Gasparilla Ultra Challenge 2016

I think this is how the conversation went...

Tammy: "Hey, you know what sounds like fun? A little 5K at the Gasparilla races in Tampa.
Kayla: "We should just go ahead and do the 8K, 15K, and half marathon, too...haha!"
Tammy: "Okay."

And that is how this crazy idea of 4 races in one weekend with 5 ladies got started. But by golly, we had a lot of fun.

4th Annual Swenson 10K Super Run World Cup

It's Thanksgiving, so that means it is time for the 

Annual Swenson 10K Super Run World Cup! 

Pinappleman Triathlon

Pinappleman Triathlon is one of my favorite races and of course, how could I miss it this year? But with my focus on 2 70.3 races and a full IronMan races this year, I was in a completely different training mode. But heck, I knew I was putting in the work, so worth still racing and having a good time.

Of course, racing with my best training partner always makes the day better. Tammy and I setting up transition for the day and rocking our new tri kits. #badassisbeautiful

They switched up the swim course this year and I swear it got longer...if it didn't I got way slower. I felt like I was swimming strong in the water but seeing my time was frustrating and confusing at the same time. So what do you do when you aren't performing well? Push harder. And that is what I did. On to the bike I was determined to make some moves and make up the time that I felt that I was behind, so I hammered out as hard as I could. I managed to have my best course ride by almost 5 minutes that day, which I was stoked about. But, it was an extremely hot day, so by the time I got to the run, I might have overdone it. The run is one of the best because it goes through a neighborhood and everyone comes out to cheer on the racers. Even with the heat and pushing hard on the bike, I managed to pull through a solid run for a good finish. I was actually 4 minutes slower than last year...I've learned this year that training for an IronMan and for a sprint are two very different things. In fact, I might have been slower, but I was way less tired than years past due to some of the longer workouts I've done. Maybe next year I will focus on sprints and getting some big PRs!

Post race celebrations!

Training Day

With my first half ironman just over 3 months away, I wanted to get in a few back to back triathlons to fully go through the motions of quickly transitioning. Somehow I ended up with 3 triathlons in the month of June. Sounds like fun, right? I thought so until I got to the third one.  The night before I headed to the coast to grab dinner with a few friends and crash on their couch before the Indiatlantic Boardwalk Triathlon. I showed up with my bike, my gear, and a 'meh' attitude. I was really just not feeling like racing. After talking it over with them that night, I decided to take the pressure off of myself and go into this a merely a training day. Simply show up, be a good sport, and have a good time. Time didn't matter otherwise.

Woke up in the best of moods and was excited to get an ocean swim in that morning. Believe it or not, this would be the first time I did an ocean swim (of course, I couldn't stop thinking about sharks). Got transition set up in flash, met some new friends, saw some old ones, and just calmly waited for my wave. And like that, I was up. This might have the one and only time I didn't tear up before a race.  It was nice to be out there as a training day instead of focusing on a PR.  Did a few jumping jacks to get the blood pumping and I was off.

No rush in the water, so I let the really fast girls jump ahead, took my time, and then jumped in with enthusiasm.  As I rounded the first corner, things could not have been going any better. I felt strong with my stroke, calm and collected, and focused on a nice smooth swim. Before I knew it, I was already turning the second buoy and heading back to shore. Finished the last little bit of the swim and popped out of the water. I thought my watch was wrong, because I just killed that swim. Heck, I could PR this race...and yup, all of a sudden, I was racing.

On to the bike I went. I was on a runner's high on the bike (is there a such thing as a triathlete's high? It just doesn't sound right), climbing the bridges with fiery, cruising the straight-aways and talking to every person I rode with.  I love having those moments that remind me why I love this sport. Why I choose to get up before the sun on the weekends to workout. Why I spend more money that I care to admit on racing gear (so I can obviously look good doing it). And why I continue to push myself to be better and do better.

On to the run. I had a great pace going and knew that I was on my way to a PR. That made the run that much more fun. I tried to channel my Pinappleman run. Run hard, run fast, run fun.

I crossed the finish line at 1:29:55. Which not only was a PR, but was the first time I've ever broken the 1:30 mark. And not to mention a nearly 10 minute PR from a race the year before that had 3 less miles.  I could not have been more ecstatic to see that in a year, I went 3 miles further in 10 less minutes. This will be one of those races that I remember for a long time.

And that is what I think makes the idea of Competers and Completers so powerful. It is all about what you can do, how you treat other competitors, and with what kind of attitude you cross the finish line.

Jacksonville Bank Marathon Finish

I've been dreading this post for so long; mostly embarrassed by the time it took me to finish the marathon.  Until recently, I decided I just wouldn't speak of this race; and I knew that with time everyone else would forget too.  But then I realized...I FINISHED a marathon.  That is pretty great in itself.

Here is a look at the day through pictures.

The morning of the race, Josh was in full Christmas spirit and I struggled to keep that smile covering up all the nerves and crazy thoughts going through my mind.

Running through the start line help alleviate most of my nerves and we began our journey.

 Still smiles as we cross the 5K mark.

The sun began to come up and the crowd began to thin.
















At the half marathon point, we were doing great.  Holding steady with the pace we wanted, still moving along and still in high spirits.  I thought I had this in the bag. But as we got closer to the 17 mile mark, my foot started to ache and I slowed a bit...okay a lot more than a bit, I felt like I was walking on a broken foot. And with every step, I got closer and closer to quitting.  In fact I encouraged Josh to run his race, he was still killing it. Josh took off and we agreed to meet at the 18 mile point.  Right before that mark, I sat down with a few cops patrolling the race and said, "I quit."  I even asked them to arrange me transportation to the finish, where I could wait for Josh to finish.  But I could see him waiting ahead and decided I better tell him the bad news before he waited any longer on me.  As I caught up to him, I knew he could tell I was hurting but he wouldn't let me quit.  We argued how close/far the finish line was.  He argument...only 8 to go, we've already done 18.  My argument, it was EIGHT more miles.  But then as all the volunteers at the water stop were cheering for us and encouraging me to continue...I decided to suck it up and keep going.  I mean I couldn't let Josh become a marathoner and not do it myself.  He was gracious enough to stay with me for those last 8 miles as I struggled to even get a mild jog going.

 As we rounded the corner and came into the stadium, you could see the pain in my face as I mustered up a slow jog to the finish.

Not sure if this is a fake smile or a smile of relief that the finish line was in sight.

 AND FINISHED! That was brutal.

Josh finished just before me, so that on record it shows he won.  He definitely could have finished a good 15-30 minutes faster if he didn't walk with me those last 8 miles.  (He also won the "Best Husband of 2012" award that day.)

Barely smiling. I was saying "never again" at this very moment...but I change my mind a lot. :)

Proof that we finished.

Beach Running World Championships

This run started with poor nutrition, little sleep, and a sour attitude but that is certainly very opposite of how it ended. I have contemplated how to detail my lack-luster run through my blog and kept coming back to the same concept.  It wasn't my time that mattered, it wasn't my finish that mattered; it was my attitude and the experience I had along the way that mattered.

By the time I got to the first mile marker, my attitude had already greatly improved.  I mean the race was right along the shoreline and the sun was rising...how could you be in a bad mood when the world's beauty surrounds you and good health has allowed you to make another race regardless of lack or sleep or nutrition. Not only was I staying strong in my running pace, but the music was just right for the morning.  I tend to get caught up in my thoughts and music and the miles pass pretty easily.  Before I knew it 3 miles had passed and I was feeling really good...that is until the music died.  I knew very quickly that I had to focus on something else if I was going to keep running for the next 10 miles.

By this point there were many 10Kers that had started heading back to the finish line on this out and back race, so I played cheerleader for them and they were generally grateful (not to mention my encouragement is typically pretty entertaining and funny so I was cracking myself up). It wasn't too much further that the really strong half marathoners were now heading in the direction of the finish line, so my hilarious cheering continued.  Both time and miles passed quickly, but by the time I got to the turn around and then made it to the 8 mile mark in this very small race, there were very few runners heading in the opposite direction to cheer on.  Time to refocus my energy again; I noticed a runner using the Galloway method and we were playing a tag. I would be leading, he'd catch me; he'd be leading, I'd catch him.  I actually pulled out a great mile pace just pushing myself not to let him win.  But if you know me, you know...I'll eventually start a conversation with you.

Turns out this Galloway runner was a really interesting person and I actually joined his run-walk-run method to hear all about him "giving life the middle finger one more time," his actual words.  Scott was out running with his daughter who was training for a marathon in January and he wanted to support her pursuit of this goal.  We became instant friends and he revealed to me that he had not only had a kidney and a lung removed, he survived cancer once before and was about to start chemo again.  What a bad-ass!  I was so intrigued with his spirit and his drive and decided to run/walk the rest of the race with him.  We had 5 miles to become BFF's and it really changed my attitude from the beginning of the day.  In fact, I haven't been able to stop thinking about him since that day.  I find the world to be filled with so many wonderful people and when you couple this with an over zealous and friendly person, you find it isn't difficult to meet them.  So I present to you my new blog chronicling all the people I am fortunate to meet...drum roll please, "*My New Best Friend."

*My New  Best Friend is in the very early stages and is still being developed, but I promise great stories to come.

hot Hot HOT!

What a cool running season for me - I went from running my first half marathon in January and crossing the finish line with my mom to running my fourth, personal best half marathon and crossing the finish line with my father in April.

Leading up to the run, I was stressing a lot of the outcome.  I really wanted to run a half marathon at a sub 2 hour race and I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to make this race the race for it to happen in.  But I knew it was going to be hot and I didn't train very well during the 4 weeks before.  I decided not to write any goals on paper and just make my last half marathon of the season a good race to end with...and that it was.

By 530 the temperature was already ready 79 degrees and the sun hadn't even come up yet.  I am super paranoid of dehydration and decided to run with a bottle of water since it was only getting hotter by 7.  They were expecting temps of 86 during the day with no cloud coverage.  And when I say no cloud coverage, I literally mean there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. So the race was off (you can catch a glimpse of my mom in the picture as well to the left).  My dad, who is like speed lightning, volunteered to help pace me to a sub 2 hour race.  I was just off of this mark a few weeks earlier by 1 minute and 13 seconds at the Gasparilla half.  The first two miles felt great even though the heat was brutal.  My plan was only to do 9:15-9:20 for the first three miles but I wasn't complaining about the 8:56, 9:02, and 9:00 miles.

By mile 3, I was drenched in sweat, almost through an entire bottle of water (even though I stopped at each water stop) and having a little fun since my times were slightly faster than I planned.  We were still with the masses at this point and had a couple interesting conversations.  Two nice ladies recognized my dad from the previous month's Double IronMan wished me luck for my finish.  It was a little too early on, but still got me a little too excited about really doing this. This is my first season of running and really committing to training for long distances and I want that sub 2 hour goal more than anything. The mile markers started giving a few people concerns.  Being off by any where up to a half a mile.

By mile five I picked up a friend.  Met #614, Emily, who was on her 7th half marathon and trying hard for her first sub two hour finish.  We quickly decided, without speaking it, we'd work together and push to that goal...of course relying heavily on my father to help us pick up the pace when needed. I find is so awesome how many people are actually willing to have a conversation out their even when we are huffing and puffing to make it to the finish.  The three of us chugged along and head to a pretty steady pace during the long stretch that ran right up along the beach.  Next set of miles were 8:54, 9:10, 9:15, 9:16.  Slowing down a bit but knowing we weren't off our mark...or were we? The mile markers were still giving us issues and I wasn't sure if we had ran 6.5 miles or 6 miles at the 6 mile marker.

Approaching the turn around right around the 7.5 mile mark, I was able to get down a gel (gosh those things are disgusting, seriously all flavors suck) snag a cup of water, push toward the finish and actually match right around 7.5 miles on my watch.  Silly mile markers.  The next 3ish miles were really exciting and helped to get my mind off of the agony of the heat.  We got to pass all the others that were still running to the midpoint.  Passed a friend, passed some of my mother's co-workers and got to cheer on my mom who was just about a mile behind us.   I was burning up though and made the decision to de-cloth slightly to try and stay cool.  My wonderful father even agreed to carry my drenched shirt just so I could concentrate on running. Clocking these miles at 9:05, 8:59, 8:59.

We made it down the coast and back into the neighborhoods and it suddenly wasn't fun anymore.  There no longer was a sea breeze and the heat seemed to intensify.  I seriously contemplated just stopping and walking the rest of the way.  My father on the other hand thought he would stop and take a shot of rum.  No seriously, at the "free rum shots" stand he stopped, told a joke, took a shot and then caught back up.  What a daughter I am...I didn't even wait on him or attempt to slow down.  So with that in mind and seeing him be such a sport (he doesn't drink liquor) I decided to tough it out. And tough it was.  I was really started to struggle, but sub two hours could still be met. Emily dropped off a bit as well.  Powered through a 9:10 and 9:13 mile but hit the 12 mile mark on my watch way before the sign.  

As we rounder the corner and came out from the neighborhood, the finish line was in sight. But I knew I only had a minute or two to get there and it wasn't going to happen.  I wanted to just give up right there, nearly broke into tears and broke down.  My dad wouldn't let me stop though and even with wanting to quit and getting hotter by the second I did my final full mile in 9:26 and the last stretch in roughly 2:39 (my watch says this was .34 miles).  We picked up the pace and pulled the last little bit of energy out to finish strong ( I totally to kicked my dad's butt by one second).  Final time 2:01:06; that is a 7 second PR.  Not what I wanted, but it felt good.  I raced a good race and had a solid finish to my first of what should be many seasons of running.

So, yeah, a cool running indeed - I went from running my first half marathon in January and crossing the finish line with my mom to running my fourth, personal best half marathon and crossing the finish line with my father in April.