Every year Tampa Bay holds the Gasparilla Distance Classic in late February/early March. Some people choose to participate in the challenge where they run several of the events all in the same weekend. And then some people choose to just pick one of them. This is one of the biggest events in Tampa Bay for the whole year and I've been dying to get in on the action since the first season we were here for it back in 2013.
I decided to FINALLY go for it this year. The only negative to that decision was that I would have to participate in either the 8K or the 1/2 marathon as the 5K and the 15K events are on Saturday. Since I can't do Saturday events that left me with two choices. Seeing as though I haven't been running since before my original shoulder injury in JULY, I clearly wasn't going to choose the 1/2 Marathon. 13.1 miles would be a little much.
So I chose to go with the 8K. 4.97 miles certainly seemed a bit more attainable.
I knew it would still be a challenge, but I didn't realize just how MUCH of a challenge it would be!
I started Saturday night by "carb loading" at Romano's Macaroni Grill. This is something that runners do the night before a run to have some carbs to supply energy to them the next morning. Well, come to find out, runners actually train their bodies to respond to carb loading. All that I did was leave feeling sick because I'm not used to eating that many carbs. Haha. It was good, don't get me wrong, but I sure felt sick! I'd hate to think that it was just an excuse for me to eat a bunch of pasta. No....COULDN'T be!
Sunday morning I got up bright and early after a good night's sleep. I went to bed at a decent time and woke up feeling ready to go! I packed my bag with two bottles of water, a change of shirt, my Beachbody Performance Line Recovery formula for after the race, and a Quest bar for quick nutrition after the run was over!
It was the PERFECT morning for a race. Just under 70 degrees, a little bit of overcast, and a nice little breeze. I couldn't wait to get going. I had done some major stretching on my right hip flexor when I first woke up because I've been having some major pain and tightness there the last few weeks, so I felt nice and limber for the race.
Before I knew it, the horn was blowing and it was time to go. I started at the front of the crowd with the 7:30-minute mile pace team. I knew that they'd leave me in the first couple of minutes, but I just didn't want to waste ten minutes trying to break free from the crowd. (Anyone who has done a race knows what I'm talking about).
I felt really good the first mile. I wasn't breathing heavy, I was holding a steady pace, and my legs weren't getting tight at all. I thought to myself for a minute, "This won't be as bad as I thought!"
I took a quick walk break about 1.5 miles in to catch my breath and got back into motion. Even when I was running frequently, I've always been the type of runner that takes walk breaks. I guess they call that the run/walk method. That's always been me. So that break was nothing new or unique to the fact that I haven't been training.
Mile 2...passed it! This is awesome! I got this!
Then something happened at about 2.25 miles in. I was like, "Nope! Why did I do this? My body HURTS! My lungs HURT! I'm not in any sort of condition to run 5 miles."
I started walking. Honestly, I really didn't have much intention of starting up my run again. I figured, I'm already more than halfway through, I'm just going to go ahead and walk the rest of the way in. All of a sudden the goal that I had of making it in less than 60 minutes went out the window. (Things get a little crazy when your body is screaming at you!) Plus, this event is held on Beautiful Bayshore...it certainly wasn't a bad feeling thinking about the awesome view I would have during my walk back to the finish line!
Next thing I knew, there was a gentleman touching my elbow and he said, "C'mon kid. I've been running into you this whole race. Let's do this together. We're going to finish this!
Well, how the heck do you say no to something like that? This man was close to twice my age. If he was encouraging me to quit walking and push myself, how could I say no?
So my legs started moving again. We were going SLOW! Haha! This was certainly no hare pace. We were straight-up "turtling" it. Haha. But we were moving. My legs felt like BRICKS! As we ran we chatted. I learned his name was Don. I learned that he worked as hostage negotiator in the state of New York until he retired (no wonder he could convince me so easily). I also learned that he had just suffered from a stroke two years ago after completing two different Iron Man events. He also had an incredible weight-loss story: he started 130 pounds heavier than he was this day! This guy was amazing! The Lord certainly sent Don to be my encourager during this race - that I knew!
I took several walk breaks during the next 2.10 miles. Don took them with me. I'm sure he could've pushed through. He seemed to be that kind of guy to me - the one who would just ignore every inch of his body telling him to STOP! But he told me that we were going to finish together and he meant it.
As we neared the finish line, all I could feel was that darn hip flexor about to give out on me. Every step on my right side was like pure torture. But Don wouldn't let me stop! He just kept telling me to think about that amazing runner's lunge stretch I was going to be able to do soon. Lol. It was then that I turned to him and said, "Tell me again why I PAID to do this!!"
I could see the finish line. We were at 58:40 on the clock! I wanted to come in under that hour marker! As we passed under that digital reader board, I realized that I'd done it! I was honestly overcome with lots of emotion. I cried. And then I looked for water! Haha.
We waited on the bridge until Don's wife found us and I asked if she could take a picture of the two of us together. I thanked Don for being my cheerleader during that race. And he turned to me and said, "I needed you. I don't think I would have finished if it weren't for you." Well, that surprised me! All this time I thought Don was my cheerleader. Which he was, but come to find out he was happy to have a partner too! Someone to keep him accountable to his run!
That's what I love about this fitness community I'm part of! We're all pushing to be better versions of ourselves and we realize how hard it can be somtimes! And when it comes down to it, we're all just looking for that sense of comaradarie to make it to the end!
I walked slowly back to my car, reflecting on the event. I realized how proud I was of myself. The last 5-7 months have been very hard for me. I went from Quiana the Fitness Queen to someone who wasn't able to do anything after surgery to someone who is slowly building herself back up! I am thankful for this journey. I do believe that it's made me stronger!
