Run
Comments: My plan was to run miles 1-3 at about 9:30 pace; then walk 1:00, run miles 4-6 about 9:30 pace; then walk 1:00, run miles 7-9 at about 9:00 pace, walk 1:00 and run miles 10-13 8:30 pace or better no walking. I was going to sip gatorade every mile and take a gel at 45:00 (~mile 4-5) and again at mile 11. I needed to hit mile 11 no later than 7:35am in order to hit my goal of 2:00. Plan worked like a charm. I walked less than plan (:40 :40 :30) and my pace was slightly better than target: Target Actual 1 9:30 9:21 2 9:30 9:22 3 9:30 9:25 4 9:30 9:37 (includes walk of :40) 5 9:30 9:01 (ate a gel after finishing mile 5) 6 9:30 9:02 7 9:00 8:54 (includes :40 walk) 8 9:00 8:43 9 9:00 8:42 10 8:30 8:31 (includes :30 walk) 11 8:30 8:23 (ate my gel after finishing mile 11) 12 8:30 8:22 13 8:30 8:05 13.1 sprint! 7:56 It was pitch black the first hour. They had spot lights on the course - one of them on a corner that completely blinded the runners (glad I had my visor on). I'm not a fan of running in the dark because my vision is not so great. I was being very careful, but managed to catch my back foot in a pothole and ended up doing a front roll on the street. I was focused on NOT putting my hands out to catch myself, so just tucked and rolled. I could feel my visor tuck under me, then my shoulder hit, but my fuel bottles acted like a buffer against the road, so the impact was not nearly as bad as it would have been had I not had the squishy bottles to cushion the fall. Hip was jolted, but landed on my feet and kept going - surprising myself and everyone else around me - wow! what a wake up call. This happened around mile 4.5. I could feel my body heating up and knew I had to keep my core cool in order to keep to my plan, so I was sipping gatorade every 1/2 mile and using water at the aid stations to pour over my head, on my face and later on my chest as well. Once the sun came up the temps began to rise - low 70's I'm guessing. Soooo glad I had my racer back tank on. What would you do differently?: Nothing! It was a terrific race for me. I was trying to eliminate walks from my distance running, however, because of the heat, I didn't want to take a chance on bonking at mile 10 so I left a couple short walks in and they worked well. Post race
Warm down: walk, find Paul and Lisa (turns out Paul was :30 ahead of me), got medal, took pictures with pirates - argh!!! looked for radio station with coffee mugs for first 10% of finishers in age group - I don't think they were open yet - looked like they were still setting up. Went to hotel to shower up, then ate breakfast. What limited your ability to perform faster: nothing really - the heat - but it really wasn't terribly hot - just hotter than I was able to train for - so just needed to adjust my plan a little. Event comments: Great Race! This was a PR for me - a full 12 minutes faster than my best half marathon! woo hoo :) Enjoyed running with friend and getting out of the COLD SNOWY winter of Baltimore for the WARM SUNSHINE of Florida. Location was nice - waterfront was fun. Last updated: 2014-01-10 12:00 AM
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United States
Gasparilla Distance Classic Association
68F / 20C
Overcast
Overall Rank = 1055/5351
Age Group = 50-54
Age Group Rank = 15/255
packet pickup day prior. Race starts at 6am so stayed at Embassy Suites (right at finish line). Up at 4:30am, ate oatmeal and yogurt for breakfast. Sipped on gatorade on the walk to the start. Really nice to be walking distance to the race - definitely consider this for future races!
dynamic stretches in parking lot near starting line - hit the porta pot and waited about 5-10 minutes to start. Wore running shorts, sports bra and racer back tank top. Had my fuel belt with 24 oz of gatorade and 2 gels. Wore my visor. Temps were in the upper 60's and with everyone crowded around, I was actually starting to sweat - need to make sure I hydrate - the heat is going to be tough for me as I have been training in 20-30 degree weather.