2013 Gasparilla Half Marathon (not really) Race Report

Gasparilla has the coolest bling of any race I've ever done

I use the words "race" and "report" very loosely this time around. It was my best and worst half marathon. Worst marathon if you use time as an indicator and best if you consider discipline as the indicator. I fully intended to NOT race this race. Having done an ironman in November and then a marathon in mid January, I pretty much knew that I was going into this race with a have fun and just run mentality. I used it as a training run and ran strictly sticking to a pre-determined heart rate zone. I promised myself and a good friend that I would stick to my guns and not let the speedy race craziness get the best of me. I also told said good friend, that I would send her my Garmin stats after all was said and done. I find it really does help to tell someone your good intentions so that you stick to them. Unfortunately, best laid plans don't always work out so I had to adjust on the fly. My heart rate monitor was going berserk with all kinds of crazy high heart rate readings. Possibly picking up others around me?? I knew my heart rate wasn't 243 and resorted to go by my perceived rate of exertion, which is usually spot on. I hope whoever had a 243 heart rate goes to see a cardiologist soon. But I digress ...I also knew that if I kept my pace at around 9:15 per mile, that I would be within where I had planned on running.

I'm proud to say, I did exactly what I said I was going to do. The only time I turned up the speed a couple of gears was at the very end, with about 200 yards to go. Normally, I can't run for about 3-4 days after this race because the roads are all concrete and beat your legs to a pulp. But this time, no soreness at all. Yay for small victories.

Me and the Murf showing off out bling and race shirts at work! It was her first half marathon. Go girl!

For the first time in a very, very long time, I have been looking forward to running again. Yesterday's half marathon reinforced that for me. Somewhere in the midst of training for ironman races, I lost sight of the pleasure that running used to give me and it became more of a chore. I blame myself for that. Even just recently running the Disney marathon, I was not enjoying the journey. The best way to describe my mindset with the running these last few years has been a hurry up and get it done mindset. In other words, I went out and ran the long distances as fast as I could and completely ignored building a solid aerobic foundation. What I began to notice was my times and speed weren't improving the way I would expect. If not just stagnant, they were getting slower. NOT ACCEPTABLE! Which leads me to this old saying:

I love Einstein! Not only because he was so damn smart and witty but because he too LOVED and appreciated bicycles.

Anywho, long story short, and without boring you with the details, I am revamping, reconstructing, rethinking, my training. I'm not going to make it difficult or complicated, but as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm going to focus on training smarter, not harder and to not get caught in thinking that I have to go balls to the wall every workout, which I have been guilty of many, many times. There is a time and place for that training too and I need to still do it but not nearly as much. See? I understand this, now I just need to apply it to myself and build from there. Upward and Onward!

Much love and peace out!