Space Coast Classic 15K

Boy & I are in the initial stages of training for the Disney World half marathon. We ran 6.5 for our long run last week, which was, by far!, my longest run since the Melbourne and Beaches Half back in February. So what was I thinking when I asked Jeanine if she wanted to sign up for this 15K (that is a little more than 9.3 miles). After it occurred to me that I actually WASNT THINKING at all, I decided that at the very least, I would try to make it 7, and walk when I had to. I laid out my stuff, dressed in my capris and sports bra, and then went to bed relatively early last night and fell right to sleep. Then after my sweet husband came to bed and woke me up, I slept bad! I was paranoid (as usual) that I would oversleep so I started waking up about every 45 minutes or so.

I did wake up on time, grabbed my stuff, and took my pb&j toast with me in the car. I did not have coffee this morning. Of course, today would be the day the temp dips into record breaking temperatures! It was around 45 degrees at the beginning of the race with a 20 mph wind. I was cold until the sun came up but then I was pretty comfortable with sports bra, short sleeve T, capris and my running jacket. My toes were freezing from walking thru the wet grass. They also started to warm up, but my left foot didnt feel "right" the whole run - I wore the mizunos and as much as I love them, they are just too tight on my forefoot. Other than that, those 9.3 miles felt GOOD!! Jeanine and I ran together and was able to pace ourselves so we RAN the entire way! WHOOT! Go Us! Not everyone can say they can up and run a 15K without training for it :D

I figured out how to see splits on CardioTrainer! I <3 it again! You can tell I was running conservative until I figured out I was actually going to make it the entire distance :)

1: 11:04
2: 10:49
3: 10:52
4: 10:31
5: 10:38
6: 10:51
7: 10:40
8: 10:24
9: 10:09

Unofficial Total: 9.33 mi in 1:39:14

Melbourne Music & Beaches Half Marathon

The last night shuttle launch was scheduled for this morning at 4:39. I got up at 4:15 so I could turn on the local news channel to watch the info from NASA. There was a 30% chance of liftoff, and it was eventually postponed until tomorrow. I was so happy that we didn't leave even earlier to drive to the beach to watch liftoff; as it was, a 5:15 pickup was PLENTY early for me! :)

I was feeling pretty good today. I changed some stuff up: I did not drink coffee this morning before the race, I did drink water, and I had a power drink for breakfast instead of my typical bagel, pb, or banana. I had zero stomach issues - so I am so happy!!!! :D

It was chilly this morning. The temp was less than 40 degrees at the 7am start with the wind chill. This doesn't make me happy. I like being warm. But I had on my beanie, my gloves, a sweatshirt, jacket, short-sleeve and tank on so it wasn't all that uncomfortable. We hit the pottys twice and I hit the bushes once before the start. I have to say, the only thing not organized a this race is the potty lines - there are plenty of potties, but they sit in a horseshoe shape at the race start and the line(s) was crazy, so i skipped it. Then we went to line up and there was my wonderful hubby - he DID make it! We stood with him for the anthem and then we were off! I knew it would be a good race :)

The first 3 miles were riverfront on US-1. US-1 is my FAVORITE part of Melbourne! It is right on the water with a lovely view of the causeway. I was looking for my hubby and his dad to hand off my things. There were several side streets we ran through, a neighborhood with the houses right on the water. It was lovely, I was feeling good but a little WARM at this point, so I was shedding layers. The first causeway was GREAT! I thought it was easy (mile 5). I turned on my music at this point. The hubster was at mile 6 to take my things and cheer me on! WhooHoo! Still going strong! Miles 7-11 was down Riverside, through the waterfront neighborhoods. I was slowing at each water station to take whatever they were handing out, but we ran the rest of the way. I thought there was a good bit of support out on the course.

The end of mile 11-mile 12 was the second causeway. I was remembering that last year we walked a good portion of these miles but today we ran them. I had made myself a deal that I only had to run to the top of the causeway (there was about a mile left after that), so I told Jeanine to go head. She took right off, but I got a drink and saw my sweet hubby and his dad sitting in traffic. I yelled, WOW I am moving faster than you. And being there was just less than a mile left, I was guessing the would NOT be at the finish line when we came through. I spent the rest of the mile unsuccessfully trying to catch up with Jeanine since I never needed to stop and walk it out. My last mile was definitely my fastest mile, we kicked it in and finished strong!

I was a little bummed when I saw that even though we ran the whole way, and I took ZERO potty breaks, I was still 2 mins slower than my last 2, and over 1 min slower than my worst (making this my new Personal Worst), but considering I have not ran over 5 miles since Disney a month ago, and I had lost so much of my speed while training for that, I am happy with a strong finish no matter what the time is. I feel great - and that's all that really matters :)

I just want to add that the finishers medals for this race are B-E-A-U-TEE-F-U-L

Pace: 10:31, 2:17:46

Disney Marathon 2010 - My First Marathon

Marathon weekend started for me on Thursday when Matt & I took the dogs to their home-away-from-home and headed for our cabin in Fort Wilderness, Disney. Ma & Pop C came to stay w/ the kids Thursday night.

Once we got to the cabin, we hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios to hop a bus to the Expo. The first thing we did at the expo was bib & packet pickup. Bib pick-up was in the Milk House and even though it was packed, Disney was incredibly efficient with passing out the goodies and getting the Dtags tested. Next stop: the sports cafe. a two story (auditorium style) room with TONS of booths and goodies to buy! I left on Thursday with the limited edition 2010 Disney Marathon pin, and a pair of sunglasses.

Friday the grandparents and kids came to meet us. We had a great time at Magic Kingdom. There were almost no lines (as not many people had the desire to freeze their @$&#$ off) so we were able to make it through all of the rides we were interested in fairly quickly. SueAnn & Holly were going to the Expo so I decided to go back and try to meet up with them and grab some more clothes, since the weather channel was predicting lower and lower temps as time went by...by this time the possibility of SNOW was predicted!!

We had THE WORST LUCK with transportation going anywhere besides the race :P Here is a photo of us on the first leg of the trip. I was still smiling. We missed Holly & SueAnn.... it also made us miss our first, and delayed reservations. However, after 5 buses and 2 boats to and from the expo, we FINALLY made it to EPCOT to eat Moroccan. It was delish, but I couldn't eat hardly any of my entree after the appetizer we split and the thought of dessert made me ill. Here is a photo we got, its not great but I really wanted a picture of the tree and it was freezing so one shot is all I gave.

On Saturday, we had a princess breakfast at Akershus Banquet Hall in Norway , road a few rides while we were at Epcot, headed over to Hollywood studios to ride the Tower of Terror and Rockin Roller coaster, then raced to Downtown Disney for Dinner at Planet Hollywood . It was loud and packed and crazy. NOT my kind of place. I had 1 shrimp and about 1/3 of the spinach dip appetizer, and could NOT eat my spaghetti. There again, just not hungry and started feeling sick.

The night before the race, me, Matt, Boy & Han, and my mother-in-law and father-in-law stayed in the cabin. Matt & I had the main cabin, so I could get ready (buses ran between 3-4am). Neither Matt or I could sleep at all. I laid there wishing the clock would just hurry up already. The morning of the race I got up feeling sick. Actually, I was gagging (dry heaving) and couldn't eat or drink anything pre-race. It was 26 degrees with a 17 degree wind chill factor. I layered up, and packed a clif bar in case I started feeling like I could swallow it, filled out my medical info on the back of my bib, attached my d-tag and all of the other stuff I was suppose to do the night before. Then Matt drove me to the main bus stop area so I could be ontime and have a little less time waiting in the cold (He is a dream!!)

**I do want to add here that I realize people run in weather worse than this all of the time, but I dont. I wasn't used to the cold, nor equipped for freezing temps. I dont even have adequate long pants, jackets, etc for wicking, heating, etc. So it was trashbags and disposable clothing keeping me warm today** Here is the outer layer that I had on...The one that me and my boy picked up at the Expo Friday night and decorated in the Sharpie support area of the expo...

I ended up giving my Clif Bar (breakfast) to the guy riding on the bus with me. He was doing the Goofy challenge and was giving me pointers on bag check and where the potties with the short lines are. I met up with Jeanine at the fork in the road by the corrals. Did I mention it was so cold??

We lined up for the portalets, but we ended up jumping in the bushes because it was time to go! I ended up getting stickers in my drawers! :( HAHA! We picked the stickers out, hopped the fence and ran up the side of the road trying to get to our corral D...but we could only get to corral E. That is where we started.... Me feeling like death and Jeanine all spry and sassy! :) The characters came on stage to introduce the beginning of the race and fireworks went off...it was gorgeous!

The first few miles were crowded and I wasn't sure if I would be able to make it, Jeanine was worried about me because I was so pale, I just knew I was going to throw up! I was sweating and freezing; couldnt decide to keep the trash bag on or remove it b/c once its off, I might get really cold. The course was flat and the route left Epcot behind. We ran down the highway toward Magic Kingdom, and through MK where I stopped at the park restroom. I removed my gloves and my outer layer of pants, used the bathroom and was on my way...except I forgot my Brooks running gloves, so I battled the crowded bathroom to check the sink and stall and they were already gone. I picked up some discarded gloves because my fingers were freezing, but they were sweaty and wet making my fingers even colder so I tossed them and tucked my hands into my jacket. The park run was pretty neat b/c the rides were running even though nobody was on them at 7am. It was just starting to be daylight and people were already lining the entrance to cheer the runners on! This was the beginning of the first spectator spot. We ran through future world, frontierland, through Cinderella palace which was especially awesome and started to pick up my mood a little. Maybe it was really the powerade 1 oz at a time but I started to enjoy all of the wonderful things that were on the sidelines! Jeanine forced me to take a photo at the Castle (thanks girl!!! I LOVE this!!!)

As we past the Polynesian Resort & the golf courses I spotted Pop, Grandma C, Matt, Boy and Han...I yelled and yelled at them, but they didn't see me so I ran into the crowd and got kisses :) That is where I lost Jeanine! YAY! I had been telling her to go on! I was on a really slow walk/run pace and she was on fire - I really wanted her to run a strong race and feel like she did her best! So from mile 12.5 or so I was on my own. Seeing the kids out there supporting their mommy, helped me press on! It was so heartwarming, and I wanted them to be proud of me - I knew I'd see them againg, waiting on me at the FINISH LINE!

We ran on to Animal Kingdom, I really enjoyed this part, but I didn't bring the disposable so I didn't stop for photos...it was too cold to stop anyway. I was still stopping at every water station, taking a powerade and a water cup - which - btw - was frozen in the cups and on the streets!! There was ice all over the trashcans and roads making it very slippery! Eventually they got salt to the aid stations to spread on the ground that helped a little. The course continued out-and-back to the Wide World of Sports, but we never actually made it there. All along the streets there were DJs that were EXCELLENT! They were funny and encouraging, and played the most awesome music! Which I needed because my back and hips were seizing up and I was starting to have to stop and stretch. The runners really started encouraging each other during this time. I can't tell you how many people ran up beside of me and said "Run CC Run!!" (see the back of my jacket - it works!!)

I texted Matt at mile 21 and 22 between WWS and Hollywood Studios. That seemed to be THE WORST. It was such a lonnng way to travel with nothing but roads and DJs since Animal Kingdom. But... I made it to Hollywood Studios and ran all the way through that park! Feeling a little stronger now, maybe thanks to the two mostly frozen bananas they handed out! Onward, past the Swan resort, which was BEAUTIFUL and had a tremendous turnout! People were lining the sidewalk - in that wretched freezing weather - with their hands up for high fives, shouting encouragement, dancing and just bringing so much energy which I definitely needed! Then.... THEN!!!...

We entered Epcot for our victory lap around the world showcase to the finish line! It was CRAZY full!! So many people bundled up to support ALL of the runners (not just "their" runner!) It was a fantastic journey and as slow as my race was, I did run through the final two miles around Epcot on to the finishline, where there was, once again, music blaring, big screens displaying the finishline. When I came through, "What A Feeling" (Flashdance) was blaring! I'm not a crier, but I did tear up a little because What A Feeling that was indeed!!! I was looking for my people in the crowd and didn't even see my time. I dont even know if I looked at the photographers.... All I remember is being so proud and wanting to share that moment with the family and after that find Jeanine and see how well she did! I got my mylar blanket and metal and pulled the phone out to call Matt! Only to see that my wonderful friends had been tracking my progress and had already starting sending congrats to me!!! You guys are the BEST!!! Thank you!!

I bypassed all the snacks & drinks heading straight for baggage pickup because I was soaked and freezing and they were all waiting on the other side with all my goodies already! Here's a few photo Jeanine sent me from her camera :)

Jeanine finished in 5:01 - she could have easily done a 4:30 had she not babysat me the first 12+ miles. I am SOOO proud of her!! We did it girlie!! All those miles....and here we are on the other side! THANK YOU for pushing me through this, I dont think I would have seen it through without you!

My family was so supportive, my mother-in-law carried my bags, my boy and girl held all of my sweaty belts and took pictures of me and the characters that were in the family reunion area (most of them are on the disposable from the goodie bag and still have to be developed)

My wonderful husband, my rock, kept it all together for me, packed us up and checked us out, moved the children all of the place in the freezing weather, held the fort down every Saturday for MONTHS....all to make sure I had all of the support that I needed to complete my goal. This was quite an experience. One that I will never ever forget!

7846

CHANDRA

CLAYCOMB

PALM BAY

FL

WOMEN -- 35 THROUGH 39

35

F

5:33:49

5:45:55

10804

4434

876

41.2%

Christmas on the Coosa 5K

I was in Alabama for work this week, so I had every intension of running the Christmas on the Coosa 12K on Saturday. I have been planning it since October and I know that I can run that distance....but when I woke up on Saturday morning, not yet registered, and it was raining in addition to being around 35 degrees.... I decided to downgrade to the 5K. (I wouldn't have went AT ALL except I had talked other people into registering already!)

As you can see, I dressed pretty warmly - but not as warm as I would have liked to have been! Thank goodness they were giving the beanie hats for the race instead of a tshirt :) I started off dry enough, but it started raining right before the race started and rained the entire run. I managed to keep out of the puddles until the middle of the 2nd mile and then I got really wet - my pants were sloshing around... GRRR.

I finished the race in 26:46 according to my Garmin. Its been a LONG time since I was in a race that wasn't chip timed! But my buddy Dwayne mentioned that I might have placed but it'll take forever for the Trail of Legends to post the results. I'll update when I know more :)

Space Coast Half Marathon

This week was madness. We worked on Monday. Drove to Bama on Tuesday (it took us a long time, but it was a nice trip) visited before a late bedtime. Worked on Wednesday for a while, ran some errands, and did some 'pre-cooking' Wednesday night, Kiki and Kara came late - full house at this point... Thursday was hectic for me since mom couldn't cook or clean up the kitchen and I was stuffed and tired, EVERYONE stayed Thursday night and some crazy people even went out shopping at midnight - I opted to try to get some sleep in preparation for the weekend since I was WAY behind in that department. Friday we visited, ate more really bad stuff, watched the iron bowl, packed, and drove half-way back stopping for sleep in Tallahassee...Saturday we got home, went to the expo, went to the grocery store, cooked dinner, and was in bed at a reasonable 9pm.

I slept so horribly last night, that I woke to the sound of Jack (my little rat terrier) peeing on my luggage at 2:30am! UGH. I just went ahead and got up at that point. I was wide awake, and I would have to leave in 90 minutes to start the pickups anyway. I ate a Clif bar early, thinking it might help me go...moved around.... got dressed, watched dvr'd Days...still nothing...but still feeling really good and alert....I triple checked my bag and set off to pick up Brian and then Jeanine.

It was a nice trip and didn't take as long as we thought, we arrived at 4:56. I have never been to Cocoa Village before. Its very cute!! There was plenty of portalets (short lines), the weather was chilly but really it was perfect. We met up with SueAnn and Holly outside the bathrooms and found Magda later (via phone messages) by the park. We had left our cold weather clothes on so after scoping things out, we went back to the car to put our stuff up - and about got lost trying to find the right parking lot! :)

One more last minute potty break and we lined up with the 10:00 pace. The 'start' was pretty awesome, they had a big screen at the front with the shuttle lift off :) Very cool!! At mile 3 / 10 there were martians handing out drinks - that was pretty funny! The half course was very well done, a pretty good amount of spectator support, BEAUTIFUL scenary - we were literally right beside of the lagoon, water stations and gatoraide drinks at about every mile (I believe?!) and gels at mile 8. I only had a drink at mile 5, thanks to my handy fuel belt. :)

With the news that Magda was coming down to run, and that the first half of the marathon would be ran with the half, I felt confident that I would PR today. I knew that as long as I stuck with her, that I would not back off, I would not slow down, I would not walk. I felt strong - and after the nearly 19 mile race I just did 2 weeks ago, I was confident that I could do this!

Magda was a most excellent pace keeper and I got a summary of each mile. She was so fantastic to run with - I was huffing and sweating by mile 2 and she didn't even look like she was moving. I'm like - how does she do that?!?! We were moving faster than my 9:50 pace and I was feeling good...until we got to mile four and then - THEN - I had to go... UGHHHH. I hate this! So at mile 5 potties, I had to tell her goodbye and WAIT IN LINE for what seemed like forever.

The turn around was around mile 6.5. As I approached I saw Magda pass first, then Jeanine!! She was rockin! I tried for the next 6.5 to catch up with her, but I couldn't even see her ahead of me after the fold. I felt really great until mile 9 - I mean really great! I thought for sure that I would PR this time. But alas, I ran out of steam around mile 11 and had to eat a Gel and walk it out. I did pick it back up to finish strong, but the walking and the waiting at the bathroom stop really put me behind.

Its ok though, I knew it was better than my last two, and not as good as my first one. How could it? I was in MUCH better shape then - and 10 lbs lighter. Plus, until Magda showed up, I had no inclinations of PRing today anyway, it was just a fun training run. And I did have fun! It was amazing to watch Magda finish the 4/6 combo to get her 3 gold stars from Marathon Maniacs! It was amazing to watch Holly, SueAnn, Suzette, and Brian finish their first half!!!! YAY!!!!!! It was completely awesome to see Jeanine's face when she realized that she totally beat me by several minutes! :D

I am sooo lucky to have been surrounded by these awesome friends today! I had so much fun hanging out after the race ended and waiting to see Magda come in - this was the first time I have hung around for the post-race activities. I am so proud of all of my friends and so happy that we all finished the race strong and uninjured.

In the above photo: Holly, SueAnn, me, Jeanine, Brian, Magda

61   747  1121 Chandra Claycomb         35 Palm Bay             FL 2:14:03 10:14

36th Annual Paul DeBruyn Memorial 30K and 15K November 15, 2009

New Smyrna Beach, FL

Today's race report should actually start yesterday....  We spent the day knowing that we would go to bed early. So we had plenty of carbs and fat at the Chinese buffet and everything was going as planned.  We were finished with our pizza dinner early and in bed by 7:30 as planned so that I could get as close to 7 hrs as possible.    Well, apparently I was acting 'weird' yesterday and my husband asked whats wrong, thus opening the faucet of tears that was just waiting for their monthly release.   I finally got to sleep around 10:30-11, I think, I refused to look at the clock.  Down to 4 hrs now....then i woke up at 2:30, rather than 3am.... so 3.5-4 hrs of sleep.  This did NOT keep me from bounding out of bed feeling like I got a whole night's rest. 

I warmed up yesterday's coffee like I always do and started getting ready when my husband go up too. (Did I mention after he turned on the faucet, he fell asleep!?! LOL...so he was well rested).  Jeanine showed up right on time and we chatted as we always do for the 90+ minute drive to New Smyrna.  She was coughing and said she had been taking alka-selzer but she was chipper enough. The restaurant was already hoppin' at 5am, but since Holly had picked up our bib's, we waited for Holly and SueAnn to get there to get our chips & shirts.  THAT made the hour go by really quick. 

We lined up in the dark street seconds before the sirens went off! This was the smallest race group that I have ever been part of. I could have sworn that we started off in the back, and ended in the back, but somewhere along the way (had to have been the first mile or two) we apparently passed a few people.  We held our place within sight distance of the person in front of us as we winded our way through neighborhoods.  The first port-o-let was sighted at mi 4.5. Jeanine never requests a turn, so I passed it up and carried on alone through mi 7.5 where I found the next potty, Jeanine caught up with me,  and we ran in together.  

Now when I say, 'run in'  - we actually had to pass the finish line for the second half out and back.  I would like to say this was the worst part of the run, but since I had already started slapping my seizing up thighs,  the last 9 miles were MISERABLE. I was running at a slightly faster pace than Jeanine, but she was right behind me.  

Luckily the last half was much more scenic than the first half.  Somewhere around mile 11 or 12 was a beautiful natural park to run through. Miles 14-16 were actually on the boardwalk that went out to the ocean, fabulous views of the beach and the lighthouse on the inlet...I mean it was really gorgeous! I stopped to take a couple of photos! :)  I looked behind me to find Jeanine, but apparently she was having as much trouble as I was because I did not see her.  Onward, right?!  UGH, by the time I got off the boardwalk I was sure I was not going to be able to run anymore. I was back on the street and shale rock ground (sand, basically) and I was seriously ready to throw in the towel.  I thought about calling my sweet husband. He always knows the perfect thing to say to me to pull me through everything. But I didn't want to look like a whiny baby, so I didn't call. And I trudged/limped on, slapping my thighs, walking through water stations, wondering if the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel was the finish line or heaven, because I felt as though my legs would fall off and I would die. 

I was honestly counting down the last mile by the HUNDREDTH.  I passed SueAnn and Holly who were cheering me on and taking pictures that I absolutely could not pose for...but seeing their smiling faces and having them on my side gave me just enough to make it the other .25 mi.  I didn't die, but for the first time ever, when I saw the finish line, I couldn't give it anymore then I already was.  The Garmin read 3:14:45 in 18.86 mi.   

Jeanine was there at the finish line waiting for me.  She was in bad shape and didn't get to finish.  We met up with S&H and limped to the truck where she let me borrow the stick, and then we just came home.  

I would love to be positive right now, but honestly, that was the most torture I have ever endured.  I'm glad its over... I'm glad I had an organized pre-marathon distance event to 'practice' as it was necessary to get a glimpse of what I am facing in a real race...but at the same time I'm glad that the rest of my distance training runs will have my regular stop intervals :D

    6    51   211 Chandra Claycomb         35 Palm Bay               FL 3:16:59 10:35  

Gecko 5K: 5/9/09

Saturday, May 09, 2009
Gecko 5K [Done! 27:58 pace-8:42!]


What a GORGEOUS day! :) It all started at 4:50 am... beautiful moon, good coffee, regular breakfast of peanut butter and 1/2 banana on 1/2 whole wheat bagel. Off to get Jeanine at 5:55, 5 or so minutes late of course! But managed to remember to stop at the stop sign (finally!) and noted how pretty the moon was!

We get to BCC in plenty of time to get our bags and meet up with fellow sparkers SueAnn, Holly and Courtney (and a few others I didn't even know about!!)...apparently there is a whole group of sparkers here! GO SPARKPEOPLE!

The race was HOT. Its 94 degrees here today. No idea what it was at 7:30-8am, but it was definitely WARM. No shade at this race either - through a parking lot and around an interestion. Traffic was handled though, the pavillion was a great place to have all of the goodies, etc. There was one water stop at 1.5 mi and another right around 2.9 (same water stop - the race was 2 loops). Note to self: stay away from races that loop ... the second trip around was NOT FUN. I walked 3 times. GRR. But I still met my goal (under 28!) so I'm happy with that! We also got cute lil leis and even got a picture taken with a um... ???

Afterwards we headed to Mimis cafe for some brunch and it was so wonderful! So glad to have shared this 'pre'Mothers Day with these great women!!

Race Results:
8 318 584 Chandra Claycomb 34 Palm Bay FL 27:58.2 9:01
9 346 206 Jeanine Nolan 34 Palm Bay FL 28:25.1 9:09