Race Recap: Gasparilla Michelob Ultra Challenge (Day 2)

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Tori @ In Love and Peanut Butter

Was it tough? You bet.

Am I sore? Oh yeah.

Would I do it again? Absolutely!

The Michelob Ultra Challenge just that, a challenge, and you know I’m always up for one! I’d describe it as a weekend of “instant gratification” for the endurance sport enthusiast. A lot of this race is about the mental preparation. Once you know your body can handle the miles you need to get your head to follow.

Day two was the half marathon and the 5+3k. The hour earlier start time meant waking up at 3:30am. My legs were felt surprisingly well after yesterday (thank you compression socks) and besides a blister on my little toe I was in pretty good shape.

We got to Tampa around 5:00am and met up with Meghan who was running the Beck’s Light challenge this weekend. Turns out the forecast was right and at about 5:30am the “torrential downpour” and lightning began. The race staff was making announcements saying that the race 6:00am race start had not been postponed but to stay inside the convention center while they made a decision. I thought surely they’d push the start back. Patrick took this oportunity to ~~sleep~~ mentally prepare…

Fifteen minutes later they announced that the storm had passed and it had mostly stopped raining. With that, we made our way to the start line.

I was back and forth all morning about bringing a trash bag and in the end just forgot about it. I really wish I hadn’t. It was still raining as we crossed the bridge to the start line. Luckily, there was a roll of trash bags in the post race area so I grabbed one, tore a hole in the top and put it on. It was glorious. I instantly warmed up.

The rain stopped a few minutes later and stayed away all day. I absolutely cannot believe how different the weather was today from yesterday. Yesterday was humid and hot and today was stormy, windy and cool. The rain brought Florida’s version of a cold front with it and the skies were overcast from the storm. It made for much better running weather.

Half Marathon

Patrick and I planned to run the two races today together. As I mentioned neither of us had a time goal and just wanted to enjoy the run. The course starts out with a bottle neck to get you over the bridge and onto Davis Island. This is definitely not the race to PR. We were jammed up for the first 2 or 3 miles.

We did about 5 miles back on Davis Island then crossed a bridge back to Bayshore boulevard. The rest of the course was the same as yesterday’s 15k.

The winds were really strong today and we had a head wind for a lot of the race. Going through water stops were hilarious with empty cups flying around from wind gusts. It looked like a paper cup tornado. My pace was a bit slower than yesterday at about 11:30 minute miles.

I hit a pretty hard wall from about miles 8-10. I think all of this week finally caught up to me all at once. I’ve put a little over 60 miles on these legs in the last 7 days and they’d had about enough. I opt’d to leave my iPod in my checked gear to keep it dry and I think that made the wall even tougher to get through. Patrick offered me his iPod to get myself out of my head and back into the race. He knows me well. It was exactly what I needed. I also had a peanut butter Gu.

The last few miles were a lot easier for me. After crossing the finish line I had planned to go get a Cliff bar out of checked bag before getting back to the start line for the 5+3k. I was starving and Gatorade and Gu just wasn’t enough to keep me going. I’d burned well over 1000 calories on that run and needed to refuel if I had any chance of enjoying the next race.

When we got our medals a volunteer told us we should make our way over to the start line. The convention center was too long of a walk to be able to get there and back with the post-race crowds. That meant I wouldn’t be able to get to my checked gear.

I took a deep breath and head to the start. I was literally running on fumes. If anything was going to get me through the next 5 miles it would be sheer determination.

5+3k

I had absolutely no time to stop and think about the next race. I reset my Garmin put my Half Marathon medal in my Spibelt and started to run. I was feeling really exhausted at this point but there really was no turning back. I was so close to finishing the Michelob Ultra Challenge!

After less than a mile of feeling beaten down I turned to Patrick and told him I needed to change my attitude, and that I did.

The rest of this 5+3k was one of the best times I’ve ever had at a race. Patrick and I ran, walked, laughed, danced and made friends with all the other crazy Ultra runners out there. Everyone had hit that exhausted point and we all just wanted to enjoy the last few miles of our race weekend.

I felt pretty emotional coming across the finish line. Probably largely due to the fact that I was hungry enough to eat my own arm but also because this was a big test of physical and mental strength for me. I was proud of myself and Patrick for completing the challenge.

Race Times:

Half Marathon- 2:36:11

5+3k- 1:11:30

I can’t say thank you enough to all of the Race Staff, Volunteers and other runners out there this weekend. Gasparilla puts on one heck of an event and I had a blast!

Race Recap: Gasparilla Michelob Ultra Challenge (Day 1)

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Tori @ In Love and Peanut Butter

Yesterday at the Expo I had Joan Benoit Samuelson sign my race bib. She asked what race we were doing. You know what you’re about to do is sketchy when a Olympic Marathoner replies “woah, be careful out there, I hear that 5+3k is killer at the end” when you tell her you’re doing the Michelob Ultra Challenge. She signed my bib “Tori, Run on in good health”. That may be my new favorite running quote.

This morning was Day 1 of the Gasparilla Distance Classic. I stumbled out of bed when the alarm went off at 4:00am, made myself peanut butter toast with banana like I always do, and got dressed. I don’t believe I fully woke up today until about mile 2 of the first race. Seriously, I was a zombie this morning. Totally my fault. I got sucked into a Law & Order Marathon last night… whoops.

15k

Patrick was feeling a bit speedier than me and decided to run the 15k on his own. I was totally fine with that. I was looking at 4 races and more than 30 miles ahead of me. Speed was not my priority today.

Shorty after the gun we off we crossed the start line and Patrick took off. I cranked up my iPod and settled into my 11:00 minute per mile pace I planned to do all weekend. The course is an out and back on Bayshore Boulevard. Even though this course can be a bit monotonous I really enjoy it. It’s a beautiful stretch of waterfront. I also love seeing the lead runners coming back. There are some incredibly talented athletes that run this race.

Just after the turn around there was a group handing out Krispy Kreme donuts. I literally laughed out loud. I’ve seen people hand out orange slices and Twizzlers but Krispy Kremes? That is about the funniest thing I’ve ever seen consumed during a race.

Gasparilla sets up water misters every few miles on the back stretch. They were definitely needed today! It feels like someone turned the heat on in Tampa Bay this morning. It’s incredible how much the weather has changed since Rock n Roll St. Pete a few weeks ago.

After crossing the finish line of the 15k I found Patrick, grabbed a finisher picture, and ran over to gear check to put our medals in my bag before the 5k. I ended up having a little over half an hour between the two races. I slammed a bottled water and cliff bar from my bag and head back over to the start line.

I have no idea how many people ran the 5k but my goodness was it jam packed. We had just enough time after settling into our corral to stretch out our legs, listen to the National Anthem again and reset our Garmins.

Patrick decided to run the 5k at my pace and save his legs for tomorrow. By 9:30am it was already in the 80′s. It was a sweaty, sweaty cool down race but not as bad as I’d imagine on the legs. Having such a short time between the two didn’t really give my my muscles time to get stiff.

As we came around the corner for the finish there were still a lot of people making their way through the start line.

Today’s Finish Times:

Like I mentioned before, this weekend is not about breaking PRs for me. I really just wanted to enjoy the experience and make it to all 4 finish lines. I stayed right on pace (or a little under) an 11 minute mile for pretty much the entire day.

15k- 1:42:52 Avg. Pace 11:02

5k- 33:37:59 Avg. Pace 10:49

After the race we went by Publix Greenwise in South Tampa and had a veggie wrap with hummus and pretzels. It was exactly what I needed. I’ve spent the rest of the afternoon glued to the couch with ice packs, compression socks and about a gallon of water.

Tomorrow’s forcast looks terrible. I’m saying a quick prayer to the Weather God’s before bed tonight for breezy and overcast morning.

Gasparilla Expo

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Tori @ In Love and Peanut Butter

I am unusually excited for this race weekend. Don’t get me wrong, I love the adrenaline rush of all races, but for some reason this one just seems special.

This weekend I’m tackling the Michelob Ultra Challenge. The challenge consists of all 4 races that are part of the Gasparilla Distance Classic (15k, 5k, Half-Marathon & 5+3K) all in less than 48 hours. Hopefully my super happy attitude carries me through all 4 finish lines this weekend.

This afternoon was the Sports and Fitness expo in Tampa. It was a lot of the same vendors that were at Rock n Roll St Pete a few weeks ago. Patrick and I were commenting that you know you’re a run-junkie when you walk around an expo and already own everything you’d be interested in buying.

Gasparilla however does have one if the best Merch booths around. I, of course, could not possibly live without this visor.

Check out this Michelob Ultra swag. Four races = lots of shirts! The jacket is definitely my favorite!

After walking around the expo and catching up with some friends we went to see Joan Benoit Samuelson speak and show her documentary “There is No Finish Line”. Joan won the Olympic Gold medal in the first ever women’s Olympic marathon in 1984. Seriously, how many opportunities in life do you have to watch a documentary on an Olympian while they are sitting in the room?

The title “There is No Finish Line” she says, is symbolic of every time she crosses a finish line there being a new reason to keep going. That mentality has led her to have a long and successful career. I felt so inspired by her attitude and speech. This was such a perfect way to end the day.