Race Report, With Extra Goodies!

Have we really been home from Florida for four days? Where has the week gone?

Last Tuesday, I headed to the chiropractor to address the calf issue, still not feeling better and a bit concerned with a half marathon scheduled for the trip. The doc got me right in and massaged the spot. Diagnosis was a micro tear in the muscle. Doesn't sound good, but you know already that things worked out. Glad I took the time to visit.

We picked the kids up from school early Tuesday afternoon. Amazingly, we were able to keep the trip a secret to them up to the point when we pulled into the parking lot at the airport. It certainly seemed like we'd spilled the beans on a few occasions, but the boys clearly aren't suspicious enough, though I'm sure that will change over time.

Once they figured out the secret destination, plenty of hoot'n and holler'n ensued.

Our Southwest flight was full but landed early in Tampa. From the airport, we headed out to Clearwater Beach for some fun in the sun.

We spent Wednesday locally at the pool and riding on a pirate ship. And we ate. And ate. And ate some more.

Thursday, I woke early and headed out for my first run since the prior weekend's triathlon. Though my chiropractor suggested waiting as long as possible to run -- Friday evening or Saturday morning -- I really was anxious to get out there and enjoy the weather. Besides, my calf was feeling much better. The run didn't disappoint. I'd say the pain was about 95% gone and I felt pretty good running in the early morning "cool", such as it was.

Once I got back, it was breakfast and on to a day of coasters and games at Busch Gardens Tampa. We could not have picked a better day weather wise. Just perfect. The only thing better were the light crowds at the park. My family has had a longstanding love affair with roller coasters. One of my disappointments as a fat guy was not being able to partake, but I've been making up for lost time, not skipping a ride at any park. My kids seem to have taken to the family love.

Zach was fearless at the park, riding every coaster at least once, and some several times. He even handled my favorite, SheiKra, a coaster that goes up 200 feet, does a straight 90 degree downward turn and the holds you at the apex for 4-5 seconds. Then, free fall. Matty rode most of the coasters as well.

Friday was beach day. We spent the whole day at the beach. Kids were in and out of the water. I sat and read a book. (My mom had lent me The Kill Artist by Daniel Silva months ago. Once I read page one, I couldn't put it down. ) That afternoon, I went for a pain free three mile run.

Saturday was moving day. From Clearwater Beach, we went to Tampa to the run expo, then off to watch the Yankees lose to the Twins (Yeah!)

Throughout the day Saturday, I spent more time worrying about weather than the actual run for the next day. Not just the weather in Tampa either. We had a 3pm flight home scheduled Sunday afternoon and Baltimore weather was calling for 4-7 inches of white stuff to start falling at 2 pm. Might we get stuck for an extra day? I could think of worse places to get stuck, for sure.

Deb had scouted out a Spaghetti Warehouse for Saturday night dinner in Ybor City. She called and asked about reservations. No problem to get in at 5-5:30. She mentioned all the runners carbing up. No clue. Off we went. We arrived at 5:30 to a one hour wait. Are you kidding me? No dice. We wandered Ybor City and found a nice little Italian place. Perfect. Food was great, timing was better. We finished eating about the time we would have been seated at the Warehouse.

After dinner, it was back to the hotel to get some sleep for the 4:30 wake up call. As it is, it's tough to get a good night's sleep before an event. Add to it a hotel in a strange town, a blackberry alarm backed up by an iffy hotel alarm clock and there just isn't a good way to sleep well. I started tossing and turning at about 3, never really falling back to sleep. By 5, I was on my way to the lobby. Hot Starbucks waiting, great start!

The forecast was questionable. Upper 60's and 90% humidity at race time. Wind and a good chance of rain. It is what it is. Just go and enjoy.

I was at the starting line 45 minutes early, just wandering, using the port-a-pot and just people watching. Even did some stretching.

The course was pretty flat and based on my recent long runs, I was hoping to maintain a 10 minute pace for as long as possible. If I could hang on, that would be 2:11 or so, but I thought 2:20 would be a great finish. I hooked up with the 4:20 marathon pace group. The full and half ran together for the first 7 miles. If I could hang with them, I'd be in great shape.

At 6, we were off and running. I didn't expect to feel the humidity so quickly. By a mile in, I was a bit behind the pace group, but struggling. I lost the pace group at about 2 1/2 miles. The humidity just didn't let up. Seemed to be getting worse. As we went past 5 miles, the skies started to turn black. At mile 8, black was upon us, but just 5 to go. At this point, the course is a 2 1/2 mile out and back to the finish. It felt like the run was into the teeth of hurricane winds. (According to the almanac, 20 mph sustained winds with 30 mph gusts. Go ahead, you try it!) I'm thinking after the turnaround the tailwind will be great. Yeah, good thought. Just doesn't work quite that way.

For the last 2 miles, the rain picked up a bit, but the end was near. I admit asking myself what the hell I was doing out there. I couldn't wait for it to be over. And soon it was. I blew through the finish in 2:23:15, a personal record by 13 minutes. I didn't see Deb and the boys immediately, but I heard them yell out for me and they were there. It was a great run. I walked the water stops, but ran the rest. Given the conditions, I couldn't be more happy with the finish. Oh, and the medal. . . sweet!

After some well deserved food, we wrapped up the trip and headed to the airport. Nothing exciting here. Flight on time and we arrived in Baltimore just as the first of many flakes were falling.

Thanks for reading this extra long report. Less than three weeks until the next race report!

L'Chaim!