The Anti-Running Runner

Why??? Are you crazy??? That is the question. Why would Alyssa and I do another marathon so soon after the Marathon from Hell ? There are some good reasons for us to do the Clearwater Marathon on Jan 19th. At least we think so. REASON #1 - FREE We had a free race coming after the Halloween Halfathon in 2012 where we didn't receive medals until later in the mail. We received a sincere apology AND a complimentary race from the race director (unexpected and very kind) to any of their events, so we naturally chose a marathon. REASON #2 - HAS TO BE BETTER THAN THE LAST This race can't possibly be worse than the Marathon from Hell. REASON #3 - PHYSICALLY, SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO IT We're pretty trained up already. REASON #4 - COURSE WE CAN HANDLE The course is mostly flat (and we believe them) with a few bridges and spectacular views. REASON #5 - A CHANCE TO CATCH UP This is probably our last big race together for quite a while. We'll be staying together the ...

To pick up where I left off... Around mile 11, I started feeling it. I'm convinced it was full-on 85 degrees at that point, it was so hot. That same feeling I usually get around mile 18 came and I was already struggling. Alyssa promised to stay with me, and we slowed the pace. Jenni went ahead on her own where she experienced those heat stroke symptoms I mentioned in Part I. It felt like a really long two miles to get the halfway mark. In my mind, I kept thinking, We have to do this again. Ugh. And then we were introduced to the sand pit. That's right. A sand pit. Not hard sand, but a half-mile stretch of really loose sand that none could go around. The only answer was through. Shoes sank in, making it almost impossible to run through it. We sort of skip-walked through. At that point, I realized that I was not happy. I was struggling before, and now I was getting angry. Because the website made absolutely no mention of the half-mile long sand pit that we would have to go t...

Completed marathon #3: X-Country Marathon in Alafia River State Park Nov 17, 2013 Started with hubby, Alyssa, Jenni, Hea, Mike, and Zach. The course was two 13.1 laps around the park. Completed half due to injury: Hea Completed half due to no desire to finish this ridiculously unfun trail race, plus didn't care whether he ever finished a marathon in his life: hubby That means we lost two out of seven people in our group alone. There were likely a lot more DNFs at this race. I imagine there are worse marathons. The Sahara Desert Marathon, for example. The hills in places like San Francisco make it difficult to even compare to the X-Country Marathon in Florida. There are inclines, not hills. Therefore, I resisted titling this post Worst Marathon Ever. It was my worst ever, but there are so many factors contributing to why some races are tougher than others. This one was tough, first of all, because it was 85 degrees and humid. Total fluke. No one's fault. It didn...

I know I said MARATHON FROM HELL post would be next, but I'm interjecting with a quick Christmas race update....and then I swear the marathon post (in two parts) is coming! On Dec 14th, I ran this fun Christmas race with many family members. What a blast! I was sad to miss the Jingle Bell Run 5K that I've done for the past three years in a row in St. Pete. But... Running through Sea World was amazing. Alyssa and I ran together the whole time. Aunt Elena, Aunt Alicia, and Uncle Warren walked the race together with Alicia's friend, Kim. This would actually be a great race to walk because there's so much to see. They had beautiful Christmas decor. We got to see the dolphins. There were lots of picture spots. So wonderful and fun. And it snowed on us. Alyssa had spoken to several friends who were running the race, but she didn't expect to find any of them in the crowd of 4,500. We're at the starting line (rather, in the crowd about a quarter mile away) and ...