A1A Half Marathon wrap-up (day two)

Continuing from day one………………………………

“Never Trust a Fart”

That was a sign I saw while running the race. It had personal implications!

When I awoke at 12:00 midnight, I had severe cramps and an urgent desire to go to the bathroom.

This isn’t the exact sign, but runners will appreciate it!

Some may wish to skip the next paragraph or two as it is a bit graphic.

I ran to the bathroom where I experienced what is termed in the medical profession as, “explosive diarrhea”. The cause seems to have been those hot dogs mentioned in the day one recap as everything else I ate was gluten-free and fresh.

I continued running to the bathroom and returning to bed for the next 4 1/2 hours. A total of 26 trips in all…which has to be some sort of record!

The good news, when I returned home, I had lost 7 pounds over the weekend.

The bad news….the cause of an old nemesis reared its ugly head. 😦

The last words my wife said to me before I left for the race, “Remember to hydrate, as you are probably very dehydrated by now”. I hate it when she is right!

At approximately 4:55 am, I left the hotel and went to the VIP parking  lot located at the Bahia Mar hotel. Rarely do I have complaints about this race, but this time, I will make an exception.

In previous years, VIP parking for this event was located directly at the finish line. I would assume that the powers that be at the City of Fort Lauderdale no longer wanted the liability of cars parking where runners were finishing or wanted more money for the race promoters to use this area, or both.

In any event, the VIP parking was moved across the street to the Bahia Mar. Unfortunately, the staff at the Bahia Mar must not have been informed that a bunch of people would be using their parking lot at 4:30 in the morning. Eventually, I was able to find a parking spot at the very rear of the parking lot. That wasted about 15 minutes. Ever try to find a parking spot in a dimly to non-existent lit parking lot at 5 in the morning?

Now, it was time to walk to the bus pick up point. Which was probably further away from the VIP parking than our hotel! When I finally got to the bus pick up spot, the line was a lined up on a significant portion of the road running north on A1A. It took six buses to get the people in front of me loaded and on their way to the race. Finally, I got on the next bus and was on my way.

The ride to the start line was uneventful, unlike last year where we had to get off the bus on Broward Boulevard and run to the start line, but, I arrived, apparently, after the start of the race. It isn’t a big deal as your time doesn’t start until you cross the starting line, but still, I like to have some time just in case I had to use the bathroom….which at this time was my greatest fear!

I started the race and at my first interval, hear my pace of 15:40 and thought, “this is going to be fun”! My second interval announcement came 2 minutes later and was 12:52, so things were looking up.

Mile 1:    Time: 12:42      Pace: 12:42.

Mile 2:    Time: 25:21      Pace: 12:39

Mile 3:     Time: 38:13      Pace: 12:52

5K Time 39:10 A personal Best!!!

Making the turn up A1A the 5K mark.

I was running at a 12:45 pace and doing it quite easily!

Mile 4:     Time: 51:50     Pace:13:36

Mile 5:      Time: 1:05:26 Pace: 13:35

Mile 6:      Time: 1:18:56  Pace: 13:29

Mile 7:      Time: 1:33:08 Pace: 14:11

Remember that old nemesis I spoke of earlier? Well, here it is: Cramps!!  The cramps started out in my right calf. That continued for two miles, then, cramps in my left calf, then cramps in both calves…for the remainder of the race.

Mile 8:     Time:1:47:09      Pace: 14:00

Mile 9:      Time: 1:59:38     Pace: 12:28!!!

I had a brief respite from the cramps, or more accurately, this is after the cramps in the right calf stopped and before the cramps in the left leg started! This was also my fastest mile.

Mile 10:    Time: 2:14:24  Pace: 14:45 Ouch…here come the cramps in the left calf!

Mile 11:     Time: 2:28:10  Pace: 13:45

Mile 12:     Time: 2:43:08   Pace: 14:57

Ouch x 2 cramps in both calves. I had to stop and stretch. 😦

Mile 13:      Time: 2:57:08   Pace: 13:59

Mile .63 aka .1: Time: 3:05:46 Pace: 13:41

Final results:

Endomondo: Distance: 13.63 mi   Duration: 3:05:45 Pace:13:37

Official results: Distance: 13.1 mi Duration:  3:04:35  Pace:14:06

One issue was I ran an extra half a mile because some people still haven’t learned, that there are other people on the course, not just you! Dumbasses!!!!

The other issue was dehydration. And, boy, did I have that in spades! I barely sweat during this run, which even though the temperature was in the 60s, I sweat a lot and was pretty much dry at the end of the race.

I can’t be too upset with my performance as had I stayed on the pace of my first 3 miles, I would have had a pr and might have even broken the 2:30 barrier.

Here I am at the finish and note…”His hair was perfect”!  (WZ)

The aftermath: For the fourth race in a row, I am in little pain. Just a little soreness in my calves and that is about it. I have been to the gym twice this week and tomorrow will be a run day.

Bathroom issues: There were none to report during or after the race. The 4 Advil I took did the trick and I was “locked up” and didn’t have to use the restroom until I got back to the hotel! 🙂

We had lunch at the hotel, a drink or two, enjoyed the view and headed home.

A Mojito and a Cosmopolitan finish celebration drink!

The view from the pool deck…7 floors up!

Now that I have time to train, I can set my intervals to 1 minute run, 1 minute walk, up from the previous setting of 30/60.

This will help in the weight loss as well as endurance and eventually speed.

The next race on the calendar is the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon in November…..unless something else comes up first!

Stay tuned……………………………………..

A1A Half Marathon wrap-up (day one)

Time for a recap of my 9th half marathon! Wow…I never thought I would say those words!

There were high hopes for this run…..were being the operative word!

During the two weeks prior to this race, as race director for our cub scout packs Pinewood Derby, I was busy making preparations for the event. This entails organizing everything, designing trophies, arranging a place for the race, and a whole host of things that take up a bunch of time. The reason for that is, that it was my first time running the entire event, with little left from the people who ran the event previously.

This meant, that everything I designed, would have to be sustainable for years to come. Luckily, that turned out to be the case as all of the “backroom” work has already been done for next years race. And even if I weren’t there to do it next year, someone else could easily step in to run everything.

The downside to this is that it took a lot of time…and most of that was leading up to the race itself, which was Friday  night and Saturday morning prior to the A1A race! Our Derby will be scheduled a week earlier than the A1A race next year!!!!!!

Friday night we had “Test and Tune” which is where the Scouts register and tech in their cars. They also get to make time runs down the track and can modify their cars between runs. I tried to bring my drag racing experience to the event and by all accounts, it was a big hit.

Marshalls car

Marshalls official Drivers License

Time Trial Cards

During the week prior to the A1A race, I averaged 3 hours of sleep a night. Thursday, I decided to make some hot dogs for lunch. I got them out of the freezer, but they weren’t frozen! I didn’t think anything of it and just cooked them. Later that night….my stomach felt a little off.

Friday, I woke up to a very painful stomach along with cramps. Friday was a long day. I spent the majority of the day setting up the track for the race and decorating the hall where we have the race. Then, I had to get my Scout uniform and then, back to the hall to run Test and Tune.

This went on until about 9:00 pm. I came home, printed out programs for the race and went to bed.

Saturday morning I awoke to a painful stomach again…..and cramps…..at 3:00 am! I never did get back to sleep! I went to the hall, started the race and everything went smoothly and everyone seemed to have a great time!

After cleaning up, time to go home and leave for the hotel.

As we did last year, we used our Marriott Rewards points to book a room at the Ritz Carlton Fort Lauderdale Beach! No charge! Since it was Valentines Day, I spent a few dollars  to get the beach side upgraded room. And, it was well worth it!

The bed

The view from our room…..

The bar……………..

Our official toast to start off a race! It’s a tradition!

After checking in and having a drink…….or three….time for dinner.

After last years tremendous meal at the H2O Cafe, we had no choice but to return!

Once again, the service and food was great. Our Server, Andre, was funny and was always right there to see if we needed anything.

They didn’t have the mussels that I ordered last year, but did have a suitable replacement.

Shrimp Cipria

Shrimp sautéed in a cognac saucewith cherry tomatoes, pinenuts and mushrooms. 

The Shrimp Cipria was outstanding!!!! I could have had about 4 more plates of this…especially since Marshall ate most of the shrimp!

Time for the main course!

Risotto Da Vinci

An array of fresh fish, mussels, clams shrimp and a touch of tomato. 

Teala had the Risotto Da Vinci pictured above and I had the Prime Rib, pictured below.

Prime Rib
Slow roasted with au jus, served with mashed potatoes and vegetable of the day.

The wife decided that since she deferred to next year, she would have a treat to go along with her wine!

Key Lime Pie

As you can see…someone started before I could even get the picture!

After a delicious dinner, we walked back to the hotel, had a glass of wine on the balcony, then I went to bed. It was roughly 9:00 pm.

I woke up at midnight…a full three hours before my alarm was supposed to go off.

On day two of this blog…you will find out why and also a race recap.

Stay tuned………………………

Time to start training!

It has been quite some time since my last post. I have been busy with the holidays, Cub Scouts, and a whole host of other things….including, running the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon in November!

I was making great progress in my training and really felt good about this race. Unfortunately, due to severe weather conditions in the area, it was shortened to roughly 7 miles. This actually worked out well as I had plenty of time to take pictures of some of the characters on the course, as well as to run at a leisurely pace.

The shortened race also allowed myself and the wife as well as a couple of friends to enjoy the Wine and Dine portion of the event until 4:00 am!

There is nothing to really report with regards to that race. I barely broke a sweat and had no damage reported to equipment or myself. So much for old news!

Now, it is on to training for my 4th A1A Half Marathon! Hard to believe that someone who never ran and has the injuries I have, has somehow managed to run 9 half marathons and a 10 mile race as well!

As I do at least twice a year, I am finishing up the 7-day total body cleanse……..and boy do I need it!

It took nearly five days before I started to feel like “myself”!

Next week begins training for the A1A half marathon which will focus on cardiovascular training. This will be accomplished using a three day a week full body workout along with an hour of cardio on those days, split up into 2 half hour blocks, one prior to the weight workout, one after, and three running days.

The one thing I really like about the A1A Half Marathon is that is first thing in the morning. This means that I can do all of my training before 9:00 am, and that will carry over to race day.

I will try to update the blog once a week, hopefully, after a successful week of training!

Wine and Dine 2014 1/2 Marathon wrap up (Pre-Race)

Another race in the books!!!

This years race was one of the more enjoyable events, as well as the most painful! We will start off with the enjoyable part first!

Thursday:

We arrive bright and early to our hotel, the Caribbean Beach Resort. Checked in and then, got to the Pirate Room! Thanks Jen!

Now it was off to Epcot for the Wine and Dine portion of this trip!

I had to be careful as to which countries we ate at due to my gluten issue.

We started off in New Zealand, where I had the Steamed Green Lip Mussells. I forgot to get a picture! Next, we skipped around until we got to Morocco for some sangria. Which was the best sangria, hands down at the event. Then we went to France for the Braised Short Ribs and some Cabernet Sauvignon wine. Delicious!! Next, Brazil for Crispy Pork Belly and Black Beans. I had the Frozen Caipirinha…whatever that is!! It was very refreshing! We finished up the eating portion with a trip to Puerto Rico where I had a conch salad and sangria. We ended the Wine and Dine portion in Mexico where I had the third sangria.

Braised Short Ribs in France

Pork Belly and Black Beans in Brazil

Conch Salad in Puerto Rico

Bye Bye Epcot….for now!

We went back to the room, had a snack, yes, hard to believe we will still hungry, and then, to soak in the hot tub.

Time for dinner! Every time we visit Disney, we try to eat somewhere new. This trip, we went to the Contemporary Hotel and ate at “The Wave“.

Contemporary Hotel

The Wave

I started off with Steamed Florida Cedar Key Clams with Chorizo Sausage, Fennel, and Smoked Paprika, which was tremendous!!!

Steamed Florida Cedar Key Clams
with Chorizo Sausage, Fennel, and Smoked Paprika

That was followed by Herb-Salt Seasoned Beef Tenderloin Caramelized Field Mushrooms, Organic Green Beans, Potato Mash, and Sauce Bordelaise. This was also delicious!

Herb-Salt Seasoned Beef Tenderloin
Caramelized Field Mushrooms, Organic Green Beans, Potato Mash, and Sauce Bordelaise

For dessert…and this isn’t on the menu, Gluten-Free Carrot Cake!!! I also ordered a Chocolate martini. This was one of the best desserts I have ever had! If you are ever at the Wave, make sure you order this combination. I was almost tempted to order a “to-go” version!!

Gluten-Free Carrot Cake with a Chocolate Martini

After dinner, we watched the fireworks and the castle got “Frozen”!

Frozen Castle

We went back to the hotel and to bed! Day one was tiring!!

Friday:

Friday started off with a trip to the race Expo at Wide World of Sports. We had to get our race packets, bibs, run tracking, and a few supplies. Then, it was off to Animal Kingdom.

Marshall and Mommy at Wide World of Sports

Marshall and Daddy at Wide World of Sports

Marshall in the dugout.

Home plate!

Sports Expo

Off to Animal Kingdom…….

I finally got to see the walking tree lady!!

The Tree of Life

Marshall riding a dinosaur!

A large lizard…………

A lurking bat…..

Mt. Everest

After lunch at the Flame Tree Cafe, we headed back to the hotel. Had a few drinks, relaxed, then it was off to dinner.

Dinner was at the Flying Fish.

A Blood orange margarita

The only picture worth posting is the one above. The food was pedestrian at best. The service and mass confusion was also a contributor to an overall forgettable experience. With such high ratings, we surprised by the experience. Young Marshall did enjoy the mussels though!

Time to return back to the room and rest up….

Next post….Race Day!!!!

Race week..Wine and Dine 2014 is here!

It seems only a few short weeks ago, we moved into this house and now suddenly, it is 10 months later!

Time to pack up the tribe and head north to Disney for our third Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon. All of the packing is done, well, most of it, and thanks to our Mousekeplanner, Jennifer Upton, our upgraded room should be ready when we arrive early Thursday morning.

On the training front, last Saturday night was supposed to be a simulation run for the race. The temperature dropped into the 40s and I was painfully reminded, that surgically repaired bones do not perform well in the cold! Back in 2010, I was wandering aimlessly around Disney in one of the coldest times of the year. The result of that trip was surgery number 5 on the left knee! It was the beginning of the “floating debris” that has been accumulating in my knee. The end result is that the back half of my knee locks up……which is detrimental to running!

Saturday night, the same thing happened. I was able to work it loose, and continue to run, but, I decided to cut the run short at 4 miles. There was swelling in the knee, which has since subsided. I guess the voodoo doll is back from vacation!!

Prior to the 2013 A1A half marathon, the temperature dropped into the 30s, which for us native Floridians, is close to arctic conditions! The workaround was to put the cold/hot gel packs in hot water then apply them to my knees. That worked and there were no problems with either knee. Hopefully, as the temperatures are supposed to be in the high 50s, I shouldn’t have to use the gel packs, but I am bringing them!

The weight loss is coming along, but I will still be running at the heaviest weight, probably 235 pounds on race day, that I have ever run at. I’ll just have to make the best of it. I am going to run a conservative race and shoot for a 14 minute/mile pace. Anything faster than that will be a bonus.

My playlist is done and I have three hours and seventeen minutes of music. Hopefully, I won’t need it all!

All that is left is to make the trip north.

Thursday will be Wine and Dine day as we eat and drink our way around Epcot.

Friday will be race packet pick up, Animal Kingdom, and possibly Magic Kingdom. Park orders are subject to change…and most likely will! 🙂

Saturday is race day and starts with Marshalls race in the morning followed by a day of relaxation and then race prep and the race for Teala and I.

Sunday will be a day where depending on how we feel, either a visit to a theme park or, an early return home…hopefully uninjured!!!

Wish the team luck!!!

 

A funny thing happened……

On the way to running retirement! Pain free runs!

Since the last post, I got the results of the latest MRI and it is more of the same, torn rotator cuff, partially torn biceps tendon, but no torn labrum. So, an injection or two, and the left shoulder is returning to service.

Meanwhile, I have been training for the Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon. Since switching shoes to the Saucony Omni 13s, I have had no pain after any run. The mileage has been creeping up starting with one mile and getting to 7 miles last week. A brisk 3-mile run yesterday was also pain-free and the fastest run since I resumed training.

Saturday night is a scheduled 10-mile run to simulate race-day, then one more 3-mile run Tuesday, and that will be it for training.

The goal is a 13 minute/mile pace. The Wine and Dine has always been a problem race for me, between the crowds and cramping, I have never performed well there. I am hoping that will change this year. Moving to Palm City, it was apparent immediately, that somehow, there is more humidity here than back in Coconut Creek. This is evidenced every morning when everything outside looks like it just rained! The good news, is that I have as of yet, not experienced any cramps during any run. I am hoping that trend continues during the race, if so, I may kick things up during the last 5 miles of the race. I have also not experienced any pain, and by that, I many any pain, after any run. I suspect whoever was playing with the “Eric voodoo doll” has put it away for a while!

After this race, I will reevaluate everything, to determine if I will continue. Right now, it is a very good chance I will keep running. I am not sure about running the A1A race in February this year, as it is down in Broward, but who knows.

I will be posting the playlist next week and a final race-day post.

Stay tuned………………………………

 

 

This is the end………………………………………………….

Last months post detailed the re-injury of my left knee. Now that the MRI has been completed, there is more bad news.

Two weeks prior to my annual golf tournament, I played a warm up round of 36 holes. I have only played nine holes of golf in the last year, so I figured I should get some practice in!

The first 18 holes went as well as expected. The second 18 was much better until the 16th hole. I hit my second shot on that hole from the rough in an awkward stance. I hit a fairly decent shot, however, there was tremendous pain in my left knee causing me to fall down.

The pain was eerily familiar to when I first tore my ACL, minus the “pop” sound. I finished the round, went home and iced down the knee. It was swollen, fluid was present and it hurt……a lot!

I made an appointment to see Dr. Baylis after I returned from my golf tournament, where I played 90 holes of golf in three days.

After seeing the doctor, we did an MRI, which revealed, that I stretched my ACL, loosened the anchor point, and tore my posterior cruciate ligament, as well as tearing several areas of meniscus.

Fortunately, no surgery is required…at this time. Rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory medication is the treatment in order to prolong the time until the next surgery is required. Sort of bad news, good news!

After doing the MRI, the next day, my left shoulder stopped working!!!! I had no strength, and couldn’t lift my arm above horizontal. It appears after the Tequila wore off, my shoulder is damaged. The Doctor thinks it is a torn rotator cuff. Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An MRI, yes, another one, I suspect I should be glowing in the dark fairly soon, was done Monday and I am awaiting the results. Hopefully, this won’t require surgery or if it does, it won’t be as extensive as the surgery on my right shoulder was in 2012.

The knees have simmered down to the point where there is minimal pain. I am wearing a pair of ACE knee braces whenever I do anything strenuous…….like walking!

What does this mean for the running career? It means that I will more than likely run/walk with my wife at the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon in November, then, hang up the running shoes.

The blog will then concentrate on cooking, cycling, events, and hopefully, if all goes as planned, “Project Barracuda”! 😉

Thanks to all of those that have followed me on this blog, Facebook and Linkedin. Your support is greatly appreciated!

The pain at wounded knee returns…………………………….

For those that follow this blog as well as my friends, you are all aware of my damaged left knee. For those that aren’t, the gory details can be found here: The Pain at Wounded Knee.

The long and short of it is, due to a botched surgery in 1998, I ended up tearing my ACL, MCL, PCL, meniscus and cartilage. In other words, just about as bad a knee injury that there is.

A timeline for surgery has been established at roughly every five years. The last surgery in 2010 was extensive and, there was a piece of something, lodged in the back of my knee. On occasion, this piece would wander around and every once in a while, lock up my knee. A little massage and the knee was back to normal. This never occurred when running so, I kept running. Unfortunately, other issues have shown up like the massive stress fractures in both legs, the broken bone spur in my left foot, and recently, the partial tear of my Achilles tendon in my right leg.

Monday night while sleeping if you can call it that, as there are a whole host if things that go “bump” in the night around here, starting with the blood curdling scream from our son at 2 am, followed by Samantha massaging my bladder and then ending with Sophia with her big head and loud purr in my face at 4 am, the wife was somewhat surprised to hear loud screaming coming from our bedroom, from me!!

Whatever the wandering piece of debris was, it has now broken free from its mooring and wandered its way into the middle of my knee. I couldn’t move my left leg below my knee in either direction. The pain was intense and for those that know me, that is a lot of pain! After 20 minutes of massage, I was able to move my knee a little bit. Yesterday, it was swollen and very stiff. Today, it locked up on me at the gym….which I would expect if I was working out legs, not chest and arms!

In two weeks, I am attending my annual golf tournament in Sebring, Fl. This will be the 20th year for this event. The question is, “How am I going to play 100 holes of golf…when I can barely walk”? I could pay Dr. Baylis a visit, but he will say two things. 1) You need another surgery to clean this knee out. 2) Stop running. I can deal with the first statement, but not the second. He may also say something else which I do not want to hear, and that is, that the time has come, to stop prolonging the inevitable.

When I first saw Dr. Baylis in 1998, he told me then that if we were extremely lucky, we would be able to prolong the eventual knee replacement for possibly 20 years. If my math is correct, we are at year 16. Can another surgery be done to get to 20 years? When will it have to be done? That is the big question!

If I get the surgery done after Spring Lake, the 3rd week in August, it will take approximately six weeks to recover, depending on how bad things are. That will put me into October which would allow me 5 weeks of training for the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon. Although I ran the A1A Half Marathon with virtually no training, at least the Wine and Dine was only two months prior to that race. It will be at minimum, 8 months since the last run if I start training in October. I could always defer the race until next year, but by then, who knows what will happen. I still have torn meniscus in my right knee to correct at some point in time. I could also just run with my wife at the Wine and Dine, and end the running career after that…………….

The next month will be very interesting so stay tuned!!

Wine and Dine (part two, race day)

Saturday was race day. In the morning, we went to Marshall’s first race ever. A 200 meter run. Another bus ride to Wide World of Sports.

The corrals

Marshall….ready to race!!!!!

Marshall running the Tower of Terror!

Marshall, practicing his victory pose!

Kids Races entrance

The race is on! Marshall was so fast, I couldn’t get a picture of him! He finished in the front of the pack..leaving Mommy in the dust!

I don’t think Marshall even broke into a sweat!Medal time!!!

We took Marshall over to his grandparents and then, went to lunch at the Outback. Once we got back to the hotel, we went in the hot-tub for an hour. Chatted a bit with Jen, then off for a pre-race nap. It was a little later than we thought, so, time to get ready.

Teala, ready to race!

Eric, ready to race. No, I didn’t wear the wings in the race! Maybe I should have!

We loaded everything up in our race bag, and headed for the bus. We left the hotel at 7:10 and got to the corrals at about 7:45. Only 2 1/2 hours to go before the race!

We sat around, looked at some shows, did our final prep, and then, it was race time!

Fireworks at the Start!

The starting line.

For this race, I went on a low carbohydrate diet as I felt so good after the Race Around the Lake, except for the broken legs, and thought that I would have enough fuel for this race. I was right. Fuel wasn’t the problem.

After the Race Around the Lake, it was discovered that I had severe stress fractures in both tibias. No training for 5 months and the training I did do, was minimal. Several short runs and one 10 mile run. None was done at “race speed” in an attempt to let my bones heal and not to injure myself. That seems to have worked.

Changing shoes also seemed to work as I am happy to report, there was no shin pain during or after the race.

Two weeks prior to this race, I was doing an inspection and climbing through an attic. I twisted my right leg and my foot got caught in one of the trusses. There was instant pain in my right knee, the “good” knee, followed by swelling, later that night. I iced my knee every night and kept it wrapped up until race day. I suspect there is torn meniscus or possibly, a torn medial collateral ligament. I’ll find out later this week.

I had hopes of running this race as at least as fast as the last race, 2:50, but since I hurt my knee, I didn’t even know if I would finish. Even with the pain in my knee, I didn’t take any medication. No Advil or Vicodin. There was some question as to if the drugs may have caused or been part of the massive cramping at the race around the lake. I wanted to eliminate them as a possible cause. Since I hadn’t used either during any of the training runs and no cramping developed, I didn’t want to change that for the race.

Finally….time to race:

Mile 1- 13:20. This was a fast start, even though I inadvertently set my walk interval at 1: 55 instead of 55 seconds. During a walk interval, I reset my run/walk interval to 35 running/55 seconds walking and used that for the entire race.

Mile 2- 12:37. What turned out to be the fastest mile.

Mile 3- 12:56 I sped up in mile two to make up for the mistake in the run/walk settings. 13 minutes per mile was my goal for the first half of the race.

Mile 4- 13:05 Everything was going fine, until, one of the fairies decided to do a “crazy Ivan” and ran me off the road! I landed in a hole in the grass and felt a bunch of pain in my right ankle and knee. Great…just what I needed.

Mile 5- 13:21 I finished 5 miles in 1:05:19 which was under my 1:06 goal. 🙂

Mile 6- 13:33

Mile 7- 13:32 Through the first seven miles, I was running just about where I expected to.

Mile 8- 14:12 I had been drinking a bunch of water as I wanted to prevent the cramps that occurred during the last race. Unfortunately, it appears that lack of water wasn’t the problem. Halfway through mile eight, I began to feel the “little balls” in the back of my left calf. This is exactly the same time as in the Tower of Terror race that this began to happen. I walked, stretched, drank more water, and the cramps went away…for a little while. 😦

Mile 9- 15:54 Now, both calves started to cramp up. I was fighting through it, but even walking was hard.

Mile 10- 15:02 I was still cramping, but was able to walk “like a duck” which seemed to take some of the stress off of my calves.

Mile 11- 16:53 The slowest mile I have ever run. It was filled with walking, drinking as much water as possible at the drink station, stretching, anything I could think of to finish the race.

Mile 12- 16:11 Still fighting, but, after taking a few cups of Powerade, the cramps started to subside.

Mile 13- 15:23 Starting to run a little bit normally heading to the finish.

Finish:

Chip Time:     13.1 miles –Time  3:13:42–Average pace: 14:47. 😦 Almost a half an hour slower than my last race. And, 20 minutes slower than my first Wine and Dine race last year.

Endomondo: 13.5 miles –Time 3:14:06–Average pace: 14:19

The electronics, The Galaxy S4 phone (still had 60% battery left), Run/Walk interval, Endomondo, and WinAmp music player performed flawlessly. The Endomondo tracker is pretty accurate. The times were only 40 seconds apart and with the zigzagging, I am sure I ran more than 13.1 miles!

After the race, both knees hurt, but that was to be expected. The left knee is a disaster as it is, and the right knee was injured prior to and during the race. The toenail that was injured on my trip to the Keys three weeks ago, didn’t fall off during the race. It did today! As for energy, running on a low carbohydrate diet, I had all kinds of energy after the race. We didn’t get home until 5:00 am! If my math is correct, that would be staying awake for 23 hours straight…with a 13 mile race thrown in!

Monday, there is a little pain in my calves and the right knee is swollen. Fortunately, I have today off. I plan to take two weeks off to let my body heal. Then, on to marathon training.

The schedule is to see my team of doctors to make sure no permanent damage has been done and that no surgeries are required, then start the weight loss and training.

In approximately three months, I will run my first marathon. Words I thought I would never hear in my life!

The plan is to run on a low carbohydrate diet, with an infusion of carbohydrates prior to the race. Also, five of my six water bottles will be filled with Gatorade. The Powerade, although it tastes horrible, did seem to help with the cramping. Once I get into the 15-20 mile training runs, I’ll see what happens. The most important part of this run, although disappointing from a results standpoint, is that with the exception of my right knee, I feel fine. I could probably run today if I wanted to…but there will be plenty of time for that in the coming months!

Thanks to everyone who has liked or commented on my blog or FB page. Your encouragement is appreciated!

Wine and Dine!! (Part one)

Another race in the books!

Before I get started, I would like to thank our friend Jennifer Upton – Disney Travel Specialist with Mousekeplanner. If you are planning a trip to Disney, contact Jen!

Next, I want to congratulate my wife on finishing this race. Although she ran it last year, this year, a month prior to the race while trying out a new set of shoes, she either broke a bone in her foot or damaged a tendon. Running for nearly four hours, on an injured foot, takes a lot of guts. As the kids say, “Mad Props” Teala! 🙂

And now, on to the Wine and Dine weekend!

Thursday:

Checking into the Caribbean Beach Resort

Apparently, the replacement of refrigerators was not completed for our room!

Marshall, Stitch, and “Spi-tor” seemed to be having a good time though!

Ahhh, our chariot!

We arrive! This should make an even 200 pictures of the “ball”!

Vegetarian haggis?

Marshall….touring around the world!

Mexico. I had the 25 dollar Cabo Wabo Margarita, which was delicious!

Teala and I………after said Margarita!

The waterfall at Canada. Every time Marshall goes to Epcot, we have to see the waterfall!

Dinner at the Rose and Crown pub. Note: Do not order steak in a British pub! 🙂

Nite Nite!

Friday:

Race packet pick up. I would have taken pictures of the Expo, but how many pictures of the same ten vendors do we need? 🙂

Marshall and Teala.

The backstage tour. Things were going fine….until……………………….

The water showed up…………………

That is a big hat!

A little blurry, but the Muppet show.

The “Brown Derby”. Although it was a bit pricey, it was great. Note: Do get the steak here!!! 🙂 Also, the grapefruit cake dessert, which everyone raved about, wasn’t worth the hype. Stick with the flour-less brownie!

After dinner, time to watch the Osborne Lights:

We finally got to see this..without having to run through it! And, yes, that is snow in the last picture! 🙂

Marshall, a little tired. He was up at 6:00 am and went on until we left at 10:00! Good job!!

This concludes the family part of the weekend, well almost. We still have Marshall’s first race tomorrow.

Stay tuned!