GASPARILLA DISTANCE CLASSIC – February 25 & 26, 2023

 

DOWN GOES SANDHOUSE…DOWN GOES SANDHOUSE!

 

It’s one thing to take a spill during a race; it’s another to fall before the race even begins!  More on that later.

 

I left around 10:30am to make the nearly four-hour drive to Tampa.  Sadly, it would be the second year in a row that I would be flying solo.  This is my favorite race weekend, so I would just have to be my own best company.  The line to valet park was around the building, but I was in no rush.  I had phone company the entire drive, including Lindsey, Rachel, Bonnie, Betsy, and Susan; this made the trip more enjoyable.  Once in my room, I made my way to the expo.  It was not very crowded, and the number of vendors has declined since COVID.  One thing I also noticed was that the companies of the specific products (Pro Compression, Zenzah, Hoka, etc.) have stopped coming to the race expos.  Therefore, the items for sale were not any different that I could find at Runner’s Depot.  The race shirts were great colors, and the jacket was a better material than in the past few years.  I did two laps around and got to take a photo with Pepperjack.  I walked over to Publix and picked up a Pub-Sub for supper, which is the normal routine when I’m on my own.  The race times were an hour earlier than usual, which I think is a good thing.

 

 

 

 

Here is the race breakdownfor the weekend:

 

Half:    3,181

15K:    2,806

8K:      2,648

5K:      6,776

Total:  15,411

 

This was up close to 4,000 from last year, but still almost 12,000 less than the pre-pandemic days.  The temperature was around 75° when the race began at 7am.  It wasn’t very sunny during the race, which certainly helped.  I ran really strong, and only stopped to pee one time!  I left my water bottle at home, but there were plenty of water/Gatorade stations.  My pace wasn’t the greatest, but when was it ever?  I made my way over to take a picture with Christine, but she wasn’t there this year.  Her boyfriend was having back surgery, but the other pirate ladies said they would relay my good wishes.  I walked over to the after-party for a celebratory beer, and then back to the room for stretching and a shower before I met Erin for lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve known Erin since elementary school, and we try to get together whenever I run Gasparilla.  She picked me up at the hotel and took me to Wright’s Gourmet House, which is supposed to be a landmark of Tampa.  The food was very good, and we mostly talked about our upcoming high school reunion taking place at the end of April.  Erin asked me if I wanted to check out a new outdoor shopping center, so we walked around for a while.  It was nice, but no pity purchases to be made.  After she dropped my off at the hotel, I watched a little college basketball, and went to bed early.

 

The half marathon started at 6am, so I was up early.  As I was crossing the street in front of the hotel, I totally forgot there was a median in the middle of the road.  I’m sure you can guess what happened next: DOWN GOES SANDHOUSE…DOWN GOES SANDHOUSE!  It had been more than ten years since I’ve tasted the pavement, but this is the first time it’s happened before a run.  Thankfully the injury report was minor…a bunch of scrapes on my knees, elbow, and foot, but nothing more than complete embarrassment.  A couple ran over to me to see if I needed help, but I popped up right away and made my walk of shame to the starting line.  It was 62° when the race started, but the energy level was not quite the same as it was for the 15K.  That being said, I did not drag at any point during the race and had lots of energy.  Thankfully, there was no blood from my cuts to wipe up and made only three-bathroom trips.  The sun was under cover for most of the race up until the last four miles.  For some reason, the last few miles of this race seems more grueling than most of the races I do.  To help ease the pain, I called Glenda to keep me company.

 

 

  

 

 

 

My finishing time was not as good as I would have hoped. Considering what could have happened when I ate the pavement, I'll just count my blessings.

 

MIAMI HALF MARATHON – January 29, 2023

 

#miamifamous

 

I’m lucky enough to have little or no anxiety, except when it comes to a couple of things that go together…being late and parking.  People often wonder why I will be in my parking space for a UF football game at 10am, even though the game may start at 8pm.  On top of that, I know that after parking in the same place for over 30 years, I could get there much later and still get my spot.  The short answer is...I don’t know.  I’m telling you this because I spend way too much time thinking about parking for the Miami Half Marathon than the race itself.  You would think after doing this race for 12 consecutive years, leaving at the same time in the morning, and parking in the same spot, this would be nothing to worry about…but it is.  More on this later, but let’s get to it.

 

Lindsey flew in on Friday for the race, but Mary had to cancel due to an injury.  The plan was to go to the expo first thing on Saturday and meet Lindsey’s friend Robert for lunch after that.  We realized last year that getting to the expo when they first opened would make it an easier time to look around with not as many people.  The expo was once again at the Miami Beach Convention Center, with lots of room to roam around.  We picked up our race packets, but the shirt in my opinion was as ugly as it gets.  It was black with the logo on the side of the shirt.  I know they were going for the artsy look, but I give it a major thumbs down.  In terms of vendors and merchandise, there were no heavy hitters here.  I did purchase a travel massage gun for $175 (regularly $400), so not all was lost.  Lindsey conveniently had the cash on her, so I didn’t have to pay sales tax.  After one more trip through the building, we met Robert at Orange Blossom.  Robert recommended this to us last year, so we went for it again.  The food was just okay, but we had great conversation.  Robert had nothing but great things to say about Lindsey, and vice-versa.  The food was expensive, but it seems as if the price of eating out has skyrocketed recently.  We had an early supper and tried to go to bed as early as possible.  The WWE Royal Rumble was on that night, but I would have to wait for the replay.

 

When you do a race where you just walk out of the hotel and straight to the starting line, the stress and anxiety level is at zero.  When you leave your house at 3:15am and arrive at the parking garage at 4pm to avoid traffic, well…that’s how I roll.  Predictably, there was no traffic, and we got right into the garage.  I was now able to relax, but we also had two solid hours to kill.  It was 73° when we started the race, which was a total sellout.  12,574 entered the half, with 2,782 running the full (15,356 in total).  The good news was we moved up one corral from last year; the bad news was we still waited close to 45 minutes before we started.  To me, this is the most torturous part of the race (as Tom Petty once said, “the waiting is the hardest part”). Lindsey wasn’t going to run with me, so it would just be me and the music.  I didn’t need to use the potty at the beginning, so I was off to a roaring start.

 

 

As many people that were running, it didn’t see as much “bumper-to-bumper” as usual.  I felt really good and saw Robert cheering us on around the four-mile mark.  Nothing super eventful to report (except for minimal bathroom breaks), but this was the first marathon/half marathon that I didn’t have any liquid on me.  Even though I would only be carrying an 11-ounce bottle in my belt, I’m going to make sure I have it on me for Gasparilla.  Lindsey finished about a half hour ahead of me, and of course the medals were outstanding.  It seemed as if they ran out of food, but we weren’t going to eat anyway.  They decided this year to sell the race photos, so no in-action shots.

 

 

 

 

We are of course signed up for next year, and even pressured Elaine to register as well.  Now on to Tampa and Gasparilla.

MOUNT DORA 5K & HALF MARATHON – December 17 & 18, 2022

It’s far and few between when you live in South Florida and the temperature dips below 70°.  Not bad, except when you want to go out for a run.  During the summer I often get up as early as 4am to run…and it’s already 80°!  Not as bad as folks trying to leg out some miles in the cold and snow (and do most of their winter running on the treadmill), but it would be nice to get a break.

 

One break coming up!

 

Even though it is already December, you never know when a cold front may hit.  This was to be my eleventh consecutive year running the Mount Dora Half Marathon, and only a small handful of times has the thermometer dipped below 60°.  This weekend would be different.

 

Glenda and I drove up on Friday afternoon and picked up our race packets.  Not super-thrilled with the shirts, but they would be hard-pressed to beat last year (outstanding).  We did a late supper at the Goblin Market, which served as our “unofficial” anniversary celebration.  We were married on December 20^th and eating here has become an annual tradition.  We then walked around in 56° weather and checked out the holiday lights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 5K on Saturday started at 8am, and it was 47° when we got to the starting line.  The sun was out in full force, so it didn’t really seem that cold.  This was a walking event for us, since that was the only condition I could get Glenda to sign up. The course itself is through some very quiet neighborhoods, and we hung around until the end to chat with some folks we know.  We ate breakfast in the cottage, did some shopping and took a boat tour on Lake Dora at 2pm.  We did this last year and really loved it.  One major difference was the lack of other boats in the Dora Canal because of the colder weather.  I highly recommend the Premier Boat Tours if you are ever in this area.  We ate an early supper at the Olive Branch, which has a very diverse menu for us picky eaters.  After another walk around town, it was an early lights out for the half marathon on Sunday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was 56° as I approached the starting line.  I wore my Sandhouse Running Club Hanukkah shirt, as you will see in the photos below.  As cold as it was, I knew I would warm up at some point.  I usually opt for the compression sleeves instead of a long sleeve shirt (just keeping my options open).  851 runners crossed the starting line at 7am.  This was down a little bit from last year (926).  I was a little stiff for the first few miles, but I knew that I would warm up as time went on.  I took of my compression sleeves around the four-mile mark, so my strategy paid off.  My one and only complaint about this race was the shortage of water stations on the course.  After giving Weston props for having a water station every mile, this was not the case.  It was okay because of the cold weather, but it would be a bigger concern in the heat.  I think I noticed this more because I started to run with only one small water bottle.  Maybe I should add this to the suggestion box 🤓.

 

 

 

 

 

I ran a very strong race, but a very slow time.  I never wanted to blame the knee brace in the past but let the blame rain down!  As I was ready to cross the finish line, Glenda was there snapping photos to try and make me look good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready to do the 12 Miles of Christmas on December 24^th (this is a training run; probably no blog post).  The temperature should be around 47°.

 

Happy holidays everyone!