Down and Dirty at Warrior Dash [Recap]

I was the official photographer for my crazy friends that raced at Warrior Dash in Lake Whales.  I don't do mud runs as of now.  I love the outdoors, tent camp, challenges, obstacles, etc but I don't want to crawl through mud.  My friend Denise is really trying to talk me into doing Pretty Muddy with her this fall.  She's guaranteed me that I can skip obstacles...specifically the muddy ones.  I'm thinking about it.  Anyway...back to Warrior Dash.

My husband, his friends and some of my friends got down and dirty at Warrior Dash.

The girls named themselves Bad Kitties or some other cat name not appropriate for this blog.

Faith, Larisa, Michelle, Maribel, and Tanya

 

Trevis, Mike, Jim, Greg, Chris and Kenji

 

My boys and I hung out waiting for our crew to finish their race.  We could only see the last three obsticale; viscious valley (climbing), warrior roast (fire), and muddy mayham (mud & barbwire).

 

 

And here they come through the trenches of muddy mayham.  This is what I don't want to do!! 

That's barbwire above Greg in the mud pit.  I'm a little claustrophobic so the thought of being trapped between mud and barbwire freaks me out!

See the warrior roast fire in the background that they had to jump over.  It doesn't look so bad.

Chris and Trevis making their way out of the swamp.  Reminds me of creature from the black lagoon.

Mike emerges!

The Bad Kitties are still together and almost to the finish line!

And now some lovely after pictures.

They all had a great time despite a couple of barbwire scrapes/gashes and the lack of showering off because of the very long lines!  Them all said they would do it again next year.

I'm still not sure about a mud run for me but I did miss being out on the course with my girls!

Have you done a mud run?  Which one and would you do another?

Running for Booty! [Gasparilla Recap]

I just ran the Gasparilla Half Marathon on Sunday.  My reason for registering for the half was purely for the medal!  The Gasparilla 5K was my first race ever back in 2009.  I've run the 5K with my sister the last couple of years but was envious of last year's hinged jaw half marathon medals.  I wanted the cool booty this year!!  I'm glad they had similar medals this year!

You can't deny, that's a pretty awesome medal.  It's all mine now, my precious.

 

 

I had a great time at the Gasparilla Expo on Friday. I love this expo...it's probably my favorite.  Look what else they had this year!  It's the usual running backgrounds that are a perfectly silly, photo opportunity AND if you uploaded your picture to Instagram with their hashtag, it printed out a sticker for you.  My picture is on the left and the sticker on the right.  So cool!!

The expo vendors provide tons of healthy samples, registration for upcoming races, running apparel and even some discount prices!  I bought a new pair of orthaheel flip flops for 20% off from Feet First (these are so much better for your feet than flat flip flops).

Before the expo, I considered joining the 2:10 pace group.  My official chip timed half PR was 2:15:41 and I wanted to beat that time.  But I decided against joining a pace group.  I didn't want the added pressure of staying with a group especially when they don't stop AT ALL.  I have a hard time drinking while running so I usually walk the water stations.

It all worked out because we didn't get there with enough time to find said pace groups.  Before the race, we used the nice bathrooms in the Convention Center instead of smelly, disgusting porta-potties, posed for pictures, and finally lined up at the back of the start line right before the first wave started at 6:00am.

 

 

Our wave started at 6:10am but I didn't cross the start until 6:14am. About a quarter mile into the race the route made a sharp left turn and took us over the bridge and on to Davis Island which created a massive bottleneck.  It was slow going and packed until mile 3 where it finally open up a bit.  I guess that's the advantage of being in the front at the start line.  We stayed on Davis Island until mile 5 when we crossed the bridge back to Bayshore.

 

The run on Bayshore was beautiful but quite windy at times.  It was an overcast day and I was thankful the sun was not yet visible through the fog and thick clouds.  It was already hot and humid out and I was not "feel'n it" during this race.  A runner has good races and not so good races.  This was a not so good day for me.  I felt like I had a good pace going and would looked at my Garmin to check my pace....10:10 or 10:15.  WHAT?!  I had to be running faster than that!  I thought maybe all the cloud cover was interfering with my Garmin's GPS but I knew that was just wishful thinking wasn't the case.

 

My half way stats from the Gasparilla tracking system stated:

Chrissy at the Halfway 13M in 1:08:16.
Pace 11:23 min/Mile.
Estimated Finish Time: 2:29:10.
Estimated Time of Arrival: 8:43:26.

I kept watching my watch and knew I'd be very close to my 2:15 PR time.  I did catch up to and pass the 2:20 pace group but I never saw the 2:10 group.  The last couple of miles I really pushed myself because I wanted a PR if even by mere seconds.  I didn't even take time to look at the beautiful houses along Bayshore.  The thing was, my training runs had been so much better and faster then this race.  It just wasn't a good day for me.

I did end up with a PR by a minute.  It wasn't a 2:10 but I'll take it!  And I made up some time in the second half.  As you can see above, my estimated finish time at the half way mark was 15 minutes after I actually finished.

Chrissy at the Finish in 2:14:36.
Pace 10:16 min/Mile.
Here are my splits.

I got my gorgeous bling and completed my 3rd race toward my 13 in 2013.

 

Have you ever run in Gasparilla?  Did you run a race last weekend?

Music Monday [Memories]

I had lots of time to listen to music on my ipod yesterday during the Gasparilla Half Marathon...2 hours and 14 minutes to be exact.  (Look for a full race post later in the week.)  I had to skip some of the songs because I just wasn't in the mood for them.  I love running with music but sometimes in a race when I'm running at an uncomfortable pace and I'm about to pass out, keel over, hyperventilate, music becomes an annoying noise.  I feel like there is too much going on around me to listen to this "background" music.

Does anyone else ever feel that way?

One of the songs that played (that I didn't skip) while I was running was Madonna's Lucky Star.  This song brings back childhood memories of dance routines with my sisters in our front room and a star ornament pinned to the ceiling.  We wore old slip dresses, bounced on a small trampoline and even did some breakdance spins in our routines.  It was the early-mid 80s!

Another song that brings back memories for my youngest son and I is Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance.  Everyday on the way home from preschool he requested this song and a couple of others.  It got to the point that I had to create a special "Dylan" playlist with his 5 favorite songs.  I'd start the playlist, put the windows down and blast the music.  He loved it (and so did the kids in our carpool)!  We would all go crazy at about 1:48 when the song's tempo picked up.

What music moves you?For Music Mondays, I’m teaming up with my good friend and fellow Marathon Mama, Denise. Please stop by and check out Denise's Music Monday.



Visit Xmas Dolly for more Music Monday.

Flashdance - The Musical

The Tampa Bay Bloggers and I saw Flashdance - The Musical at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts on opening night, February 19th.  I brought one of my sisters as my +1. 

The week before the show we discussed wearing 80s clothes to truely engage in the era of the show.  We reminished about the hideous fashion choices we made in the 80s.  The day of the show, I verified with my friends that they were, in fact, dressing in 80s garb.  I did not want to be the only one stuck in the past!  My friends came through and I think we looked fantastic!

I think I've seen the entire Flashdance movie but I can't quite remember.  I was only 8 when the original movie came out in April 1983.  It was rated R, so a no go for me see. I don't think I could see rated R movies until I was 15.  A couple of us met up at Taps before the show for dinner and drinks.  Then we walked over to the Straz Center.  We sat down and the opening number started with a bang!

Emily Padgett played Alex Owens, the main character who is a welder and an aspiring professional dancer.  Her dancing and athletic physique brought the character to life.  Song after song, the cast delivered!  I sang along with the music and bopped my head to the beat.  Act one ended with Maniac and the infamous Flashdance water scene.

Act two continued with the hits and Flashdance story.  One of my favorite songs of act two was Gloria.  Gloria, Gloria, I think they got your number, Gloria, I think they got the alias, Gloria, That you've been livin' under, Gloria.  The last song was Alex performing her Shipley audition to What A Feeling and then joined by the full company of dancers.  It was an amazing ending to the musical.

Flashdance - The Musical is playing February 19-24 at the Straz Center in downtown Tampa.

Do you have a favorite muscial?

I was given complimentary tickets to Flashdance - The Musical. All opinions are my own.

Wordless Wednesday [Bella]

 

 

She loves to lick the milkshake or slushie cup.

Track Tuesday & Flasdance!

 

Tonight I'm going to the opening night of Flashdance - The Musical with my fellow Tampa Bay Bloggers.  "What a feeling!"  Rumor has it, some might even dress for the era.  It's sure to be a great time!  I'll have a complete post about the show soon.

 

 



 

My workouts for last week

 

 

• Monday - 120 abs for #lovemyabs
• Tuesday - intervals 4 x 400s, 120 abs for #lovemyabs
• Wednesday - 120 abs for #lovemyabs (no biking because of rain)
• Thursday - 5 mile run @ 9:26 pace, 120 abs for #lovemyabs
• Friday - 140 abs for #lovemyabs
• Saturday - 8 mile run @ 9:42 pace, 140 abs for #lovemyabs
• Sunday - 140 abs for #lovemyabs (no biking because of COLD weather)

I missed biking last week but I wasn't biking in the rain or 50 degree weather with wind.  I'm a Florida girl through and through!  I like warm, sunny days!

Look at that beautiful blue sky!

Tuesday interval time, 4 x 400s!

I walked for 2 minutes in between each lap. Here's my breakdown.

Warm up
Distance: 1.00 mile
Time: 10:19
Pace: 10:19

Lap 1
Distance: 0.25 mile
Time: 1:58
Pace: 7:55

Lap 2
Distance: 0.25 mile
Time: 1:56
Pace: 7:48

Lap 3
Distance: 0.25 mile
Time: 1:50
Pace: 7:21

Lap 4
Distance: 0.25 mile
Time: 1:57
Pace: 7:49

Cool down
Distance: 1.00 mile
Time: 10:08
Pace: 10:08

Total:  3.30 miles

 

What interval training do you do?  How were your workouts last week?

Presidents R-O-C-K

There's no school for us today because of Presidents' Day.  Instead of sitting in the house all day with my boys begging me to play video games, my boys and I are headed to Parksdale Farm for a taste of their "World Famous Strawberry Shortcake" and the shake that the Food Network called the "Best Drinkable Dessert".  I'm looking forward to buying some delicious Plant City strawberries.  The boys and I are very excited because we LOVE strawberries!  Look for a complete post on our Parksdale Farm trip soon.

In honor of Presidents' Day today, my music Monday songs feature the band The Presidents of the United States of America.

 

 

 

 

Did you recognize that last one from the Drew Carey Show?  Such a funny show!

What music moves you?

For Music Mondays, I’m teaming up with my good friend and fellow Marathon Mama, Denise. Please stop by and check out Denise's Music Monday.

 



 Visit Xmas Dolly for more Music Monday.