MIAMI HALF MARATHON RACE REPORT

The starting line minutes before the race went off at 6:15am.

Well, the Miami Half Marathon is in the books and honestly went about as I expected. There was a reason I didn't set any goals for this race, as too many variables were in play. Long story short, I was going at a PR clip halfway through but knew I wouldn't be able to maintain it. Given the choice to flame out spectacularly or readjust my mindset to survive the last six miles, I chose the second option. Heads up, this is a lengthy recap.

THE DAY BEFORE

While I was excited to go to Miami and see my friend, I wasn't as excited about the short turnaround to race day and the time zone difference. I arrived in Miami Friday night at 11pm and we went straight back to his place, chatted a bit, then went to bed. I went to bed at 1am and woke up at 7am (early, on purpose to prepare for Sunday). I didn't get a whole six hours though, I was woken up numerous times by obnoxious cars tearing down the main boulevard there (JBiebs?).

The view from my friend's condo. Beautiful!

Saturday we stayed very low key. Went to the expo and picked up our t-shirts and packets. You've been to one expo, you've been to them all. Nothing too exciting there. After that we just laid around on the beach. The lazy day ended with us going to bed around 10pm.

Now, that is 10pm Eastern. And even though I woke up at 7am, my body just wasn't really having it. Although I was tired, it was still 7pm to my body, so I ended up not really being able to sleep well. That, plus being nervous for the race, led to a very fitful night of sleep. All told I got maybe 90 minutes of sleep. We woke up at 4am to get over to the shuttle in time.

Despite the lack of sleep, I wasn't feeling too tired. Tired, yes, but to my body it was only 3am at race start. Almost like I was staying up late after taking a nap in the evening. While it didn't help, the sleep issue wasn't the main factor for my struggle in this race. It certainly was annoying though, and would be a problem any time I would fly to the east coast for a race without a few days to really adjust first.

PRE-RACE

Once I was up I got pretty excited. My friend was very worried about the race so I was staying annoyingly upbeat and positive to try and rub off on him a little. To be honest I really was excited though! We parked at the Expo Center in South Beach and then took a shuttle over to the start. The start line was INSANE. The race has 25,000 registrants, so there was a ton of energy in the air and people EVERYWHERE.

At the start line. 2am my time. Look how innocent I was.

We arrived at the start around 5:15am so we had plenty of time to kill. The start line was in front of American Airlines Arena, where the Miami Heat play. I wanted to make sure I got to use the bathroom and warm up a little before the race, so I split with my friend and found the bathrooms. Lines weren't bad at all, much better than Portland. Waited maybe ten minutes. No hand sanitizer... yuck!

After that I wandered to my corral. There was A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and I corrals. I was in "C," which is the first large corral for the general public. So I felt a little special. I'm not that fast people. The majority of people were running the half. Of the 25,000 people, I believe only 6,000 were doing the full marathon (and only something like 3,500 finished), which is actually less than Portland. I am glad Portland is keeping their race more "full centric," but Miami makes a lot of sense catering more towards halfers as well.

Once in the corral I did a little stretching and a warm up jog. My watch had a hard time keeping the GPS signal unless I held it up toward my neck. The swarm of humanity was that big. Before I knew it the race was kicking off! It was still dark, mind you, and the sun wouldn't be up for another hour.

MILES 1-4: OVER THE CAUSEWAY AT PR SPEED (7:33, 7:14, 7:24, 7:29)

I ended up crossing the start line only about two minutes after the elite runners went off, much like the Portland Marathon. 6:17am, or 3:17am Pacific. Fun! Anyways, it was a mass of humanity at the start, but not too bad. I was with other runners going sub 8:00, so I only had to swerve around some people. Definitely wasn't running a straight line though. Guy peeing against a light pole in front of everyone about a mile in. Gross.

This is from 2013, but same view this year. Over the
causeway at dusk under the moonlight.

Temperature at race start was 74 degrees with 90% humidity. It was definitely warm when I was waiting to start and as soon as I started running I knew it was going to be a problem. Here in Oregon, when it is hot, you sweat, but that sweat evaporates and that process cools you down. In Florida, you sweat, and it's humid, and you just became a wet, slimy mess. The evaporation thing doesn't really seem to happen quite the same since you stay so super wet. Needless to say, I was not cooling down.

So despite feeling like I was running in a sauna, my times were actually good. My body was feeling pretty decent and that 7:14 mile actually included about 10 seconds to tie my shoe. Honestly, that mile was too fast. But overall I was thinking I could do 7:25-7:30ish, so I was hitting good times, especially knowing the sun would come up later.

This part of the course was over the MacArthur Causeway by all the docked cruise ships and into Miami Beach. Beautiful part of the course and the "hilliest" part. As I ran down the "hill" into Miami Beach I had a feeling I wouldn't be PRing though. I kept waiting for my body to adjust to the heat, but after training in 40 degrees for four months, it just wasn't happening.

MILES 5-7: REALITY HITS, EXPECTATIONS ADJUSTED (7:24, 7:37, 7:53)

By the time I started running on the famous Ocean Drive I knew I was probably going to have to readjust my expectations. It was hot and muggy and the breeze was non-existent. I kept up my PR speed though, hoping I would adjust and find my groove. It just wasn't happening. That kind of pace was getting harder and harder.

Ocean Drive. Beautiful, but you can't really see the water.

Once the 7:53 mile hit, I knew the PR was all over. And honestly, I was okay with that. To PR in Miami with all the factors going against me was going to be hard. My legs felt fine but my body was just really struggling with the heat. I was working extra hard as a result and my lungs were screaming. I felt like I was going to pass out if I kept running at that speed. If I tried to keep that clip up I would have most certainly flamed out in spectacular fashion and had to have walked it in.

So after crossing mile seven I re-adjusted my mentality. I gave up the hope of a PR. Who cares. Now, my goal was to finish running it as hard as I could without passing out or resorting to walking. Making some quick calculations in my head, I set a new goal of sub 1:45 and sub 8:00/mile average. I knew those two lined up about perfectly. My average time to this point was 7:30ish so I had some wiggle room.

The part of the course was my least favorite because you couldn't really see the beach in many places and it was 7am, so it's not like Ocean Drive was hopping. Not that I was in much condition to view the scenery anyways. So it was really just a hot run through some buildings. I was hoping the Venetian Island portion would provide a breeze.

MILES 8-10: HOLY CRAP IS THIS THING OVER YET (8:05, 8:10, 8:09)

Enjoying myself on the Venetian Islands.

Suddenly I realized I was running on the road over the Venetian Islands. It kind of snuck up on me and I attribute that to just struggling to not pass out and the fact Belle Island is so close to Miami Beach (it seemed like a small jump over a canal). Anyways, while running over the islands was beautiful, the breeze I was hoping for didn't materialize. The sun was coming up, and while at my back, I could feel its warmth.

At this point I had settled into my "survival speed" and was just grinding it out. I was able to recover enough that I didn't feel like I was going to pass out, but my body was very drained. I tried my best to enjoy the run and soak it in. The course is really cool and I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but honestly, with this heat, I would have had to walk the thing for that to happen.

We ran over parts of bridges where the only thing beneath your feet was a metal grating and you could see down to the water. I remember a woman on the bus who had a tremendous fear of heights and planned to run in the middle of the road on all bridges because of this fear (she felt like if she was at the edge she would trip over the side). She had to have HATED this part of the run. Eventually we exited the Venetian Islands and rounded into downtown Miami.

MILES 11-13: DOWNTOWN DESPERATION (8:31, 8:41, 8:34)

What a relief to be downtown again! I knew the race was coming to a close and I "only" had 5k left. Once you hit the mainland there was a large cheering section that was really fun to run through. They were very loud and it put a pep in my step for a moment. It only lasted a few blocks however, then it was back to mostly by ourselves. The race definitely didn't have the support along the course like Portland.

Where is the frickin' finish line?

My times slipped even further. Once I hit the final stretch the sun was now definitely up and my body was getting really tried. I was surprised at how drained I was. Almost felt like miles 20-24 of the marathon, but probably not quite as bad. Definitely not as bad as the last two miles in Portland. I would rank this as the second most difficult race I've ever done though. I was spent.

I just kept chugging along through the tall downtown buildings. At one point I looked far ahead and saw the stream of humanity just running straight down the road as far as the eye could see. I knew we turned to the left at some point to work our way to the finish line, so it was kind of depressing to see that nowhere in sight especially only 1.5 miles out! I just re-adjusted my focus to the fifty feet in front of me. One foot after the other. You'll get there.

At this point I start doing some mental math to see if I can walk and still hit a sub 1:45. The answer... maybe.  Depends on how "long" of course I would run. Based on where my watch was beeping in relation to the mile markers I would be running an extra .15 miles or so. Better not risk it.

Eventually the course cut to the left and to the finish line. I could hear the cheers ahead. This definitely put a pep in my step. I probably went sub 8:00 that last quarter mile or so. The finish line was lined with bleachers and they were packed full of screaming people. Really satisfying finish line. I had to sprint a little to make sure I hit my sub 1:45... I timed it at 1:44:49 on my watch. I did it! Hallelujah!

POST RACE CELEBRATION

Crossing that finish line was an AMAZING feeling. I just PWed in the half but I was very proud of myself. I ground out a really tough race and didn't resort to walking. I just ran 13.1 miles at 7:59/mile in really insufferable conditions to me. That is nothing to be ashamed of.

Apparently, I smiled. Don't remember that,
but I was SO happy to be done!

I stumbled through the finishers chute. My tummy wasn't feeling (didn't the whole race) but I still grabbed some food knowing I needed it. Got my medal, which was really cool and definitely the nicest one in my collection. Before I knew it I was out of the chute and looking for a place to sit down... like now.

Wandering around I was able to plop down in the grass under a tree. I stayed there for about thirty minutes recovering, eating, and surfing on my phone. Eventually I decided I wanted to lay down somewhere away from all the commotion so I headed back north toward the start line at American Airlines Arena. I was able to lay down on the steps there and take a mini-nap. Felt great. I was stalking my friend on Endomondo and once I saw he only had about 1.5 miles to go I wandered back to the start line.

I was able to get a seat in the stands and watch my friend finish. He did it! I was so proud of him. I was able to find him as he exited the chute and we celebrated with a beer. After that he was ready to go home and crash and I didn't complain at all. So after what seemed like an eternity to get the shuttle, wait for it, ride it over, and then drive to his place, we were back! We instantly crashed and I took a three hour nap.

REFLECTIONS

Honestly, I had a great time. Next year my friend would like to run the entire thing and finish in 2:30 or so (he did 3:15ish this year). It would be fun to come back down and run it with him at an easy pace where I could enjoy the course/event a little more. That's what I envisioned this time, but since he didn't train and would walk a whole bunch, I decided to run it hard. Not looking forward to doing that again unless I somehow train for the heat and humidity.

After recovering my senses in the chute.
100% wet everywhere.

While I enjoyed the trip, I once again am very glad I live where I live! You can run outside comfortably all year in Oregon. We don't have oppressive humidity or bitter cold icy winters. While it might make us shitty race tourists, there is a reason why running is so huge here. We really live in a perfect place for it! Miami was tons of fun but it also made me appreciate our 42 and overcast winters!

Official Chip Time: 1:44:47, 7:59/mile. 785/15477 overall. 637/7567 male, 70/684 M25-29.

And some quotes from the Miami Herald:

Women’s defending champion Mariska Kramer Postma, 39, of the Netherlands:
“When we started the race, I felt there was no energy in my body. On top of that it was pretty warm, so after 5 kilometers I already knew this was going to be a long day. I had to let go of my plans and the pace I wanted and just make it a nice, long run in Miami."

Men’s runner-up Choge said he began to tire after 20 miles. “It was very, very hot and I was dehydrating," he said.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/03/3908485/miami-marathon-brings-thousands.html#storylink=cpy