Bank of America Gasparilla Half-Marathon - Run

My plan for this race, helped formed by Mike Ricci and my cardiologist, was go sllloooooooooooow. This was the be a zone 1/zone 2 effort, tops. As Mike pointed out, I don't want to be a February champion, and really, I scheduled this race as a way to get me motivated for something after my surgery. I suppose it's not very realistic to be setting PRs two months after heart surgery! In a way though, I guess this was a PR -- I've never had a heart that was capable of running 13 miles, regardless of the time. So, umm..yay me.

Started off running with Jess -- we had some HR data malfunctions that finally seemed to settle down around the first mile. I was having a hard time keeping my HR down in z2 (humidity? race excitement? Running in sunlight for the first time in like, 3 months? I don't know), which slowed the pace a lot. I was also trying to do an 8:2 run/walk, which I hoped would both save my knees and keep the HR down.

We ran into (heh. pun intended) Lane (Cavu9) around...I dunno, mile 2? Yay! Lane is there! (also saw many other wonderful BTers... Renee, Max, Wendi and Mike, Jean, Rick, Trixie-- along the way. So fun to see friends on the course!) Lane was using this as a training run and didn't mind plodding along at my slow ass pace, so he joined up with us. Now, I've been working the z2/8:2 dance for about a month now, and figured that it's really hard to screw it up... keep your heart rate within a zone, and walking every 8 minutes. As they say...it's not rocket surgery. It wasn't until I was running with other people that I realized: my walk pace is faster than my zone 2 run pace!!! Every time 8 minutes would come along, I'd walk and then be like "Hey, where'd everyone go?" So, so weird. And slightly depressing: I could have walked the whole damn thing quicker!

Jess and Lane and excellent race buddies, and we had a grand ole time chatting and running and hanging out. About two hours into the run, I felt my knees start creaking a bit, and by mile 9 my right knee was toast. If this had been a training run, I would have stopped -- once the ITB pain sets in, it doesn’t go away, but I was 4 miles away from my goal, and I sure as hell wasn't going to not finish, especially since my heart was fine! So, I tried playing little mind tricks ("Your knee does not hurt. Jess's knee hurts, and you're just having sympathy pain"), and tried to run/walk through it. Found myself picking up the pace a bit around mile 11 -- really wanted to be done, and the knee hurt less the faster I went. (or so it seemed at the time). Once I hit mile 12, I was done. My gait had visibly changed and I was sooooo close to the end. I said a little prayer of thanks to the Gods of LT Interval Training, and took off. I was hitting LT (my current LT is 196), stopped once for a time-scheduled walk break, and then sprinted at LT into the finish. Jess estimates that we went from a 12:30 min/mile pace to a 9:30 pace. My HR crept up into z5 near the end of that, but I figured Mike R would forgive me a little finish line sprint. I stayed in z2 the rest of the race -- no, really, I did!


I would do a few longer training runs. I think my knees hurt so much simply because they weren't trained to be working for so long. My longest training run was 2 hours, and my race time was 2:40 -- that's a significant difference for my lame-ass knees.

Beer! Haley and Aaron were at the BT sign with cookies and beer. I very quickly got cold and hungry, and after giving and getting many hugs, and raising a toast to the fact that I had just finished a half marathon and *didn't even die*, we headed back the race hotel so I could use a shower there and change into warm/dry clothes. We then went and ate some breakfast and headed back out to watch the marathoners come in. It can't be said enough: Haley and Aaron are SO AMAZING for spending the whole morning out there. I wish I had been comfortable enough to not bail on them right after I finished, but I just couldn't do it. I was glad I was able to go back after I changed and ate and spend some time with the BT jock straps ever.

It was great to watch the marathoners come in -- there is something very emotional about the finish line of a marathon, and y'all better believe I'll be on the other side of it one of these days. We realized we weren't going to be able to finish all the beer, so Trixie and crew started handing it out to those that looked most in need (criteria for getting beer: face had to be showing visable pain, limping helped, and of course, anyone who was bleeding. Those that seemed fine we figured could do without the beer :)

I'm so glad I got to watch Renee and Max come in, holding hands and smiling. Renee, by the way, almost didn't qualify for a beer, as she seemed to be doing fine, but, she was with the DJ, so to speak, so we cut her some slack ;) (seriously -- girl looked like she could have done another 5 or 6 miles!)

After we ate (again), we went back to Jess's and I slept for... 5 hours? 6 hours? My knee was killing me and I could barely walk, so I curled up and tried to sleep it off.


Umm...heart surgery? Having an inefficient heart that forces me to slow down my zone 2? I can't express enough how happy I am that I am able to complete a half marathon just two months after heart surgery -- or, at all, even. My ego and pride get me down a lot -- I want to faster!!! -- but then I remember that faster isn't the point, better is the point, and I'm so much better than I used to be. I'm becoming a big believer in base training, and I'm really glad that I've been able to utilizing zone 2 training to get me to the end of 13.1 miles. Doing this training has really enabled me to bounce back from heart surgery much quicker than I would have thought, and given me the ability to complete this race.


Well, my thoughts on the heart surgery/base training are the biggest thing that I've taken out of this race, but I think it's worth mentioning: My knee really f'ing hurts! I could barely walk the remainder of the day after the race --- couldn't bend my knee, if it was bent, couldn't unbend it, and certainly couldn't put pressure on it. I lighted rubbed out the quad and IT band, iced it and took Advil, and today it is years better. Whew!

Lane and Jess -- thanks for sticking with me as we took forever to finish; your company is most appreciated! Haley and Aaron -- it's worth saying again, so I will: Thanks.