Gasparilla Distance Classic

It's a week late but I'm finally getting around to my race recap for the Gasparilla Distance Classic.

Being from Tampa I love the GDC. I ran the 5K here back in middle school before I gave up running (the first time) and it was a blast. Two years ago, when I had finally started running again, I ran in the 8K, my very first "distance" race. I think at the time I had only run 5 miles once before, and it was hard but tremendously rewarding. The race that started the Crazy, perhaps?

Gasparilla used to have a marathon; however between a combination of low turnout and whining from folks who hated having their streets closed all day, they pulled back to a 1/2 marathon. GDC weekend there are 4 races: 15K and 5K on Saturday and the 1/2 marathon followed by the 8K on Sunday. The 5K this year had over 14,000 participants! 

It's a great time - typically you'll see people dressed up as pirates all over the place. Myth debunking: some of my friends thought that the race is pirate themed because of the Buccaneers, our NFL team. Not so! In reality the Gasparilla festival has been celebrated in Tampa since 1904. Jose Gaspar, the pirate captain, invades the city with his pirate mates, and the mayor surrenders the key to the city. "Sacking" ensues - basically a lot of parades, bead throwing and plenty of drinking. So the GDC takes place during this time. 

GDC also offers three different "challenge" options. Since Michelob is the big sponsor for the races, they're all named after beers. I did the middle challenge, the *takes a deep breath* Michelob Ultra Amber Challenge. This meant I would run the 15K and 5K races on Saturday followed by the 1/2 marathon on Sunday. The other two challenges entailed running the 15K/8K or all four races. In retrospect I should have probably signed up for the 15K/8K so I wouldn't have been so stressed out about my training during the worst part of the winter in PA. Oh well, lesson learned! 

Race Day #1: Saturday. 15K/5K.

The 15K started at  7am so I was up around 4:45; the usual sneaking around the house trying not to knock anything over and waking everyone else up. I was excited to rock my Moon Joggers Voyage to Venus shirt and gunmetal Sparkle Skirt. I recently bought some Brooks Glycerin 2-in-1 shorts which worked out wonderfully. They have a boy short liner with grippy hem so I can rock the shorts without getting any wicked thigh chafe.

My requisite pre-race bib selfie: Husband affectionately referred to my bib as "the Civil War bib."

Getting to Tampa on Friday had been a nightmare. Woke up that morning to fog but no apparently flight delays in PHL so I drove there expecting my noon flight to TPA to be on time. WRONG. Long story short: I ended up driving to ACY to jumpseat down on company. This ended up with a very very rushed Friday - barely any time for packet pickup and dinner, much less my normal hydration/yoga/foam rolling pre race rituals. And I was still organizing for the race at 10pm. *head desk*

Even though I knew it would be hot and humid, the race packet swore there would be aid stations nearly every mile, so I decided to forgo my bulky Nathan hydration belt for a SPIBelt with gel pockets that I picked up at the expo. The race support was so excellent at the race that I never regretted not bringing my own water. I never had to wait for water; there were at least 10 volunteers at each aid station for the 15K and even more for the 1/2 marathon. I can't say enough about how wonderful the race support was all weekend!

The Tampa "skyline," which was pretty invisible all morning due to fog.

The 15K course was wonderful; out and back down Bayshore Blvd. If you're looking for a flat race course, look no further. Besides the Brorein Street bridge that you cross immediately after the start, there was not a noticeable incline for the entirety of the race. Gotta love Tampa for that!

Running on Bayshore is like an architecture tour - the houses on and near Bayshore run the gamut from small ranches to magnificent Spanish style homes that list for millions of dollars. Bayshore is prime real estate.

After about 5 1/2 miles we had our turnaround. Some blessed souls were passing out Krispy Kreme donuts to all the runners - I wish I could've partaken but when I'm hot and sweaty the last thing I want is an uber-sweet donut!

Since it was hot and I felt massively undertrained I ran the race with a 4:1 interval - 4 minutes of running with 1 minute walk breaks. It actually worked out pretty well! I never got so tired that my form became sloppy. Judging from Nike+ my running portions ran about 11:15-11:30/mile so I averaged a 12:10/mile pace for the 15K with a time of 1:54:19. Not bad!

Unfortunately at mile 7 I started to feel an ache in my left foot. By the time I crossed the finish line it was hurting quite a bit. Oh no!!

A medal makes everything better for a little while...

The 15K medal. Yay booty!

At this point David and I finally found each other and we hung out for a little while waiting for the 5K start. Hubs had registered for the 5K the night before so I wouldn't have to walk it myself - Mom had originally decided to do it with me but came down with a nasty cold that weekend. 

I don't have any photos from the 5K for two reasons: I was in a lot of pain by this point and about a mile in it started to POUR. Torrential rainfall!! The rain would stop just to start up again about 2 minutes later. Doh! By the time we finished we were soaked and my shoes were all squishy. Gross. But we finished (55:24)!! After the race we had a quick photo op at the pier where we got married.

Hey look! We got married here! 

Saturday afternoon/evening I spent with my foot on ice. I was panicked that there was no way I'd be able to run the 1/2 marathon. This is why I always feel weird about getting race shirts/premiums before running the actual race - I already had the (really cool) 1/2 marathon shirt and the challenge finishers jacket at home...staring at me...telling me to not be a wimp. Pain is temporary, pride is forever, right? Right. So Sunday morning I roust myself at 4am to go "run" a 1/2 marathon. *head desk*

The weather, thankfully, was a bit cooler than the day before. I walked to the convention center/start line in some pain but no so much that I didn't think I'd finish the race. I even risked some ibuprofen that morning, even though I never take medication before I run.

Does this sound like a really stupid person talking? Yes, yes it does. Because I'm that crazy person.

I'll save you the gory details but it was a LONG race. A really long race. I still maintained my 4:1 ratio, but by mile 9 I decided to throw it out the window and just keep running, just to get the damn race over with. I was very thankful to get so many encouraging Facebook messages from my friends and running group - it kept me going. I'm glad I did the 1/2 but I never want to run injured again. It was stupid and not enjoyable.

It wasn't all terrible - by the 10K mark I realized that I was running really slow (over a 13'/mile pace which is slow for me for a 1/2) but that I was at 1:30 - which meant if I could negative split the last half the race I could get a sub 3 hour time.

Aaaaand the crazy person is back.

What is it about running and goals and times that make us absolutely insane? All I know is that around mile 10 either the serotonin kicked in or I was just tired of thinking about my foot because the pain went away. I actually pulled a decent pace for the last 5K of the half and finished in 2:59:17. Husband was even there to high five me right before I crossed the finish line (that's love right there, folks).

Nothing makes you happier about running 13.1 miles on a sprained ankle like a damn idiot like getting two shiny medals when you cross the finish line.

This doesn't look like the face of a person who just ran a 1/2 marathon on a sprained ankle, does it?  It because this is the face of a CRAZY PERSON.

The 1/2 marathon medal immediately became my New Favorite Medal.

Super booty, arrrr!!

It was nice to realize, after the race was over, that this was my 4th half marathon and that my first was exactly one year before that (at the Princess 1/2 Marathon in Disney). It's been a crazy awesome year.

Post race pic outside the Tampa Bay History Center - my favorite wedding photo was my husband and I sitting on this gator.

So. All in all I'm glad I decided to run the 1/2 on Sunday. Most of it sucked but I didn't die and I didn't break anything. So I call that a win. I could barely walk the rest of the day (or the next three) but at least I finished. You may think that it's irresponsible and crazy but it's just the way my brain works.

We're gonna need a bigger medal rack.

The sad thing is that I had to call out sick to work all week because of the damn sprain - I could barely walk around, much less use a rudder pedal or assist in an evacuation. So that was pretty stupid, professionally. But at least I was on reserve so they didn't have to cover a trip for me or anything. And yes, I went to the doctor. Rest, ice, take it easy for a week and NO RUNNING until it feels 100%. I can deal with that. There are worse things than convalescing in Florida before heading back to the frozen wasteland that is the Mid-Atlantic. Yesterday I finally had the bright idea to KT tape my ankle; it still hurts but feels a lot more supported than it did on an ankle brace and my shoes fit better to boot. At least I should be able to go to work Thursday, even if I'm not running yet.

Next race: I doubt I'll be doing the Run4Luck in Lancaster in 2 weeks; April 13th is the Hershey 10K. Going to try to get a time of around 1:05 so I can get a better corral placement for Disney Wine & Dine in October. Better corral placement = more time in Epcot post-race, woo!

Stay thirsty, my friends.