Recently I signed up to do the half, not sure how well I will do for this race as it is only 3 weeks after my 3rd full Miami Marathon but I have always heard such nice things about it and that medal! Over the years I have wanted to do this race but it always seems to fall soon after the Miami Marathon and I wasn’t too confident about my recovery in time. This year I’m rebelling a bit and think that I will be ready for the half. I have ran a couple of half marathons that run about 6 miles on A1A to the finish line but not a mostly A1A race so it should be interesting to see how it goes.

A few things about the race:

• The race is nearing the race cap of 6,000 runners – so those who are still waiting to register should do it quickly! That means it won’t be as congested as other halfs/full marathons in the area.
  

• Deadline for runners to personalize their bib is January 1^st.  They must register by midnight on that day to customize their bib. Ever wanted your name on your bib or something else like “Awesome Runner Chick” you can do it, if you register for the race in the next few weeks.
  

• Looking at the course it seems like almost the whole thing will be run on A1A which means the beach is right there and I even see a portion of the race is ran around a state park. That should be interesting since I haven’t checked out the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park but from googling it looks like a pretty place to run a few miles in.

  

  
• That is one cool medal! This year it’s a Stingray medal, in the past years it has been seahorses, sailfish, a crab to name just a few.

Here is a code to save 20% off of this race: BIBRAVE (all capital letters). Hurry and sign up quick only 1,100 spots remain for the half/full distances. Code also works for the 5k distance the day before!

Sign up here & be sure to “like” their Facebook page for updates!

Hope to see you out there in February and hope to see some cooler temps by then too 🙂

Now that I have been running with the stroller for over a year now, it seems like the right time to talk about my experience. I started walking miles with the stroller 2 weeks after I had Phoebe, at the time it was very strenuous since I had a c section and was not supposed to lift anything but the baby for up to 6 weeks. I have the BOB Ironman stroller which requires a bit of a lift when turning the stroller since it has a fixed wheel. When I first got it I wondered if it was the right choice since it seemed to be more work when turning corners. As time went on I learned that the fixed wheel makes for a smoother ride and faster pace when running straight routes.

Our 1st walk

At my first race running with the stroller I was a bit disappointed as I had just started running again earlier in the week and was feeling very bad about my new slower pace. So at 7 weeks postpartum I ran the Miami Children’s Health Foundation 5k, my 3rd time running this race. My time was 32 minutes and I did walk for a small portion of the race, the first time I’ve had to walk in a race in a looooong time. I felt like I was hardly moving and the weather was so hot and humid I didn’t know if I was going to make it. I remember during the last mile Hector from iRun was cheering everyone on as he ran back through the course, gave me the boost I needed to finish the race without walking again. After I crossed the finish line I felt like I might throw up, it was at that moment that I felt like even though my time had sucked I was back to racing again.

After that 5k I took on a 4 mile race and a few months later, a 10k in the rain with the stroller. That is the farthest distance I have raced with the stroller so far but hope to run a half marathon with it sometime.

I know that everything says to not run while you are using the car seat adapter on the stroller but I didn’t listen and never had any issue. Obviously some people will fail to secure things properly and accidents can happen but I never felt my baby was in any danger. We have since moved on to not using the car seat and adapter but we used it till she was about 7 months old. Either way the stroller seems to rock her to sleep after about a mile or so, she rarely ever stays awake while we run with her in the stroller.

In the BOB we have won a couple age group awards and I have brought her up on the podium with me and her dad has done the same when he won first place in his age group for a 10k while pushing her. I like to think that we are instilling some kind of love for running and not annoyance with being strapped into a stroller for an hour or so. Lately we have been taking her for shorter runs that have a stop at the park for her to swing a bit on the swing set.

When I was asked to write a post about my most memorable race moment I didn’t have to think long to realize what that moment was. It was a moment that I had been planning out for 6 months, training hard and pushing myself harder than I had ever pushed my body. It wasn’t about my speed in this particular race or my finish time but the accomplishment of it. Basically my favorite racing memory was running down that finishing chute at the 2014 Miami Marathon and realizing that I had did it! The feeling was that like floating on air and I was still feeling that way a few days later (with a little added soreness). I had finished running a marathon! 26.2 grueling miles with rain and extreme humidity. None of those factors mattered as I ran by the bleachers of cheering spectators screaming “Go Lisa!” That was my most memorable racing moment ever.

Almost to the finish line!!

Running the Miami Marathon the next year was memorable in it’s own way. I was running with a baby on board, no one knew but Derrick and I at the time. Also it was Derrick’s first marathon! We had trained through a long hot summer and even though our time was not the best, we still made it.

We really do run Miami 😉

Similar finish line pic!

This summer/fall I will be training for the Miami Marathon once again after only running the Miami Half this year. I choose to scale back to the half because I did not feel prepared after only having only time and energy for half marathon training postpartum. Hoping to be ready for the 2017 and looking for a new marathon PR.

Things I will do differently this training cycle (and some fun pics) :

* Try to get more rest (hard to do with a baby but will have to schedule some babysitting so I can get in a nap after long runs)

Post run Zensah time.

*Drink a lot more water (especially since I’m still breastfeeding)

The secret to awesome hydration, NUUN!

*Get back to healthier eating (more kale, please!)

Kale & chick’n salad

*Strength train 2x a week (this will probably be the hardest for me because I feel like there’s hardly enough time to run nowadays but will have to get this in to prevent running injuries with increased mileage)

Back to the mat & weights!

Recently I have been finding races on Eventbrite. Signed up for an adventure run through the Everglades last year, which was a blast! And just today I signed up for the Solerunners 4th of July 5k (also a 10k option) through them!