January 2019

Following a busy 2018, I jumped into 2019 with plans to stay just as busy.

For my first race of the year, I ran in the 2018 Tempa Resolution Run on January 6.  It took place at Al Lopez Park in Tampa.  It was a nice morning or a run with the starting temperature around 54 degrees.  

It was the first race for me in 3 weeks so I was ready to go.  I took off strong and ran through the first water stop and soon I hit mile 1.  I checked my watch and did my first mile in a (fast for me) 9:41.  I felt good and decided to keep pushing.  I pushed harder and decided to see how I could do.  Coming around the final two turns I knew I had a chance to have my best 5k finish time in a long time.  I crossed the line in 29:40, which was the first time I broke 30 minutes since October 2013.

For this race I wore my InknBurn Run or Die Fire Skull shirt.

 

For my next race I went to Mobile, Alabama for the Mobile Half Marathon on January 13. I hadn't run a half marathon in Alabama yet so it adds yet another state to my list.

It was a great start temperature around 52 degrees at the start.  This was fairly small race, but it seemed to be well organized.  For the beginning of the race I felt well but I wanted to pace myself so I could finish strong.  I pushed through and slipped in with a pace group for the marathon and that kept me from thinking about the pace I was on.  I finished the race in 2:24:19, which was the fastest I finished a half marathon since December 2014!  It was my 63rd lifetime half marathon and my 11th state!
I wore my InknBurn Falcon Tech shirt.

The weekend of January 19th and 20th I went to St. Pete Beach for the St. Pete Beach Classic.  For this race I ran the Marathon Challenge, which was a 10k and 5k on Saturday morning, a 3.8 mile beach run on Saturday evening, and a half marathon on Sunday morning for a total of 26.2 miles for the weekend.
For the 10k and 5k on Saturday it was a beautiful morning so I wanted to just get going, but I knew I had to hold back to finish the rest of the weekend.  I finished the 10k in 1:12:02 and the 5k in 37.40.  I rested for a few hours and then had to run the beach run.  During the afternoon the wind picked up and it started to cool down.  The beach run was an out and back run on the beach.  There was a strong headwind on the out portion of the run so that was a struggle.  On the way back we had a nice tailwind though.  I finished the race in 50:06, but it was a hard run, and took a lot out of me.
Overnight severe storms came in and it stormed all night.  The rain stopped by race time, but there was a steady 20 mike an hour wind.  It was a tough run, but I managed to finish in 2:48:36.  IT was my 64th half marathon.
For the weekend I wore my InknBurn Brick tech, my InknBurn Retro Surf Tech and my InknBurn Magnum Pi tech.

 

 

Overall it was a strong month and a great start for 2019!

2018 Year in Review

2018 went by in a flash.  There were many running accomplishments and it also included our first trip overseas.

January:

I started the year by running the Disney World Marathon.

Two weeks later I completed the marathon at the Clearwater Distance Classic.  By completing these races I qualified for the Marathon Maniacs, which is something I attempted in 2017 but due to a race being canceled due to weather I had to start it over again and this time I accomplished it.  The finish times for these races were not nearly as good as I had hoped, but as long as I cross the line it counts!

February:

In early February I ran in the Best Damn Race in Safety Harbor, FL.  It was my fourth time running this race and I have always done well at this race and this year I had my best finish time in 3 years.  It felt good and was a great start to the year.

Later in the month, we went down to Naples, FL and ran in the Paradise Coast Half Marathon.  It was a warm day, but it was a strong run.

March: 

In March we went to New Orleans to run in the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.  We did the 5k and the Half Marathon to complete the Remix Challenge.  After running this race for each of the last 2 years I have really come to love New Orleans as a city and cannot wait to go back again.

We got back home in time to run the Florida Shamrock Halfathon at Ft. Desoto in St. Petersburg, FL, which is one of the races we run each year.  I had a really slow finish time, but I finished and added another half to my total.

April:

We started April by traveling to Raleigh, NC for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.  This was the final year for the Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh Half Marathon.  We did the 5k and Half Marathon this weekend.  This was possibly the coldest half marathon I have ever run.  It was 32 degrees and wet.  I also underestimated the hills at this race and these conditions really kicked my butt!  I finished but struggled and was happy to be able to enjoy some time in the Raleigh/Durham area including taking in a Durham Bulls game.

April also included the Star Wars - The Dark Side Half Marathon weekend at Walt Disney World.  Jenny and I ran the 10k and Half Marathon.  This was the third year we have run in this event and Disney had made it better each year.  I treat this race as a fun run and try to take as many pictures as possible. 

May: 

This month was a light month.  We completed 2 local 5k races but continued to train and allowed myself to recover a bit.

June:

June started with a trip to Vermont to run in the Covered Bridges Half Marathon.  It was great to be back where we used to live in the Upper Valley.  The race was in the Woodstock, VT area and was a very scenic course.  It was surprisingly flat for the area and I enjoyed the race and would definitely rn it again.  We also got to travel to a few areas in Vermont that we had never gotten to visit before.

July:

This was a very light month for running.  I ran in one 5k for the month, and then took most of the month off to recover. 

In July I also became an ambassador for InknBurn, which is my go-to choice for running wear.  You will see it in most of my pictures!

August:

I wanted to run in at least one race each month so I ran in a 10k and actually did well considering the race didn't start until 8AM on a hot August day.

September:

September is the kick-off for my running season and over the last 2 weekends I ran in a 10k in Clearwater, a 5k and 1 miler in Safety Harbor and a 15k in St. Petersburg.  It was a good start to the season and it felt great to get back out on the course.

October:

October had one Half Marathon, the Halloween Halfathon in St. Petersburg.  It was a hot day but I finished and enjoyed the day.

November:

November was pretty much a crazy month!  We started the month by traveling to England and Iceland.  We actually experienced snow during our layover in Iceland on our way to England.  

We main purpose of the trip was to go to our friend's wedding in Towcester, England.  There were several other friends there and we got to visit Bletchley Park as well as in London. 

We then went to Iceland for a couple of days where we got to experience a real Iceland hot spring and we tried to see the Northern Lights.

Following our trip we returned home to run in the St. Pete Run Fest where we ran the 5k and Half Marathon.  It's only the second year of this race and the organizers have created a great event.

Then on Thanksgiving, we ran in the Tampa Bay Times Turkey Trot, which we have run for seven years now.

The month ended with my seventh year running in the Space Coast Half Marathon.  This was my first half marathon back in 2012 and its been great to run it each year.  This year I felt strong and finished with my best finish time in four years!

December:

We tried running a race we hadn't run before called the Florida West Coast Half Marathon in Sarasota.  The weather was pretty bad for this race.  We had strong winds and rain during the race which did affect my time, but I was able to complete my final Half Marathon of the year.

My final race of 2018 was the Hot Chocolate 15k.  It was a beautiful day and perfect conditions.  I was able to PR the race by more than 6 minutes! 

 

Here's my race tally for 2018:

Marathons: 2

Half Marathons: 11

15k: 2

10K: 4

5k: 11

I ended the year with a total of 62 lifetime Half Marathons and added 2 new states for a total of 10 states where I have completed a half Marathon.

Fall Running Season

So its starting to become more fall like here in Florida.  While the rest of the country starts to hibernate, here in Florida the running season picks up steam.

I have run in a few races over the last couple of months, but starting this weekend my half marathon season starts.

In August I ran in the Fort Hamer Bridge 10k.

 










This was a pretty strong 10k for me, especially since it didn't even start until 8AM on a Saturday in August.  I was able to complete it in 1:09:39.  For me, it was the first race of my fall racing season.

Following a weekend in Baltimore over Labor Day weekend that didn't include any running, I came back and ran in the PB&J 10k in Clearwater on September 22nd.  This was the second year of this race and its a tough one over the Clearwater Memorial Causeway and back.  It was a warm morning, but I was still able to complete the 10k in 1:15:24.

The next weekend was filled with racing.  On Saturday, September 29th I ran in the Thin Mint Sprint 5k and the Tagalong Trot 1 Miler benefiting the Girl Scouts. 
For the 5k I was intending to take it slower, but I ended up running a strong 5k (for me) finishing in 32:51.  I  then ran the 1 miler in 9:45.  Because of the type of race it is I actually ended up with a decent finishing place of 10th of 27 for my age group.

The next day, September 30th I ran in the  4th Annual Fort Desoto 15k.  This was a hot day for a race on a race course with almost no shade.  I pushed through and finished in 1:51:45, which I was pretty happy with.

As I said earlier, this weekend starts the Half Marathon portion of my race schedule.  I will be running in my 59th lifetime Half Marathon at the Halloween Halfathon at Fort Desoto in Florida.  I am very undertrained, but I am going to fight through it and take one more step towards my 100th Half, which I want to finish in 2021.

InknBurn clothing

After running for several years, Jenny found a clothing brand called InknBurn and suggested I try it.  It was almost Haloween in 2016.  There was a kit that was designed to look like the Joker from Batman.  I decided to get the shorts and Tech Shirt.  I wore them for the first time during a Half Marathon in St. Petersburg, FL.

After that race, I was hooked on InknBurn.  I started looking for as many of the products as I could.

 

My collection has grown from that single "Joker" outfit to include many more Tech shirts, singlets and long sleeve shirts.

I have my favorites, but all of the InknBurn items I have are special to me.  The designs are so unique that they always catch people's attention and are a great conversation piece.  They are also great for running and other exercises because they breathe well and are cool in hot weather and warm in cold weather.

 

I have worn InknBurn for every race I have run since the first day I wore it.  Because the items are so colorful and look so great I wear them for regular everyday activities too, including trips to Disney World and even to work!

My experience with InknBurn is not unique, but their products have become something I reach for all the time and is a brand that I would highly recommend to anyone!

Tampa Independence Run 5k

On July 1, 2018 I ran in the Tampa Independence Run 5k.  It was a hot Sunday morning.  The race started at 8AM, which is a couple of hours later than I'd like in the Tampa heat. 
The race was at Al Lopez Park, which has a nice 2 lap course for the 5k and there was also a 10k for this event. 
We hit packet pickup at 7AM and browsed the vendors at the race.  There was a table for Marvel Studios so we stopped by.  We posted a photo of the Ant Man and The Wasp movie poster to Facebook and got a free t-shirt and a pass to see a preview of the movie tomorrow night.  That was a good score in my book! We also stopped into the table for the Tampa Tarpons baseball team, which is the Class A team for the Yankees.  I won a ticket for a free game ticket.
We started right at 8:05 and I was able to get a decent pace going pretty quickly.  On the course at the water stops, there were wet sponges.  I breezed through the first mile at about a 10:14 pace.  Just past the first mile the heat got to me a bit so I slowed my pace and started a run-walk interval.  At the second water stop I grabbed one of the wet sponges to combat the heat.  I completed the second mile in 10:45 so the heat got to me a bit.
The course was almost completely in the sun with minimal shade.  At mile 2 the sun was starting to be pretty powerful.  My pace slowed again and I was able to finish the 5k in 34:09. 
At the finish I grabbed my medal and looked for some water.  Remember it was already 82 degrees... 
I found that they were handing out little 5 ounce cups of warm water.  I grabbed a tiny cup of water and went to watch Jenny finish.  Once she crossed the finish line we found that they were out of water.  There were still many 10k runners out on the course.  We left, so I am not sure what happened, but I really hope they got more water very quickly.

I am not sure if I'd do this race again, mostly because of the heat and lack of water, but its nice to have a race locally in July.  It was also nice to have a race around Independence Day to wear my InknBurn flag singlet!

Covered Bridges Half Marathon June 3, 2018

Back in December Jenny and I were hovering over the registration button waiting for the Covered Bridges Half Marathon to become active.  Once it became active we registered as quickly as possible. The race sold out in about 14 minutes so we were lucky to get in.
Fast Forward to June 3rd and we were ready to run the race.  Since this is a point to point race we parked the car and took a bus to the start line.  Unfortunately, it was a school bus so I barely fit in the seat!
Once we were at the start line at the Suicide Six Ski Area we waited for the start.  It was a nice cool morning in the 50s so it was going to be great running weather.
We queued into the starting area and then we were off.  I had intended to take it slower than normal, but I felt really well so I decided to push quite a bit harder.

Feeling good at the start

 I rolled off the first couple of miles pretty solidly and felt really well.  I then made the decision to try to keep the pace I was running and see how it turned out.
Since the course was a net downhill I knew that there would be some areas where I could make up some time on the downhills.  There were a few slight inclines for the first several miles and we went through a little residential area of Woodstock.  Around mile 4 we went through the Middle Covered Bridge in Woodstock, Vermont which was actually the only covered bridge that the race actually goes through.

Going through the Covered Bridge

Once clear of the bridge we went into downtown Woodstock and then headed off by the Billings Farm and Museum.
We were then heading into some of the most rural areas of the course.  We went onto dirt roads and ran along the Ottauquechee River.  This part of the course took us by the Taftsville Covered Bridge.

We then continued on until Mile 8.  This was the biggest incline in the race.  The hill was only about an 80 foot incline, but it was extremely steep.  This was the one place I was dreading on the course.  I walked most of the hill and then once I created it we went back downhill even more and I was able to make up the extra time it took to walk up the hill.

I continued on through the small town of Quechee and ran bu the Quechee Lakes Resort.  I was calculating I should be able to finish in about 2:30 which would be my fastest time since 2014.  This part of the course was a series of rolling hills, but since I'm not used to hills I started crashing.  Around mile 10 with only a 5k left my pace started slipping.  I bombed out at my 11 and had to push hard to get the last couple miles finished.  I crossed the finish line in 2:34:03, whic was my second fastest Half of the year.

Cruising to the finish

Once I crossed the finish line and picked up my medal and shirt I went to the beer tent to enjoy some Harpoon Brewery beer.  The race also had some decent food including fruit, yogurt and cookies.
Once Jenny finished we went to find our car only to realize that the finish line wasn't actually where we parked before the race!  After about 5 minutes of looking we realized we had to take a bus to the parking area to get our car.
All in all the race was well organized and I would definitely do it again.

Lifetime Half #58 and State #10 completed!