Bank of America Gasparilla Half-Marathon - RunHalf Marathon

This was my first stand alone 1/2 marathon and I was figuring I could probably go 2:30ish. Honestly I would not have been heart broken if it didn't happen but it was nice that it did. I haven't run long in a while and I have been training on a 4:1 run walk which we pretty much stuck to then for the most part ran in the last 5K. CubeFarmGopher (Shaun)was kind enough to pace me ont he 4:1 thing. We ran with Rick, Wendi, Jessica, Jessicas ex-husband and we picked up a few along the way cause we were so much fun.

SO we all met up in the convention center and headed out the last possible moment because it was freaking COLD!!! On the upside I got to throw off this hideous orange wind vest I got as a gift as well and a hideous purple fleece that Shaun threw off that I also recieved as a gift. Betsy and Jeff (the FAST people) snuck up towards the front of the pack because theywere both going for PRs (AND THEY BOTH DID SO TELL THEM HOW FABULOUS THEY ARE)

Hit my watch when we hit the line. I was going to keep track of the mile splits and Shaun the 4:1 thing. The first mile was slow because it was congested but I was OK with it because running hardly ever comes easy to me. Rick and Wendi had these really BRIGHT yellow jackets on so they were easy to spot. Rick is like Tigger the tiger bouncing all over the place. He just needs some orange stripes on that black outfit. We were sticking to our 4:1 thing and actually passing people. Shaun and Rick were singing tunes from Grease. In general we were very entertaining to the other runners. At one point we were going by this guy who points to Rick and says "hey where can I get one of the gels he is using?"

I kind of felt like I was holding people back and kept telling them to go on if they wanted to but like the amazing BT friends they are they stuck to me like glue. Before we knew it we were over the bridge and 6 miles were behind us. Around mile 5ish to 7 ish I ran straight for about 20 minutes or so. I was feeling great and had a nice rhythm going. Rick ran across the bridge ahead of us and there was an anonuncer on the other side and he got her to announce my name coming across...thanks Rick...you are a silly boy.

We fell back into our 4:1 run:walk and I was feeling pretty decent. Hammys started to complain about 1/2 into the whole thing. Christine was out on the course like an angel at about mile 8.5 ish and she had DIET COKE :) YEAH CHRISTINE THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! We made the turn around and almost home!!!! We spotted Jeff on the other side of the course ROCKING the mary and waved and whopped whooped at him. My plan was that if I was feeling good at the 10 mile mark I would try to run the last 5K in.

My legs and feet were feeling like poo but it hurt just as much to walk as it did to run so we pretty much ran the last 5K in. I took one walk break and we walked the water stops. Ran to a 2:29:22 finish!!! YAY US. PR for Wendi and ...well it was my first 1/2 so it was all a PR no matter what...but met my 2:30 goal and it is all good

I think I ran it smart. I need more running miles on my legs is all. Its frustrating to have the cardio endurance and just have no legs

Warm down???? More like Warm up because it was FREEZING. We found Rick (he took off around mile 8) and we went and got mylar blankets and food. Walked over to our BT meeting spot and found out Betsy had PRed (CONGRATS) we went back to the car for warm dry clothes and walked back to see Jeff finish....cept he was so FAST we all missed him!!!! Met Lawerence but we were all freezing and took off.


Injuries and need more time running


This is a well done race. I have now done the 5K, 15K and 1/2 marathon. I'm just so not a runner and I know it :) I really have no desire to do a stand alone marathon but Ilike the 1/2 distance.

We had a GREAT TIME!!! I have never run a race with anyone before really. Big thanks to Christine for standing on the course freezing with treats for us :) Also to Jess, Amir, Rick Wendi and Shaun for running with me. Especailly Shaun for helping me with my pacing. Hope you all had as much funas I did