FCA Half Marathon Has Been Completed.....

A wise man gave today's race the perfect description in one word...BRUTAL. Oh my, was it a scorcher! The race started at 8am, well into the morning. Very hot and the humidity was so heavy. But I skipped the pasta party news...just kidding, I'll get to that later...

I thought I'd try something new for this race. I wanted to walk the miles and run the water stations. I know, good idea, huh??? Probably shoulda....LOL

Most of us met at the gym to ride up to Sarasota with Ed and Joan in their RV (Love-bus!) A few other drove up themselves and met us there. I wasn't nervous at all and just rested a little during the ride up. We all looked SO cool in our team shirts and black shorts. See for yourself!




From left to right...Linda, Kim, Tess, Josephine. In the back with the red headband is Ed, Bob, Jada, Frank peeking through, Jim and Michelle. Cindy is MIA, but her husband Tony is on the right in a blue shirt. More pictures to come........

So...into the HOT morning we went. We all started off strong. I stayed with Ed, Michelle, Josephine and Jim for about 4 miles. Jim said see-ya and took off. I started slipping back a bit at about the same time. Ed was not feeling well, he has an upper respiratory thing going on but was not to be stopped.

At about miles 5-6 I was running beside a guy named Richard. Turns out he grew up in my home town in Mass. Small world. I pulled ahead and passed the halfway point at 1:05. My knee started hurting. That band of muscle on the outside of my knee was starting to bother me. Between that and the heat I was worried. There was not one patch of shade anywhere. The heat from the pavement seeped through my Asics. Did I mention it was really, really hot???? Not a patch of shade anywhere the whole race.

At about mile 8 I saw Ed up ahead walking. I knew that wasn't good. I bolted to catch up to him, ignoring my knee. Ed told me he felt lousy and wanted to drop out. I told Ed my knee was KILLING me and we decided to walk together for awhile. My knee kept getting worse and Ed just didn't feel well but we ran/walked when we could. My knee was hurting worse every time I walked so I tried to just keep a slow pace. Ed was worried he was holding me back but I kept telling him I was hurting. Deciding he needed to be alone, I pulled ahead. Eventually I kept running, doing shorter walk breaks.

When I saw the mile marker for mile 13 up ahead, I took a deep breath and pushed the pain out of my head. I ran through the finish very strong but when I stopped running my leg felt like it was on fire. I looked back for Ed but I couldn't see him. When his wife Joan saw me coming in before Ed (so unheard of) she walked out to meet him. I knew he'd be bummed about being sick but we all know Ed is capable of an awesome time, and if he's behind me, he was sick.

1st in from the team was Bob at 1:48, then Jim at 2:00, then Josephine at 2:11, then Michelle at 2:12, then Tess at 2:22 (my estimated time for me....funny!!), then ME at 2:31. I have to update this later with Linda, Jada and Cindy's times. I missed them because I was crying in the bushes from my sore knee! It is hurting so bad right now.

All of us were a good 15 minutes behind in our finish. Jim said the heat and humidity was just so bad. Starting the race so late in the morning was not a good idea. We usually run at 6:30 at the latest. Everyone finished soaking wet.

We had a good time, being a part of the team was wonderful. I loved every minute of it. It was my first half marathon so I did PR. YAY!

Oh, and did I mention I got an award for 2nd place in my age division??? Yeah, I did. I am pleased.