MOUNT DORA HALF MARATHON - December 17. 2017

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…Especially if you are running a half marathon in Mount Dora.

Now participating for my sixth consecutive year, the Mount Dora half marathon has truly become a holiday tradition.  The best way to think of Mount Dora is to think of Stars Hollow.  During the holiday season, the lights are spectacular.  Lindsey was supposed to go with us, but her friend Jacqui was having her bridal shower the same weekend; I guess that’s enough justification to miss the race.  Rachel had midterms coming up, so she decided to stay home as well.  Glenda and I drove up Friday afternoon, and checked into our usual haunt, the Mount Dora Historic Inn.  I picked up my race packet on Saturday morning, and we grabbed lunch right after that.  The best part of being in Mount Dora is that everything is in very short walking distance.  Another bonus this year was the temperature.  After an unusual “heat wave” last year, the temperatures were in the sixties.  Not too cold; not too warm.  We were able to eat outdoors the entire weekend.

 

With the starting line just a few blocks from our cottage, I was able to grab some extra sleep before making my way out.  It was 54 degrees, and I chose to wear a long sleeve shirt.  In retrospect, I should have worn a short sleeve shirt with compression sleeves.  I wasn’t broiling during the race, but I did get a little warm.  977 runners entered this event, which was 100 less than last year.  I made the decision to do intervals, as my knee was still sore from Weston the previous week.

I enjoyed the race very much, except for the hills.  Living in South Florida, you sometimes forget just how flat it is down here.  I probably did a little more walking than I would have liked, because the knee was not cooperating during several points of the race.  Nothing terrible, but it was annoying (and frustrating).  Besides the temperature, the weather was perfect.  After I crossed the finish line, there was actually food this year for us slowpokes.  I mentioned to Chris (the race director), that the food had run out every year I’ve entered this event.  He must have flexed his authoritative muscles, and it was much appreciated.

  

As I’ve probably mentioned in previous posts, I highly recommend this race.  It is relatively inexpensive, and the medals are always very nice.  A very nice course, and even nicer people running the event.  It’s also a great pre-holiday getaway without breaking the bank.

KEEP TRACK OF MY RUNNING ON

WESTON RUN FOR TOMORROW HALF MARATHON – December 10, 2017

The great thing about South Florida is that it is always hot/warm.  The bad thing about South Florida is that it is always hot/warm.

Finally, we hit the jackpot!

It was 43 degrees as Lindsey and I made our way to the starting line.  Decked out in a long-sleeve shirt and a running jacket, there was no chance of getting overheated or being too cold.  With 623 participants taking their mark at 6:20am, the crowd did not look that big.  I’ve run this race many times before, so I won’t bore you with the details of the course.

It was very quiet up until the end.  Just like last year, there was a Mayor’s Challenge 1-Mile Walk.  This started at 9am, and finished at the same place as the half marathon.  Just like last year, we spent the last three-tenths of the race dodging little kids and their parents.  As we crossed the finish line, there was a Disney-sized crowd just standing there.  It took me a solid ten minutes to find anyone giving out the medals.  Lindsey finished one minute ahead of me, and was told they ran out of medals.  We finally located a woman who had a whole box, but was unaware that any of the other folks handing out the medals had run out.  It was so crowded, you could literally get lost in the shuffle.  This pretty much ruined the entire experience of the race.

This is very much a no-frills race, but it is about 20 minutes from my house.  Last year was a disaster, but I was willing to give them the opportunity to clean it up this year.  They could have had the 1-milers finish on the other side of the road. There was no traffic allowed, and the 1-mile run was not timed.  If they do not rectify this mess, I’m afraid I won’t be entering this race again.

At least the weather was tremendous.


KEEP TRACK OF MY RUNNING ON

DISNEY WINE & DINE TWO COURSE CHALLENGE - November 4 & 5, 2017

After the debacle that took place at the last Disney race, it was only fitting that my next race would bring me back to the scene of the crime.  With a brand new custom-fit knee brace, and all injuries on the mend, this next Disney weekend experience could only be positive.

The entire family and I made our way up early Friday morning, and drove directly to the expo.  Since this was our second Disney race weekend, Lindsey and I were already pros on how to plan out our activities.  The race shirts were very nice (long sleeve) and the merchandise was outstanding.  After breaking the bank, we parked our car at the Port Orleans, and took the bus to the Magic Kingdom.  To our surprise and delight, the park was not very crowded.  After our fill of food and fun, we went back to the hotel for an early dinner.  It was lights out by 9pm, and up and out the door on Saturday morning by 3:30am.

 

Upon arriving at the starting line, Lindsey was greeted by her friend Jessica.  They had made arrangements to meet up before the race, and the conversation helped kill some valuable time.  Soon after that, a familiar face came running towards us.  Robin had volunteered to work the races, and she was stationed at our corral with her husband Willie.  I absolutely adore Robin, and she was tasked with making sure everyone entered the correct corral.  Since Lindsey had some race experience under her belt, we were able to get into a faster corral for this weekend.  As the gun sounded, there were 11,117 runners ready to take on the 10K.  This was 222 more runners than the Star Wars 10K back in April.  It only took about 16 minutes for us to start, as Disney is extremely organized.  The course was exactly the same as our previous 10K, but it was enjoyable nevertheless.  It was a little warmer than we would have liked, but not extremely hot.  I ran a pretty slow pace, but no physical issues at all.  Once the race was over, we showered back at the hotel.  It was now on to EPCOT, and the Food and Wine Festival.  Rachel had made plans to hang out with her friends, so it was just going to be three of us.  Glenda had gotten really sick a few days prior, and her participation this weekend was in question the entire time.  She was a trooper, but you could see the struggle was real.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, she would pass on her illness: Fortunately, the flu didn’t kick in until after the race weekend.

 

 

I can’t remember the last time I had seen EPCOT this crowded.  The lines for the food were insane.  We were able to sample many different adult beverages, and tasty food as well.  The Gators were playing that day in Columbia, Missouri, and I watched most of the game on my phone.  It made me almost as sick as Glenda.  We left the park early again, and hit the sack around the same time as the day before.  One added bonus was Daylight Savings Time; hooray for an extra hour of sleep!

As we entered the bus early Sunday morning, I could already tell that I would be dragging during the race.  It wasn't so much the race on Saturday, as it was spending the day at the park.  As long as my brace didn’t break, I could deal with the sluggishness.  13,182 runners were signed up for the half marathon, which was more than 3,000 less participants than the Star Wars half marathon (I was surprised to see that).  It took 22 minutes for us to start the race, and I could tell right away that I would be paying many visits to the bushes.  My knee felt very sore from the day before, but not enough to influence my pace in any way.  As we got to the point in the race where I was injured during the Star Wars half marathon, Lindsey and I were all smiles.  History would certainly not repeat itself.  It was very overcast, which helped keep the temperatures down a bit.  As we ran though Animal Kingdom, we were able to see the new Pandora area.  Once we made our way out of the park, I told Lindsey to take off on her own.  I was running extremely slow, and taking too many potty breaks.

  

The race was very enjoyable.  Since I was able to run the entire time, I was not stuck in the back with the walkers.  It allowed me to really enjoy the course, and not feel as though I was stuck in a cattle call.  My finishing time was not the best, but I was very satisfied with the race weekend.  The medals were very nice, and I would certainly entertain doing this race again.

 

 

 

 The drive home was kind of tough, as the impending flu was paying me a visit.  Obviously, I’m still sick.



KEEP TRACK OF MY RUNNING ON

STAR WARS DARKSIDE CHALLENGE – April 22 & 23, 2017

I was hoping to join the Rebel Force…Instead, I had to succumb to the dark side.

Let me state for the record that I love Disney.  We have always had passes for the parks, and it is truly the “happiest place on Earth.”  That being said, I have never really had a burning desire to run a Disney race.  I know lots of folks who are obsessed with Disney (I’m not judging), and will enter any and every race they put on.  I had entered the Disney Half Marathon in 2006, but had to come home before the race even started (read “Meet Me Half Way” for the unfortunate details).  Disney races are extremely expensive, and I never had any real motivation to register…until now.

Since Lindsey has started running, she approached me about venturing up to Orlando.  With the Disney Half Marathon (in January) already sold out, we checked to see what was next.  In 2016, the inaugural Star Wars Half Marathon was introduced.  The race takes place in April, and it was not yet sold out.  We registered for the “Dark Side Challenge,” which consists of a 10K on Saturday, and the half marathon on Sunday.  As the weekend approached, we could definitely feel the power of the force.

We left at 6:30am on Friday morning and drove right to the expo, which was held at Disney’s Wide World of Sports.  We arrived just as the expo opened, and picked up our race packets.  We received three shirts, which of course were all Star Wars themed.  After a bit of shopping, we drove to the Pop Century Resort and checked into our room.  We took the bus to Epcot, and took advantage of the International Flower and Garden Festival.  Knowing that we would be getting up several hours before the crack of dawn, we left the park early, and went to bed around 8pm.  Race time was 5:30am, and we needed to catch our bus no later than 4am.

 

 I was impressed that there were several buses waiting for us, and we got on right away.  Both races started in the parking lot at Magic Kingdom, and we arrived at 3:50am.  When I got off the bus, my first thought was “Dang…. I’ve never seen so many porta-pottys in one place.”  It was like a giant port-potty conclave.  We struck up a conversation with some folks from California, who ran the Star Wars Light Side Challenge in Anaheim.  Lindsey had not yet run a half marathon when we registered, so we were placed on one of the last corrals.  There was a stage set up at the starting line, with entertainment, and clips from all of the Star Wars movies.  The start of the race was very organized, especially with 10,895 Disney fanatics chomping at the bit.  Each corral started in several waves, with fireworks and lots of fanfare.  The roads were very wide, with large screens showing movie clips along the way.  There were also characters on the side of the road for those wanting to stop for photos.  We ran through Hollywood Studios around the four-mile mark.  We came into the park near the Tower of Terror, and out through the main street.  The race finished up by running around Boardwalk, past the Disney Beach Resort, and in through the back entrance of Epcot.  After a quick visit to the United Kingdom and Canada, we crossed the finish line.  It was a very enjoyable run, and the bus was right there to take us back to our hotel.  We showered, ate lunch, and spent an eventful day at Hollywood Studios.

 

 

We knew the drill for Sunday morning:  Up at 2:30, on the bus at 3:30, and in our corral by 4am.  You could tell that there were a lot more people running the half marathon (16,311) than the 10K.  Our main entertainment was watching one of the volunteers in our corral.  Her responsibility was to make sure that none of the runners tried to enter a corral other than the one they were assigned to.  You are allowed to move back as many corrals as you want; just not forward.  We were assigned to “F,” which was the penultimate corral.  She was taking her job way too seriously.  At this point, everyone is so slow; what did it really matter?  There were more waves on this day, but it still took us less than 30 minutes to start (the Miami Marathon can learn a lesson or two on organization).  The route was different than from the day prior, as we ran on some service roads rather than on the main drag.  Around four miles in, we approached Animal Kingdom.  Even if you didn’t know that, you could smell the animals a mile away.  My knee was still sore, which surprised me that I had not worked out all of the kinks by this point.  Then out of nowhere, I got this sharp pain in my TFL.  This stands for Tensor Fascia Latae, and is a small muscle found on the outside of the hip.  It felt as if someone threw a baseball at me.  I walked for a little bit, and it seemed to feel better.  Once I started to run, the pain intensified.  It was very cool running through Animal Kingdom, which helped me deflect the pain for a brief point in time.  As we left the park, my walking times became more frequent.  I did not want to risk further damage, so I told Lindsey to take off and meet me at the finish line.  After several more attempts to run (especially with my knee hurting as well), I made the decision to shut it down.  This was the first time in my running career that I would be walking to finish a race.

 

It was a very interesting perspective seeing how “the other half lives.”  It didn’t hurt to walk, so I was able to really concentrate on the surroundings, the other walkers, and the extravagant costumes.  Many of the participants way back in the pack were nowhere race ready, but their love for the Disney “bling” kept them motivated.  I spoke with one woman who was doing her first half marathon.  She was very much overweight, and was wearing a very cute Yoda hat.  She was from Boston, and the heat was really wearing her down.  I kept giving her motivation, which she really seemed to appreciate.  Six miles out of Animal Kingdom, we finally entered Hollywood Studios.  It is one thing to run 13.1 miles…walking it takes forever!  The route was a little different than the day before, especially when we ran around Boardwalk.  We also ran the countries of Epcot, starting with France.  With less than one-half mile to go, what else could go wrong?  How about my knee brace snapping in half?  It had cracked a few weeks prior, but this was a full-on explosion.  At this point, it didn’t really matter.  There were wall-to-wall walkers, with no room to run even if you wanted to.  As I crossed the finish line, I was getting pushed and shoved by everyone around me.  Apparently, none of the Mouseketeers got the memo that you don’t just stop at the finish line.  It was like a multi-car crash on the highway.  The moral of the story is…don’t walk…be fast.  That way, you don’t have to deal with all of this mishegoss.  The medals for both races (and the Dark Side Challenge) were very nice, but you would expect nothing less from Disney.  My feet were really hurting me from walking, and we went back to the hotel for a well-deserved power nap.  We grabbed dinner at Disney Springs, and made our way home on Monday morning.

 

 

 It was a great weekend.  Despite the injury, I enjoyed both races.  It’s unfortunate that only around 3 of the 13.1 miles are actually through the park, but I don’t know what can be done about it.  As long as there are Disney “geeks,” the races will flourish.

KEEP TRACK OF MY RUNNING ON

RACE FOR WOMEN’S WELLNESS HALF MARATHON - MARCH 25, 2017

As previously stated in past posts, this is probably my least favorite race.  That notwithstanding, I would never miss a race for anything other than a medical issue.  The Wednesday before the race, I went to the dentist for a routine cleaning.  My hygienist Claudia (whom I absolutely love) told me one of my crowns was loose.  I came back on Friday to cement that bad-boy back in, and received the worst news possible.  Without going into the gory details, the tooth had to be extracted, followed by a bone graft (I will need an implant in a few months).  Besides the fact that it was very painful, I was advised not to run this race on Saturday.  I was disappointed, but it did not break my heart.

The show must go on, and so must Lindsey.  She would be “flying solo” for the first time.  Therefore, I turn the keyboard over to Lindsey, my celebrity blogger, for the recap:

Running Solo
Over the weekend, I ran my third half marathon, and my first half by myself. This one was the Race for Women’s Wellness in Coral Springs. My dad signed us up a few weeks ago and we were both “meh” about it, because from what I had been told, it’s an overpriced race, boring course, and had overall “mehness.” The race is on a Saturday, which is rare for a half, because the course goes by the megachurch near my house and this way the runners don’t have to deal with churchgoers. The shirts were okay, pink because of women’s wellness and all, and the goodies that came with the race packet were nothing exciting.
The day before the race, I received a text from my dad, who I would like to point out wanted to do this race more than I did, saying, “I’m not going to be able to run with you tomorrow.” From the moment I spoke to him to the moment the race started, I was internally freaking out. My dad had to have his tooth extracted and apparently was not allowed to do physical activity. Usually I rely on him to deal with the logistics of race day: when to leave, how to get there, where to park, etc. but this time, I was in charge. The race began at 6am at the Coral Springs Sportsplex by the Tennis Center (which is where I took my SAT tutoring classes, fun fact), and to come a different way than I was planning because the street was blocked off.

I woke up at 5, and my dad was nice enough to wake up then as encouragement. I stretched, and packed my belt and bib and left for the starting line. I got there a little early and just wandered not knowing anyone who participated. As I was standing at the starting line with 398 of my closest friends, I noticed that my watch battery was low even though I thought I charged it the night before. I knew it would probably die on me at some point, but I would deal with it later. I did have the watch set for 4 x 1 intervals, which I now know was a mistake. After the national anthem was sung, it was time to go. I always start really strong and fast and usually slow down by the end, and this was no different. My first mile and a half was very strong and it was then where I took my first walk break that my watch notified me at. I skipped the next walk break and I was feeling great. Around mile 3 is when I started to get bored. I had no running companion to chat with and honestly, music doesn’t keep me entertained even though I had a great playlist comprised of 80s hits such as “YMCA” and “Panama.” By the time I got 5.5 miles in, my watch notified me that I had low battery. I decided when I got to mile 6 to start Run Keeper so when my watch died I would have the time saved somewhere. Mile 8 is where you run through the parking lot of my high school and it was here that my headphones started acting up. I have the iPhone 7 which stupidly has no headphone jack so I used the adapter piece to plug in my headphones and in the parking lot of my high school, my music suddenly stopped playing through the headphones. I had to stop running to figure it out. It happened again about a mile later. As I left my alma mater, I texted my mom to let her know I was close to our house which the race runs right by and asked if she would bring me a cold water bottle; I had Gatorade in my belt but it was warm. As I came up to the entrance of my neighborhood, I saw my parents standing waiting for me, my dad with his camera, in which the pictures he took turned out blurry, and my mom holding that gloriously cold water. Right after I passed my parents and turned the corner where the megachurch is (mile 10), I started to board the struggle bus. My legs were just killing me and I wasn’t even sticking to intervals because I was just so tired. Mile 11.5 is when that bus took off full force: my watch died and my headphones acted up and I just decided to abort the music all together. My time was pretty good at this point and I knew I could walk the rest of the race and still PR. I didn’t walk the whole mile and a half, but definitely more than half of it. By the time I was coming down the home stretch, I had no idea what my time was so I just kept chugging along. The race does a 5K as well that begins an hour and a half after the half does so by the time I was about a half a mile to the finish line, all the walkers from the 5K were finishing around the same time. Personally, I think this takes away from the accomplishment of running a half marathon when you have walkers from a 5k finishing at the same time, but that’s just me. I also think they should just make this race a 5K. As the final steps were upon me, I sprinted my ass down that very last tenth of a mile and crossed the finish line.
Because this was a solo race, I had no one to celebrate with. I had PR’d by 20 minutes even by walking a good majority of the last few miles. The medal was “meh.” I went to grab a banana which has become my post-race tradition, and they were days from being ripe enough to eat. I took one bite and threw it away. After I got into my car, I decided to get a bagel at my favorite bagel place, Brooklyn Water Bagel, after the race because in the emails, it encouraged runners to go there for breakfast after the race and to bring your bib in to show you did it. I assumed that meant there would be some sort of discount, but when I went to order my food, they looked at me confused. I showed them the email and they informed me there was no such deal and didn’t understand why it would be advertised that way.

I got home, was able to finally see my official time and pace, and see the one and only photo of me from the race, because of course this would be it.

 

As I said, this was the most “meh” race I think I will ever participate in.
I would like to take this time to give my mom a shout out because I didn’t during the post about the Miami half. She sent me encouraging text messages during both of these races, which I was able to read on my running watch and they really helped keep my energy and spirits up.


KEEP TRACK OF MY RUNNING ON

GASPARILLA DISTANCE CLASSIC - FEBRUARY 25 & 26, 2017

I’ve been told that there are only two certainties in life…death and taxes.  Allow me to add a third…A total kickass time at the Gasparilla Distance Classic.

This was my third year participating in the Gasparilla Distance Classic, which begs the question…why did it take me so long to get onboard?  That notwithstanding, I was excited once again to spend an enjoyable weekend with friends from far and wide.  Okay…Ocala, Belleview, and Titusville may not necessarily be considered “far and wide,” but you get the drift.  Lindsey wanted in on the action, so the two of us made our way up to Tampa on Friday.  Our hotel room was not ready when we arrived, so we made our way to what would be many stops to the expo.  Lindsey, Doug and I signed up for the Michelob Amber Challenge, which consists of the 15K & a 5K on Saturday, and the half marathon on Sunday.  Mary was registered for the Michelob Ultra Challenge, which included the 8K on Sunday.  We had learned the day before that our challenge jackets would not be given out at the expo, due to a “factory error.”  With the temperature in the eighties, we were okay with getting them in the mail in a few weeks.  The shirts for these races are always great, but this year they really outdid themselves.  We met up with our squad (Robin, Judy, Sharon, Stephanie, Jennifer G., Mary, Doug, Jen, and Mary) as they all tricked in, and moseyed our way over to the Champions Sports Bar at the Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina for an early dinner.

Let’s get some numbers out of the way as far as participants:

15K – 6,479
5K – 13,588
Half Marathon – 6,483
8K – 5,401

The 31,951 entries were announced as the largest participation in the history of this event.

As Mary, Lindsey, Doug, Jen and I made our way from the hotel to the start of the 15K, we were greeted by a gentleman who appeared to be less fortunate that us in terms of his mental stability.  He was having a one-sided conversation with us in a language unknown to anyone on this planet, except for one sentence: “LICK MY A$$.”  With that going for us, how could we not have a successful run?  The race started at 7am, and our running strategy was as follows:  I would run with Jen, Lindsey would run with Mary, and Doug would try to figure it out.  It was around 73 degrees when the gun went off, but the cloud cover throughout the entire race masked the warm temperature.  We all finished within ten minutes or so of each other, and met up at the finish line for some photos.  The 5K started in several “waves” to accommodate the large number of runners, so this give me some time to go back to the hotel room and change into a dry shirt.  Sadly, I did not see my homeless friend to receive more inspiring words of encouragement.

 

 

 

 

Initially, we stayed back in the last wave with the ladies and all of the walkers, but Lindsey, Doug and I decided to move up one corral.  It was a mistake either way, as we spent most of the first mile trying to dodge all of participants who were planning on walking for the entire race.  Lindsey and I made the executive decision to walk most of the race, and conserve our energy for the half marathon on Sunday.

 

 

We went back to the room for a quick shower, and then met up with the rest of our squad at Jackson’s Bistro for a well-deserved lunch and adult beverages.  It was then that we found out that Mary may have done some serious damage to her knee during the 15K, and would not be able to run the half marathon & 8K on Sunday.  This was obviously a major disappointment for her, and graciously offered her bib to Amy, who was there with her family.  After a quick trip to Publix, we relaxed by the pool for a few hours, with great friends and great adult beverages.  Dinner and sangria took place at Columbia Restaurant, followed by an early bed time.  Or was it?

 

 

  Around 2am, we heard a sound that could only be described as a sonic blast.  Were we under attach?  Was it thundering?  No…it was Doug snoring!  At the risk of over-exaggerating, I honestly thought the plaster on the ceiling was going to fall on my head.  It went on for so long, we actually had to resort to throwing pillows at him, in an effort to make him stop.  Since I had set my alarm for 4am, I did not think I would be getting any more sleep for the rest of the night.  45 minutes later, it was mercifully over.

The temperature Sunday morning was a little cooler, so at least we had that going for us.  That and a 6am start time, the only unknown was how sore we would be during the race.  Lindsey and I decided to do 3 x 1 intervals, but we ran the first mile without walking.  We kept a relatively steady pace throughout the race; unlike yesterday, the sun was out in full-force.  We decided to sprint for the last quarter-mile, but of course I had to stop right before the finish line for a photo opportunity.  The ladies met us as we picked up our medals; it was bittersweet that the weekend was coming to an end.

 

 

 

This is a first-class event, and a first-class weekend.  I would encourage everyone to participate at least once, even if you are there just to party (not that’s there’s anything wrong with that).



KEEP TRACK OF MY RUNNING ON