Sarasota First Watch Half Marathon Relay Recap

After running the Sarasota First Watch Half Marathon, this medal officially became mine!

Ain't she a beaut?

While the medal is wonderful, the journey to obtain it was beastly.

I set my alarm for 3:30 to give myself ample time to get to Sarasota and find good parking. After making myself some oatmeal (topped with Craisins), I got dressed and headed out the door to head to my second half marathon!

The drive to Sarasota from Tampa was okay, but really dark. I kept praying I would make it to the race safely and on time. I was so happy when I made the exit to Sarasota. There was literally nobody on the road!

Since I arrived SO early -- nearly 2 hours before the start time -- I snagged a pretty awesome parking spot at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall where the race start was. I picked up my packet and waited in my car for a loooong time until it was time to head out to the start line.

By the way, it was FREEZING (Florida freezing) before the race started. I am pretty tiny and get cold very easily and the combination of the temperature and the wind had me literally shaking before the race started. I was happy to get into the corral which was totally packed because the body heat made it a lot warmer.

The start line was a bit of a mess. I couldn't get up to my pace group and ended up starting in the 12 minute/mile group. I usually average about a 9:30-10 minute mile so I was hoping I could weave my way into the appropriate area eventually.

Finally at around 7:10, we were off!

Mile 1
Mile 1 felt pretty good. I hadn't been running that much post Disney Princess (which was only three weeks ago) since I had developed a tightness in my calf/slight achilles pain and started crosstraining to help with that. But the first mile flew by.

Mile 2-4
Good Lord is all I can say. I had to run up this bridge:

(Not my photo)

The first time I ran up it, it didn't seem that bad. But once I started going down it I realized my knee was starting to hurt. I was only 3 miles in at this point so that was not good. I started to worry and changed my stride a little to land more softly on my foot. I started seeing the fastest runners around this point. Wow. They were really killing it. I kept thinking I wished that was me so I could be finished faster!

This part of the race was the prettiest part, and probably the best 20ish minutes of the whole race. We ran through St. Armand's circle which was full of cute little shops. I have never been to Sarasota so seeing this reminded me I need to make a trip there.

The 5k marker was around this area. I sped past it, happy those miles were behind me.

5k time: 28:29/9:10 min/mile

Miles 4-6
These miles were where I started to have problems. I had to pee really bad after mile 4 but told myself I could wait for a while. My knee was really starting to hurt. Mile 5ish was where it gave me trouble during the Princess so I sort of expected it, but still didn't feel totally prepared for it.

Mile 5-6 were the beginning of the Tamiami trail which was not scenic whatsoever. I crossed the 10k mark and had to pull over by a water station to put Biofreeze on my knee, which was killing me at this point. I crossed my fingers and hoped the Biofreeze made a difference since the medical stations were totally unmanned and had no Tylenol whatsoever.

10k time: 1:00:03 9:40 min/mile

Miles 7-9
This was the part of the course where we ran up the Tamiami Trail. These miles were hard for me during the Princess since my knee was in excruciating pain. The story was basically the same here. This was literally the most boring part of the whole race. Of course there were lots of runners and we were all still going which was encouraging, but I was getting tired.

Around this point -- after mile 8 (I think) -- there was a water station where they were passing out Gatorade. I was so thrilled with every water stop. The Gatorade tasted like nectar from the gods. I love water but something about drinking a flavored drink while exercising (I'm looking at you, Fruit Punch Powerade) brings me unrelenting joy.

The water stop people were giving out these Gatorade fruit chews (they may be another brand, I don't know) which were really good. I had never used these before though so this was a big no-no. More on that later.

Around mile 9 we made it to the Ringling Museum. This was a neat building to look at but I thought there were going to be circus performers here for some reason since I read there would be. There were none so I was a little sad since I had just run up this boring trail and needed something to lift my spirits.

Miles 10-12
After mile 9 we headed into the residential portion of the race. This was basically the last little bit of the race and it went through a neighborhood of pretty nice houses, some on the water.

I was feeling awful at this point. I was starting to cramp up and my stomach felt weird. It was probably from the chews, which is unfortunate because they were so good.

I stopped to unzip my arm band and popped some sports beans anyway since I literally could not imagine going on any more. I felt like I was ready to hit the wall at any minute and I was losing hope fast.

The beans gave me some energy though and I figured I could do anything for half an hour. I stopped at a port-o-potty (ugh I know) after mile 10. I heard people getting sick around me and got out of there as fast as I could.

Mile 11 seemed to go on forever. I thought I was dying and that this race would never be over. What had I done to myself? I was so crazy. I realized I might actually be crazy when I saw this group of people offering Dunkin Donuts at their house out and I contemplated stopping to get one. I can only imagine how much my stomach would have hurt afterwards since I haven't eaten a donut in forever and I was pushing my body to its breaking point.

At mile 12 I had to walk. I was so tired. I saw the pacer for the 2:15 group pass me by. I wanted to get a 2:15 pace or lower coming into this race but I just let her go by. I was burnt out and exhausted. I walked for about 4-5 minutes and then picked the pace back up to get to the finish line.

Mile 12 also had a headwind which was horrendous as you're trying to go BACK to the finish line. I was being tested both mentally and physically here. I kept going though. My feet were screaming. I was pretty sure I had a blister of some sort since I could feel it and it was hurting pretty badly.

Mile 13-Home Stretch!
The crowd started to pick up here which was nice since I was about to cry I was so tired. I made the turn to the finish line. I could see it. I almost burst into tears when I saw it actually. Races make me emotional for some reason...

I crossed the finish line and saw the clock. It said 2:18 but I knew my chip time would be less than that. Could the 2:15 be within my reach?

WOO!

My chip time was 2:15:42! Not awful considering I walked for a good 5-6 minutes total at the end. You can see my pace slowed down a lot towards the end, something I'm not happy about. But it was my second half so I think I did okay. 

After finishing I headed over to my car to get out of my gross clothes and to take my socks off to assess my foot. 

Ouch. After popping this blister I put on some sandals and headed back to the post-race party to get some food. There was quite a bit of good food but no real "breakfast," at least the breakfasts I'm used to. I did get some granola and yogurt since that looked super yummy.

Although this race was very challenging, I had a good time. I will definitely register for next year. 

Speaking of next year... the 2015 Sarasota Half Marathon registration BLITZ starts Mar. 18 (tomorrow)!  

Starting March 18, registration will be 55% OFF for one day only.
March 19, registration will be 50% OFF.
March 20-23 - 45% OFF.
Blitz opens at 12 AM midnight EST on March 18th and ends March 23rd at 11:59 PM EST. Blitz pricing is effective for all registrations during the blitz period. Blitz price is determined using the final price. The relay is not included in blitz pricing. Click here to register.

Follow Sarasota Half Marathon and Relay on Facebook, Twitter, Online, and use the hashtag #runSarasota! 

Are you going to register? I think I will! See you next year, Sarasota Half!