“Dear legs, give me a great race today.” This was exactly what I told myself when my corral was moved up to the start line. This was going to be my 8th marathon attempt and 12th time at the start line of the Miami Marathon & Half Marathon. Even having experienced the Boston and New York City Marathon, Miami is still my favorite race. It has so much to do with the fact that it’s my hometown and I know the streets like the back of my hand, but even the non-locals say it’s great for its amazing scenery, flat and fast course, and pretty comfortable weather. You can’t go wrong with the events surrounding the race either—it truly gets you in the mood to join the running community!
It was 71 degrees, which was probably too warm for everyone else, but it was the perfect racing weather in my book. Although the body has to work harder to keep a proper core temperature and avoid overheating, I have been so used to running in the heat. I had my hydration and fueling plan down-packed and my salt tabs ready. Everyone asks me how I carry these along with an entire 8 gels without a waist belt or armband. I literally stuff 4 in my sports bra with the salt tabs and the others tucked in my running shorts waistband. It’s easy to grab and you get used to just getting chafed and dealing with it for a week or so.
I tried something new this time around—racing with a partner. I actually had two race buddies, Frank, who I had the pleasure of getting in important long runs with throughout my months of training, and Kevin who decided to join in a couple of days before the race. This was the best thing I could have done for myself. To be honest, I had been so nervous to race this time. Well, I am usually a nervous wreck before races, but this time was worse and it was because I stayed away from racing for almost a year because of the miserable bout I had at the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019. This was a mistake. I was fine physically, but without some practice runs leading up to the big day, it messed with me mentally.
My usual self usually throws all of the pacing strategies I spend time creating for myself out the window and goes out way to fast and struggles in that last 10k. The best thing about my partners at this race was that they were so good at pacing so I just stuck with them and I never felt better. Our goal was to start off and run the first 5k around 7:00 min/mile, which is about 10-15 second slower than our goal pace. This first part of the race is the hardest since it includes a pretty long and steep causeway followed by another smaller one, all with a headwind. We averaged the 5k at a 6:59 pace.
The next goal was to be in the 6:40s by the time we reached 10k. Unfortunately I lost Frank around mile 9 to an upset stomach. Thankfully he felt okay to stick it out and finish the half marathon with a decent time! I was determined to stick with Kevin for the entire race. After all I felt amazing hitting every single mile in the 6:40s, something I felt was going to be impossible to do these days. I was annoyed when my Garmin rang in mile 14 about 200 meters too soon, so from then on my watch was completely off—UGH!
We made the turn into Key Biscayne during mile 15, and had a strong headwind again. It’s only one mile in and back out, but it feels like forever. For the first half of the mile in I struggled to stay behind Kevin—he could have blocked the wind for me, so I began to separate further and further from him. I ended up speeding up to try to close the gap, but realized halfway that I was going to lose energy so I slowed down and planned on worrying about catching up to him after making the turn to run back with the tailwind. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to catch up, so my plan now was to keep him in sight. I was still averaging 6:49 when I reached mile 18, although my Garmin was inaccurate so I really started to lose track.
It was right before my watch rang for mile 20 that I felt a sharp pain in the left side of my right hamstring along with a snap. I sort of buckled but kept on trying to run. That lasted for only a few steps and I had to come to a complete stop, pull over on the side of the course and shake out my leg. This must have been at least a 30 second stop. Hoping it was just a cramp or something, I took a deep breath and went out again, to only last about 10 steps before the sharp pain was unbearable. It was at this time that I remembered that around mile 9 or 10 I felt a slight twinge in my hamstring, but it actually felt like my regular piriformis/glute nerve impingement-type pain I get most days. I even felt this in my left glute during my warm up but as always it went away and I was fine. I thought this hamstring issue was related, and I still do, so I ignored it at the time. I kept on feeling a twinge throughout the race once in a while, but it was minor and went away with a little adjustment in my posture and form.
The second time I had to stop was at least for another minute. At this point I had no idea if I was still on track, especially since my watch was completely useless. I eventually got back on the course and my mile 20 rang in at 7:47. From this point on the only way to avoid the unbearable pain was to take the shortest steps possible. I am a major over-strider so this felt so awkward for me but it was the only way to keep a decent pace. Mile 21 rang in at 7:01, so I felt there was hope to speed up again, but once I tried, the sharp pain came to life again. I was so frustrated, and still am, because overall my body felt super strong and able to run fast and the stupid pain just held me back. My endurance and non-existent fatigue felt great to keep with my plan of maintaining my 6:49 pace and speeding it up at the 35k point, but after 2 miles of struggling, I knew this plan was out the window.
Looking back at my paces now, I am impressed I was able to average 7:09 for the last 5 miles of the race, given the pain I was in. I ran well, raced the best I could have, and stayed positive the entire time. As upset as I was at the finish line that I did not reach that long-awaited sub-3 hour goal, I knew that I had it in me. I felt so strong at those paces for the first 19+ miles. It wasn’t a struggle at all to maintain the 6:40s for 2 hours, so that feeling alone has made me proud of the hard work I’ve done.
I’ve got 7 months until my next attempt, and the goal this time is not just to break 3 hours, but it’s going to be an even bigger goal! Chicago can be tricky with it’s ever-changing weather patterns, but the course is flat and I hear the crowds are super engaging so I believe it’s going to be a good one for me! Bring it on!
