Gasparilla 15k

Tale of two races... it was good to get this race in my system, since I still had a bad taste in my mouth from the previous one. I had a pretty good night of sleep, and headed out of my house at about 6:15 this morning. I was able to park at our S. Tampa clinic, since it is only a few minutes walk from the start of the race. I was able to follow other people who were doing the race or running in the streets, and finally I saw a ton of people by the Publix, where the start of the race was.

Gasparilla is a pretty big race....not the size of a Disney, but still a pretty big race. I believe there was close to 3200 people running the 15k and over 6000 people running the 5k. It was a really neat site to see so many people gearing up for the big race. I tried to capture showing how deep the runners were at the start line, but due to my inadequate height I was not able to capture it... but here are a few pics anyway....

The wheelchair division started at 7:25 am. These guys and gals can book it....

A good amount of folks here waiting for the race to start.

Due to me running the Ft. Lauderdale Marathon next week, I planned on trying to take it easy during the race, to reduce risk of injury before the big day next Sunday. I figured that a good way for me to do that was to carry a camera, in which I would take pictures before, during and after the race, so I would focus more on capturing the moment instead of racing my butt off. Well that was my initial plan, and as the race started I got out to a very comfortable pace of about 8:00/mile. The first mile of the race actually takes you right in front of our S. Tampa clinic... and all of a sudden I heard someone scream out my name.... "Greg, I need your keys!!!!!" So quickly I looked to my right and saw that it was the office manager for an orthopedic MD that is next door to our office... so I basically had to go back and give her my pouch that had my keys and my camera in it. Ok... so a little delay here in the race, and I obviously wasn't thinking clearly at that point in that I gave her my camera... but oh well... I figured I guess I can start to move pretty good now... so I started to speed it up and I was going faster than I initially planned, but not at a full race pace. So no more pics....sorry!!!!

The course as always is beautiful, and there are so many people running that it just brought a smile to my face... I just can't explain it... running with so many people is so cool. It's nice to run past people, and even have people run past you.... and it is always so neat when you are on an out & back course to see when those extremely fast runners start sprinting past you, when you aren't even close to the turn around point yet. That is one of the neat things about races... you are running in the footsteps of some of the best runners locally, nationally, and internationally.

So anyways I ran a comfortably hard race (if that makes any sense) I can't say it was a walk in the park, but I had some energy left in the tank, that I was able to run under a 6:30/mile for the last 1/2 mile without a problem. I have to admit that at the end when I slowed down, I wasn't really out of breath, but I did have a feeling of wanting to puke once I stopped running..... but luckily I didn't embarass myself, and it went away. I think I'm going to have some good pictures, because I looked for all the cameras and gave some pretty cool poses while I was running (what a dork, huh?) At the end of the race, I went to some of the booths that had drinks and food and ate a little, and then worked my way back to the clinic. As I was going back to the clinic, I saw some people that were continuing to finish up their race... some struggling quite mightily and one guy just puking his guts out and still continuing to run (TMI!!!) But it made me think that I was on that end just 3 weeks ago, and you never know when it is going to be your day or not..... today was my day, and I'm very grateful for that. So here are the stats for the race...

15k (9.3 miles) - 1:09:04

403rd out of 3918 finishers

36th in my age group out of 191 males aged 30-34

Ft. Lauderdale....here I come!!!!!!

What is wrong with me?

My wife and I had a discussion (not argument) about me participating in more marathons for the 2008 year after the Ft. Lauderdale Marathon next week. She feels as though I should shut it down for the rest of the year and not participate in any more big races. I was trying to justify why I think I should do at least one (maybe two) more marathons later in the 2008 year… I mean its only February, right? She held her stance on this topic quite firm, and after we finished talking about this issue… I have begun to wonder…. Why do I have to run marathons? Why can’t I just run now for the sake of running? Is there something wrong with me?
So, I figured that I would use the blog today to explain my stance on this issue.
If you have read my blog since I started it, you would know that my reason for starting to run was primarily for health related issues. But since starting to run races, there are a few things that I have come to realize. I am never going to win any races, but I can continually push myself to levels that my body has never reached. There is something that is so cool, about being able to do something that you can say, I did better than last time, and next time, I'm going to go for the next goal.
Next, think of a hobby that you have.... some folks like to knit, sew, bake cookies....whatever. Would you like that hobby as much if you stunk at it? What if you continually baked brutal cookies that nobody wanted to eat, or continued to poke your finger every time you knitted. I feel the whole idea of having a hobby is to be good at it... it just makes it more fun to do.
So with those things said..... the marathon day itself is pretty cool, but it is the journey of preparing for the marathon day that makes it so special. 2 weeks ago, we celebrated Adryana's 5th birthday party, and leading up to the party, my wife put her all into making the party a complete success (which it was). Now, even though the party was great, there was a lot of preparation that she did throughout the weeks leading up to the party, and it wasn't always fun for her, but to see it all come together on that day was just such an incredible feeling for her (that she still hasn't stop talking about Adryana's party). Kerry actually has said that she would like to be a party planner...and I've always wondered, why? She seems to always be stressed when she is doing things like this.... but now it makes complete sense. The feeling you get when you prepare for something and put so much dedication into something, and then to see it all come together is priceless.... and that is what the marathon brings to runners.
Finally and most importantly, I realize that training for races (especially the marathon) makes insignificant things seem significant, and makes pressing issues not such a big deal anymore. What???? Let me explain..... about 2 years ago, I would get anxious and stressed out over certain things... like working real long hours, having multiple patients during a certain time of the day, etc. I would get all worked up if things never went the way I thought it would go. I would also get bent out of shape before a day would even start, just thinking of how I would actually handle everything. Now, I think that at times I get so engulfed with thinking about my training, that those things that used to bother me seem so insignificant. Yesterday was the perfect example..... we had 45 scheduled physical therapy patients at our facility, which is by far, the most amount of patients that we have ever had scheduled at our facility...of those 45, I believe 42 people showed up, and it was past 8 pm before I left the facility. Guess what??? My mind was taken off of all that because I was so excited about running the Gasparilla 15k this morning, that it didn't even phase me that we just had our busiest day in Renewal Rehab's history!!!! So basically, if your mind can only focus on a certain amount of things, it might as well be things that excite you and make you feel positive and happy, right? Ok, I think I have convinced myself that this is the right thing for me to do!!!! Hopefully my beautiful wife will take a peek at the blog.... let me see if she changes her mind.... I will let you know.

So, I did the 15k this morning and it went great... I am going to blog about it, but I want to download pictures on here, so you can see all the sights from the race.
Bye for now!!!!

Super Run

Chris caught some flu bug and was unable to run this morning with me, so I decided to go out in the front of my neighborhood and set out to do 13 miles. The plan was to do the full run at my marathon pace, which I don't really know. Let me explain.. based on all these formulas that all these running gurus use, I am supposed to be able to run at about an 8:00/mile pace during the marathon, which I feel is extremely aggressive. I have been aiming to run a marathon at 8:20-30/mile during Disney, but obviously that never happened... so since then, my goal paces have kinda been up in the air. So I decided that I would try to aim for the low 8's and see what happens. It would be good to have some solid confidence going into the Ft. Lauderdale race, so this is really the last time that I'm going to be putting in some quality training.
So off I went at about 6:30 am, and I started out the 1st mile at about 8:10... from there on I really didn't pay much attention to my watch and I just ran what I felt was comfortable...every 2 miles I stopped and drank Gatorade or water (just like I would during the actual race) and then I started to run again. The weather was absolutely perfect (low 60's, with a lot of fog and no sun). I looked over at my watch during the 4th mile and realized I was running around 7:50/mile. I was a little shocked, because it really felt effortless. As much as I like my Garmin watch (A.K.A. my personal trainer)I also am always trying to be careful to not become a slave to the data given by a watch. I feel as though our body's internal clock can let us know exactly what is going on...quicker than any fancy watch can...so anyways I decided to stay at what I felt was comfortable but still very manageable and just roll with it... well I continued on, drinking routinely at every 2 miles, and taking in my endurolyte tablets every hour... and it was just great!!! I noticed that there were a lot of runners out this morning... I guess people are getting ready to participate in one of the Gasparilla races next weekend. There was one lady in my neighborhood that I kept on passing as I went around the lake in my neighborhood, and I gave her a little thumbs up encouragement as she went around the lake for at least the 3rd time (I figured she must have put in about 6 miles so far... so it might have been needed). I remember looking at my watch and saw that I completed 9.2 miles and 1:12 elapsed... and I was like..wow... I'm booking it... but again, I felt good and just kept it going. When I got to the 12th mile, I didn't want to stop and drink, because I knew that I was in a "zone", but I stopped and stuck with my game plan... I drank for about 15 seconds, and finished out the last mile. Final time? 1:42:50. Better than my best race (Reggae Marathon, Dec. 07 - 1:43:30)and I wasn't giving it my all... so I'm just happy... kinda shocked really at how it all went down today. I'm just hoping that I didn't do too much with 2 weeks before the marathon.
So here is the Ivy Lake Long Run

2 weeks to go....

I have been trying to stay a lot more low key as I get prepared to run the Ft. Lauderdale Marathon. As incredible and emotional that the Disney Marathon was too me, it was obviously also disappointing from a time perspective on my finish. I still think that I have a much better marathon time in me, and I want to see what happens when attempting to do another race. I must say that my perspective on the marathon has changed and I realize that even with everything that happened at my last race, that I truly enjoy running and being part of the event even if it doesn't go my way. So this is what I will be doing in the next 2 weeks leading up to the event.
Sometime, between today and tomorrow, I will run 13 miles at around 8:00-8:30/mile. That will be my longest run until the day of the race. I will run 2 training runs in the week, and then I will run the Gasparilla 15k race next Saturday morning. For the 15k, I will not run it at my top speed... I will try to keep my times in the low 8 min/mile. I am actually going to treat it like a 9 mile tempo run.... the 1st mile fairly slow, then the next 7 miles at a high 7 minute/mile pace. Should be a fun race, and I've never done a 15k race before, so we will see how it goes. I will take the next week easy as we lead up to the race.
I have decided that I will pace with Chris during the Ft. Lauderdale marathon. Because of me screwing up his marathon, I know that his main goal is to try to run a sub 4 hour marathon, like myself... but are speeds are a little different, so in a race we usually don't run together. I know with us running together, it will make the experience of the marathon more enjoyable because we will be able to encourage each other throughout the race. But for sure, this time, if anything happens to me, I've already told him....GO!!!!!! I'm a veteran now at imploding at races, so it's all good... I realize there will always be another day to run, and I'm thankful that my body allows me to run, so it's no biggie, right? My dad is ridiculously pumped up for the race also, as he just ran 10 miles this morning as he starts to taper for his half-marathon.
Two of my patients, will have their husbands running the Ft. Lauderdale marathon also. I'm not sure if Chris and I will pace with them or not.... their goal is a 4 hour marathon too, but I'm not too sure on their strategy to complete a 4 hour race. Chris and I have our little thing in place already, so we will see.
Ok... hope you all have a great weekend, and enjoy the Super Bowl tomorrow.
Greg's prediction: Patriots 38 Giants 30.

Patriots 19-0.... ugh!!!!

Happy B-day Sweet girl!!!

This weekend was fantastic!!! My parents and in-laws were in town for my daughter's 5th Birthday party, and it was so nice to have the family here. Adryana's birthday party was a success, and she enjoyed it immensely. After the party, we had a lot of family time together... dancing, laughing and getting caught up on all types of stuff. On Sunday morning, it was back to running, and Chris and I got up early to do an 18 mile run around my neighborhood. We both had family in town, so we wanted to get the run done and out the way, so we could spend whatever time we had left with our families before they left. The run went very good, and it gave me the confidence of running a long time without anything bad happening. I didn't push myself at all during the run, and we still finished in under 3 hours without any problems. Back to Adryana.... great kid!!! She had a really stiff neck that she woke up with on Friday morning and she was extremely uncomfortable throughout the whole weekend, but she did not complain at all during her party, and she was such a trooper. Here are some pics from her big day:




My dad was down this weekend and he also ran on Sunday morning, just not as early as we did. He actually completed his 1st 13 mile run, in preparation for the Ft. Lauderdale half-marathon. I'm so proud of him, and the changes he has made in the physical aspects of his life over the last 3 months. Good job Dad!!! Keep up the good work!!!!

Consistency

The key to achieving most goals in life. I was just finishing up my last consultation of the day for fitness/weight loss, and my potential client asked me? “Why is your program better than any of the other programs, gyms, personal trainers that I have been affiliated with in the past?” My answer to her was “I honestly can’t say that this program is truly any better than anything you have ever tried. I personally think you can go to the gym, have a personal trainer, do other programs and have the potential to have the same amount of success or more than the Therafit program…. The key is consistency. Most people can’t stay consistent with anything that doesn’t have serious repercussions. We will go to work daily, because if we don’t, we won’t get a paycheck and our lights in our homes will be turned off, we will lose our modes of transportation, and other potentially bad things can happen. Honestly, if we don’t work out… who really cares?” It’s so interesting to see the different people that are in our program, and the array of different results that we get. We have had at least 6 clients lose over 50 lbs over the past 7 months, and we have had people lose…. You got it.. nothing!!!!! What is the difference? One person does the program, 3x/week consistently every week, and won’t miss their workouts for anything…The others might do one circuit regimen every month or two, and hope through the science of osmosis, and thinking about exercise, that pounds will magically fall off. It’s just not realistic for that to happen… I heard this saying from Pat Riley, “Hard work doesn’t guarantee you anything, but without it, you have no shot!” I so believe that…
Consistency brings results… Period.

Exciting Times!!!!

Yesterday marked the official start of Zumba in a our Wesley Chapel clinic!!!! What’s Zumba??? It’s a really fun aerobic based dance class, based on Latin music. About 8 months ago, my wife told me that she wanted to do a Zumba class after taking our daughter to one of her dance classes. Next door to my daughter’s class was a group of people doing a Zumba class. The next time I dropped my daughter off to her class, the Zumba class caught my eye…. A few months later I got to try a sample of Zumba through an instructor and I loved it, and we now have Zumba in our center… exciting!!! Unfortunately, I caught the tail end of the class, as I was finishing up consults for my fitness/weight loss clients. My wife and I have decided that she will get to go to the classes for the most part and I will watch the kids, because she has always wanted to do Zumba, and I already have a “habit” (my running, that is). I think that’s fair… so no problems on my end. Speaking of running, Monday night, Chris and I were in the clinic talking to one of our patients about the marathon experience that we had, and by the end of the conversation, we almost had her convinced to start training for one…. So I was thinking……. Who wants to do this???? No, I’m serious…. Who wants to train for a ½ or full marathon? I think it would be incredible to have a group of people train together to run, walk, and/or run/walk a marathon. What a great experience that would be for all of us. So, I already know what some of you are saying…. You’re nuts!!!! And I probably am, but after last Sunday, I am truly convinced that anyone (barring serious injury to the lower body) can complete a marathon. My goal is to find 15 people that would be willing to attempt to train and complete a distance race…. Notice I said complete, not win!!! This is just to have the experience of conquering such a momentous accomplishment. It would be a great way to commit to a goal that would challenge you, but a goal that would be attainable because of the time that we have before completing the race. I would probably pick Disney as the race of choice, because of the magnitude of it, and proximity. After experiencing the excitement of the Disney Marathon, Kerry has committed to participating in the ½ marathon next year, and my Dad is deciding on whether or not he is going to try to do the full or ½ (by the way, he is doing his 1st ½ marathon in 3 weeks!!!) One of my cousins, who is currently on our Therafit program, has commited to doing the ½ marathon also…see… we are almost there!!!! C’mon!!! Take a little risk and go for it…