MIAMI ING 2013 – Half Marathon

I was really unsure when I signed up for the Miami Half Marathon. I had done one last November, and I had surprised myself and finished it…in not too shabby a time either (for a newbie) but it was no were near the size or on the scale of the Miami ING.

Since I have the goal of running 24 races this year (2013) I decided to add a little something to it – I wanted 5 of these to be Half Marathons. This will help me in preparing to run my first full (hopefully in 2014)

I had no idea what to expect with the Miami ING but it did not leave me wanting. I had a few friends running it with me and even better, I had a few close friends from my Kickboxing classes coming down to cheer me on as well.

This was officially the largest race I have ever done and I am pretty sure unless I go do the London Marathon, Boston Marathon or something on that level, this will be the biggest race I ever do!  Over 25,000 people showed up and over 24 countries were represented.

We headed down to Miami to pick up our race packets at the Food and Health Expo and we did a little shopping. I didn’t get much, but I did find these awesome wine glasses: Splendid Stems. She had these awesome wine glasses that had great sayings like: I Run for Wine or Bottle of Wine = 475 Calories, or 5 Miles. Yeah, start running!

                Sadly, when I went back after walking the entire expo, she had sold the last I Run for Wine glass, but since I was planning on doing the Sarasota Half and the artist lived in Sarasota, she agreed to let me pick one up when I went out there! Such a nice lady!

On race day, I didn’t have to even consider dragging my butt out of bed! I was psyched and ready to go! My friend drove down and we got there nice and early so we could find parking and get to the start line. We didn’t want to feel rushed and I am glad we weren’t, I was awestruck by all the people, the family, the friends, the supporters, the runners! It was amazing to be a part of something like that.

This was the first time I had also ever had to go into corals, depending on your speed. When I had registered for the ING, I hadn’t even run my first half yet, and I had no idea what my time would be so I had put in something like 3 hours, but after the Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon (back in Nov 2012) I knew I would be doing this around 2 hrs and 30 min, so I moved up into a faster coral so I wouldn’t get slowed down….this did not really help.  Besides the people that were at the front of the pack (coral A-C) there were people walking. I believe I ended up in Coral E and from the gun people all around me set off walking, which I always find extremely frustrating. I had to spend a lot of time the first mile, weaving in and out of people walking and stopping to take pictures and talk. I felt like this did effect my time.

I just wish if people are going to walk a race, they go to the back of the line. I don’t understand why they always want to be in the front when they know they are not planning on going very fast at all!

As I ran, it was a beautiful route. We started at the American Airlines Arena and went up and over the bridge out by South Beach and back. There were crowds along the entire route cheering the runners on, it was so encouraging! People were out representing their countries in full force and it was great! I loved seeing the British flag being waved when I turned one of the corners to head back over the bridge!

There were plenty of restrooms (porter potties), water stops and even fruit being handed out along the route. I did see a number of people get pulled or stop from the race for various reasons and quite a few people being cared for by the Medics that were all over the place. You never realize just how pressing a half marathon is on your body until you are miles into it, it is something that you should never just jump into and do, it is something that you should train for and be prepared for!

One thing I noticed was Publix had a huge presents, they even had the Publix’s mile.

When I came down to the last 2 miles, I could feel every muscle in my legs screaming for me to slow down, stop and relax, but when I came towards the 2 mile marker and saw my friends cheering me on, waving at me and holding up signs it really did give me the strength I needed to finish strong! I managed to complete the MIAMI ING in 2:00:19! So much better than I had originally planned, and you know next time I am going to be pushing myself to break 2 hours!

My next race (4^th  of 2013) is the 5K Foam Fest. Should be a nice calm race after this one, especially since it not timed. (If I would have known that I wouldn't have signed up, but oh well, I guess we will just have fun with it!!) 

 :) 

Superhero Scramble NIGHT WAVE 2013

I was ready for this race and pumped a week out. I have never done a night run before and a night trail run sounded challenging and fun. But I know me…I know how much of a klutz I am and I have been having nightmares about getting lost or hurt in the trails and having to be carried back to civilization. Common fears…right.

 But as it got closer and closer…one friend after another bailed on me…all the way up to race day.

I pulled into the parking lot (grass lot) at Amelia Earhart Park and text the last of my friends set to race…see where she wanted to meet up and ask if she was here yet, and surprise…I didn’t even get a text back, she had bailed as well.  So it was the 2^nd race of 2013 and the 2^nd race of 2013 that I would be doing alone. I did have a co-worker that I knew was going to be there with some of his friends…so at least I would be 100% alone if I got lost or hurt in the woods. :)

The Night Wave started at 7:30 PM and boy was it dark! YES you did need to have a headlamp to run, and you needed it. We are all so use to living in the city (or some type of civilization) where there are street lights and traffic lights and store lights…but in the middle of the park…where none of that is visible, it got dark!

So I set off to do the race…alone. I have a feeling that doing runs alone is going to be something trending this year for me, but as long as I get to my 24 I don’t care!

The trail was backwards from the ways I had done it in the past (with the Down to Earth races) and this trail took me to different parts that I had never seen before (or I had but didn’t recognize because it was so dark).

At every obstacle, they had attendants there with lights to help you if anything happened, which was really great and because it was the night wave there were not many people so none of the obstacles had any lines (I was also at the beginning of the pack, so I can’t say 100% that the lines didn’t form later). Some of the obstacles were closed for the Night Wave for safety reasons, but we still got to take the leap of faith, climb over walls, run through tires, carry buckets of water, do the military mile (which was my favorite – lungs, burpees, push-ups…I beat all the guys!!), jump over fire, dive into freezing water, slide down the MASSIVE slime slide and much more! It was 4 miles of fun! I really did enjoy it! My GPS went out about 1.5 miles in so I am not sure what the exact result is.

**hopefully my water logged GPS starts to work again soon!**

My co-worker btw totally smoked it and I watched as he slowly vanished leaving his friends and me in his wake (boy is FAST!)

So while alone, stumbling through the trails (we – at the front of the group – were pretty much spread apart now that no one was right in front or behind me) I ran into a new person. I meet this guy Mike from South Miami area. He had already run the race in the morning and had gone off to do the Jungle Obstacle Race down south and come back for the night wave of the Superhero Scramble. Talk about a BEAST! But at least it tired him out to run along with me so that if I did get attacked by a Florida Panther or a Water Moccasin someone would be around to call for help and drag my dying and bleeding body back to civilization. Plus he had a very nice and bright headlamp (mine was dim and crappy) so it was nice to be able to see the roots popping out of the ground trying to drag me down instead of falling over all of them.

As I am sure you other runners/racers do…I had been keeping my eyes out to see how many people were in front of me and how many females passes me and about halfway through the race…I was pretty sure I was in first place.

By the time I crossed the finish line I was hyped with adrenaline and ready to know what my time was!

Well I may have been disappointed with myself for race #1 of 2013 but I CRUSHED race #2!!

1st place overall female

1st place in female age group (19 – 29)

10th overall night wave

My time was 1 hr and 9 min, but I was totally proud with that considering it was trails…at night…with obstacles! BOOYAH!

The guy I ran it with Mike, also did really well, but my co-worker did amazing coming in at something like 3 overall for the night wave!

That is right I am one kickass lady! So even though I did this race let’s see if I can keep this momentum up for 2013!!  

My next race (3^rd of 2013) is the MIAMI ING!! WHOOHOO! I am doing the half, not the full J 13.1 is enough for me…for now. This will be my 2^nd Half Marathon and 1^st time participating in a race of this size. I am nervous and have NO idea what to expect, but either way, I plan to do my best and have fun!

The Biggest Loser 5K

 Last year I managed to complete 20 races along with my first half marathon, so for New Years I set a new goal.

2013 New Year’s Resolution – Complete 24 Races

In setting this goal, I decided that I would also invite my friends to participate in races I want to do with me, but if I wanted to complete 24 races, I would have to sign up and do it…regardless of if my friends wanted to do it with me or not.

I didn’t think I would encounter this problem so soon.

I signed up for my first 5K of 2013 – The Biggest Loser 5K. – January 6.  Just to start the year off right.

Although I have a lot of friends that run, ironically I ended up doing the race alone.  Glad I made that promise to myself.

 

The race was set down in Las Olas at Huizenga Park. The course was the normal run that most events have when starting at Huizenga Park. Being backed by “The Biggest Loser” the race was well organized and a number of people (of all shapes and sizes) showed up to participate and start the year off with a healthy mind set.

Overall, I didn’t do as well as I had hoped. I did come in second place in my age group (Female 25 – 29)! But my time was not where it should have been. I completed the race in 25:08.

I shoulda pushed myself more, I am a little/lot disappointed in myself but I was proud to have gotten out there and done it!

I did also meet this awesome girl, Amy, totally fun from Georgia…so I guess doing races alone at least give me a chance to meet new people who are also into running, fitness and healthy!  She was great and hung out with me and even took a picture for me when I went to receive my award…ribbon.  

Amy and I exchanged numbers so hopefully we stay in contact.

My next race is in just 6 days! I am doing the Superhero Scramble NIGHT WAVE. It should be a lot of fun a group of us are going. I have never done a night trail run before so it so it is a new challenge to look forward to!