Sunday, March 7, 2010

3/7/2010-13.1 Miami Beach Half Marathon race report

What a fantastic day for a race! Sunny with some scattered clouds and a real nice breeze. 52 degrees at the start, 60 at the finish. Gotta love South Florida in the winter!

Got up at 2:30am to have breakfast and get ready. Didn’t wind up leaving the house until just after 4am for my hour drive down to Miami Beach. The race started and ended in South Beach; when I arrived down there just after 5am, there were people still out from the night before (a few in some rather provocative partying clothes). Ah, South Beach LOL. Got parked and made my way over the the starting area. Walked around for over a half an hour trying to stay warm before making my way over to the corrals. This was set up like A1A was with poles marking the different pace times. We started on time and I headed out at a slow jog for the first block before starting my walk/run intervals. I was again doing my 3 minute walk/2 minute run intervals, adjusting to the water stops and bridges as needed.

The first 3 miles wound through the streets of Miami Beach and brought us over the I-195, AKA the Julia Tuttle Causeway. I did make one port-a-potty stop about 2.5 miles in (didn’t want to take a chance and there were no lines, only wasted about 40 seconds). We did the JTC over and back (about 6 miles total) which included 2 bridges, the 2nd (western) one steeper than the other. The bridges wound up being not too bad, I was still able to keep up a 16 min/mile pace going up...and of course ran down both of them! So actually four bridges with the out and back. We could see the cruise ships docked at the Port of Miami from the JTC...too bad that wasn’t the reward for finishing!

I kept a pretty steady pace for the first 10 miles between 14:30-14:51 min/mile. The last 5K though, I was getting tired (hey, I did just do another half marathon 2 weeks ago) and slowed to between 15:03-15:34 min/mile. The last mile or so was along a boardwalk-type area (but not wooden, was a brick-type walkway) and there were a lot of people just walking along it that weren’t part of the race...they didn’t get in the way though, plenty of room for all of us.

When I hit the 13 mile mark I picked up my pace again and ran the last bit to the finish line. My chip time wound up being 3:16:51, a new PR for me (3 half marathons, 3 PRs). Considering I made the one potty stop I’m very happy with my time on a course with 4 bridges to do. At the finish they were giving free salsa lessons and there was Latin music (all along the course too as well as many drum lines), free arroz con pollo, cafe con leche and free Samuel Adams beer (again no thanks but that booth sure was popular). They were also giving out free bags of “Corn Thins” at the end, they are like rice cake but made out of popcorn instead...got two of those (Flax & Soy and Lemon & Cracked Pepper)...really yummy and actually good for you.

I had a great time and would definitely do this race again, although next year I’m going to try to make Disney’s Princess Half first!

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

3/3/2010-Coming soon...my 3rd half marathon

That's right, I've gone ahead and signed up for another half marathon. This coming Sunday 3/7/10---13.1 Miami Beach. The course starts at 11th and Ocean Drive, winds thru Miami Beach over to Alton and then onto the Julia Tuttle Causeway-over and back, then winds down back to near where it started. The challenging part will be the JTC as there are two nice-sized bridges on it, so since we are going over and back that's like having 4 bridges. *shaking my head* What was I thinking? (Yeah, I know, I wasn't thinking at all, was I?)

I think I will have the wardrobe part fixed. Still will be wearing my skirt but will have other shorts on underneath that do NOT ride up at all. Haven't decided if I'm just going to wear the skirt over them or cut out the shorts that are already in the skirt before putting it over (so I'm not wearing 2 pair of shorts at once). I'll play around with that over the next two days to see what I can figure out. Tried shopping for more tops and bottoms but there is just not much in the stores out there for my size (warning-rant to follow). Don't these running clothes makers understand that there are bigger people out there running? And we shouldn't have to pay through the nose to special order things that fit? I'm working on getting smaller but you know, it takes time. And let me just say, what Target's Champion stuff says is 2X just ISN'T. #1, the other brands I've tried (Reebok, Adidas, One More Mile, etc) their 2X stuff fits-the Champion stuff is tight so NO, it isn't that I'm bigger than I think I am. #2, running wear in general (especially women's, especially wicking fabric) a 2X top is NOT the same size as a 2X t-shirt (in women's cuts even!). Not even close. I actually fit in XL's now for regular shirts but the 2X running stuff is still cut smaller than the XL regular clothes...where the heck is that coming from? I was extremely lucky to find some sleeveless running tops at my Reebok Outlet store in 2X that fit fine (but you can still see my tummy moving when I run)...but they're all gone now (I was able to get 2, one white and one a pretty sea green color, my favorite running top right now). Doesn't look like they have anything else like those. *sigh*

I will just have to exercise patience with the clothing until some more pounds disappear I guess. Sorry about the rant but sometimes ya just have to let it out, right? Anyway, my right hip area in the front of my leg has been a bit ouchy my last couple of outings (only on the run intervals though) so I may turn tomorrow's 3-ish mile interval walk/run into just a walk or forego it altogether to avoid screwing myself up for Sunday. Cause you know those bridges are going to be a challenge as it is.