2008 ING Miami Half-Marathon

Well, I finished. And that's what counts. :)



Actually, it could have been a lot worse. After all I have been through since running Columbus in October, I should be thankful I was able to run the half at all. And I am. However, once you run a full 26.2 miles, you sort of lose a little respect for 13.1. And you (and by you here I mean me) tend to forget how brutal a 13 mile run can be on the old body.

Official chip time - 2:18:29. Not bad at all, especially considering the circumstances. It falls pretty much right in the middle of the two other half marathon times I have and it's a 6 minute improvement from my time last year on the same course (my very first Half-Marathon). In that respect I am very happy.

What sucks is that my leg REALLY started to hurt at mile 6. And I had to dig deep down inside to figure out how to run another six miles in pain. Another thing is I was completely exhausted by mile 2. I started the race sort of bummed that I wasn't doing the full. The weather was beautiful, humid but cool and dry (thanks P.O.M.! ) and I was ready to go. But after trying to keep up with my training group who started waaaay fast, I was so tired and my leg just wasn't having it. A full 26.2 miles would have been a nightmare.

Another bummer...Jeremy's leg gave out at mile 3. He had to run with intense IT band pain for TEN miles. Yeah, we weren't the happiest runners out there. More like a couple of old gimps run/hobbling down the road.

So basically, I don't remember much about the race. I was tired and in pain and just focused all my energy on finishing and not having to walk back. It was odd. It was the first race I have run (with the exception of a 5K) where I really didn't take in much of the scenery or people. The whole thing was just a blur and it seemed to go by really fast since I was so focused on being done. I imagine this must be the same way races are for elite runners. Although the blur is probably a lot blurrier.

There were however a few cool things about the race yesterday:

1. Weather was amazing. Which sadly, is rare for this race. I do remember running up Ocean Drive and the sunrise was BEA-U-TI-FUL!

2. Around mile three I felt a little tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Jess running next to me! I was amazed that she was able to find me in the middle of over 10,000 runners! We said hello but my group was taking a walk break and since she was plugging along at a good pace we parted quickly. It was great to meet her in real life though. And she is freakin' cute as hell! Which I'm sure she gets a lot :)

3. The new medals this year are so pretty!


4. After the race I got to witness all of my group finish the run as well as a lot of other friends. About 3 of them PR'ed too! :)



5. A LOT of port-o-potties. I didn't wait in line once!


6. While waiting for my friends to finish the full, I got a lot of fun shots of all the usual suspects that make running marathons so much fun.




Here are some more shots of the whole event if you're interested.

7. I finally go to meet Sonia.


Like with Jess, I was amazed that she was able to find me in the mess of people that day. She was there with her parents who love to come cheer her on as she runs her races. One of the first blog entries that ever made me cry was about her marathon where her dad followed her around the course snapping as many pictures of her as he could.

We got to chat for a long time and it was so good to meet her, she is even nicer in real life than online and it felt like I was catching up with an old friend :) Sonia I hope you had a great time the rest of your stay and a safe trip back home. You and your parents were so great.

So even though my race was a little painful and I feel like I got hit by a dump truck today. I am extremely grateful I was able to run yesterday. I am a firm believer that the worse the race, the better a runner you will be for it. That being said, I am sooooooo glad I don't have another race to train for ...for a few months anyway. ;)