Sarasota Half Marathon

March 13, 2016

Race morning started off with an hour less of sleep. It’s not a fun day when Daylight Savings Time begins on the morning of a race. I got up around 4:30 and was out the door by 5:30. It’s a local race, but parking is an issue and I wanted to make sure I got to the lot, across the street from the race, before it filled up. I hung out in my car for a bit, before Gina showed up. We then headed over to the start area. We hung out at the Fit2Run tent, before I went to use the porta-potties, then went ahead and got into the corral. I had about a 10 minute wait, but I wanted to get in there a little ahead of time, since it was a hassle to get into the crowded corral the year before.  Soon we were off!

The first little stretch is always very congested. Even though I was pretty far forward, there were still people ahead of me that I had to dodge around because they were walking or running much slower. Just before mile one, we make a right turn, heading towards the Ringling Bridge. I see Melissa off to the side, but I’m on the far left, so I don’t get a chance to say high. Over the bridge and then out to St Armand’s Circle. Ran a loop through the circle, before heading back over the bridge. This time, I was able to catch Melissa’s attention and grab a high five from her. Made the right turn on to 41 and headed back towards the stop. It’s always fun to run past the area where all the relay people are waiting for their runner. Miles 1 through 6 – 8:13, 8:36, 8:27, 8:39, 9:10, 8:50

We had a mile or so on the main road before making a left into the neighborhood west of Tamiami Trail. This is the new part of the course. In previous years, since they moved the start from the Ringling Museum to the Van Wezel, we have run a few miles up Tamiami Trail, before turning at the Museum and coming back to the finish through the neighborhood boarding the water. This new part of the course was so much better! My right calf has been feeling tight, but just before reaching the museum, it is really hurting. I stop and stretch and then have to stretch about every mile before reaching the finish! I was actually kind of worried I would pull something. It was so painful! I worked on keeping good form and not extending my stride, which seemed to help a bit. At least it took my mind of the pain. Once we reached the main road, I tried to speed it up again. Made the turn to the Van Wezel, then pushed it hard for the last stretch before reaching the finish line. Miles 7 through 13.1 - 9:05, 9:12, 9:22, 9:11, 9:15, 9:40, 9:07, 1:12

Finish - 1:58:05

Super happy with a sub 2 hour finish. Wish I could have run a faster race though. Need to work on getting my hip, hamstring and calf better!

Post long run shake

I love a good, cold shake post long run. It helps cool me down, as well as refuel and rehydrate my body! Here are the ingredients of my favorite post run smoothie:

1 small banana
1 spoon of almond butter (love the brand showed as it contains chia seeds!)
1 cup of coconut milk
1 scoop of Juice Plus+ complete (vanilla or chocolate, both taste great!)
1 cup of ice (I use the chipped ice setting on my fridge, it blends better in my Magic Bullet)

optional: I add in the contents of the vineyard, garden and orchard blend capsules. Added nutrition!

Blend and enjoy!

Of course, most any good protien smoothie blend will work. I like Juice Plus because it's a plant based product. If you have any questions about Juice Plus, just leave a comment, and I'll get back to you!

#TheMermaidClub

Best Damn Race - Orlando and Doggie Bones 5K

March 5-6, 2016

I had such a great time at the Best Damn Race Safety Harbor race, that it didn't take much for Carolyn to talk me into signing up for the Orlando event, even though it's only a week before the Sarasota Half. I figured I always talk her into races, I guess I should let her talk me into one every now and then. :)

We decided to stay in Orlando the night before the race, since it's a good 2 hour drive from Sarasota. We still got up early race morning, though to drive the 10 miles to the race. We got a parking spot in the Library garage, where it seemed EVERYONE was trying to park! The race start/finish area was just a couple of blocks away, so a perfect spot to park. We walked over, got our bib and goodie bag and then had some time to just hang out before the start of the race. Duncan Donuts was there with donuts, coffee and hot Chocolate. Pretty nice set up! We got a pre race photo, hit the porta potty, before heading to the corral. There was only 2 ways to get in the tough way was from the back, which most people seemed to be doing. We decided to go in from the front. So much easier! Plus, our pacer was pretty far forward, so we didn't feel like we were in the wrong spot. The national anthem was sung and we were off!

Right from the start, I felt my breathing was not right. I wasn't going fast enough for it to be so hard to breathe! I knew within the first mile that this was going to be a tough race, but I would just push through as best as I could. The first couple of miles had a lot of brick road. It wasn't smooth brick but the old kind that was very uneven. I had to watch my footing and slow down during each of these sections. The course winds back and forth through the neighborhood near downtown before we get to a small airport at mile 4. We have to then run on the side walk for a couple of miles. At least mile 5 is around a pretty lake. Miles 1 to 6 - 8:16, 8:25, 8:29, 8:30, 8:37, 8:48

I am finding it harder and harder to keep up a decent pace. Each mile is gradually getting slower. My hamstring is STILL bothering me, but the bigger issue is not being able to breathe well. I've got lots of mucous in my throat, which I try to spit out. By mile 10, when I eat the second half of my bag of Honey Stinger chews, I have to stop and walk. I can't eat, breathe and run at the same time. I keep the walk short. I stretch my calves, then start running again. The stretching helps a lot. With about half a mile left, my calf is cramping again, so i stop and stretch it. I couldn't run it out! The stretch helped again. I was able to add a little kick to the last stretch to the finish line. Miles 7 to finish - 8:45, 9:07, 9:03, 9:14, 9:54, 9:00, 9:08, 1:03

Finsih: 1:56;23, 4th in age group!

Doggie Bones 5K and Pedal for Pups 15 mile bike ride

Wasn't planning on running this, but I got talked into it. Since the 10K is in the MTC racing series, most runners would be running that event. I figured I could take it easy with the 5K, no pressure. Race morning, I started off with Gina. We start off on the island at Benderson Park. There is a steepish hill right away, to get you up to the bridge and then on the main road. We take a right, heading south on the east side of the lake. Gina continues on as we reach the turnaround. I was so happy to be heading back, even if it had to be in a strong wind! I got to see some friends running, so I got to do a bit of encouraging cheering before I passed by the end of the group. Since the 5K was a smaller race than the 10K, It felt like I was out there on my own. I could see about 5 people a ways ahead of me. I did get passed by a woman, with a mile to go, but I didn't have it in me try and keep up with her. I loved taking that last left turn to head down the hill and then straight to the finish. Always makes for a fun/fast finish

Finish time: 26:40, second in age group!

I hung out after the race, to cheer in runners. When Gina came in, we grabbed our bikes then got in line to head out with all the other 15 mile riders.
It was a pretty nice ride, just windy out. We had to stop at many traffic lights, but I managed to unclip, without falling, at each of them! The bike ride felt good on my legs. Flushed out the tightness a bit.

What a great weekend of racing!

Gasparilla Race weekend/Gina's birthday weekend!

February 20-21, 2016

Last year, we celebrated Gina's birthday in Tampa, by running the Saturday Gasparilla races, the 15K and 5K. This year, Gina wanted to run the Lime challenge, the 15K on Saturday and the 8K on Sunday, but also toss in the 5K for fun. Our plan was to drive up early on race morning, run the two races, and party all afternoon. Stay up in Tampa, then run the 8K on Sunday morning.

We left Sarasota at 4:15am on Saturday morning. It was going to be a long day! We wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get into the expo, get our challenge jacket and bibs, check bags and get to the starting line. We made it up there in speedy time, arriving just after 5 am. I managed to find the convention parking garage, which was the closest, and get in there before it filled up. We sat in the car for a bit, since the expo didn't open until 6. Once we were able to get in the expo, the lines we both got our bibs pretty quickly before heading to the jacket table. We were to find out they were out of smalls! The jackets (unisex sizing) were running big, so they had let people change sizes the day before. We filled out the form to have our sized mailed to us, then headed downstairs to get ready to check our bag. We made one last bathroom stop, before heading out to the start line, a couple of blocks from the convention center. We just had a little time to wait, before we heard the national anthem and then we were off!

My goal for the 15K was to come in as close to last years 1:17 finish time as I could. I knew that beating that time was probably not going to happen because of the issues I've been having with my right leg. I felt pretty good for the first half of the race, but then my right hamstring and hip started to hurt. Gina had caught up to me just before the half, so we ran a bit together, before she pulled ahead. I tried to keep her in my sights, but managed to loose her completely by mile 7. I managed to finish strong with a 1:18:58 time. 9.32 miles Just good enough to pull off a top 10% in age group finish! Splits- 8:16, 8:12, 8:18, 8:26, 8:38, 8:31, 8:31, 8:51, 8:33, 2.38

Gina and I met up in the finish line area, then headed over to the bag check. We had enough time to go to the car, so we took our stuff there, put our 5K bib on then left the bags in the car. We had about an hour total to hang out. We decided to go ahead and get in the starting coral. I'm glad we went in early. We got pretty close to the front before it got really crowded. The 5K is the largest of the 4 races. There are over 14,000 runners/walkers! We got to see Meb Keflezighi and Shalane Flanagan on the announcers podium. Well, we could sort of see them, they were far away! We heard the announcer say that the two famous runners would be at the expo later, so Gina and I decided we would try and make it over to hear them talk later. Once again, we heard the national anthem and we were off!

The only goal I had for the 5K was to finish in a decent time! The race was so congested right from the start, even though we had started pretty far forward. I pulled ahead of Gina and managed to stay ahead for the entire race. Not one of my fastest times, but not bad considering the down time waiting around after the 15K. Finish: 26:16. Another top 10% in age group finish!! Splits - 8:18, 8:19, 8:29, 1:00

Wendy, me and Gina

Me, Cindi and Gina having fun at the after party!

Shalane Flanagan, Cindi, me, Meb and Gina!

After the 5K, we headed back to the car to change into sandals and grab our little backpacks. Since I can't have regular beer, I had brought a little cooler of gluten free beer in a cooler. I have a big, insulated mug which holds two beers, so I poured the beers into that, then we walked over to the food area to grab some food, before walking over to the after party. It was packed! We stood in line to see if we placed in our age group for the races, we did, and received our special mugs. We found Wendy, who was also celebrating her birthday! She and I hung out while Gina went to stand in line for her beer. After Wendy left, we found Cindi, then the 3 of us hung out for a few hours, enjoying the music and the fun atmosphere. After a few beers, we had lunch, where Derrick joined us, then we walked back to the expo to catch Meb and Shalane give their talk. We made it just in time! We got photos and autographs before doing a little shopping at the expo. Finally, at around 4pm, we made our way to the hotel, where we were able to check in. After showers and a little rest, we decided we were to exhausted to go to ybor city for the Chocolate festival or for a movie, so we had dinner at the hotel and were asleep by 9 pm! We had one more race to run in the morning! :)

Sunday morning: We got to sleep in before a race! The race started 3.5 hours after the half start, so we had plenty of time in the morning to get ready and then walk the couple of blocks over to the start of the 8K. Once we got going, Gina and I stayed together for a bit, but I quickly realized that drinking all those beers the day before was going to make this 5 miles tough! I had my GoPro with me, so I took a bunch of photos with that and just enjoyed the last race of the weekend. 8K (5.02miles) finish 43:19. Splits - 8:28, 8:25, 8:38, 8:45, 8:52, 0:09

Love these races! May be back again next year. :)

Best Damn Race - Safety Harbor

February 6, 2016

Finally, half marathon #60! I was unable to run the Clearwater Half last month due to very bad weather. And, of course, my car not starting when I needed to leave, didn't help either!

This race happens to fall on the same weekend as the local Music half marathon. By the time I thought about signing up for the music half, the registration was over $125! This is a course I run (in part) at least once a week or more. I didn't really want to pay that kind of money for it. Looking around on the internet, I found the Best Damn Race, in Safety Harbor. The medal was awesome, the drive wasn't very far (an hour) and best of all, I got in for $69, just 2 months before the race, thanks to a discount I found on Facebook. Lynnette, a friend and member of the group I train at Fit2Run, decided to sign up too.

Running goal: My training has not been very good the last few weeks. Total miles were not so bad, just had a couple of days were I ran 2 times instead of getting the longer run in. No speed work and my right hip and hamstring has been very tight and painful while pushing the pace, for a week or so. I got a massage a few days before the race, but it wasn't a good one and didn't seem to do much for me. My main goal was to try and push it, to get under a 2:00 half, which I hadn't been able to do in the last two half marathons I'd run.

course map

Saturday morning, we left Sarasota at a very early 4:30 am. We got up there, found a spot to park in the Library parking lot, just a block from the start and 2 blocks from the finish. We picked up our bib, goodie bag and shirt, then headed back to the warm car to wait for the race to start. i took 2 advil, with the hopes it would help dull the pain in my hip during the race. It was a bit cold outside, so we figured out what kind of layers we wanted to wear and what we wanted to check in with our bag. I decided on keeping with what I had planned the night before. Half Fanatic tank top, arm sleeves and gloves for my upper body. Skirt and compression socks on my lower half, which is pretty normal for me. Temperature was in the upper 40s, but was predicted to get to low 50s within an hour. At about 6:50, we headed over to the porta-potties, I then found Leah and handed off the bags with the Music half bibs and shirts I had gotten for her and her friends, then we took off our outer layer, stuffed it in the checked bags and hustled over to the start area. We just had a few minutes to wait before the national anthem was performed and then we were off!

Miles 1 to 6: The first half mile or so was pretty congested, as we headed out to the main road, turned right and headed north. I had a vague idea of what the course looked like, from checking out the map, so I knew we would be running to a park and looping through there before heading back. My hip was a little of the sore side, so I decided to try and keep the pace around 8:30 to 8:40 min mile, for as long as I could. Surprisingly, by the time we got to the park, mile 3ish, the pace felt very comfortable, just the nagging hip issue. We had a nice out and back in the park, which was along the waterway. I got to see Lynnette on my way out. She was doing good, hanging near the 2 hour pacer, which she had planned on doing. There were a couple of little hills, which I was surprised to see. They slowed me down a little. I hoped there wouldn't be more. Well, I was wrong. I had a couple more, before we headed down the main road, past the finish area.

Miles 7 to 13.1: we continued past the finish area, heading south. Got to see a lot of the 10K runners, making their way towards the finish. About a mile down the road, we made a right turn, running a big loop through the neighborhood. There were a few out and backs, so I was able to see Lynnette again. Just before mile 8, I saw the 1:50 pacer, who had started just before me. I figured he had about 2 minutes on me. I was pretty happy about that. I saw him again on another out and back, about a mile later, and it still seemed like he had 2 minutes on me. We headed back to the main road, ran on that for about a mile, before turning right again at mile 10. I was not happy to see a substantial hill. The steepest one so far. It wasn't as steep as the bridge, but after all the little rollers we had had, this one at mile 10, was really tough! The next 3 quarters of mile were my least favorite. The road was pretty slanted. I wanted to run on the left side of the road, but I had to move towards the middle, to avoid the slant. Finally we made the right turn back to the main road. I knew we only had a little further of running south, before we would turn around and head straight to the finish along the water. I really felt my legs and hips tighten up during the last 2 miles, taking me out of the pace I had been holding steady at. Finally, I made the right turn towards the finish line and pushed it hard the last few yards.

Finish: 1:53:16. My 3rd fastest half marathon!

Me and Lynnette after the race!

Up next: Gasparilla race weekend, February 20-21. I'm signed up to run 3 of the 4 weekend races! The 15K and 5K on Saturday and the 8K on Sunday. It will be fun weekend, running and celebrating my friend, Gina and Wendy's birthdays.

2015 year in review

What a year 2015 has been! Lots of races with friends, over 2015 miles completed and fun being an ambassador for Skirt Sports, The Mermaid Club, 261 Fearless and Nuun Hydration.

Races:
3 Marathons (Disney, Chicago and Space Coast)
6 Half Marathons
2 Sprint Triathlons
2 Ragnar Relay races (one as an ultra team)
3 10K races
9 5k races
1 5K Standup Paddle board race
Plus a 15K, 8K, 5 miler and 4 miler race

Going into 2016, I've decided to take on the challenge of run/walking 2016 miles. That's going to be harder, since I won't have a fall marathon (or 2) to train for.

My biggest new challenge will be doing my first half ironman in Augusta in September. Very nervous, yet excited. Lots of biking and swimming will be happening next year.

I also plan on running 6 half marathons in the first 6 months of the year.

I've really enjoyed coaching this year. I'm so proud of all the improvement and growth from the athletes I've worked with. I look forward to continuing on coaching. I hope to work more with people individually and growing my own business, Sunshine State Endurance.

I am so happy to continue on as a Skirt Sports Ambassador, 261 Fearless Ambassador and Nuun Ambassador for 2016. I've also been chosen to be an ambassador for Honey Stinger. Excited to be part of the Hive! Check out the photo links to the right of this blog for more information!

Space Coast Marathon

November 29, 2015

Marathon weekend! I am so not ready! Shoulder was feeling better, but still on pain relieving meds. The forecast was showing high humidity, warm and windy. Heading over to Cocoa Beach Saturday morning, I was not looking forward to running a marathon the next day.

Carolyn and I left early Saturday (7:30 am), so that we could get to the expo early. As soon as we parked the car, I found a facebook friend, that I had planned to meet up with! It was great meeting Kerry for the first time. We had belonged to the same mom's running group for many years. We all went into the expo, heading for bib pickup. Carolyn and I found Rob, who hung out with us as we did our shopping. We then headed over to the hotel, but couldn't check in, so we got some lunch and hung out on the beach for a bit. Then, it was off to the mall and then dinner. Carolyn and I got our race gear set up, then got to bed early. 3:50 am alarm set!

Sunday morning, we were out the door and in the car by 4:30 am. We arrived at our usual parking spot just in time. The lot was filling fast! I had a feeling it would. They had let more runners sign up this year. We hung out for a bit, before heading to the porta-potties. A bit more hanging around. Finally it was time to head to the start area. Carolyn went to stand with the 4:20 pace group. I went a little ahead of her to start near the 4:10 group. I knew I wasn't going to be with them for long, but I would stay that pace as long as I could. Once the played the video of the space shuttle count down launch, we were off!

Miles 1-7: I found myself running with the 4:10 Galloway pace group. I couldn't shake them, even though my watch was showing mile splits that were slower than they should have been running. It was a large group and they were doing strange intervals. Something like 1:45/30. So it was back and forth with them for at least 4 miles. It was hard to get by them once they stopped to walk. They took up half the road! Thankfully they eventually pulled ahead. I felt like the effort to keep a 9:30ish pace was much harder this year than my 9ish pace was last year. I knew right away it was going to be rough. We had a nice breeze for the first 6.5 miles. Once we made the turn and started heading south, the wind was at our back, the sun was rising and it was getting hot.

Miles 8-13.1: I started to struggle during this section. I walked part of the little hills, which I didn't have to do the last 2 years of running this race. I was having a hard time getting out of the funk I was in. Just feeling low, because I knew it was going to be a long day. I made it to the half way mark at 2:05, which wasn't bad considering how crappy I was feeling already. I really wish I could have taken the turn towards the finish, but I didn't realize at the time, that was an option!

Miles 14-20: By mile 16, I was feeling very overheated. There was little shade for the last couple of miles and no wind. I started walking a lot more. Around mile 17 or 18, Carolyn caught up to me. We ran for a little bit together, before I told her to head on. I was going to be walking a lot. She and I went back and forth a few times. Thankfully, we hit the second turn around, and started heading North.

Miles 21-26.2: The wind on the way back felt glorious! It helped to cool me down, so I was able to start running a bit more. But since I had been walking so much, I had stiffened up. It made running harder. It just wasn't my day! Carolyn and I ended up run/walking the last 5 miles together. She had a rough day as well. We pushed it to run in the last mile. I was so happy to make that last semi circle turn to the finish line!

Finish: 4:46:42

Post race thoughts: Running a marathon in Florida is rough. The weather in the winter is unpredictable. You never know if you will get lucky and have a cool day or if it will be summer time warm. I had planned on running the 5 year challenge for this race. If I go back for year 4 next year, it will be for the half marathon!