Space Coast Half Marathon 2013 Recap

The weekend after Thanksgiving (and of course after Black Friday shopping), I ventured over to the east coast to run the Space Coast Half Marathon.  I must admit that I signed up for this race after seeing the medal.  The race bling was fantabulous!  I loved the space shuttle medals!

Denise, Mica and I drove over on Saturday, hit the expo at the Kennedy Space Center to pickup our race packets and bibs, and settled into our hotel.  The Space Coast Expo is nothing to write home about so we didn't spend too much time there.



Chrissy, Denise, Mica


We were up bright and early the next morning ready to race in our matching outfits we called "Starry Night".  By the way, I made my running skirt instead of buying it online. I was so proud of my first big sewing accomplishment and I saved money!

 

The half marathon started at 6:00am so I had an hour of cool weather before the sun and temperatures rose.  I felt great at the start of the race and kept a nice pace.  I wanted to beat my PR from Frankenfooter and someday run a half marathon in under 2 hours.  Denise and I ran together for the first couple of miles but I eventually pulled ahead to take advantage of the cool dawn weather and great pace I had going.

The Space Coast Half Marathon was an out and back course along the Indian River with beautiful views and gorgeous houses.  It was a mostly flat course with a couple of dips and rises along the way.  I still felt great at the half way turn around and continued back to the finish line.

On the way back, there was a very strong wind that nearly blew my visor off multiple times but I was determined not to let it slow me down.  I thought I might actually finish around 2:05.  With a goal in mind, I pushed myself to get it done.

I ended up finishing in 2:06:19 and setting a new PR!  I had an excellent race all around.

Look at this bling with the beautiful Columbia Space Shuttle!  This was the first year of Space Coast's Big Bang Series.  I plan to be back next year for the Challenger medal.

Age Div: 40/316
Overall Place: 483/2943
Average Pace: 9:39
Chip Finish Time: 2:06:19

Frankenfooter Half Marathon 2013 Recap

I ran the Bride of Frankenfooter 5K on a Saturday night and then the Frankenfooter Half Marathon the next morning to complete the Living Dead Challenge!

This race was the weekend before Halloween so of course I needed a costume.  But running 13.1 miles in a costume....it must be comfortable.  My friend Denise and I dressed as Finn and Jake from the cartoon Adventure Time.  I bought my favorite type of running skirt from runningskirts.com in gold and a tank that matched. I finished my ensemble with a yellow Jake hat.

Our group of crazy costume runners including a zombie cheerleader

Again, I had the goal of a PR.  The weather was cool, I was well rested and hydrated.  The race started and I took my time with the first mile, running about a 10:15/M pace to really warm up.  I've learned that if I take off too fast, my energy is zapped.  After the first mile, I picked up my pace.

We ran in and out of some small Port Richey parks.  I liked seeing people run past me in the opposite direction (both ahead and behind me on the course).  The costumes kept my interest and I was able to cheer for my fellow runners.

At the first fuel stop, they handed out chocolate PowerGel.  I ate it reluctantly, not enjoying it at first but then I grew to like the chocolate.  I definitely felt the boost of energy whether it was the caffeine or sugar/carbs that my body needed to keep going.  I ate another one later on the course.  Yum!

At about mile 7, I caught up to my costume buddy, Denise.  We ran a little ways together but I was in the groove so I pulled ahead and kept going strong.

At mile 9, with 4.1 miles left, I looked at my Garmin to check my PR status.  The time was 9:41 am, yes, time of day.  I had it in my head that since the race started at 8:00 am, I needed to finish before 10:14 am to beat my Gasparilla Half PR.  I thought to myself, "I can't run 4.1 miles in 30 minutes...so no PR for me, oh well, too bad, but that's weird because I've felt great during this race."  I continued to run a nice pace even though I didn't think I'd PR.

At about mile 11.5, I looked at my Garmin again.  This time I looked at race time instead of time of day.  I had been running for 1 hour and 53 minutes!  With 1.6 miles left, I was definitely going to PR.  I had such a dumb moment at mile 9!  The race didn't start on time at 8:00am.  What was I thinking? Why would I look at time of day?!

I got a PR by 6 minutes 45 seconds!

My friend Maribel also PRed!

Photo by Denise

Overall place: 87/228
Female place: 42/143
Age Division place: 8/26
Average pace: 9:47/M
Gun time: 2:08:04.4
Chip time: 2:07:51.1
Race #16 for 13 in 2013.

Have you ever run in a costume?

Bride of Frankenfooter 5K Recap

This was my second year running the Bride of Frankenfooter 5K.  Last year this race was in Starkey Park which was perfect for me because I run there most weekends and know the area well.  I was disappointed when this year's races were moved to Gill Dawg Marina in Port Richey.  Then I ran the course and loved it!  For the 5K, we ran along a portion of water on an out and back course that allowed us to pass other runners and get a nice look at all the costumes.

I dressed as Supergirl, cape included!

Photo by Denise

I loved all of the costumes at this race!

Here's our group with tough-guy faces.  Although my snarl looked more like a smile.

Photo by Christina

Photo by David

 

Photo by Denise

 

Stormtroopers at the finish line!!

Bob won best costume!

Yes, I'm holding Frankenstein's hand

I got a PR at last year's race and hoped to PR again.  The weather was cooler but a PR wasn't in the cards for me.  I've been more focused on marathon training than speed training (and I slacked on my shorter runs during the week).  I still had a great time and enjoyed the race!

Overall place: 76/252
Female place: 31/163
Age Division place: 4/27
Average pace: 9:12/M
Gun time: 28:30.1
Chip time: 28:27.2

This is race #15 for 13 in 2013.

Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon Recap 2013

I participating in the 2013 Iron Girl Sprint Triathlon in Clermont, FL on September 29th.  This was my last tri of the season and I didn't trained for it.  Come to think of it, I didn't really train for Coteeman either.  Why do I keep signing up for triathlons?!

Denise, Jenny and I drove the hour and a half over to Clermont on Saturday afternoon to pickup our packets and check-in to our hotel.  We decided to stay the night instead of leaving at 3:00am the next morning to make the trip to Clermont.  I'm very glad we did because we were able to check our bikes in at transition, get a look at the lake and drive the bike course to get a feel for the hills.  And oh there were hills!

The next morning we were up, out and setup in transition with plenty of time.  I was very nervous about the lake swim because it would be my longest race swim at 1/2 mile. 

Jenny loaned us Polar shirts to stay warm.

I was in the third wave of swimmers.  We got in the water, waist deep, and waited for our start time.  Once it was go time, I ran in the water until it was deep enough to swim.  We had to swim out to a buoy, turn left and swim to a second buoy, then turn left again and swim toward shore.  I attempted the freestyle stroke that I was practicing over the summer but I was too overwhelmed with the rough water and other people swimming around me.  I'm a good recreational swimmer, most comfortable with the slow breast stroke so I switched to that and took my time.

Half way to the first buoy, my non-fogging goggles were so fogged that I couldn't see.  They never fog!  What happened?!  I had to hold on to a kayak to rinse them in the water. Afterwards, I realized that was my problem...I didn't wet my goggles before I put them on my head.



That's me with the purple cap.

I ran to transition feeling really good after my slow comfortable swim.  I tried to be fast in transition, not worrying about the grass on my feet before I put on my shoes.  Then I was off on the bike.

The bike course was great in the beginning with a couple of little, manageable hills.  The first major incline appeared where the sprint racers separated from the super sprint racers. After driving the course the day before, I vowed to try my hardest to make it up the steep inclines without getting off my bike to walk.  As I started up the incline, lots of racers were walking their bikes up the hill but I was passing them so I struggled on, with my feet clipped in.  The next portion of the course was filled with hills including one other steep incline.  I enjoyed the downs with a top speed of 29mph.  I managed all the hell hills, on my bike, and made it back to transition.



I can tell from my posture that I was tired and ready to be done with hills.

In transition, I caught up with Denise and we took off together on the last portion of the race.  Just 3 miles to run and we'd be done.  As soon as I started running, I felt tightness in my right shin all the way down into the top of my foot.  This was more than the usual bike-to-run, legs-don't-want-to-work feeling.  At the water stop, I took some time to stretch out my leg and foot.  This was also where our paved path turned to dirt...not my favorite thing to run on but my leg did feel better.  I managed my way to the finish line at an easy pace.

I survived the 2013 Iron Girl Tri sprint with a 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3 mile run.  Now that it's done, I can say that I enjoyed it too!

Overall time - 1:42:42
Swim - 23:03
Transition 1 - 3:09
Bike - 46:43
Transition 2 - 1:11
Run - 28:36
Division Place: 26/41
Overall Place: 106/218


Disclaimer: I was given an Iron Girl Tri registration in exchange for event promotion and a review.  All opinions are my own.

Wig Out Water Obstacle 5K Recap

My friends and I tried out a water obstacle 5K called Wig Out Against Brain Tumors by Miles for hope.  There were water slides!  What a fun way to finish 3 miles!!  We were also encouraged to wear wigs so we went with a colorful theme.

 

This was not a timed race so we were there to have fun and look cute in the process!  We took pictures along the way as we completed the obstacles and had a wonderfully good time!

 



We did do some running between the obstacles.

It was a wet and wild kind of day!

In the second half of the race, we had to take our shoes off to experience the inflatable slides.

Here's one of the more challenging obstacles with Maribel scaling a wall.

After the race was over, we followed the lead of all the kids and rinsed off in the park's fountain.

Unfortunately, after all the fun sliding and running, there was no race food left.  Disappointing because we started an hour and a half before the last wave started.  My friends were able to get their free beer.

It's refreshing to do a race just for fun without worrying about time and PRs.

Do you enjoy a fun run?

This was my 13th race for 13 in 2013!  I did it...13 races done!

Coteeman Sprint Tri Recap 2013

The Coteeman Sprint Tri is a small, local race with a lovely, safe pool swim.  No creatures from the black lagoon lurking beneath my feet.  No need to freak out because of the swamp water smell or murky waters all around me.  I grew up swimming and playing in Florida lakes but the one tri I did with a lake swim, freaked me out!  Anyway...back to the clear, non scary waters of a pool.

This was my second time participating in the Coteeman Sprint Tri.  I must admit that I didn't train as much as I should have.  I was running, biking and swimming as my usual exercise, but I didn't put them together and do any bricks.  It was a pool swim so I knew I'd survive.

We even bought fancy sTRIders tri suits!

 

 

The short pool swim was great.  I was in and out and on to transition 1.  I know I need to work on speeding up my transitions times.  I'm too particular to get in and out of transition quickly.  I actually left grass on my feet this year instead of wiping it all off before I put my socks on my feet.

 

I was off on the bike portion.  For this course, we had to bike two loops before finishing the bike miles.  On the first loop I caught up to my hubby Mike.  That wasn't a good sign because he started his swim before me and is faster on the bike.  He was sick and having a hard time breathing.  He decided to take a DNF (did not finish) after the first bike loop.  I was sad for him but kept on pedaling.  After my two loops, I biked back to transition.

 

I felt like I had a million accessories switching from the bike to run.  I had to remove my helmet and bike shoes and put on my Garmin, hat, sunglasses, race belt and running shoes.  With that done, I was ready for the final run part of the tri.  I finished faster than last year but not quite as fast as a normal 5K.



 

 

I beat all of my times from last year.  I won 3rd place for my age group this year!  Woot! Woot!  Last year, I won first place for my age group but had a slower time by 3 minutes.  My boys were confused by that.  I explained that there was steeper competition this year.  

The sTRIders cleaned up this year with members taking first place over all for male and female.

Overall time - 1:07:30
Swim - 3:50
Transition 1 - 2:48
Bike - 29:34
Transition 2 - 1:49
Run - 29:32