darlene. Her fiance was on his bike giving her water. She wasn't have such a great race. We shared a few words, before I continued my slow run. Finally, I was heading back to the bridge, for my last crossing. I was not feeling good, and head to tell myself over and over to not stop, keep running until the uphill portion. I managed to get through the flat part of the bridge, before walking up the hill part. Slow run down, my quads were on fire!, and then a turn to the right. At the water stop here, I suddenly feel very light headed. I drink down my water and continue on, with hopes I will be ok. Another right turn took us to the base of the second bridge. Thankfully, we made a left turn here. No more bridge crossings! Back along the road bordering the river. Finally, I can see the finish line. It is very far away, almost a mile, but it is there. I tell myself that I can no longer walk. I look at my watch, to see that I have a very small window to still pull off a PR, but it would only be by seconds, not by 5-7 minutes I had been hoping for. I try to pick up the pace a little, finishing with a grimace and not the smile I always try to finish with. Gina and Wendy are there at the finish to great me. We grab some water and food, before heading into the Restaurants meeting room.
Splits for miles 20 through 26.2 - 11:07, 10:16, 12:24, 10:26, 13:28, 10:29, 3:08
Finish: 4:22:08

So, in the end, no PR for me today. I was off of my best time by 5 seconds! I know I am a much stronger and faster runner, than I was earlier this year when I ran my best marathon time, so I plan on recovering this week and getting that PR at Space Coast at the end of the month! :)

Download of the course from my Garmin.