Mission Accomplished!

This past weekend was not only Thanksgiving weekend, but also the Space Coast Marathon.  It was an incredible weekend, for sure.  Ben and I went to Kennedy Space Center on Saturday morning to check out the expo and pick up my race bag, number, shirt, etc...  We got there right around 11, and found out that Kathrine Switzer was going to be at the expo between 2 and 5.  I know that she was at the Women's Half Marathon last weekend, and the woman LITERALLY paved the path for women in running.

Kathrine was incredibly nice, warm, and just down right friendly.  She signed my book, asked me questions, and posed for a ton of pictures.  It was really cool.  Here is a picture of us:

After the expo (second round), we all headed back to the hotel.  There were over 20 of us for dinner, so we had an early dinner reservation.  Ben and I were able to sneak down to the beach for a minute or two.  The water was freezing!  After dinner, I pretty much laid down and read and went to bed super early!  After all, there was a 4 am wake-up call!  Here we all are in the hotel at 4:25ish(AM!):

We got down to the start area pretty early, which was good because that also meant that we got awesome parking!  I have never been to downtown Cocoa Beach before, and it was really cute and adorable.  Here is a photo of my training partners and myself on the pier before the start:

Here we are on the starting line:

And before you knew it - we were off!  I had been stalking the weather report for about one week before the race to see  what sort of weather to expect on race day.  We were "fortunate" enough to train in the rain, heat, rain, cold, and did I mention rain?  And it was about 78 degrees at the starting line.  As we ran along the route, it started to get a little windy and then the rain came.  Which, of course, we were ready for.  The first half of the marathon seemed to fly by!  Here is a photo of me and Jen at the halfway point:

A little bit after this photo was taken, I started to slow down.  Not sure if it was the heat or what was going on.  I decided that I was going to start walking the water stops on the back half of the marathon.  That seemed to help me mentally prepare for the last 13 miles.  It was extremely hard to keep going towards the last few miles.  My energy was great, but my legs were crapping pretty badly.  I decided that I was just going to do the very best I could and walk when necessary and run whenever possible.  

I got towards the end and saw Ben walking towards me.  Most of y'all know that Ben is WAY faster than me, so to see him come back to "pick me up" is normal.  Most times, it's comforting.  Some times, it's frustrating.  I was torn because I was excited to see him, but I didn't want to hear him say, "finish strong" like he normally does.  (Sorry, honey! Still love ya!)  But, he actually walked when necessary and helped me bring it home!

Final finish time was 4:39:29.  16 minutes faster than the last time I ran a marathon, and actually right where I wanted to be!  Anytime between 4:30 and 4:45 was the goal, and I'm happy and proud to say that I accomplished my goal! :)  After finishing, the post race party started!

Here is a photo of me and my awesome friend Vera who ran a 3:55 in her very first marathon!  WOW!

Check out those medals!

Me and Mel afterwards.  Not a whole lot of standing going on...

As a tribute to my friends, I made this little video to commemorate our journey.  I had been working on it for a little bit, doing a little section at a time.  And then I begged Ben to download his pictures as soon as we got home.  And then promptly fell asleep before I could finish it.  But I did get to it the very next morning.

It seems like the marathon was already so long ago and flew by.  It was such a great time.  I am already considering doing the Space Coast Half Marathon next year, and maybe the Chicago Marathon in 2012....

Thankful

Today is THREE measly days away from the Space Coast Marathon in beautiful Cocoa Beach, Florida.  This morning Rhonda, Jen, and Melanie met me (and Ben) at the Upper Tampa Bay Trail for an "easy run".  We were supposed to run 4, but actually landed up with 5 - OOPS!  Here are our splits:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	49:22.5	5.00	9:52.0
1	9:55.3	1.00	9:55.3
2	9:41.3	1.00	9:41.3
3	9:56.9	1.00	9:56.9
4	9:51.7	1.00	9:51.7
5	9:55.0	1.00	9:55.0

I have to say that it was absolutely perfect running weather, amazing company, and a great way to start Thanksgiving. It made me thing about the things in life that I am truly thankful for.

1. My family.  Near or far and anytime throughout the year.  
2. Benjamin Joseph.  The only person who truly "gets me" and stands by me if I am laughing, crying, sneezing, running, or sleeping.  
3. My health and ability.  I have learned (and have been told) that not everyone can, wants to, or is willing run 26.2 miles.  This weekend I am going to accomplish this goal with some amazing women by my side.
4. My running friends. Because these people REALLY know me in and out (if you are a runner, you know what I mean...), and are motivational, competitive, and encouraging all at the same time.  
5. My non-running friends. Because y'all have to listen to all this running nonsense!  And you really do listen, even though you don't actually care. :)
6. My co-workers.  Because no-one one else has as much fun at work as we do.  It truly is a pleasure to "work" with such talented people.

Anyway, that's enough sappiness for one day.  I sincerely hope that you all have an amazing Thanksgiving with your family and/or friends.  

Taper Time/Busy Weekend!

With less than two weeks to go to Space Coast (AH!), things are starting to slow down.  I'm starting to get really excited/nervous/anxious for the race to get here.  This week I started my taper.  My goal is to do mainly easy runs and keep my legs fresh, but not tired.  I've been thinking about my last marathon recently and been trying to remember how I prepared, packed, etc...  But, that was five years ago.  And honestly, I thought I had it ALLL figured out.

I had a finishing time of 4:55 at my last marathon (Gasparilla 2006) .  Everyone keeps asking me what my goal is, and really I  have two.   1, FINISH!  Get that medal, beach towel, and shirt and go on with my bad self.  2, I would really like a time somewhere between 4:30 and 4:45.  In fact, I would be tickled pink if I was able to pull number two off.

This past weekend was a busy one.  I was fortunate enough to have Friday off (Thank you to all our veterans!), and able to get a lot of stuff around the house done.  Ben and I lounged around Friday night in order to get ready for the Busch Gardens 5K on Saturday morning.  This particular 5K is one of my favorites.  There are no clocks or chips and you have to know someone that works at Busch Gardens/Sea World in order to enter.  It's really cool to be able to run though the park when there is no one there.  Here is a picture of some of our group from this year:

Congratulations to Cami (red shirt) for winning overall female and Roberto (black shirt) for winning 3rd overall male. After the race (and breakfast) was over, I had to go to a one-year-old's birthday party.  And then Ben and I had a formal dinner at the Hyatt downtown.  (Crazy, busy!)  Here's a photo of me and my honey all dressed up:

Sunday morning I met up with Jamie at the Upper Tampa Bay Trail, which is right around the corner from our townhouse.  I haven't really run on the trail in a while, but it is 3.1 miles from home so I normally run there, get some water, and run back.  But, I almost forgot how beautiful it was.  Not to mention, it was very nice mix up the scenery.  Jamie and I don't get to hang as much as I'd like to, so it made the miles go by super quick because we were chatting and catching up the whole time.  Here are the splits from our run:

Laps 10

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 1:23:06.1 9.01 9:13.5 1 9:20.7 1.00 9:20.7 2 9:16.3 1.00 9:16.3 3 9:03.6 1.00 9:03.6 4 8:57.5 1.00 8:57.5 5 9:13.2 1.00 9:13.2 6 9:13.8 1.00 9:13.8 7 9:18.6 1.00 9:18.6 8 9:20.6 1.00 9:20.6 9 9:18.0 1.00 9:18.0 10 :3.3 0.01 8:12.4

It was a little faster than I normally go, but it felt good!  It was amazing to catch up and get the long(er) run in so early in the morning.

The afternoon was a little more somber for Ben and myself.  Ben's uncle David passed away away on Sunday, October 30th at the young age of 49.  Here is a photo of Uncle David along with Ben's mom, Patricia (left), and grandmother, Kathleen (middle):

Uncle David always welcomed me in to the Raposa/Rosier family with open arms.  When Ben and I got engaged, David told me to start calling him Uncle David right away.  He always had a smile on his face, even though he was sometimes in severe pain.  And he always remembered every occasion with a card.  Whether it was our engagement, a birthday, or just to say hello.  He was a kind and generous man who will be sorely missed.  The ceremony was beautiful and touching.  There were clearly many people in the community who felt the same away about David, because the room was filled to the brim.

In a way it was a reminder that life isn't always fair, but you have to deal with the hand you are dealt to the best of your abilities.  Hope you all have a great week, and you utilize all your cards!  Love y'all :)

Wine is for SISSIES!

It's come down to the very last 20 miler for Space Coast.  It was amazing, bittersweet, fun, and painful all at the same time.   As this blog is being written, we are officially 18 days away from the big day.  It's been a long road.  This week we started at Longleaf around 5 am.  One of the greatest things about this training is that we have had so many people join us along the way.  This week, we were joined by Jamie at the beginning.

As the big day approaches, we are all planning our dinners, travel, hotels, etc...  Since we have a few hours together every week, we chat about a variety of different things.  This week we were talking about alcohol.  I have a drink recipe where you freeze Mike's Hard Lemonade in a ice cube tray and then pour iced tea in a glass.  (Try it, it's delicious!)  So this led to a whole discussion on drinks.  At 6 am in the morning.

This is about the time that Melanie confessed that she is not a wine drinker.  And that if she is going to have to a drink, it's going to be hard alcohol.  Well, ok then.  Which led to the title of this blog, "Wine is for sissies".  Because real women drink liquor! ;)

The longer runs seem to go by really, really fast.  I always remember the first few and the last few miles, but the middle miles are sort of a blur.  On Friday night, I ran Richard's Run for Life.  It's one of my favorite runs, and this is the fourth year in a row that I have done this particular race.  The best thing is that The Columbia caters the post race party and there is free beer and wine.  Woooo!!  Now, I couldn't really drink on Friday night since I had to run in the AM, but I got my fair share of Columbia 1905 salad!  Yeessss!!

I was planning to take it easy at Richard's Run, but that didn't happen.  Ben landed up pacing me to a pretty good time (for me), 25:41.  Which is an 8:11 average mile, not taking it easy for me.  It showed in my long run towards the end.  Luckily, I was still able to finish it and now I know not to do that anymore.  We landed up finishing in Starkey Park this week to check in with Melanie's mom and the rest of the Strider "camp" Social Hour.  We even got our picture taken!:

Overall, I'm so excited about this marathon.,  I really just want it to get here already!  Here are the splits for the 20 miler:

Laps 20

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 3:19:46.3 20.00 9:59.2 1 9:23.2 1.00 9:23.2 2 9:23.0 1.00 9:23.0 3 9:33.0 1.00 9:33.0 4 9:47.5 1.00 9:47.5 5 9:41.1 1.00 9:41.1 6 10:02.0 1.00 10:02.0 7 10:03.0 1.00 10:03.0 8 9:58.2 1.00 9:58.1 9 10:23.4 1.00 10:23.4 10 10:28.5 1.00 10:28.5 11 10:15.2 1.00 10:15.2 12 10:42.4 1.00 10:42.4 13 10:17.2 1.00 10:17.2 14 10:13.4 1.00 10:13.4 15 9:53.5 1.00 9:53.5 16 9:58.3 1.00 9:58.3 17 9:51.8 1.00 9:51.8 18 9:46.4 1.00 9:46.4 19 10:00.0 1.00 10:00.0 20 10:04.2 1.00 10:03.8