Gasparilla: Day Two

Did you miss my Gasparilla Surprise?

Before I get to Sunday’s extravaganzas I want to share Meghann’s and mine’s favorite pre-race dinner: Pizza!

Meghann came prepared and brought some whole wheat pizza dough from Publix to provide us with some awesome crusts!

While Derek and Meghann played rollers I got started on chopping up the toppings for our pizza!  We had an assortment of vegetables including zucchini, onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, and tomatoes.

For some protein we had pre-marinated tempeh we picked up at Whole Foods earlier.

And we all ended up using the sundried tomato and basil pasta sauce for the base.  Super tasty!

 

My before:

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And after!  I like my pizza cheeeeeeeselesssssss!

We ended the night early since we had a super early 4am wake up call!  But before that Meghann talked to Ashley at dinner and offered to run and pace her during the marathon!  This totally had me pumped they would have each other for company and some other shenanigans I had in mind…

I slept like a log from the previous day’s early wakeup but when 4am rolled around I was up and ready to go…only after Maddie jumped all over my face with excitement.

I had played with the thought of running with Meghann and Ashley for a bit of their marathon, but that would all depend on how I felt when I woke up. After walking around a bit and some stretching, I was ready to go!  No pain or tightness anywhere that wasn’t normal!  Yay!  Now the question was how much would I run…

In order to fuel for however long I was going to go for, I had 1/2 a whole wheat bagel with some chunky almond butter and a banana.  My favorite pre-race fuel!

It was still a bit chilly going out that early so I added an extra long sleeve running top over my tank top for warmth!  It was perfect!

We came prepared this time by making sure there was cash for the parking garage and nothing to check in to the bag check.  Thank goodness for Derek being the awesome spectator!  We headed straight to the starting line and low and behold it was super long…making us wait 5.30 min to get to the official start!

But we sure were ready!

I decided as we drove there I would run with them on the first loop (6.2 miles, or 10k) of the course which goes over to Davis Island where all the super duper nice houses are!

When we headed over to the island we had to run on an overpass and because there were so many runners we got bottlenecked and came to a dead STOP.  I swear there was a swear word coming out of every runners mouth at the point but within a bit the runner mass started to move and expand out over to the island.

It was still a bit dark so we couldn’t see too many of the houses, but when it got light enough Meghann, Ashley and I reminisced about which home we would want, and what we would do with all the rooms…like fill it with furniture or our best buds (each other!!!)

  

We headed back over the bridge just as the sun came up and enjoyed the scenery as we headed back into the downtown area.

 

All the while I was seriously considering running the entire 1/2 Marathon but knew that I hadn’t trained for something that long and had been injured, so I decided to stop running at the 7 mile point, but not before passing Derek at the 10k point!

So when 7 miles was displayed I jumped off the course and waved good bye to the girls!  I was so sad to leave the girls but I knew they would do great!

I had actually run away from Derek at that point and had to run back to him, which was about a mile away.

After all that running you can bet that I was hungry for some food!  I brought along some snacks and had an apple and this super tasty Odwalla Bar:

I have had the peanut one, and even though I am not an almond fan, omg this bar is AMAZING!  I cannot wait until I find these on sale so I can stock up!!!

After another hour the girls finally came around the corner just past the 12 mile marker, ready and willing to smile for the camera!  Woohoo!!!

Derek and I had some time to kill, just over two hours, so since we were pretty cold and tired, we walked for a bit to a Starbucks and got some coffee for Derek and hot water for me.  Best way to warm up my body!

We camped out and played on our phones for a while near the finish and actually ended up taking a very short nap, well at least I did.  I think I fell asleep against a cement wall for about 10 minutes.  It was just enough to reenergize me but enough to make me groggy and sluggish afterwards!  Pretty funny!

We headed over to the finish to get our spots for photos and eventually saw Meghann heading down the strip!  Look at that woman go!  So strong!

Such an inspiring friend!  I still can’t believe she ran a 15k, 5k and full Marathon within a 36 hr period!!!  She is so strong, physically and mentally!  I can’t wait until I’m totally up to par and can do this myself one day!!!

After Meghann crossed without Ashley I figured she would be a bit behind her and headed off a bit down the course to get her.  I didn’t see her, and kept going until I could find her…but she was no where in sight!  I got about a mile down the course and waited near a water stand so I could encourage her to finish strong!

Check out this woman!  Just as strong as Meghann!  Can you believe this was the third marathon for both of these girls!!!  They rock!!!

Spring woman, sprint!!!

They both finished strong and I couldn’t have been more proud to be their spectator!

We were all starving by the time they both finished and while waiting Derek and I fished through Urbanspoon.com to find a brunch place after the race!  After reading some reviews we decided on J. Christophers for some grub!!!

The girls were excited about pancakes and something other than fruit or oatmeal, but I was looking more forward to the eggs!  I love them for any meal!

I went with the Goddess Omelette which included egg whites, spinach, tomato, onion and mushrooms with a dry English muffin and some home fries.

You can bet I cleared off my plate.

As soon as we finished I headed back to pack up and hit the road for my long (4+ hr) journey back to Miami. 

I’m exhausted and have to work tomorrow!  I can only imagine how these girls feel!!  I bet they’re more zonked than me though!

Congrats again to Meghann and Ashley!!!

Gasparilla Surprise!

Wow, I did not expect my weekend to start off with such a BOOM!

So, after waking up in the middle of the night and trying to fall back asleep, but only being able to think about the races Meghann was going to run today, I juggled with the idea of running the 15k with her in the morning.  It felt more like a dream as I fell back asleep.

Then somehow after our 5am wake up and chit chatting, it came up that I would still be able to register on race day for all the races.  What fool!?  I figured for a race series like this, being so popular, I wouldn’t be able to do such a thing.  Alas, we headed out the door early to get to the convention center with me praying I’d be able to make the $40 registration in time!  But before we left I had 1/2 a whole wheat bagel w/ natural pb and a small apple with some extra pb.  It was the closest I could get to my usual pre-race food!

I shot off to the registration booth and voila!  Registration was still open and I could run the race!  $40 later, with a bib and race tag in hand, I was registered for the Gasparilla 15k!

I was one of the cool kids who registered late, and therefore got a nice RED X though my bib…it was so I didn’t get a medal at the end, since mine is being mailed to me at my home!  So exciting!

 

After getting our bags checked in we headed over to the start line!

As you can see, it was a bit cold for me as a morning run (mid 40’s), hence the long sleeved shirt.

But Meghann went balls out and wore a tank top!  I’m too much of a wimp to do that!

 

And we’re off!

 

The course was mostly along the Bayside which was kinda entertaining…but I was too busy people watching to really notice!

The whole race went really well; I was trying to pace Meghann so she wouldn’t go too fast since she still had a 5k to run afterwards, and then a Marathon tomorrow!  We ran along at a nice 9.15 pace for most of the race!  Although, I was really excited about how my knee felt!  I knew I was probably pushing buttons running with it unsure of it being 100%, but I just couldn’t stand around and wonder “What if?”

As soon as we left the bayside we came around the corner and could see the finish line!  Meghann yelled, “Sprint!” and I screamed as I made my legs go as fast as they could!

We crossed the finish line at 1.26.35!  That is an average 9.14 min pace and couldn’t have felt better! 

My knee stuck it out the whole time, as did my body, and I was ecstatic over finishing it (since I had originally decided not to run any of these races after my knee injury just before the Miami Half Marathon.)

Meghann was kind enough to let me borrow her medal so I could have a finishers photo after we were all done:

        

We shot out of the finishers shoot to get back to the finish line and see Derek cross in his first 15k ever and a new PDR!

Such a great race for all of us!!!

We headed back to the convention center to grab our stuff, along with some extra clothes since we were freezing and Meghann still had to run a 5k!  While we walked we snacked on these apple packages Publix was handing out.

While we tried to warm up, I decided to run the 5k with her too!  Call me mad, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity! 

We headed back to the start line just 45 minutes after finishing the 15k and bared the crowds and RAIN. Ugg, it totally started to rain.

Do we look miserable or what?  Cold, wet and tired!

    

But check out all the people in front of us!  I mean really?!  Umbrellas in the start corral!  That’s madness!

As you can tell, it was going to take us a bit to get up to the start…EIGHT MINUTES!!!  We just laughed as we knew we were just going to chill the entire race and jog/walk it when needed.

And off we go!

We jogged most of the race at just over an 11 min pace!  We enjoyed watching all the other runners and taking our time.  I even made friends and helped encourage a young girl to keep going by cheering her on!  I hope she finished well!

We finished off the race at 35.27 and felt pretty exhausted afterwards!  If anything, I was HUNGRY!!!  After not eating breakfast since like, 5.30am I was starving after those 20km and all the extra walking!

But we all finished strong! Meghann finished with two medals and one more to get tomorrow, Derek with a new PDR and me…two races in one day?  Unless you count my two legs from the Wild West Relay last summer at two races?!

Meghann and I are rockstars!  Two a days, within like, 3 hrs!  Yay!!!

Right after we finished we shot off to the car and headed for the heat and water!  We drove home in a frenzy to get to showers and hot water to warm our insides!  I ended up snacking on a small banana and some crunchy almond butter while I waited to leave!

After cleaning up we headed out to lunch at Datz with Ashley!  I was excited to try a new place and get some good tasting food in my very empty and hungry belly!

I love blogger get togethers, I get the most fun pictures!

I am a huge fan of breakfast foods when I go out to eat, so how could I pass up an omelet for lunch!  I decided on the Jack’s Shrooms for my meal.

I didn’t get the optional cheese on my omelet, subbed in egg whites and got my toast served dry.  Look at how stellar this meal is! 

I was hungry, so i devoured every single morsel.  Obviously.

It was so great to finally get to sit down and talk to Ashley!  I’ve seen her once when we had a meet up before the Disney Marathon at the beginning of January when I came out from California, but didn’t really get to talk to her!  Ya for blogger friends!!!!

And of course I couldn’t come all the way up here and not get some frozen yogurt!  I mean, I live for this stuff when I’m at home, so I had to get some in Tampa knowing it was here and can never find any in Miami.

Chocolate fro yo to make some very happy taste buds…nom nom.

Now I’m chill’n out and going to get ready to make some homemade pizza for tonight's dinner!