52.8 down the drain!

Well, it's official - I finished 4 half marathons in 99 days. I'm quite proud - but part of me still feels somewhat inadequate because I had to walk the majority of the distance. I've become QUITE the power-walker.


The Sarasota Halfer was on Sunday February 15th. It was a great day! Beautiful weather for getting some miles on the pavement. Not too hot, not too cool - perfect. I was able to stick with Tam for about the first mile or so, but then she needed to pick up the pace to a full jog. I was still nursing a sprained ankle so I had to sport the power-walk most of the time. I was pleasantly surprised when I passed the 4 mile mark about 5 minutes ahead of pace. From there it was a quick walk up the Ringling Bridge (with all the training I did there, I was able to pass several people on the way up!). I was having difficulty holding myself back on the way down, so I decided to jog on the way down. I felt pretty good so I jogged until the turn-around at 6.5 miles. On the way back, I was still feeling pretty good and was way ahead of my goal pace. I think the first 8 miles were the best. Around mile 10 I usually start to peeter out every year. This is where we're on the back roads again & it's just draining - mostly mentally. I managed to drag myself along at a good clip & before I knew it I was rounding the bend onto the Ringling property. I jogged across the finish line at 3:02:50. My only goal was to beat my Disney time, which I did. After the run, we went to First Watch and enjoyed lots of laughs & some great food!


After a week of recovery, and another week of easy workouts it was time for the Gasparilla Halfer! Man, how time flies! On Saturday afternoon, me, Mom, Tammy, Leah, Megan & Jeanine met in Tampa for our pre-race carb load dinner and our stay at the downtown Tampa Hyatt. (I won't even comment on the Hyatt - well...aside from saying they weren't prepared AT ALL for a sold-out night. Beautiful rooms, but not the best customer service...but I digress). We got all of our race gear ready & were in bed by about 9:30pm so we were ready for our 4:30am wakeup call on race day.

The run started wonderfully - nice weather at about 65 degrees with low humidity (relatively speaking). I knew from the get-go that I would be on my own during this run so I brought my trusty iPod along with me to rock out to some of my favorite music from my days at IUP. I was making good time & was feeling pretty good. I sailed past the 1/2 way point ("and from Bradenton, with a big smile on her face is Theresa Schroder! Keep it up Theresa!" says the announcer as I pass the grandstand")There were no mile markers or timers at mile 6 or 7 (or at least I missed them) so before I knew it I was at mile 8 and was under my SRQ pace. Then all hell broke loose. "They" had been calling for cold temps and rain on race day for about a week, and "they" weren't kidding. The rain came first, then the cold gusts of wind. It seemed like no matter which way I was facing, the wind was blowing straight at us. The head wind made it very difficult to keep the same pace & my motivation quickly wasted away. The final turn-around was just after mile 10 and the finish line was looming on the horizon - a very far 3.2 miles away! I had told myself I would jog after mile 10, so this helped keep me going...a little. I started crying once - in self pitty because I was so miserable - at about mile 11. I came upon Steve from On A Shoestring who jogged with me for about 20 yards & had some kind words of encouragement. Then some kind ladies on the course were offering gummie bears and pretzlels - a great little pick-me-up! (although I did almost choke on the pretzles because my friggin mouth was so dry - definitely a close call!) I somehow managed to keep going and even managed to pick off a couple more people (ok, some of them were pretty old, but it still felt like an accomplishment to me...). Before I knew it, I could hear the announcers at the finish line - then I saw Ryan standing on the side of the road waiting to cheer me on. Yet another tear-jearker for me! My eyes welled up, and just about started to hyper-ventalate. This time the crying was half for self-pitty and the other half was celebration for making it through this race. I kept jogging, feeling pretty good by now - amazing how a cheering crowd will do that for you - waved at Ryan and started the final 100 yards to the chute. I saw & heard my Mom, Tammy, Megan, Jeanine & Leah cheering for me as I sailed across the line. I didn't make my goal of beating my SRQ time but I still did prety well coming in at 3:03:16 (only about 30 seconds off of my SRQ time). Boy was I glad that was over! Quite an accomplishment, but I was still totally miserable - it was absolutely freezing and still really windy! To top it off, they ran out of finishers medals! We were warned ahead of time that this could happen & unfortunately several hundred of us got "temporary" medals, which weren't as good as the real thing, but a nice jesture nonetheless. (We're told the real medal will come in the mail in a few more weeks.) All in all, my gut tells me that I absolutely hated Gasparilla. But in my heart, I know it was a success. Had it not been for the weather, I think I would have had a much better race & would not be as bummed as I am about the whole thing - afterall, I did finish all 4 of the races I set out to take part in!

Now that this string of halfers is over, I'm not sure what I'll take on next. The 2010 Disney Marathon is still looming on the horizon but my next "major" race isn't until the Peachtree Road Race on the 4th of July. Until then my only plan is to keep plugging away & getting myself back on track with running, continue to take classes at the YMCA, and maybe even get back on my mountain bike for some good rides with Ryan and Megan!