I had planned my first post to be about my running history – what I’ve done, what my future plans are and why recently my views on running have changed. Yada yada, no one cares (not that anyone cares about reading about this race either...) Suffice it to say I’ve been running for many years, but have never really raced anything longer than a 5k (okay, 5 - 8k fun runs and 1 - 10k about 8 years ago.) I had no desire to run longer – I was all about the speed. That changed this winter, partly due to reading Born to Run, partly due to other factors, and I signed up for the Miami ING half marathon a week before the race and totally unprepared.
I say unprepared because I had had almost no training for the last month due to an Achilles injury – one I gave myself by deciding to start the New Year off right with a 15 mile run I was also unprepared for. After about 2 weeks off I came back with a week of VERY light training and the Sunday before ING went for a normal run and surprised myself. With an altered stride (to help take pressure off my Achilles) I went through 7 miles at just under 7 min pace – maybe I had a chance at that 1:35 half I needed to get into the B coral at the Chicago Marathon (my goal race for the year.) Still suffering the effects of my slight runner’s high, I signed up for the ING before I had stopped sweating from my Sunday run.
For the week before the race I went over my ill-conceived race strategy – just go out easy and keep it just under 7 min pace for the first 7-9 miles and try not to die too bad at the end. Not exactly the race strategy I would have had back in my competitive high school running days. I figured with this race plan my last miles could be closer to 7:40 pace and I could still get in under the 7:15 pace required for my goal time.
RACE DAY
The day of the race was somewhat cooler, but beautiful running weather. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning to get ready and walk the 2 and a half miles from my apartment to the race start at the American Airline Arena. At about 5:30 I shucked my sweats, checked my gear, and made my way through the crowd to the corals. This would easily be the largest race I’ve ever run in – I’d heard numbers around 21,000 participants (roughly 16,000 finished – 12,861 finished the half.) It was a different prerace routine for me – no real warm up (don’t need much for a race this long right?) and no stretching – I’d just read that pre-run stretching can actually do more damage than good – another post on this sometime perhaps.
The race started with a hand shot flare and a gradual shuffle towards the start line – not what I’m used to in 5ks with a sharp crack of a starter gun and a sprint to get position in the first 100 yards. It was a bit of a challenge for the first half mile or so finding running room. I ran a good part of it on the sidewalk scattering the few spectators there to see the race off. By the top of the MacArthur Causeway the crowd had thinned enough that we were at least able to breath and hit our normal running stride. For the first 5 miles I just tried to run relax, enjoy the sunrise over the ocean and cruise ships, and couldn’t help but smile. The smile was in part due to running my first race in over a year, enjoying the great weather, the thrill of passing people by the dozens and realizing how easy the running was feeling despite putting in a couple of sub 6 min miles and averaging about 6:10 for the first 5 miles – slightly ahead of goal pace…
I was just having fun and enjoying running past all the spectators who were out cheering for anyone and everyone. I was having fun until about mile 9 anyway, that’s when I started realizing this was a longer race than I was truly prepared for – and runners I had passed in miles 6-7 were nipping on my heals again. At the same time I was realizing I still had a ways to go, I was realizing my average pace was good for A coral at
A Jamaican guy and I started going back and forth in our own mini race, at one point as I passed him I said “common – let’s go get the next guy!” It was actually a lot of fun running with him – though short lived. After passing that next guy the Jamaican took off for good as I hit the wall in the 10th mile dropping to a 6:41 mile. It was about that point I actually wondered if I was really going to be able to finish the race without walking, however it’s amazing what a cheering crowd can do for a suffering body. The cheering crowd and knowing I was in the last couple of miles helped me to finish relatively strong, ending with a chip time of 1:23:28 – almost 12 minutes faster than my goal and good for a A coral start at Chicago.
It wasn’t a particular spectacular race, but for me a great start for what should hopefully be an interesting year of running, full of fun races and serious marathons. It also had several lessons learned:
o I need to learn how to drink water while running without feeling bloated.
o Never discredit the importance of cheering spectators.
o It’s amazing what a competitive attitude can do for you on race day.
o Consistent pacing could have shaved quite a bit of time off my finish.
o I’m not yet ready for a Marathon , but I will be. Goal: BQ.
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