Garden of Life Palm Beaches Marathon and Half – December 11, 2022

Disclaimer: I received entry to Palm Beaches Half Marathon to review as part of being a BibRave Ambassador. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Ambassador, and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

I used to run this race every year, 2013-2017 I never missed a year but then life happened and I stopped running it every year, plus I believe a few years it was canceled. I have never attempted the marathon option of this race but 2 loops of the same thing does not interest me much. I will probably stick to the half marathon option in future years. When I signed up for this race a few months ago I had an ultra marathon schedule for 3 weeks before and was not sure how my legs would feel for this race. But when the ultra got canceled I kind of slacked off with training. I went into this race really not knowing how I was going to feel or do for time and just looking at having fun and possibly running with my Bibrave teammate, Sarah.

I drove up to West Palm Beach on Saturday afternoon after my daughter’s swim class to pick up my race packet, as well as Sarah’s race packet. The expo was at the Meyer Amphitheater, right along the waterfront in downtown West Palm, it was in a large white tent and the weather was not too hot with the ocean breeze that afternoon. There were no lines to pick up my race stuff and all of the staff was super helpful so the whole pickup process took around 5 minutes, first to pick up race bibs, then race shirts and then the huge goodie bag of Garden of Life vitamins! Definitely a stress-free packet pickup, which is usually madness for other races in the South Florida area! Also there was a 4Ocean.com booth with beaded bracelets made from plastic retrieved from the ocean/rivers and some stainless steel cups so of course my daughter grabbed a couple of bracelets and hasn’t taken them off since. Overall it was a good race expo experience.

After the expo we headed to Jaxson’s in Dania Beach to celebrate a friend’s birthday and carb load with some fries and a giant strawberry sundae. These are the kind of bad nutrition decisions I make the day before longer distance races, but it all ended up fine and I had no tummy troubles for the race the next day, haha. I also tried to get to sleep a little earlier but that did not happen exactly but sometimes it’s worth it to lose a little sleep the night before a race. I had less pre race anxiety than I usually have, maybe I wasn’t too worried about running a half marathon again or maybe it was just I was dreading that long lonely drive up at 4am lol. My last half marathon did not go well but that was due to a very stressful situation and I was looking to redeem myself a little with this race.

Race morning –

Woke up at 3:15am in order to get out of the house by 3:45am to start the drive up to WPB, that 1 hr and 15 minute drive to the start line. My pre race food was a vanilla Honey Stinger waffle and a Just Egg folded in an english muffin. Also I usually do not drink Nuun before races, usually after but it seemed to work very well for me this time so I will have to add that to my pre race routine. I messaged Sarah which parking garage I parked in and she parked right beside me. We gathered our stuff and headed to find a bathroom, the last time I did this race there was an actual bathroom open but this year all we had was porta potties so we had to use those. We headed to the start line with about 10 minutes till 6am and it wasn’t too crowded like other races, it started getting crowded around 2 minutes before 6am. The race did not start on time but was around 7-8 minutes late but the sun was still hidden so that was okay. I quickly tucked in behind the 3:55 marathon pacer because I always start too quickly and was testing myself to see how long I could hold onto to that sub 9 minute pace. The weather was still slightly cool, around 67 lol, that’s cool weather for us down here. The pacer was super entertaining with all the info about the surrounding landmarks and running stories so it was easy to be distracted from the actual running. I did not stop at water stations until around mile 3-4. Just before mile 5 I heard and then spotted one of my favorite running friends, Harolyn! She was cowbelling and yelling at everyone, I detoured quickly and gave her a huge hug before sprinting back to the pace group. She got a pic of the moment and it’s hilarious to see the looks of the other runners in the pic. She biked the course on her daughter’s bicycle and caught me a few times along the way, like a personal race photographer 🙂 Miles 6-10 were kind of uneventful except for a part where we went under a little bridge, that was different and very cool under there. Around mile 10 there was a sign for mile 23 for the marathoners and some guys in front of me turned around with panic in their faces and asked “Is this still the half marathon?” LOL I assured them it was just the half marathon unless they did another loop for the marathon and they ran on. I do admit I took a couple short walk breaks along those last few miles. As we ran through the 12 mile area, where there was a relay team exchange I gave a high five to another runner friend, Stephanie of The Cookie Runner blog. The last mile always seems like it will be the longest but always seems to go by so fast. Once I saw my friend, Harolyn cheering me on and urging me to go faster just before hitting the finishing chute I sped up and passed a couple of runners before crossing the finish line. I was impressed with my somewhat fast finish of 2:00:17, much better than March’s half marathon. I collected my medal, water and Baptist Health ice cold cooling towel and headed back to find Harolyn. Found her right away and we went to the food tent to collect some post race food, this race had pancakes, sausage, bacon freshly cooked by Harolyn’s neighbor lol. I did not partake in the not vegetarian options but did grab some pancakes and a banana and bagel before leaving the food tent. They also had mimosas if you want a little bubbly after your race! Since I parked so close to the start/finish line I made it to my car very quickly to head back home.

Now currently still recovering with some hamstring/calve soreness but already for my next races, this time in Miami, so closer to home and allowing more sleep time! Definitely recommend this race if you want good weather and a fun place to stay before/after the race, there is so many more places to eat and stuff to do in WPB than I realized before. Plus that giant holiday sandcastle is nice to see too!

QUESTION: Who else has ran this race and what is your opinion of this double loop for marathon distance course?

0 Comments Leave a comment

305 Half Marathon 2022

Disclaimer: I promoted 305 Half Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!”

Two years ago this was my final race before the Covid pandemic hit the US. The last time things were “normal”, before we were hoarding toilet paper and covering half our faces. Who would think that 2 years later is it is still not the same but running races is getting a bit back to normal again.

Packet pick up –

Super easy, I went to the first day of packet pick up when it was by my house so very convenient and so fast. Showing the QR code as soon as I got to the head of the line (there was no line when I went) and was quickly handed my bag of goodies and 2 bottles of jelly bean vitamins with my bib. One of the fastest packet pickups ever!

Race morning –

Parking –

Parked in one of the designated parking garages that I always park in when doing races in South Beach. Unfortunately since it is also considered Spring Break in Miami the parking rate was $20! That sucked big time and now I know what my parking strategy will be next year for this race, and it will not include this parking garage.

Bathroom/Pre race stuff

Porta potties were plentiful and most of them under lighting, always a good thing. Got in and out in a second, no lines for these when I went. There was also a little kiosk for free cafecito, because that is so Miami. I went to the packet pick up area to meet up with my fellow BibRave pros: Fernando, Phil, Apryl and Sarah. Found Phil and Felipe first and then walked closer to the starting line and found Apryl! Sarah arrived a little later because she was doing the 5k and running for two 😉 so we didn’t get to see her for the pre race photo.

Entertainment on the course/Race

I do not run with music anymore so I rely on the interesting sights around me and the on course entertainment, there were a couple of djs on the course and great volunteers at the water stations. Always thank the volunteers! I knew early on this race was going to be a slow on, I had a stressful week and was not carbing up enough or training well for this one. I didn’t have any long runs at all between this race and Miami Marathon and it was apparent at mile 4. The wind was okay on the first part of the race, but around mile 7 I got the headwind and it was torturous. The bridges ate my legs up and then I pulled my left glute on the 2nd bridge, after that I knew I would be walking up those bridges and feeling the ache in my glute for the rest of the race. This is the first injury I have had during a race and it was pure grit keeping me moving to that finish line when all I wanted to do was walk the rest of the way. I finished the race at the same pace as I did it the year that was I was pregnant and made a port a potty stop along the way, yikes! Anyways a wise friend told me that I should not focus on the time since when its all said and done we all get the same race shirt and same medal but to be proud to achieve a finish. I gotta remember that more and enjoy the journey and the things I see along the way. Luckily I only seen one person down due to the heat I believe, at the 12.3 mile area but she was being helped by police. That finishing chute always feels good even when you are not feeling so well with pains lol. Got my medal and collected the post race food, and headed to get my pineapple series race medal. So grateful for the gear check bag they handed me to put all my post race foods and bonus beach mat in. Took a race pic with two of the BibRave pros, Phil and Fernando and headed to the beach to try to get a good pic of my medals. It was pretty windy so my medals were blowing all over the place while I was trying to get that good shot. Met up with some of my 1k teammates: The prez and the mayor of Miami running.

Overall always one of my favorite races, and this course was my first half marathon back in 2013. Challenging but doable if you actually train for it. Next year I will be back and hopefully trained better for it.

Check out my previous posts about this race series:

305 Half 2020

305 Half 2019

305 Half 2018

Are you a fan of hilly races or do you like flat and fast courses better? Let me know in the comments!

0 Comments Leave a comment

Miami Marathon Weekend 2022

Disclaimer: I received an entry to the Tropical 5k to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find and write race reviews!

Mid March 2020 everything shutdown due to the start of the covid 19 pandemic, I had just completed my 2020 Miami Marathon and all races went on hiatus till mid 2021. Miami Marathon 2021 had to be canceled due to the pandemic with options to defer and race your chosen race virtually. I took the option of deferral and the virtual option, Running a marathon a treadmill is not all the fun like running in person in a race atmosphere. Luckily I signed up with my deferral code as soon as the race opened in April 2021 and did not have to join the 5000 participants on the waiting list. They minimized the amount of runners to keep it from getting too crowded. It did help with crowding and overall enjoyment of the experience, especially with the pandemic still a problem.

My training over the summer/fall did not go always as planned, in August 2021 I got the covid-19 delta strain and was slow to come back to my running. My lungs were just not the same and I lost a lot of endurance during the weeks I was recovering. I knew I had a marathon to train for but I was not going to overextend myself to do it, I always remember my former coach saying “Its better to be undertrained than overtrained.” I got up to about 14 mile long runs in my fall training block but relied a bit on a 6 hr hilly ultra to help with some hill training in early January 2022.

Race Expo

This year the race expo was at the Miami Beach Convention Center again, it hadn’t been there since 2015! I felt like in the past years the expo was bigger but I heard through the grapevine that a lot of vendors dropped out last minute due to covid restrictions and such. Perhaps next year it will be bigger and better as we covid things get a little better. Anyways traffic into Miami beach was a bit more than typical beach traffic but once I got by the convention center, parking at the nearby parking garage was easy and quick. I got to the expo about 10 minutes after it opened, and it was packed! I guess everyone had the same idea as I did to get there early lol. Oh well, there were some long lines for specific bib numbers and the tropical 5k but overall the lines move pretty quickly for bib retrieval and there were no lines for shirt pick up. Thanks to Bibrave I got entry to the VIP Experience and compared to past years it was not quite the same, smaller area and not as much gym equipment as in the past and no massage boots :'(. That really was something I was looking forward to, but moving on, the swag for the VIPs was pretty good, We got a small messenger bag with Miami Marathon labeling and a soft bomber style jacket embroidered with Miami Marathon. I walked around the expo once and then returned to the VIP area where I ran into a friend of mine, one of the 20 year streakers, Tony Jones. I was interested in the new thing in the VIP lounge, last time there was nail art and this year it was fast braids. I chose the two french braids style and had a nice conversation with the stylist/salon owner about hair stuff and how she was not a runner but a yogi. After I got my fast braids I walked around the expo more and checked out the vendors. One that really stood out to me was the Sneaker Impact booth where I talked to the owner about his company and how they are saving our sneakers from landfills to send to other countries to provide shoes for adults and children to be able to attend work and school. I will be packing and shipping him some shoes this weekend! I tried some food samples from the eat street area of the expo and walked over to the Miami Marathon museum area where they had all the previous year medals on display and old flyers/articles of past years winners and original course. Also a wall to display the 20 year streakers, very cool, wish I would’ve been part of that but 20 years ago I was not a runner. The official merchandise area was bigger than in the past and it was very busy, I bought my daughter a Future Finisher shirt, as I have been doing since before she was born (It was actually the way I announced my pregnancy to my family, Miami Marathon onesie). Ran into a lot of runner friends who I had not seen in the 2 years or more since the pandemic began. I spent about 3 hours walking around and checking out the stuff before heading home to rest my legs a little before Saturday’s 5k.

Tropical 5k

This year I did not park at Jungle Island, which I had been doing for the past few years due to the closeness of the start line, I parked in Miami Beach. They had shuttles from 2 nearby parking garages to the start line so I got to the parking garage early and met up with my friend, Caroline. Fun fact: We have been IG friends for a few years I’d say but I hadn’t met her till race morning. We walked to the buses and chatted till the race started. Plenty of port a potties at the starting line and remarkably no long lines when I went. Ran into JetSetSarah (local runner/travel writer/fashionista) as we walked around and a couple of others before we headed towards the front of the corral. We got there 45 minutes before start time and it was a good decision because it started getting crowded early, I did see a lot of masks before we started which was a good sign that everyone was keeping safe. I had mine on when it started getting crowded and put it in my pocket when we started. I tried to hold back but my first mile was obviously too quick and I had to force myself to slow down the next 2 miles, why is it that 5ks feel so much harder than longer distances? Is it because we have to run that much faster? Probably. I had an ok finish line for running the day before a marathon and collected my medal and bottle of water. Can I just say I love that the bottled water was in a recyclable bottle this year BUT those bottles were impossible to open with sweaty post run hands! I had to ask a very quick runner who was just spectating to open my bottle before I continued on towards the beach. I took a couple pics of my medal on the beach when I walked to the Nikki Beach area where the finish line party usually is and found it deserted. Found Carolina again and we found the tiny area where they were giving some post race snacks at and I collected some cookies/pretzels and a banana before we walked back to our cars in the parking garage. Fun race but I had to rush on home to take my daughter to swim class, #momlife. Later I took her to a nearby carnival and she rode some rides with a friend while I carb loaded with an elephant ear and took way too many steps.

Miami Marathon

I woke up very early, 3:05am (haha) and gathered all my stuff that I laid out the night before. I had my waffle and water before I left. I know they say to never do anything new on race day but I will admit I wore some Oiselle pocket joggers that I had just got a few days before, so they were brand new, unwashed and unworn yet. I mean I have worn the style for a couple races now and knew they were going to work out well for me for this race as they do not ride up, the best! The only chaffing I got was from the line logo tag on the bottom of the shorts. I did use KT tape Chafe Safe on my body before I left the house also and that stuff really works! Got to the FTX arena (formerly AAA/Home of Miami Heat) by 4:15am and parked for $5. I am so glad that they give this as a parking option as all the other parking options around that area are $10-$20 on race morning, the only thing is that you have be parked before 5am since the starting corrals are right in front. Relaxed in the car for 15 minutes and then started over to the charity village/team tent area. Hit the port a potties and met up with my BibravePro teammate, Sarah, who is also part of 1k run club. We headed over to the 1k tent by the water, later when the sun was up, it was a great view of the bay. I dropped off my bag of extra clothes and car keys at the team tent and chatted with a couple of runner friends. Then Sarah and I walked over to the FTX arena to use a real toilet before the race started, the first bathroom we walked into had a bit of a line so we went to the next one where we had the whole bathroom to ourselves, we hurried to our B corral (another perk of the VIP experience) and found Phil, our BibRave teammate.

The excited energy in the corral was palpable and everyone started hopping up and down to warm up, and we were off soon after 6:10 or so. An earlier start is a great, because once that sun comes out, it really gets you. Luckily I was already at mile 5 or so before the sun really started coming out. That first mile and running over the McArthur is quite an experience, especially after many years of running this race I know to expect the bagpipe playing at the top of the bridge. Couple of friends said hi as they passed on the first few miles of the race. There were a couple of runners who took some spills, one right at the start, about 15 feet after crossing the starting line and another one on those armadillo bumps on the Venetian. I hope they were okay, I kept well away from those armadillo bumps while I was running. I started taking in water around mile 6 of the race, and hit every other water stop till the halfway point of the race. Around mile 12 when all the spectators are screaming “almost there” Umm nope, there were a couple of runners sprawled out on the sidewalks, I’m guessing heat related since the humidity was at 90% at the start. I really tried not to get that into my head as I rounded the corner at the course split and headed for the big bridge on Brickell. There used to be spectators who would bring ice pops in a cooler around the Fortune building, where Brickell Run Club meets but I haven’t seen them in a couple of years, if you are reading this, please come back and give us ice pops at that corner again!! Thankfully two years ago the course was changed up a little bit so we are not running into direct sunlight at mile 23 and under the Rickenbacker bridge but instead running under it at mile 16. At mile 17 I knew one of my 1k teammates and overall running angel, Betty would be out there supporting the FDC team and runners so I stopped by for a quick hug and some kind of sugar, she gave me a cup of coca cola (I never drink soda!) and a mini bag of skittles. Seems like the cola helped me, must’ve been that caffeine!

By the time I reached Coconut Grove I was incorporating my ultra race technique (run/walk) and stopping at all the water stops. At mile 22-23 one of the police officers must’ve been pretty bored by the time we passed through because he was joking that if we walked he would give us a ticket and said “I’m watching you [bib number]”. That kept me moving a little but I walked right after we got passed him, Ha! Once we got out of the neighborhoods and closer to the finish line, the buildings started blocking out the sun and it got cooler and shady. Just before my final mile I heard my name and looked over to see my friend Carolina waving at me. I waved and determinedly kept running through the looooooong finish chute. Saw Phil waving from the VIP stands before I finished too. It really is an experience at the end of the race when you are running around that final curve and all those strangers are cheering you on, you really get a little feeling of how it feels to be a rockstar at that moment. So much fun! Got my medal and continued walking to get a water from a friendly volunteer who kindly opened it for me when I mentioned how the bottled were hard to open. Afterwards I collected my vegetarian DeliverLean meal and headed to the 1k tent to celebrate. Dropped my Nuun tablet in the water bottle and kept walking around. Took some pics with my new medal and then walked over to the VIP tent area to check if I could get a leg massage. The line was long for the massages and talked to some others in the line who came up with a good suggestion, there should be a line for half marathoners and full marathoners. Definitely both groups need a good massage after, but marathoners more so because of that extra distance. Picked up a vegan meal from the tent and started walking to the FTX arena to my car, about 2 hrs after I finished the race. There were lots of people dancing along to the entertainers on the stage and the beer tent was looking full when I left around noon.

I’m already signed up for the 2023 Miami Marathon! Hurry and sign up soon before the 2500 early access spots are taken! The race is going to be capped at 18,000 and you definitely want to be Miami Famous!

It’s Not Miami Without YOU! Who’s in for Miami Marathon 2023? Drop me a comment below or just tell me I’m crazy for running 26.2 miles in this heat. LOL.

0 Comments Leave a comment

305 Half Marathon – March 1, 2020 – Race Review

I’m promoting 305 Half as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to find and write race reviews!

Going into this race I was probably really under trained, well I guess as under trained as one can be 3 weeks after running a marathon. But really I hadn’t been running much in the past few weeks – first was recovering from the marathon week and then taking care of Phoebe with the flu and then getting it myself – so in the time between races I only ran minimally for 2 weeks but not regularly. I ran my longest run since the marathon on the Friday before this race: 7 miles. Maybe there is something to running less and running better or maybe it was just my new shoes and the newness inspiring me. There are so many factors that could have been at play in how I actually did at the race. I really went into this race just trying to survive and if anything get under 2:10 since I was not feeling confident about my pace/endurance.

Packet pick up for this race was the best I have experienced in awhile and one of the locations was close to my house and job, no more racing to Dadeland station to pick up my race stuff a few days before the race. I like that lately more races are having multiple locations for packet pickup to help runners in different parts of Miami.

Race morning was chilly enough to wear my earband for at least half of the race and this year I got to wear my arm sleeves, that hardly ever happens for South Florida races, the last time I got to wear arm sleeves for a race was Miami Marathon 2017. The temps were around the low to mid 50s before the race began, I headed to the port o potties before the race, this year they were in the dark, unlike last year. Got to the start line an hour before the race began, talked to a couple of friends before getting into the corral, talked to my Bibrave teammate, Mike before the race also. I did have a giggle at some participants who were wearing puffy jackets in the corral, WOW! I started out fast, as usual and got in front of the 2 hr pacer early on. Then started the bridges, Julia Tuttle, usually I feel really terrible by the time I get to the top of the first bridge but this year for some reason I felt okay and not like I was going to die. By the time I was getting out of the Julia Tuttle bridge I was still feeling pretty decent and it was starting to heat up, I tucked my earband into the back of my shorts and felt the coolness refreshing my sweaty ears.

I didn’t grab too much water and did not even use my Honey Stinger energy chews at all (crazy!) during this race but around mile 6 I got my first sip of water on the course. A few miles later the 2 hr pacer was gaining on me and getting to the water stop was a pain with a rude man cutting in front of me, nearly tripping me to get a water cup. After that water station drama and I got another sip of water I got the hell up that McArthur and away from the pace group and rude man. I didn’t see them again the rest of the race, luckily! But I was getting to the part of the race that I usually start fading but my Bibrave teammate, Mike passed me and that gave me the extra motivation to keep pushing. Mike was making it look easy as he ran ahead of me, wearing his aftershokz and not slowing his even pace, he did speed off a few miles later. At that point I was not going to slow down, I was a mile and a half to the finish line and on the final bridge was one of my favorite runners in South Florida and the mayor of Miami running, Harolyn, cheering us on and if you know her, you love her!

Probably the toughest part of this race for me was the final mile, when you are running on the beach serpentine (our boardwalk) and the sun is way up by then and it starts getting really toasty. I passed the time by watching a team of runners celebrating someone named Lisa’s 50th half? or 50th birthday? And being a Lisa, I took notice of the shirts and eventually I ran into the Lisa who’s own shirt stated : My 50th and congratulated her saying she must be the famous Lisa that I had been reading about along the course. She was happy to be recognized by her friend’s shirts and then I took off, feeding off the happy energy of the moment. In the past few years I have been less focused on my times and more on having fun while on the course, even if that means slowing down to help motivate my friends or cheering on the first place runners (in point to point races). Looking at my watch when I was about .30 from the finish line, a forever endless mile, that last one I was happy to see I would be finishing in less than 2 hrs! The year before I was a few minutes over 2 hrs and the first year of this 3 year series I was a minute under 2:00. I was happily surprise with my 1:58:25 finish time! I made sure to congratulate the girl closest to me after we crossed the line and she congratulated me too and mentioned how she was focusing on my bird shorts to motivate her to the finish line, lol. Love the randomness of that, finding something or someone to focus on to get you through the tough parts of a race. I walked around after and saw Mike after the finish line, unknowing that he had just had a huge PR! Congrats Mike on your first sub 2 half marathon finish!! I took some pics, collected my Florida Storm Series 4 medal and then headed back to the finish line to cheer on friends and strangers before I left. Plus I got to witness the bandits being pulled from the course just before the finish chute and people wearing their bibs on their back (cmon people, so much for those free race pics lol) getting offended when they were questioned about their bibs. I wish less runners had headphones on SO that they would actually hear us cheering them on!!

Overall another great experience at 305 Half and cannot wait till next year to start the 3 year series over again! If you are not signed up already, what are you waiting for? The prices are the lowest they will ever be but only until 3/10! Sign up for the only race that gives out cafecitos race morning! I signed up today on 305 day!

0 Comments Leave a comment

Miami Marathon 2020

Disclaimer: I’m promoting Miami Marathon and received free entry to Tropical 5k as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to find and write race reviews!

We are now a little less than a month away from race weekend. I will be starting the race weekend like I have the past few years with the Tropical 5k race. It’s a great way to involve the whole family in race weekend, I usually am joined by my boyfriend and daughter gets pushed in her stroller for a nice little warm up for race weekend. Last year the temps were cool but it did rain the entire night before and stopped just before to then again start up right as the race began. Hoping for some cool weather with no rain or wind this year!

I am going into Miami Marathon with no real time goals, training has been up and down in the past few months due to a lot of things. I ran Space Coast Marathon in December and used it as a training run as well as Vista View 360 ultramarathon. It definitely has been a strange training cycle, who else runs an ultramarathon (and further than I have ever ran ever, 29 miles!) to train for a marathon? Overall I am going to have fun and love running through my hometown.

Medal3_600x281

This will be my 8th year taking part in Miami Marathon weekend, It all started when I ran Tropical 5k back in 2013, about 6 months after I began running. It was quite an experience and to end by the beach was a pretty cool finish line.

tropical5k2013

I’m looking forward to the expo for race weekend as well and hope to plan a meet up with my Oiselle volee teammates for the race as well! The expo is always fun, lots to see, lots of friends to run into and the VIP experience is pretty amazing too. I will take more advantage of it this year and spend more time in the Normatec boots 😉 I will be taking off the day from work to attend and urge you to also, even if you aren’t running any of the races that weekend.

This year I will be running my 8th marathon, my 6th Miami Marathon! One day I may get that BQ there but this won’t be that year, eventually my goals and the stars will align to get me there!

Still haven’t signed up? Use the code BIBRAVEMIAMI to get a discount when you register for the half or marathon distance! Hope to see you there! And check back here for a post race review also! Bet you didn’t know Miami Marathon is on the Bibrave 100 list of best races in America!

0 Comments Leave a comment

305 Half Marathon 2019

I’m promoting 305 Half as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to find and write race reviews!

Let me start by saying I have ran this race/course for the past 7 years and every year it still feels as challenging. Some years I have sub two hour finishes, some years I’m a few minutes behind, some years I just want to finish alive. This was my first half marathon back in 2013 and even though those bridges are challenging, I continue to sign up year after year.

Last year the race was more Miami than usual with a pots and pans PR station because everyone in Miami goes out in the streets with their pots and pans for the home team victories. This year was much like last years with the 305 feel with cafecito by the starting line and lots of great food vendors afterwards. There was a major hiccup that happened a few days before the race, the race medals were on a train for California and not Florida so the race management hustled and put together a temp medal till we can get the official 0 medal to complete our 3 year challenge. Also due to the UPS mistake they gave out $5 Starbucks gift cards as well as a code for free UPS my choice premium membership for a year. I look forward to getting my 0 medal in the mail in the next couple weeks.

Now back to the changes and things that were really helpful. Usually the port a potties are lined up at the end of the starting corral but this time they were actually put into the hard packed sand across from where the finish line was and there were huge lights to illuminate them. That is perfect, well almost lol, some sand got into my sock which was kind of annoying BUT I did like the fact that it was out of the starting corral area which really clogs up the area for runners.

The iRun pacers were great as usual, I tucked in behind the 2:00 finish time pacers and managed to stick with them for 8 miles, the pace was a little faster than I expected. But after the brief rain shower at mile 7 the humidity was getting very thick. The sun burning the rain off the pavement was just a bit much for me when I had to trek up one of the final bridges back to Miami Beach, the MacArthur and so I decided to take a little walk break up it or risk fainting from the humidity. After that the flat running was working well for me and I stopped slacking a little. I got to see my favorite running buddy, Harolyn at the mile 10.5 water stop, she ran over to cheer on her friends and ended up helping out at the water stop.

I got caught by a few photographers this year which doesn’t always happen when I am running with a pace group. One caught me when I was ascending the 2nd bridge of the course, caught the grit on my face haha. I really do not like hills/bridges because I am used to training in my very flat Miami neighborhood and don’t get to make it out to Key Biscayne for tackling the large bridge anymore with a toddler. Training is a lot different now than it used to be.

305HalfMarathon-CourseMap-no-date-791x1024

I hope that next year I will be getting a course PR during this race, that is the plan at least! Possibly a new half PR that is if I can get in some bridge training this year.

Onward to the finish line, where cold water, cold towels and temporary medals were handed out. After that you head into the post race party zone after getting some fruit/protein bars from the athlete food tent. At the back of the food tent was a chicken and rice food area, but I did not stop and try out that. I actually did not want to smell any food after finishing the rest. In that tent I prepared my Nuun so that I could hydrate back to human. Tucked a banana securely into the pocket of my Oiselle pocket jogger shorts and my water bottle in the other pocket. That is where we picked up our Starbucks card and letter from UPS about the medal mishap. I went immediately to the Florida Storm Series tent and picked up my category 4 medal, that didn’t take long at all and then walked around to see the different vendors. I ran into my Oiselle teammate Daniela’s parents who ran the 5k/half marathon at the Air Relax booth. I walked around and got some shaved ice from the Kona Ice truck and then went to the Yasso truck and had a greek froyo bar in my favorite Yasso bar flavor, chocolate chip cookie dough. After saying hi to a few more friends in the finisher area I walked back to my car and headed up. Everywhere in Miami seems to be under construction lately and Miami Beach was no different but luckily the traffic was not too terrible when I left at 9am.

I will be signing up for the 2020 race to complete my 3 year challenge, but I know that I will continue signing up for this race as long as I am able to run it. Claimed my results on athlinks right after the race and then by that evening the FREE race photos were available on the app! Sign up now for the best rates for next year’s 305 Half Marathon!

3 Comments Leave a comment

Miami Marathon 2019 Weekend

Disclaimer: I received free entry to Tropical 5k race & am promoting Miami Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Let’s start with Friday, Miami Marathon expo opens at Mana convention center in Wynwood, a district known for art galleries and hipster bars. I really like this area for the expo, even though parking can be a hassle it is generally cheaper than when the expo was held at the Miami Beach convention center in the past. As part of the VIP experience we had complimentary valet parking but I chose to get to the area early and scored a very close spot, on the street beside the Mana parking lot. Also as part of VIP we were able to enter the expo one hour before the general public. I got there around 11:30am so I had a nice walk around the displays for 30 minutes before it got pretty crowded. I checked into the VIP lounge and headed to the packet pickup area in the back of the convention center to pick up my race bibs for my two races. VIP participants get to walk a red carpet to pick up their bib, and it will probably be my only opportunity to walk a red carpet so that was a fun perk. Pickup was easy breezy and I received my VIP bracelet & swag bag to wear all weekend to take part in all the VIP events. Some things I knew that I could not attend like the cocktail party on Friday night since I was running the Tropical 5k early the next morning, plus I really don’t partake in alcohol so close to race days.

After I got my race bibs for Miami Marathon and Tropical 5k I took a walk down the AthlEat street to try out some new things and had a taste of my favorites like MaraNatha almond butter and Harmless Harvest coconut water. I walked back to check out the VIP lounge to rest my legs whilst charging my phone with the sofa! I sat down and checked out my swag bag containing a very nice full zip jacket with the Miami Marathon logo on the back, a stainless steel Miami Marathon branded tumbler, and a lotion/chapstick combo pack in a nice sized reuseable tote. After hanging out there for awhile I walked around to visit some friends who were working at the expo and ran into a couple more friends while walking around and checking out some of the booths. I got to try out the normatec boots, which I have always been curious about but never had the opportunity to try them out, I got a chance at the expo for 10 minutes while meeting another Bibrave pro. I returned to the lounge one last time, that’s when I discovered that I could’ve used the Normatec boots without a wait in the lounge. Facepalm. Okay, so now I know for the future if I sign up for the VIP experience again next year. Also they had massages available as well as treadmills to use to loosen up the legs while in the lounge. I picked up a vegan salad to eat while there as well as a Ten water for electrolytes. I am always terrible at hydrating the Friday before my race weekend so it was much appreciated. I stopped by the official merchandise booth and got Phoebe a Future Finisher tee (the same one I managed to lose last year at the expo) and tucked it securely in my Oiselle spike bag. The expo was getting pretty crowded when I left just before 2pm to head back home to get as much rest as possible with a toddler.

Saturday morning I woke up to torrential rains and cold weather. I put on my new Miami Marathon jacket over my Bibrave singlet and headed out, making sure to put my running shoes in a bag to carry to the car to keep my feet as dry as possible for as long as possible. Parking was easy at Watson Island, right beside the Children’s museum and waited around an hour till it was 7am and I had to get out of the warm and dry car to use the bathroom before the race. By that time the rain had pretty much stopped so I took of my poncho as soon as I finished in the port a potty and after crossing the starting line I threw it to the side to one of the spectators. Just before the 7:30am start it started sprinkling, which later turned into a more steady rain once I was around mile 1. It reminded me of the 2017 Miami Marathon weather, where it was 55 and raining the whole 26.2 miles. Ran into a couple friends along the course but hurried through the miles, reminding a young runner to watch running along the slippery white painted street lines. Pretty much ran across the finish line, grabbed my water and a medal and headed to the finisher photo opp quickly, got a pic and went to Nikki Beach for a bagel and banana and ran to the buses back to Watson Island. Usually I like to stay longer and take some pics on Miami Beach with my medal but with the weather being so horrible I thought it was best to head back as soon as possible to dry off and prevent any possible colds the 22 hrs before Miami Marathon began. Funnily enough the bus driver got a bit lost on the way back to Watson Island and hopped a curb but eventually we made it back to our cars safely. Then it was mom mode the rest of the day, went home, showered and took toddler to swimming class before heading home and trying to slightly carb load and stay dry the rest of the day. It rained all of Saturday and the rain continued through the night, everyone I knew running the race was preparing for another 2017 sort of weather conditions.

Packed my race bag the night before and had my throwaway jacket ready as well as my rain poncho, I figured I would use it at least for a few of the first miles. Alas race morning came and it was another soggy morning with a steady rain as I left my house for the AAA, where I would park. A week before we had received an email that being part of the VIP experience we would be able to park free on race morning but when I got to the ticket taker she said I should’ve had a neon yellow parking pass. I was not given one at the expo so I paid $5 like the past years. That was kind of annoying but at least I was prepared for it. I gathered all my stuff and headed to the 1000 Miles Run Club tent in the charity village to gear check my stuff and meet up with running friends for a group pic. We had a VIP gear check also but I just wanted to check my stuff with my running club tent instead since I would be heading back there post race to change into dry/warm clothes. Getting to the tent in full rain gear and a warm hoodie I began to notice that it was wayyy too warm to be wearing the hoodie was the rain was beginning to stop and the humidity was starting to creep back in. After dropping my post race bag at the tent I went in search of my Every Mother Counts teammates and said hi to them before heading back to the AAA again to use the bathroom.

Getting into the B corral was not as big of a problem as getting into other corrals in the past, that was another perk of having VIP, having an early corral so therefore an earlier start. Was able to wait and dispel my nervous energy with way too much chatter with my bibravepro teammate, Mike, sorry dude! I ditched my hoodie and rain poncho on the fence of the corral as soon as I got in there, it was getting toasty already and not raining at that point. I thought that it was both good and bad in the sense that we got to start earlier so the sun would be less brutal than say 10-15 minutes later start but then you had to think about all the super speedy runners in the same corral who would be passing you and the C corral. That was a big crazy, I didn’t get run over or anything but it did cause my brain to think that I was not running fast enough even though I was holding back a few of the first miles till I was hitting my marathon goal pace. The first couple of miles flew by as I ran up the McArthur and heard the sounds of the bagpipers at the very top, through South Beach, around the golf course and through the Venetian Islands. When reaching Downtown again right after the Venetian toll booth I was met with lots of cheers and lots of familiar faces. One of my Ragnar teammates, Shirlei handed me a cold mini bottle of water, I carried that water for a couple more miles, it was very appreciated. I also saw the young daughter of our Every Mother Counts local leader cheering me on with great force, those miles were faster miles as well, miles 11-12. For me mile 12 is kind of annoying to hear all the spectators screaming “ALMOST THERE!” when you still have another race to go. The cheer squads from Nike and Lululemon were out in full force for that mile so that kept the hype up. Right after the split between half and full marathon the streets become quiet without the spectators and you are fully able to open your arms. It is kind of a surreal and peaceful feeling, which is good because you still have 13.1 more miles to go before you are done. Then you see that bridge, and thinking hmm, was this a good idea? Don’t worry you will be seeing that bridge again, later on, prepare your mind for it. I also was hoping to see another Ragnar teammate, Esther at mile 14 as she had told me online she would be there with water and fuel if needed. And right under the mile 14 sign was my cheerful and vibrant friend, ready with a mini bottle of water and a piece of a banana. I gratefully took both and kept heading down Brickell, passing this extreme wind tunnel in front of the Fortune building (where Brickell Run Club meets every Tuesday night). I particularly enjoy the popsicles on the corner just past that every year and I continued on to till I got to Rickenbacker. At that point my energy was running a bit low even though I had been taking in my honey stinger chews every few miles like I had trained. Then as if a musical miracle Queen with Bowie playing Under Pressure started on a nearby speaker and anyone who knows me knows just how much I love Queen! I was jamming to that song the rest of that mile, as I ran farther from it but continued singing along with it as I went, the photographer caught me doing a bird like motion as I was hearing it. One of the great moments where music can help push you through what seems like impossible, with 10 miles to go things were looking brighter again. I don’t run with music very often anymore but at that moment I missed it. Onward through the grove, along Bayshore drive memories flooded in of running along that path for many, nearly all training runs in 2014-2015. One of the reasons I love Miami Marathon so much is because of all the great memories it brings back as I run along the course, from pre runner Lisa to runner Lisa times. Going through the downtown Grove area is always fun and scenic but the smells of breakfast foods was making me a bit nauseous. Guessing because my stomach was not in eating mode, but rather in running mode so I was not hungry and did not want to smell or think of food at that time. I took some walking breaks through those miles as my mind was getting tired, more than my legs. Through the Grove neighborhoods with families out in their front yards with water and snacks for us was fun, I didn’t see any beer stands this year, not that I would’ve been able to stomach that either. At mile 24 I finally found the pineapple chunks I had been looking for at mile 12, I must’ve missed them back there but I got these. Something else I remembered to do this year that sometimes I have forgotten to do in the past was thank the volunteers at all the stops. They are volunteering their time and for long hours they are on their feet so that you can have that hydration or fuel so always try to thank your race volunteers. Volunteering at a race a couple months ago changed my whole idea of volunteers and how important they are. It was at that point I made the decision that no more walking was allowed, no matter how much my mind was telling me I needed to walk instead of run. I breezed through the next couple of water stops and trust me I hit most of the water stops on my second half of the race that day. Just before mile 25 was the GoRun Miami crew with the owner Doug out there cheering me on, then not far after the iRun crew was out in full effect with one of their owners, Hector cheering me on! Also Alicia got some moving pics of me when I ran through there, love those peeps, maybe one day I will be able to make it to run clubs again and run with those speedsters. With less than a mile to go I came back to that bridge where I tried to help another 1000 miles member up it without stopping but she was having major leg cramps. I figured that I would walk up it but with the adrenaline pumping, knowing I was so close to the finish line, I climbed that bridge as fast as possible and got through it. A few more turns through the downtown buildings and I was in the finishing chute, I never try to encourage the crowd to get more cheery but this year I did, raising my arms to get more cheers from them and it was amazing!! As soon as I finished my friend, Oscar was there to help runners through the finisher chute, not to catch bandits like I originally thought. He congratulated me and even presented me with my 26.2 medal and walked me over to the food tent where he grabbed a vegetarian post race meal for me. Such an awesome race day and I didn’t even notice the humid windy weather as much, apparently I was so focused that I did not even see an Oiselle Volee teammate along the course who screamed to me. I tried to keep moving after but was stuck in a finisher photo line for a little bit but got to meet another VIP experience lady who I was able to direct to the post race tent.

I headed to the 1000 miles tent and got to talk to a few of my favorites before changing in their mini changing room. It was then that I noticed my left foot was covered in blood, apparently along the race I got a blister, it popped and that was where all the blood came from. I had no pain so just changed socks and shoes also and headed over to the VIP tent to see what they had. I don’t know how many others have this issue but for a couple hours after running a marathon I am not hungry at all. I walked around and looked at all the yummy food that I had no plans on consuming, they even had Belgian waffles and lots of other hot dishes. I chose a strawberry and a bagel, can you believe it, I picked a bagel from all the yummy food, a race staple from every race, small or large, haha. I brought the bagel home with me since I could not think about eating it yet, I did eat the strawberry while in the tent. I walked over to the massage/normatec boot tent area to see if I could get in some recovery treatment but the line was long and I did not feel like waiting around awhile so I walked back to the AAA. In the past my IT band has been sore after the marathon and I am usually walking pretty slowly back to my car but not this year. I don’t know exactly why I was feeling less creaky after the race but I think possibly it had something to do with not sitting on the side as soon as I finished like I saw a ton of marathon participants doing, I kept walking around for over an hour. Even after arriving home from the race, I did not feel like I was going to fall down when I got out of the car like happens a lot after long distance races. Drank my Ripple protein shake and got my shower so that I could take my daughter to visit her great grandma for a couple hours. I did get in a mini nap while there, 45 minutes and was eventually able to eat some pizza afterwards.

Something I did different for the race that you are really not supposed to do is wear new gear for race day that you haven’t trained in. Well I got some new Oiselle summer rogas in a douglas fir color and decided a few days before the race to wear them. I have ran in rogas for many years and love them dearly so I knew they would probably be fine and they were fine and worked well in the humid weather. Usually it’s not advised but these had a lot of pocket space so I knew they would be perfect for marathon distance, I highly recommend them. Now on the other hand my Every Mother Counts singlet did not treat my skin so well, and I train in it pretty often, chafe disaster under my arm. The singlet is a little big on me so it scraped me pretty well in the humidity but it will heal quickly, just momentarily painful.

I had to adjust my goal time since the weather was not a cool 55 like was originally expecting, nor was it raining, which could have helped also. My A goal was 4:00:00 finish time but my B goal was under 4:30:00 and would you believe it, I got my B goal by seconds! And I do mean seconds, 2 seconds to be exact lol.

I am already signed up for Miami Marathon 2020 and I urge you to sign up right now too since the prices are as low! Apparently they were lower if you signed up while at the expo but I didn’t even think about it, but next year I will sign up while at the expo. Also I really enjoyed the VIP experience and think that if you can afford it, it is filled with awesome perks that will make your race experience even more fun.

That’s a wrap, Miami Marathon 2019!

Want to read my previous race reviews for Miami Marathon:

Miami Marathon 2018

Miami Marathon 2017

Miami Marathon 2016

Apparently I didn’t review the 2015 race?

Miami Marathon 2014

Tropical 5k 2013

1 Comment Leave a comment

305 Half Marathon – A Race Recap

Disclaimer: I’m promoting 305 Half Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Race day attire (arm sleeves were not required)

Going into this race morning I was a bit tired, had ran the DRI hope for a cure 5k on Saturday morning and ended up taking my daughter into a pediatric urgent care later on for a fever after coughing for a week. Spent a few hours there and ended up leaving with antibiotics and nebulizer liquid for her with instructions to give her treatment every 4-6 hrs and bring her back immediately for anymore fevers. Exhausted and not going to sleep till closer to 10:30pm, I woke up at 3:30am to get ready and head to the 305 Half Marathon. Luckily I had laid out my clothing/shoes and race bag was ready to go so I basically just got up, jumped in my clothes and ate some cereal before heading out.

By some miracle we had cool weather at the start, I was debating on checking a bag or not but ultimately changed my mind, also changed my mind about needing arm sleeves for the race (good choice!) I did sit in my car for awhile in my Every Mother Counts hoodie to wait as long as possible before heading out into the cool weather. This wasn’t the 55 degree weather was predicted originally on the weather channel app but rather 60-62 degrees. Not bad but when the wind whipped through the buildings/hotels on South Beach it could feel quite nippy. Not bad though as usually this race is quite warm or even kind of rainy, in the past 6 years, this has been the coldest it’s been for this race. So I basically walked quickly to the port o potties and peed before meeting up with another running friend, Stephanie (TheCookieRunner) at the Miami Beach clock and she gave me a cool Momentum bracelet that would remind me later in the race to Just Breathe. We talked for a little bit and then I headed into the starting corral, where it was warmer with all the people crowded in. Talked to my friend, Carmen before the start and vowed that I would try to stick with the 2 hour pacer as long as possible. Starting I felt fresh and the cool air helped me in staying ahead of the 2 hour pacer at least for the first 7 miles of the race. They gave the pacers speakers filled with Miami/running related songs and just general anthems to pump you up: PitBull, Enrique Iglesias, Beyonce, Cake, AC/DC to name a few I heard while running with the group. At mile 6 I saw our Every Mother Counts South Florida ambassador, Esther and was cheered on by her. I think the ascend up the MacArthur Causeway slowed me down a bit but then a friendly cheer from my friend/mayor, Harolyn around mile 10 helped me get back out of my head and speed up a little for the final 5k of the race. Along the way lots of iRun runners were cheering us on and at the end Frankie Ruiz was running back to find his fiance to cross the line together, got a high five from him as I passed. Then Hector from iRun was about half a mile from the finish line and urged me to go faster, so I followed his instructions and sped up to even kick it up a bit and not let some other runner (guy) pass me at the finish line!

Something I did different during this race that I haven’t done before in a half marathon was not take in any nutrition. I think it helped that I had half of a bowl from Chipotle the night before and cereal race morning that helped fuel my race. I brought my Honey Stinger chews with me but never took them out of my back pocket of my awesome pocket full Oiselle pocket jogger shorts. So weird but somehow it worked, I do train with them generally and use the starting at mile 6 but this time I just didn’t need them.

I crossed the line in just under 2 hours, like literally 40 seconds or so before the 2 hour mark, I pushed at the end a little and my splits show it but I did not feel totally depleted. The course was slightly different at the end, which I did not realize until we were running it, I’m glad because that running straight into the blazing sun at South Point Pier is no fun after 12 miles! Right after the finish line after collecting your medal and water there was a pots and pans PR station where you could hit the pots and pans together in celebration for a new half marathon PR. I had no PR but saw a couple people taking advantage of hitting the pans. It’s been a couple years since Miami has celebrated in the streets with pots and pans from a Heat championship win or Castro death, haha So some folks were very eager to hit them. After that was a long line to take pic in front of the official finisher backdrop, but I had no time to stand in the line but I think it would’ve been nice to get that free photo. I got some pretzels and the food tent had the regular runner food: bananas, fruit cups, pretzels, cookies, bagels and then pastelitos, empandas and some other little hispanic dessert cups. Very cool but I was not really in the mood to eat anything and no sweets after the race. I really just wanted to get home to my sick toddler and get some rest time. I went to the Storm Series tent and collected my category 4 medal before looking around at the other sponsor tents and then heading back to the car. Took a couple pics first and headed back to the finish line for a cool pic of my medal when Frankie Ruiz and Carla Duenas were crossing the finish line together, caught a few pics and then headed back to the parking garage. The weather was awesome for the cool down walk back to the parking garage, almost a mile away. Did not have the extreme soreness when I got home and got out of my car after sitting down and driving for 25 minutes from South Beach like I was expecting.

Great race and afterwards got an email from Athlinks to remind me to claim my new half marathon result and check out my pictures later on that evening. If you do not already use Athlinks, you need to get create a profile and add all your race results from the past. You can have all your race results on one site incase you ever wonder what was your PR for a certain distance or how fast/slow you ran for that race. You can also add friends/rivals and see what races others in your area are doing, so cool. Plus the Athlinks people are super helpful and only a tweet away from solving any issue you may run into.

If you are interested in doing this race in 2019 right now the prices are the lowest they will EVER be. Register in the next 2 days and only pay $60! That is extremely low for a half marathon! I am posting below exactly how affordable prices are for the next week or so for the half marathon and the 5k option. So hurry so you can get your 3-0-5 medals and oh if you somehow missed this race but want the whole set of medals you can purchase your 3 medal when you register for the 0 in 2019!

305 savings

Race Pics

Oiselle pocket jogger shorts FTW

0 Comments Leave a comment

A1A Marathon & Half Race Review

Disclaimer: I received free entry to A1A Half marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Now on to this weekend’s events: On Saturday I attended the Publix Health & Fitness expo for the A1A Marathon and Half with my toddler. It was slightly different this year than last, this year our names were all on a huge poster instead of a car like last year. Packet pickup was a breeze, no long lines for me, but I did get there as soon as it opened pretty much. Some vendors were still setting up their booths when I got there but most were ready and willing to offer lots of samples. One of the first booths we came to was the Honey Stinger booth, I love Honey Stinger chews and waffles and train for long distances and races with the chews so I took a couple new flavors to sample and gave one to Phoebe. The guy at the booth kindly gave her a brand new box of a new kids line of waffles they just came out with, she was super excited about it! Treo had a yummy birch water drink, I tried a sample and went back for a full size drink to share with my daughter. Geico was out there and got another pic with the Geico Gecko, who my toddler could not stop talking about when we got home from the expo. Also won a Team Geico shirt, they promised to provide a free massage if you were wearing their shirt when you crossed the finish line, it was a little warm for a shirt with sleeves yesterday but still a great quality training shirt by Brooks. I will be running around Miami wearing my team Geico shirt for sure, and I am a policy holder too, haha! So we left there with some new products to snack on and my race bib fairly quickly, I had some mom weekend errands to run (Target, of course) so had to hustle out of there kind of quickly. My tip to you about the expo is go on the Friday that it opens or early Saturday to beat some of the crowds if you are interested in seeing everything and getting your race bib quickly.

Race morning, my wake up time was 3:15am in order to leave my house by 4am to get parked and situated at least an hour before the race started. So timing was good and I made it up to Fort Lauderdale (a 45 min drive from Miami) and parked in the parking garage that I always park at for Fort Lauderdale races. Unfortunately I assumed that the race would be starting where most of the Fort Lauderdale halfs I have run have started in the past, umm, no, so guys, please check the address of the starting line BEFORE you park. So I decided to walk over to the McDonalds across the street to use the bathroom and of course that was locked up and the store does not open till 6am (when the race starts) but luckily I met two ladies from out of town and walked over to the starting line (about half a mile from where I parked) with them. The port a potty situation was a weird one, they were lining the sides of the starting corrals but there were lines for the potties in all different places, nothing like I have seen in the past. I was able to use the bathroom before I started the race and meet up with fellow BibRavePro, Dawana. Always fun to meet up with other pros, whether local or semi local, we both agreed to have no goals going into this race due to the high humidity and warm weather.

The race had a slightly staggered start in the corrals, they would let a big group go and then stop the next group till the first group had a bit of a head start in order to minimize the possibility of trampling. I did not mind, it would’ve been annoying if I was going to run with a pacer that was well ahead of me but that was not the case. I always want to start out slow and get faster as I go but that almost never happens. I just looked at my mile split times for the race and my fastest mile is my first mile. I really liked the part where the course went into Birch State Park, I had never been there before and now I want go back and take my whole family to check it out. Definitely was cooler in the woodsy area and scenic, but the race never got extremely hot due to the overcast skies. I was pretty even paced till the halfway point when I slowed down, also I met up with an Oiselle Volee teammate on the course that I never met before and we ended up talking about kids and races. It definitely helped those humid miles go by quicker when not focusing on how many miles are left, I ran with her until the last mile when she wanted to sprint to the finish. I wanted to take it slow and looked more at this race as training run because I have another half in two weeks and am not really sure I was in the best half running shape after running Miami Marathon only 3 weeks ago. It’s usually not advised to run race miles till 26 days after a marathon, not sure if it has been that long.

After crossing the finish line I had no issue getting water & Body Armor before collecting my awesome new jellyfish medal! Definitely one of the coolest medal I have ever earned from running a race, in fact it might be the coolest most unique medal ever. I have a few favorites and this one has joined those ranks. I haven’t ever had a medal with rubber moving parts, and the tentacles on this one are soft rubber.

I walked through the post race party area and first came to the Michelob Ultra beer trucks that were handing runners plastic cups full of beer, I passed on that. Kept going to see a Bubba Burger truck with a few burger options including a veggie burger option but passed on that too because I really did not think that having a “burger” after just finishing a race was a good idea. I did however have a slice of a cheese quesadilla from the Mission tortilla tent, because I think my body needed some sort of cheese at that moment, haha. I also took a carton of Vita Coco coconut water and a banana from the Publix tent, put them in my awesome Oiselle pocket jogger shorts that you can stuff full of stuff due to the crazy amount of pockets on them. I walked over to the beach to take some pics and just relax away from all the noise for a little bit. I did enjoy the cover band that was playing some old 90s rock songs every time I passed by, I like that kind of entertainment. Took one more walk around the post race area and talked to some friends who had just finished running the race also and made a little pit stop in the beach bathroom building before heading across the street to catch the bus back to the starting line. While on the bus I started to feel a bit sick but I figure it was due to the fact that I was finally sitting down after running a warm race, I felt much better after getting off the bus, even with the hot sun on my face as I was finally able to use my Goodr sunglasses to walk back to my car. I made sure to eat that banana that I got from the race food tent before driving home just in case I was going to start feeling bad on the 45 min drive home. I even considered going to the Starbucks drive thru that we passed while on the bus ride back to the parking area, but changed my mind as I just wanted to get home and wash the sweaty salt off my skin. Today I just heard there were a lot of DNFs at the race yesterday, most likely the marathoners as it was quite humid but surely started getting hotter during their second 13.1.

So while I went into this race with a sore, achy shin for the past few weeks, I ran the race with no pain at all and was not even limpy after the race like I have been after some runs in the past few weeks. Hoping this means that I am on the road to recovery with the shin splints and that it was just because of wearing the wrong shoes to work in the past few months. I know in the past few years most of the time this race is a very cool weather race, in fact I think a few years ago it was in the 40s when it started, so hopefully when I run it next year it will be cooler.

1 Comment Leave a comment

Fitbit Miami Marathon 2018 weekend – Expo & Race Review

Over the years this race expo has been held in 3 different locations, well that’s since I have been running this race in the past 5 years. 6 years if you count the year that I did the Tropical 5k only. Mana Convention Center is actually my favorite expo location for this race. The parking might be a pain somewhat as you have to find street parking and use a meter/parking app but its way less crowded to get to than the Miami Beach Convention Center with all that traffic to get there and not as confusing as the Marlins Park one was. The first Miami Marathon expo I went to here I remember it being a very windy day and surprise, again it was a very windy afternoon as I walked to the expo from parking a few blocks away. I brought my toddler again this year to pick up 4 race bibs between my boyfriend and I. Upon walking into the convention there is all the typical vendors for shoes (I hope you already have your shoes for your race before going!) and Geico, running store booths, massage booths and the food trying booths (yum!) I walked past them quickly in order to pick up the packets because even though it was still only about an hour into the expos start I knew that the longer I waited the longer the line would be. Before leaving work I had printed out copies of our bib numbers so it would be easy to pick up the packets but then promptly forgot them in the car and remembered when I got into Mana (mommy brain is real, people!) Luckily there is a convenient computer bib look up zone with very helpful volunteers so I was able to look up all 4 bib numbers quickly and head to the bib number pick up line. I went to the marathon line first because I know those get busy and was able to get my bib in like 2 minutes of waiting. The line was quick and went over to the Tropical 5k line to get my bibs there and that line was pretty quick too but longer because that race was the next day. In less than 5 minutes after entering the expo, with a stroller, I was able to pick up all the bibs I needed for the weekend of racing.

I then walked around the expo, saying hi to running friends and running store friends. My toddler got to take a pic with the Geico Gecko and I was able to find my name on the Miami Marathon letters for a quick selfie. The one thing that I ended up buying was a toddler shirt saying Future Finisher, it’s kind of a thing since I found out I was pregnant and bought the first future finisher baby onesie secretly. Of course I stupidly gave the bag with the shirt to my toddler, who quickly lost it without me realizing till I was home and she was napping (AAHHH!) So someone went to the expo and got a free toddler shirt that they found. That was the only negative to the Miami Marathon expo and it had nothing to do with organization on their part at least. It was pretty cool that this year they had a few areas where you could do fitness classes or lift weights while hanging out at the expo. I don’t know if I would want to try a new exercise out a few days before running a marathon but I’m sure it was popular with a lot of people. Outside there was a bag check area for the runners coming directly from the airport to the expo (very helpful and there were quite a lot of bags there) and a bike valet zone in case you wanted to ride to the expo and wondered where to park your bike. Also there were 3 food trucks incase you were in the mood for trying a fun new food, I do have to say that the Jamaica food truck’s wraps looked pretty tasty! I stopped by the Athlinks booth and asked them about the race day app, which they told me works with runners carrying phones but that the regular Athlinks app would help me track runners without their phones gps. I looked at the features and learned that you can also see/download your FREE finisher pics on the app too! I have had an Athlinks account for years now and love that now I can use the app and claim and find my results even faster than using a regular pc. Anyhow after I left there after having some Harmless Harvest coconut water (the best coconut water, IMO) and getting a sample of Hemp Hearts (love these!) We walked back to the car while taking pics with some of the Wynwood art on the walls and sidewalks, my toddler really enjoyed this part of the trip. I actually saw a ton of runners taking selfies and pics with the art walls. Quickly drove home, as quick as traffic would allow and got in a short nap with the toddler.

Instructions on how to use the Athlinks app

Food trucks

iRun

Coconut water

Geico gecko

Found my name on the letters

tire art

Next morning I headed to the Tropical 5k, which I recapped right here.

Now Miami Marathon morning, woke up at the early hour of 3am! Way earlier than any of my early morning training run wake ups have been and left my house by 3:45am. Early enough to be in the race area and parked in the American Airlines parking lot (only $5) before 5am. Walked over to the 1k booth and hung out with friends with some porta potty stops along the way. Pro tip: there is no line for the porta potties in the charity village area and you can get a nice warm up walk to get there and back to the finish line after. First thought: it is quite windy, looking at the skies all I can see is grey clouds, unsure if they are rain clouds or regular pre dawn clouds. Just making sure my phone didn’t get damaged I put it in a plastic sandwich bag in my armband before starting.

As usual the first 12.5 miles were crowded and the first 5 were almost nonstop elbow smashingly close. At mile 3.1 I missed the 5k timing mat and had to run back to cross it to not miss any splits on tracking, the mat did not stretch all the way across the bridge in that area. All the other timing mats were right in my way and no way I could have missed them, I don’t understand how anyone could have missed any of the others on the course. The first part of the race has you running over the MacArthur Causeway and in that 20 mph winds, it was very rough. Nothing like being battered by winds in the first 2 miles of a marathon, only 24 more to go, right? The next couple of miles are through South Beach, which was nice as it was around the time that the sun was rising. Around mile 9 I saw a fallen runner being taken care of by paramedics, I’m guess it was dehydration as the temps were starting to heat up by that point in the race. Later they raced by in a mule with said runner in the back, scary to see but glad all the runners in that lane got out of the way, I may have yelled to get their attention to get out of the way of the incoming ambulance. Lots of great views and then we were heading across the Venetian bridge. It was there that I saw the Every Mother Counts crew cheering at mile 11 and that helped give me a little bit of a boost to get through the next couple of crowded miles before the split. A few miles later was cheered on by Doug, owner of GoRun, always nice to see a familiar face that knows your name out there. Something that is never cool and always happens just before the half/full split is the bystanders who think they are helping but unfortunately not for the full marathoners, start screaming “Almost There!!” I did make sure to yell out “You mean, almost HALF way there” as I finally made it into the full marathon chute. After that you can stretch your arms out and shake off all that crowding and you are in a quieter zone. You have a bridge soon after the split which is expected but what you may not realize is that you have to cross that same bridge again just before you finish.

The course was changed a bit from the past when we would run down Brickell and cross the short but steep Brickell bridge. Strangely in the past marathons I would speed up around this point, I guess the freedom of less crowding but this year I started to slow. I believe the slowing down was not really due to my terrible marathon training this year but rather the humidity started to get pretty high around this time. Around the Brickell area there was a corner stop with ice pops and I made sure to grab one, it was the best ice pop I had ever tasted, I could tell I was starting to dehydrate at that point. It was still pretty cloudy through most of this race but there were some times when I felt the sun, one of those times was while coming back from under the Rickenbacker bridge area. I started to really slow in the Coconut Grove area and it was strange because I wasn’t having any aches at all, but rather the heat was starting to get to me. I have trained in the temps this whole time but maybe less in the elements as a lot of my long runs were done on a treadmill. Something I will not be doing the next time around but rather more long runs on the street, even if it means bringing the BOB running stroller & toddler along for the miles. It was around mile 17 or 18 I saw another runner friend who was being the guide for a visually impaired runner and ended up running almost the rest of the remaining miles with them. They took walking breaks and usually some walking breaks through the water stops which really helped me. Since the heat was getting pretty crazy there, I started stopping for water at all water stops after mile 15. I was not taking a chance of getting dehydrated and having to be rushed away on the back of an ambulance and there were plenty racing by us as we ran up Bayshore drive. Along the way it was nice to zone out a bit about the running part and just chat with others while the miles slowly passed by.

Finally we were out of the Grove/Key Biscayne area and heading up Brickell to move onward to the last 2 miles. Those were some very very long miles, but when I got over that last bridge, the one we crossed twice, and I walked up/ran down, the buildings were blocking the sun a bit and helped with the overheated feelings. At the final mile was a group of iRun runners who had completed the half marathon and were back out there to cheer and Hector, one of the owners of iRun cheering me on as I ran through that final mile. They said I was looking strong but I was just chugging along just trying to get to the end in one piece. I never felt like I was going to collapse through the whole race or anything, just exhausted from the heat and ready for it to be over already. Since the race weaves through the downtown area and not a straight shot as it was in the past it was getting kind of overwhelming as I would turn another corner and still be like where is the finish line. Finally in the last stretch, there was a 1k running friend who had a megaphone and was calling out “Go Running Mama!” as I passed by for that final boost before the finish line. When I saw the finish line I just tried to run as fast as possible, that was my idea of a sprint at the moment and so elated when I finally had crossed over and my finish line pics show just that, haha!

I wasn’t sure if I had my 2nd best time of 2nd slowest time until I checked the official time on the Athlinks app but that was later on when I finally sat down. I picked up my new medal, making sure that all parts spun (issue earlier in the weekend about that) and headed to the food tent. Last year the food tent was a mess and I had to juggle all my food in the cold freezing rain but this year it was much better and (yay!) no cold freezing rain either! They had boxes of DeliverLean meals ready to pick up, at first I looked at it and it said something like Turkey sandwich and I guess one of the volunteers could see my face “oh damn, meat” and asked if I was vegetarian they had meals for us too. Finally, a meal option for vegetarians at a race! Best news ever! I got my pasta meal box and some pretzels and oatmeal cinnamon cookies and quickly went to another tent where they had cold water. I got a cold water bottle and went in search of a place to put all my stuff down to better organize it for carrying back to the 1k tent to eat. I dropped my Nuun tablet into the cold water bottle also and was happy I didn’t have to wait long before getting re-hydrated. They also had Gatorade bottles available but I almost never drink Gatorade so I passed on it. Then I walked sorely back to the 1k tent where I could put my stuff down on a table and start snacking on some cookies. I stayed standing for a long time while I gave my body time to slow down a bit and get readjusted to not running. I know better than to sit down right after a long distance race, one thing I learned really quickly after my first half marathon. After about 25 minutes or so I decided it was time to sit and rest a little, it was at that time that I looked up my boyfriend’s splits and could see that he was nearing the finish line. I continued to watch the app while I ate my cookies and drank my cold Nuun infused water until he finished and came to the 1k tent to find me. After that I got my gear bag and was trying to debate whether I should change clothing or not, I ended up not choosing to change clothing as it wasn’t cold and I really didn’t want to see what would happen if I tried bending to change, haha! Took a porta potty break and then went to the Florida Storm Series tent to collect my Cat 3 medal of the series. At the 305 Half I will be collecting my Cat 4 medal so in about a month I will have 2 more medals.

Another reason to park or not park at the American Airlines Arena is the walk back is a good cool down, re stretch your muscles walk before the drive home but can be terrible if you can barely walk. Luckily it was a good cool down walk for me and not the latter, also it makes it easier to leave the downtown area also. All in all this was not my best marathon and not my worst. The conditions were brutal but I endured the wind and heat and conquered my 4th marathon to date! Miami Marathon 2019, I am coming for you and will hopefully be PR ready. Now I just need the weather to cooperate and I will be good. If you haven’t signed up for next year’s race, what are you waiting for? Right now the prices are the lowest they will EVER be, so sign up now!

0 Comments Leave a comment