Pretty much ready to go for the Gasparilla Marathon in the morning. Got back a little while ago from an easy 15 minute jog to get the blood flowing, stretch, and roll out my legs with my Stick. Put a little Shoe Goo on the lugs of my Newton Running shoes so they don’t wear down any further. Jenny is in the kitchen making everybody’s favorite pre-race spaghetti dinner.

For some reason, I don’t think I have been this excited to go run a marathon (this only being my third). My training and racing has gone really well so I am feeling pretty confident I can run the time I want.

Here it is laid out for everyone the race goals. The main goal is to run under 3H:16M to qualify to run in the Boston Marathon. The time goal is 3:08-3:10 (7:15/mile)which will maybe give me a chance to place in my age group. I would love to place with this being the last marathon for Gasparilla.

The race starts at 6Am so we will be getting up at 3AM to get some food in the stomach. I slept in until about noon today figuring won’t be getting much tonight.

I finally broke down and created accounts on Facebook and Twitter. I did so since most people are using them now. So, I have it setup so that anything I post here will also post there. If you would like to follow me on either Facebook or Twitter, you can do so by clicking the appropriate button over on the left side of the page. Hopefully, they will work right, I think I set them up correctly!

What an absolutely beautiful day to not go to work!!  After dropping the kids off at school this morning, Jenny and I headed to Tampa to pickup my race packet for the Gasparilla Marathon this Sunday. Was nice going to the expo on a Friday for a change because we actually was able to walk around the expo. In past marathons, we pickup my packet the day before the race. I try not to do much the day before, so I don’t waste time or energy walking around the expo.

The expo was great with a lot of good booths. I went in with two missions…To see if I could find a new pair of training shorts and get a short sleeve shirt for the race since the race shirts are long sleeve. The race shirt was easy. I got an awesome looking Nike shirt with the race logo in blue. We found a running shop that was having an unbelievable sale on New Balance gear. I bought two pairs of shorts that I can use for training or racing. They look like running shorts, but aren’t as short as my racing shorts. The shorts  feel great, have a lot of reflective material and a large pocket on the side that is big enough to carry at least five gel packets. I am going to test the shorts with the gels in the pocket to see if I want to use them Sunday.

After we left the expo, we walked around downtown a bit then drove a little bit of the race course and I showed Jenny where the best spots to see me and where buses will be going out on the course. This is a great course, the only “hills” are the small bridges that cross the river and over to Davis Islands.

Jose Gaspar pirate ship. Used during Gasparilla invasion.

Arrrrr, pirate flag on the Jose Gaspar.

After driving around downtown, I rewarded Jenny by taking her to Starbucks to get her favorite Strawberries and Creme Frappuccino.

Colorful Florida Fall color at Starbucks.

There had already been more color on the trees this winter than there ever has meaning the color was actually noticeable. The weather warmed up yesterday and we noticed that trees all over town were relatively bursting with color. I have never seen Oak Trees leaves change color before. For Central Florida, it is quite an amazing site next to snow!

I ordered the Nike Essentials Singlet in sprinter green with the intention of  wearing it in the Gasparilla Marathon. I have a singlet under the same name in red that I got a couple years ago and figured this one should be pretty much the same.

I wore the singlet on a five kilometer run at 7:15 marathon pace to make sure I wouldn’t have any issues on race day with any king of rubbing or chaffing.

The singlet is comfortable, lightweight, good price of $25 and it looks good! I noticed that there are quite a few seams compared to my red singlet which had me a little worried. The singlet felt fine up until the completion of mile two. With a bit of a sweat going, the seam that runs right across the shoulder blades started to get a little irritating. The last thing I want to do is run 26.2 miles with that so this singlet is out for using during the marathon or really any race. Whoever designed this thing should go run in it!

So, I give the new Nike Essentials Singlet a big thumbs down due to the seam irritation on the shoulders.

Seam across the shoulder is a deal breaker.

As a lot of runners know, your marathon performance can depend much on what the weather does. Ideal weather is said to be about 50 degrees with humidity on the lower side. Weather is one reason planning to run a marathon in Florida is so iffy becuase the temperature could be freezing one day and beach weather the next. With the Gasparilla Marathon seven short days away, it is time to pay attention to the likely weather and plan accordingly. As of now, weather looks great with temps just below 50 for the low on Sunday and no rain.

Now then, lets see and test some national and local weather outlets to see who can most closely predict Sunday’s weather seven days out!

www.intellicast.com – High 59 Low 48 Sunny

www.weather.com – High 59 Low 48 Sunny

www.accuweather.com – High 69 Low 53 Sunny

www.tbo.com (WFLA Channel 8 ) – High 69 Low 48 Sunny

www.wfts.com (WFTS Channel 28) - High 69 Low 49 Sunny

www.wtvt.com (WTVT Channel 13) – High 69 Low 46 Sunny

www.wtsp.com (WTSP Channel 10) – High 67 Low 49 Sunny

All look like great forecasts. Give me 50 degrees at race time and it just may be a good day!

In conjunction with Gasparilla weekend, this morning was the 20th annual Gasparilla Jr. Distance Classic at the University of Tampa track. The event is really cool, is great fun for kids and parents, plus it is free!. The event is for kids 10 and under so Chris and Emily got to participate. The event is well run and they do a great job at the end of the races by corralling the kids into an enclosed area where the only way for the kids to get out is through a guarded exit. Chris ran the mile and Emily half mile. Chris did an awesome job placing 2nd overall with a PR time of 7:45. The time would have been better, but to keep track of laps, bands were handed to the kids after each lap complete. Emily did well and kept running the whole time with a big smile on her face and finished her half mile in about 4:15.

Chris, running strong on 2nd lap.

3rd lap, feeling it!

Happy finisher with a new PR!

Emily the fun girl.

Another happy finisher!

After a longer period of time than I should have, I finally ordered and received my Road ID bracelet. The Road ID is something that all runners or anybody should have. Like a medic alert bracelet, the Road ID tells first responders who you are, where you’re from, emergency phone numbers, and medical info like blood type or allergy info. I got the Elite version which runs $30. The Elite has a comfortable band made of a rubber material that is easy to adjust and put on. They come in many colors. I got my favorite color, red!

I highly recommend everyone gets a Road ID, you can get one at www.roadid.com. You can save $1 by entering my thank-you code ThanksNeil618868. This code is good for the next 30 days.

Me with my new Road ID

I frequent the running site of coaches Joe English and Dean Hebert. I watched a new video they posted about getting the runs on the run. The video is both hillarious and informative. Check their site out at www.running-advice.com

Thankfully, I have never had a case of the squirts during a race (knock on wood). But, I do highly advocate the PRD (Pre-Race Dump). One nugget of good advice if you are prone to problems is try taking some Metamucil the night before your race to get some fiber. Odds are, if you have this issue, you need some more fiber in your diet to help absorb your liquids, drinking too much liquid, too much sugar, or dehydrated.

Without further ado, here’s the video…Enjoy!!

Season 2 – Episode 13 — The Runs on the Run from Joe English on Vimeo.

Stewart Middle School at Pasco County Fair Parade from Neil Clements on Vimeo.

Stewart Middle School Band at Pasco County Fair

Tommy at Pasco County Fair Parade