ING Miami Marathon - RunMarathon

Definitely a learning experience. I knew a BQ was not in the picture after the first 8 or 9 miles. I was keeping what felt like a comfortable pace and was feeling pretty good until about mile 18. Mile 19 was my first mile over 8 min/mile and was the beginning of my demise. Calf strain from last week reared its ugly head at about mile 10, but would come and go depending on the terrain (it would flare up on inclines) but I was able to manage. However, my hips were "done" at about mile 20 or so. I walked the water station just after the 23 mile mark and that was the beginning of what turned into a combo walk/jog for the last 3 miles.

My realistic goal of sub 3:15 turned into sub 3:20, which turned into sub 3:30 which at mile 24 turned into "just finish". The volunteers were great! I knew I looked bad when I was picked out of a group to be the one to really cheer on as we passed water stations or a cheer zone:)

I couldn't stomach any more fluid or gels after mile 20 which in hind-sight was a big reason for my downfall. It was a complete suffer-fest during the jog/walk for the last 3 miles as each time I would start my jog, my hips joints were killing me. My body just was not used to the pounding for this long. few more long runs in training would have been HUGE and probably would have made the difference between a 3:20 and my 3:40.
Overall, glad I finished. Very sore today (2 days removed) but already planning when I will take on another.

More long runs, but I did what I could do for the most part. I missed one long run because I had planned a century the same day and figured that was as good as a long run (wrong!) I also had to turn a 20 miler into a 15 miler due to stomach issues. Got sick about 5 weeks before the race which hindered my training as well.

During the race, I needed more calories, but because of my history with stomach issues, I was afraid to eat too much or drink too much Gatorade. Bad idea. I have to risk the potential stomach issues as not eating enough will for sure cause poor performance at the end.

Could barely walk as my hips were killing me. I hobbled around and found a nice grassy area to lay down. I know, probably a bad idea, but it felt so good to lay down. Hard to get back up though. Waited around to see of Joy placed with her 3:28. She ended up 9th in her age group. She did qualify for Boston in her very first marathon! So proud of her!


Needed more long runs in training. Needed more calories during the race.


Good race overall. Race was a bit late getting started waiting for the police to clear the course. The course was beautiful. The bridges weren't too bad, we just had basically eliminated hills from our training runs because we thought the course was totally flat. Had we kept our normal hilly training runs, it wouldn't have been that big of a deal. The grates on the 2 drawbridges were a little rough on the feet. Volunteers were awesome! Spectators were awesome! Would definitely consider doing again down the road after I get a taste of a few more different courses.