26.56 miles
I came back to do the pacing duties at this race after several years of skipping it.
The expo is a big deal – It’s at the Miami Beach Convention Center, the proper place for this function. Parking was easy in the nearby garage for $2 per hour. My drive down to the Miami Beach area was 2 hours and 40 minutes, no accidents, just volume.
Working at the expo is fun, there are always good people to meet. A few get corral change stickers once we chat with them and learn of their running goal for the event and whatever training they’ve brought to the race. Someone had kindly arranged for all of the pacers to have their bibs and packets collected already – that is a good thing to remember for our local event. It’s crowded and probably needs a larger room.
Our hotel was in the closest location yet to the race, on 2nd Avenue right near Bayfront Park. I got a good tip from Jim regarding parking – the nearby James L Knight Center was $20 for overnight vs $35 at the Courtyard by Marriott. Pacer dinner was a short walk 1 block west to Camila’s Brazilian restaurant. It was buffet style, which works out best for a large group Some saw & heeded the 6 pm dinner mention in the emails for the weekend, some came at 7pm. I met the couple in town from Netherlands and their friend Julia from Manhattan. There are so many stories of how others secure pacing spots for different races overseas. Julia was on her third repetition of completing a race in each of the 50 states. It’s good to sit and eat and listen at these meals!
The hotel stay was uneventful – It was easy to prep for the early morning walk to the start area. The noise at night ranged from car traffic beeping horns, motorcycle groups, to low flying airplanes that sounded like we were going to be hit. I woke up a few times, drank pedialyte or water, went to the bathroom and back to bed. I gathered my goodies & met everyone in the lobby at 4:30 am for a photo and to walk as a group to the start. The morning temp heading to the start line was 74 degrees. I was ready – having a bottle of The Right Stuff to start with and drink along the way, Pedialyte in prep since after Saturday’s dinner, and salt pills to have during the run.
Having the Kaseya Center open for runners to use the restrooms is perfect. We had our group photo taken outside and then dispersed into the corrals. This year my group of 4:10 pacers began in corral G. It’s not like starting in D as I had in prior years. The wait is about 30 minutes from the release of the elite group of runners. I met a group of mostly half marathoners in the corral. Jennifer from NY who recently moved to WPB, Donaglia, Martha and Isava who came from South America for the race. Pia, Fernando, Hans and Uchi were also in the corral ready to start with me and stay at the 9:30ish pace for as long as they could. I met Vanessa at the expo, she was looking to stay with me in her first marathon. She had done several Half marathons, the most recent of which was 1:48 I remember. She didn’t start with me but found me at Mile 3.
The start had us go through Mile 1 in 9:58 – so near 30 seconds off the desired goal time. I explained to our people that this would happen and we’d easily recover the time when we got on South Beach. We were 20 seconds off (slow) at Mile 3, it was more light out (Due to the delayed Corral G start) that I had been at this point in the race years before. Vanessa found me nearing the end of the MacArthur Causeway and was committed to the pace well. She had music on in her Apple EarPods but could hear me as we spoke, approached water stations, etc. At mile 5 we were 4 seconds slow – then we strung together great miles on the crowded and narrow streets of Miami Beach. She saw family members near the golf course exit and had a friend on a road bike following her, too. The three girls in yellow were nearby but not running right next to me. Jennifer had faded back as she predicted, she wanted to have a 2:05 finish but admitted her usual training pace was closer to 9:50 minutes per mile. The sun was out, no clouds for shade, but thankfully it was behind us.
The Venetian Causeway was good as it exposed us to a breeze from the side. Even a warm breeze felt good after being among the buildings and homes on the barrier island. We ran on that road as it weaves through the 7 islands and over little flat water crossing bridges. There were some odd lumps in the road for drivers that runners had to watch for. A runner named Fernando who was next to me from approx mile 6 – 9 turned his phone camera my way and said “We are on live in Peru!” His friends and family cheered for us from the phone. The whole latin and hispanic community comes out for this race. We will be running and someone will see a flag being held on the side of the road, they’ll shout three or four words and many others running among us will join in a chorus of cheers and chants.
Only in Miami!
Once on the mainland again – we went through the Hoka zone and kept our 9:30 pace well. Missing from previous years was the steel drum and drum line group that set up along the Metrorail people mover. They were loud and being among the buildings made it very festive. There was a Hoka DJ, but it wasn’t as boisterous. Vanessa was doing well and looking for more friends and family, which we saw right past the half/full split point on the course.
I wished good luck to the half folks that were in my area. Having not been in this lineup for 4-5 years I noticed two things that have changed:
*** More runners have the bluetooth earpieces, so they don’t hear anything I say. I’d say more people
*** On the sections where we run on an open road with runners sectioned off from the runners by orange traffic cones, the emergence and popularity of electric vehicles, scooters and bikes adds some new wrinkles. Usually if you need to pass someone quickly, you could weave out of the coned area and pass a slower runner and pop back in. But in “EV land,” you have to check back there! You can’t hear a Tesla behind you, or a scooted in a green painted cycling lane. New things to remember on big city courses!
Now I ran south with only marathoners. Vanessa found friends she knew and ran over for a high five & a hug. We ran up & over the Miami Ave bridge for the first time – and caught a view of the leading ladies in Mile 25 of their race. They were on the bridge climb heading towards the finish already!
I had amassed a nice group of guys + Vanessa here before Mile 14. We were running well, maybe 10 seconds now ahead of goal time. The shade of the tall buildings on Brickell Ave was welcoming, we passed a few early walkers who were feeling the heat. At Mile 15 or so, we saw Pacer Maria on the side of the road heading back in a walk, I figured her nagging knee area injury was perking up and she had feared. I exclaimed how I had a nice group of rock stars with me to her and a nearby lady police officer – they both cheered us on as we passed.
We went onto the section many refer to as “The Desert” out to the base of the Rickenbacker Causeway and back. They have put a water stop on each side of the out & back stretch plus live music bands that definitely help distract the group. Some of my pack slowed in this area, Vanessa was running next to me until we reached the aid stations. She would pour her drink in her mouth and catch up quickly each time. We were 10-15 seconds ahead of goal time at the Mile 17 sign. We turned south and ran towards Coconut Grove on the shady Miami Ave east side of the road. Vanessa sped up at this point – She may have spoken to her cyclist friend at the previous water stop and gotten that advice – I won’t know. There was another young gal dressed in similar black sports bra and black cycling style shorts running near me, she fell off the pace before Mile 18.
The trip to the furthest point south in the Grove really pared off the runners in my group. The aid stations were displaying the RED waring flags and many neighbors came out to the roadside with hoses to spray and mist the runners. I had two guys with me in Mile 19 and towards the turnaround by Mile 20. I ran on pace through the crowded and fun bunch of restaurants filled with people eating Sunday breakfast and brunch. I passed more & more walkers in this popular area, things were slowing down.
I ran on pace and in good goal time to the 21 Mile sign – I had one guy running a few feet behind me. There is a small “hill” leading off Miami Ave up to Tigertail Ave. I checked my heart rate as we went to this area & saw my readings for the first time today were now in the low 180s. I had been watching this since the start. It’s a good test or my fitness and the COROS arm mounted HR monitor that is highly lauded for its accuracy. I started in the high 140s, up MacArthur Causeway Bridge and for the first 34 minutes I stayed below 150 bpm.
I stayed below 160 bpm until 1:45 on the clock. I hit 170 bpm for the first time at 2:15. The 180 bpm measurements began at 3:22 elapsed time. I felt light tingling in both arms – that means things are heading in the wrong direction for me. (I did NOT feel any typical heart malady symptoms, pains or discomfort. I was merely running way less efficiently at a very high heart rate for a 9:30 pace.)
Had I kept on pace, I would have needed to sustain that rising HR for another 48 minutes in increasing heat.
Nope.
I have seen this happen on faster paced runs plenty earlier. I believed at the relaxed pace of 9:33 average I could do the race – as this was similar weather and a slower pace than last month’s Palm Beach Marathon.
I walked on Tigertail Ave a bit, let my HR go down back into the 160s then tried a run. There are no breezes in those suburban neighborhoods. Although my running pace was less than 9:30, HR started to climb quickly again. I walked through the next water stop and decided I wasn’t going to rescue the pacing run and “catch up” to where I should be. On most days that wouldn’t be difficult. But like bonking, my experience is once I’ve broken the proper rhythm I operate well with regarding heart rate, it takes a while to come back.
I broke and discarded the pacer stick and removed the Pacer bib that was pinned to my back. Now I was 4 miles from the finish with only myself to wander home with at any pace. I did walking at 17-20 mins per mile, I am slow on any day as a walker! I trotted some, visited water stops, got water and drank plus poured it on my head at each one. Listening to the encouraging words of volunteers and spectators was nice… even as it wasn’t having a motivational effect on me. I knew I was “Just a 5k” away, “only two miles to go,” etc. But my slow trotting pace kept sending HR up rapidly. I was back on Miami Ave, passing Vizcaya, still drinking and pouring water on my head. I stopped at a man with a hose and squirted water on my visor to cool things off. I took ice from a lady that had a pitcher of cold water and ate some, put some by my neck and some in my shorts.
This was a slog back to the tall buildings ahead. I don’t have a great awareness of exactly where I am when I’m in Miami. I ran north on Brickell Ave, then took a mild left turn on Miami Ave. I decided I could and should run from here to the finish, with only a little over a mile to go. This area had more crowd support and traffic. I saw police allowing for pedestrians and cars to cross when they didn’t see runners, etc. I went up the Miami Ave bridge, made the right turn down the last meaningful straightaway on the course and on to the finish. It’s shady down 1st Ave and then you make a quick turn and you’re at the finish line. Medals, drinks and I was done for the day. I saw Marcela walking around once I came out of the Finish chute – I congratulated her on having a 22 year streak of the race.
Time for tests that will bring the truth about what my heart rate acceleration means. I have plenty of things ahead but I kinda need this sorted out, first.
-dm
drun4fun 