Gasparilla Half Marathon Race Report

Week 4 of IM training culminated with a half marathon race, the Gasparilla Half in Tampa.  Not that this was part of my plan, but the race is a tradition, so I worked it in there.  I've been doing this race with a small group of friends for quite a few years (Emery, Joan and Christy).  Over the years there has been a time when one or more of us couldn't make it (Christy now lives in North Carolina), but we still hang on to it as a tradition and get together when we can.  This year it was me and Emery, and a new addition, Charlene, a friend of mine from work (Brian was supposed to do the 8K, but couldn't come with me, so Charlene used his bib number).

The Gasparilla Distance Classic weekend comprises four races: a 15K (the most popular of the four) and a 5K on Saturday, and the half marathon and 8K on Sunday.  They used to offer a marathon on Sunday, but ended that in 2010 (my PR for a marathon was that race, 3:49 and change).  With the schedule as it is nowadays, they offer combo "packages" wherein runners can choose to participate in one or more of the races, including the "ultra" distance of doing all four!  Definitely a worthy goal and accomplishment, but not on my bucket list right now.

Last year I ran my best half marathon time at this race--1:46:17--and I did it without "trying" to PR.  It was a great feeling, because I was two weeks out from the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, so I was race-ready.  I went into it truly thinking that I would just do what felt good, and that was great because what felt good ended up being a PR!  I remember that the only real struggle I had in that race was during the last three miles, which were hard, and I fought to maintain my pace, but there was no real pain or anything.  In retrospect, I probably could have broken 1:45 had I run with a pace group and "tried" a little harder.

So this year, as you know, my goal is the Ironman.  And right now in my training I am not focusing much on high volume or speed, just steady, short- to mid-length runs.  I have, admittedly, run longer than the plan calls for in the last month because I knew I had this race coming up, but nothing too crazy.  With all this in mind, and thinking comparatively back to last year when my entire focus was running, I had the attitude that I would try to do well, but if I didn't, no big deal.  Ha!  Who am I kidding?  Not those of you who know me well, and of course, not myself.  I wanted to PR!  The plan was to start with the 1:45 pace group, but if I couldn't hold on, then no big deal, because I knew I was not in the same running shape that I was last year.  So here's how it went.

The drive from my house to the Tampa Convention Center should take about 2 hours.  The Expo was going on until 5pm, so I told Charlene to be at my house at noon and we'd head out.  This is a really great expo every year, with a lot of amazing deals on everything a runner doesn't need (but thinks she does)!  Side note: in the past, I have been known to get a wee-bit uptight about getting to the expo early, to pick up my number and make sure I could get through all the expo booths before everything closed down.  This year I was not uptight at all.  No big deal if we weren't the first ones there.  Charlene did arrive at my house a few minutes after noon and in about 10 minutes we were on the road, Tom Tom guiding the way.  Now, being that this is race week (and by that I mean the big one, the Daytona 500), and the race fans flock to Central Florida from all over, and the 500 wasn't until Sunday, a majority of the race fans appeared to be on the road going to Disney--which of course I had to travel through.  My house is smack dab in the middle of Daytona Beach and Disney, and Disney is between my house and Tampa.  Needless to say, we hit a bit of traffic.  That piece about me NOT getting uptight about getting to the expo early?  Yeah, that all started to unravel as we sat in slow-moving, tourist-filled, bad-driver I-4 traffic.  But I kept calm and carried on!  Once we passed Disney, the traffic got back up to speed until we hit Tampa, which has TERRIBLE traffic, but luckily at the point that traffic was coming to a standstill, we were getting off the highway.

So we make it to the expo--success!  Now this is Charlene's first big race experience.  Prior to this she has walked the Orlando Corporate 5K with the work team I've put together for the past few years, and while that is a 14,000 participant, huge event, it's just not the same as a competitive individual race like Gasparilla.  So she was impressed (and a little overwhelmed) by the expo and the procedure--get your number, get your shirt, get your bag of SWAG, then shop!  Heading into the expo, I had 3 items on my shopping list that I was hoping to find there and get good deals.  Somehow I came out of there with 5 things, 3 of which weren't on my list going in.  Funny how that works.  I did get a replacement sticker for my car, though:

Then we head to Emery's for a relaxing evening and delicious pasta dinner.  Plan was to leave the house the next morning at 4:30 am, since it's a 6:00 race start and parking can sometimes be an issue.  Plus we needed to leave time for bathroom, walking to the start, and finding the pace group.  Of course, my stress dreams kicked in!  Had one that was all about waking up late, alarm didn't go off, no time to get to the race start.  Another was about going to work the next day but forgetting what happened in the race, arriving late to work in the wrong clothes at the wrong location...all the usual stuff.  So I woke up about 3 times during the night, but was luckily able to get back to sleep.  Two minutes before my alarm was set to go off, I heard Emery sneeze in the kitchen, and I was awake.  We left a little after 4:30, no traffic on the roads, found parking in a garage not too far from the convention center, short wait for the bathrooms inside the convention center (no need to find the port-o-potties), and we got into line about 15 minutes early.  Emery hung back behind the 2-hour line (they did a split start for those expecting to finish after two hours in order to thin out the start a bit), and I found the 1:45 pace group with no problem.  A great beginning so far!  The only complaint was the 70 degree weather and the seemingly 95% humidity.  Yikes!

And here's the play-by-play...
Race start...gun sounds, everyone claps, not too long and we're moving, crossing the start line 40 seconds after the gun.  There is a sharp left turn and a narrow bridge in the first half-mile.  I am ready for it because I know it's there, and I know it's a huge cluster*%& until we get over the bridge, so I don't panic.  Other people do, particularly one woman in the 1:45 group who is wasting so much energy trying to stay with the pacer and getting so upset that she can't! Chill out, lady!  After clearing the bridge, although it is still really congested, the road widens and we settle into our 8 minute-mile pace.  Here's where my doubts first begin, there's no way I can hold this pace for 13 miles!  Then I combat that with no, the first mile always sucks.  Doesn't matter whether it's a 4 mile training run or a marathon, the first mile is hard.  Let's see what mile 2 feels like.
Mile 2...Hey, this is feeling okay.  I'm alright.  Settle in. Sweating a LOT early on because of the extremely high humidity, I decide to take fluids at every water station, which come about every 1.5-2 miles.  This is more than I would normally drink, but in planning for having to learn to eat and drink more for the IM, and knowing how much I'm already sweating, I decide to try it out.
Mile 3...Okay, this feels a little tough, but I've got my rhythm, I think I can hang on for a while.  The pacer is chatting with some folks in front of me, other conversations are going on, I'm content to listen to them for the distraction.
Somewhere after Mile 4...I was planning to take some Sport Beans (aka Energy Pellets) at mile 5, but I'm feeling like I could use the mental boost of taking in some nutrition, so I start popping my little Energy Pellets and eat more than half the package.  I plan to take the rest around mile 8 and then a gel after that if needed.
Mile 5...We come off Davis Islands to begin the down and back trek along Bayshore Blvd.  The sun is just coming up, but it's cloudy (yay!), and as usual the humidity starts to drop a little bit as dawn breaks.  As we're coming off the bridge I see Charlene cheering me on and we wave--it's amazing what even a glimpse of a friend cheering you on can do for morale, isn't it?!
Mile 6...WTF?  I thought we were at mile 7?!  Okay, no big deal, let's just start counting down the miles now.  Only 7 to go, no big deal.
Mile 7...My mood is now alternating between "feeling okay" and "not quite sure how I'm feeling."  But I'm keeping pace with the pacer, there's still quite a few of us who have hung on in the group, no problem.  Only 6 miles to go, that's nothing.
Mile 8...Hmmm...that tingling kind of feels like dehydration.  That's not good.  What's that all about?  I thought I was hydrating well over the past few days.  Well, I'll just keep on.  5 miles is nothing, I did 5 miles on really sore legs Friday night.  Eat the rest of your sport beans...
Mile 9...The turnaround on Bayshore is just before the 9 mile mark.  The dehydration feeling is gone, but damn my right quad is tight!  I knew I pushed it too hard on that bike ride yesterday!  I hope it doesn't lock up on me.  The pacer has gotten eerily quiet.  Our group seems to have dwindled--some going ahead, others falling behind.  Man my legs are starting to tire!  Just keep going...
Mile 10...Where the hell is mile 10?  Haven't we gone a mile yet?  Oh my God my quads hurt!  Okay, just keep going.  Relax your shoulders...drop your arms...let your legs keep the rhythm.
Mile 10.5...This sucks.  I want to stop.  Man it would feel so nice to stop and walk.  NO!  No stopping!  Stay on pace!  Less than 3 miles, you can do 3 miles in pain. Shut up, legs!
Mile 11...Wow that was a long mile.  Only 2 more.  16 minutes...uh oh, pacer fell off the pace, we're not going to make 1:45.  I may not even be able to keep running.  Damn this hurts!  Wait, you've been here before, you've hurt before, just keep going.  The faster you run, the sooner it will be over!
Mile 11.1...Really? Is this race ever going to end?
Mile 11.8...Kids in clown wigs!  Cheering section!  Man it feels good to smile!  Keep smiling.  Keep moving.  Just keep moving.
Mile 12...You can do anything for 1 mile.  That .1 at the end doesn't count, it's adrenaline.  Is that the finish line?! No!  That's the start banner...%^*$%...that fooled me last year, too. Hey, there's Charlene!  Smile and wave, smile and wave!
FINISH LINE!!!! 

Well, it's not 1:45, but I did beat my PR (final official time was 1:45:50).  Cold towel!  Thank you!  Cool medal!  Picture with a pirate!  Great race, really great race.

Post race: Emery finished in about 2:07.  Salad, black beans and rice, chicken and yellow rice from the Columbia Restaurant.  Then I walked the 8K with Charlene.  Legs were TIRED!  Then the three of us celebrated at Stacked Burger.  Black and blue burger, medium rare, fried pickles, sweet potato fries, yum!!!  There's nothing like following a tough effort with a delicious burger.

Tomorrow: REST DAY!  Woot woot!