Neil Clements Photography Blog

Last 20 Mile Run...and lessons from a squat in the woods!

2008-12-21T12:48:42Z

This morning I ran my last 20 miler before the Disney marathon which is 3 weeks away. I also used this as a dress rehearsal to simulate race day as close as possible.

I woke up at 3AM and ate breakfast. Went back to sleep and got up at 5:15. Headed out the door at 5:30 and drove up to Dade City to the Suncoast Trail. Got ready and started my run at 6:00, the same time as the marathon. It was dark, a little foggy and the temperature felt great in the 50's.

As usual, started off too fast with a 7:05 first mile. I backed off and settled into a nice rhythm of about 7:37/mile as originally planned. The trail passed right by the Trilby Methodist Church where Jenny and I got married, so that was cool.

Ran in the dark for an hour. Mile 8 made my whole day. Gave me a huge smile and a good chuckle. I was running and feeling well, about 50-100 feet in front of me pops out a huge deer and runs across the trail into the trees. Then another one and another one. I don't think I have ever seen such big deer. Beautiful white tail deer these were with large, fluffy white tails! I had a big smile and got to thinking about our friends in Wisconsin who hunt deer (they hunt for food, so I am OK with that). Now, I am thinking to myself "Wish I had my camera" while Carrie and Terry would be thinking "Wish I had my gun, we'd eat good for the whole winter"!! Gave me a chuckle. At least the trail runs through a protected area with no hunting.

I busted out 15 miles at an average pace of 7:38/mile, right where I wanted to be. At this point, things changed and my legs crapped out quickly. I ended up walking the end of mile 16 and all of 17. Not good being 4 miles from the car. My body had another joke for me...being out on the trail in the woods is a bad place for a #2. No, couldn't have done it at the bathrooms in the trailhead at mile 14! Well, I had to give in, so off the trail and into the woods to do my business the old fashioned way. Back walking on the trail, my legs started to feel better after a couple minutes. I started picking out leaves on the trail to run to with short walk breaks. Towards the end of mile 18, I just kept running (kind of like Forrest Gump). I ended up back on track clocking the 19th mile in 7:37 and decided to pick it up for the last mile with a 6:41 (fastest mile of the day)! Obviously, my digestive system was stealing blood away from my legs which is why they croaked on me.

They say that running is like life and provides many lessons. I believe that to be entirely true in that if you push too hard, you will pay. If you go too easy, you end up wondering what if. If you set your goals too high, you set yourself up for failure and pain. Set goals too low and wonder what could I have really done. Like a lot of situations in real life, listen to your body and take action to rectify the problem as soon as possible. You just may find that you will be rewarded for it. Life is about balance. Get it right and life is good, screw it up and life kind of sucks. This parallels my own life lately...

Sorry for the "deep" read. Ultimately, it was a great run on a beautiful, paved trail that had nice mile markers so I actually knew how I was running.

If you would like to get live text or email updates while I run the marathon, you can signup HERE
Just create a username/password and put clements in for the last name and neil in for the first name under Select Entrants to Track. You will receive live updates of how I am doing at various times during the race.

Auggie & Macy

2008-12-18T00:30:35Z

One Month Until Disney !!

2008-12-11T15:45:38Z

Today starts the one month countdown to the Disney Marathon! I am excited and petrified at the same time. I know I can run the distance, I just hope I don't do anything stupid. I have one more 20 mile run to do and a couple of tests to see what pace I should really run at. I found out my race number this week which will be 941. Numbers are given out based on projected race time which is figured out from a previous race time (the Daytona Half Marathon in my case). Last year, over 12,000 people finished the race. So, that puts me well into the top 10 percent of all runners! This will also put me in the first start corral which will keep me with people going my pace.

Believe it or not, I already have another marathon planned. Jenny has a friend in Wisconsin and she asked if we could fly up for their American Cancer Society walk (she heads up the walk). Just so happens that the Green Bay marathon is the same weekend! The event is in May which gives me time to recover from the Disney marathon and four months of training.

My marathon goal is to qualify for the Boston Marathon (I need a time of 3:15) and run Boston in 2010. My brain tells me to use Disney as an experience race and really go for it in Green Bay. We'll see what happens with that theory!

Brandon Half-Marathon

2008-12-07T14:53:31Z

This morning, I ran the Brandon Half-Marathon. I posted a personal best 1H:36M:52S and came in 53rd overall. This is almost a minute and a half faster than my time from the Daytona Half in October. I am so happy I set a new best, but it could have been so much better. It was nice and cool this morning and felt great running. I started off way too fast with a 6:11 first mile. I then settled into a comfortable 7 minute pace. Minor issue this morning...WIND!! At the turnaround point, we were running into a fairly stiff headwind the whole way back. I didn't lose much time until mile 10 when the wheels fell off my train. Legs pretty much told me to get screwed and did not want to work properly. I ended up losing a full 5 minutes in the last 3 miles of the race. So, I maybe would have come in at 1:32:00 which would have been unreal! Oh well, it was still a good time.

The Disney Marathon is only 5 short weeks away...AHHHHHHHH!!

I am raising money for The American Cancer Society. If you would like to donate, please visit my donation site www.runforbreastcancer.com to make a donation.

Sorry, no pictures from the race today, Jenny was doing the 5K which started an hour after I did.

Josie & William Wedding Album Design

2008-12-06T17:31:51Z

Josie & William's wedding album design is finally finished!! You guys look great and Jenny and I wish you all the best!!

To view the album, click HERE.

Josie & William Wedding

2008-11-16T23:13:49Z

Jenny and I had a wonderful time attending Josie & William's wedding at the Historic Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. The Columbia was a beautiful setting with great food and atmosphere! Josie and William are a fantastic couple and great people. Thanks again for inviting us to be part of your celebration!

Josie & William Engagement

2008-11-01T13:38:22Z

Jenny and I had a wonderful time with Josie and William this morning. We met them at Plant Park located on the University of Tampa campus. We did some shots around the campus then strolled down to Franklin Street in downtown Tampa. Josie and William were fun to work with and we were able to visit a lot of places. We went to the Sacred Heart church and was able to go inside. What an incredible place. beautiful stained glass everywhere.

Josie and William's wedding will be at the Columbia Restaurant in a couple weekends. We are looking forward to attending!

Daytona Half-Marathon

2008-10-26T21:29:23Z

Whew, what a day. Finally got home a little while ago. Been up since 4AM and started running at 7. The weather was fantastic. We had a cold front go through last night which made the temperature in the high 50's at race time and stayed nice throughout. I had a really good race. I finished in at 1H:37M:57S. I was 47th overall out of 527 finishers and placed 7th in my age group. I kept an average pace of 7:29/mile.
It was so cool running around the track. The curve bankings tower over your head and the track looks so much more narrow than on TV. Hard to believe they runs 3 cars wide in those curves! It was a weird feeling when I got to turn four running under the spot where Dale Earnhardt died.
From the track, we ran to the beach for a quick glimpse of the ocean. On the way there, we had to run over this huge bridge over the Halifax River. Going over the first time, I didn't lose much time and felt decent when I made it back to go over the bridge again. The view at the top of the bridge was beautiful. The sun had just come up and was big and orange reflecting off the river (I wish I had a camera). The second time over messed me up. My 7:15 miles turned into 7:45 miles. Luckily, there was only a little more than three miles to the finish. At lease my mile times got faster after my worst mile.
After the race was over, it was back to the hotel and then we went over to the Daytona Experience. We all had a great time. They have a lot of great exhibits and interactive simulators. we also got to go on a tram tour that takes you around the track and infield. We all had a crack at the ARCA racing game, Tommy got the fastest lap of the day! Unfortunately, someone edged him out a little later. The coolest simulator put us into a mini racecar that moved with the game. I cussed Jenny...I was passing her and she says she didn't know I was there until she creamed me and sent me flying through the infield. Also saw a NASCAR 3D IMAX movie. We had seen it in St. Augustine, but mot in 3D. It is an awesome film!
It was a great weekend and we are already planning to go back...

Daytona Lighthouse

2008-10-25T19:35:08Z

Made it into Daytona this afternoon. Staying at the Quality Inn across the street from the speedway. Great location. Guess during the races, rooms are $450. They are booked for the next 7 years!!
After picking up my race packet, we headed to the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse. What a beautiful lighthouse!! As much as we love St. Augustine Lighthouse, Daytona beats it.

The lighthouse is the tallest in Florida and has 208 steps which we climbed to the top for a nice view.

Looking up through the middle of the lighthouse.

View of Ponce Inlet and the Atlantic Ocean.

After visiting the lighthouse, we had a nice dinner at Olive Garden.
I will have my alarm set for 4AM to have breakfast and head out to the track about 6. I will be curious to see how it goes running over the bridge at mile 6 and again on the way back. It is a pretty big bridge! I will post how I did late Sunday...

Daytona Bound!

2008-10-24T23:37:49Z

In the morning, we are off to Daytona Beach for the Daytona Half-Marathon. I am excited to see how it goes, the legs feel good and I don't have any niggling injuries. My goal time is 1:35:00 which would put me at a 7:15/mile pace. It will be so cool to run around the Daytona Speedway starting on Pit Road and ending at the finish line.

We plan on checking out the Daytona Lighthouse and the beach on Saturday. Have a nice dinner and hopefully get some sleep for a 4AM wake up to eat before the 7AM start.

Check in, I will have some pictures up from both days!