#miamifamous…For the tenth time.
The Miami Half Marathon was my first, way
back in 2007. After a four year hiatus,
I entered again 2012, and haven’t missed this event since. I’ve run with the usual suspects, and I've
run “lone wolf.” That being said, I have
never run a race of any distance in a shoe not named Brooks…That was all about to change.
The Brooks Beast is a maximum stability shoe,
and the only thing I’ve run in since 2010.
The shoe is very comfortable, but is severely lacking in color
selection. I’ve asked over the years if
there were an alternative I could try, but I’ve been told over-and-over again that
“nothing compares to the Beast.” When it
comes to “styling & profiling,” I
can wear virtually anything, which drew my attention to a pair of blue and
orange Hoka
Clifton shoes in Runner’s Depot. I’ve admired Hoka from afar, but now was my
chance to legitimately purchase a pair.
They were surprisingly comfortable, which inspired me to buy the Carbon
X (white with green trim). After wearing them a few times, I can boldly
say…they are the most comfortable running shoes I’ve ever owned! Alas, Steve (the manager of the Coral Springs
store, and an overall great dude) informed me that the Carbon X was primarily a
racing shoe, and would not be good for me to run in. A few day later, I read an advertisement
about the Hoka Gaviota 2, which is a stability shoe. I read several articles, but none that
compared it to the Brooks Beast. I then consulted
the ultimate authority, Renee. She explained
the differences between the Gaviota and the Beast, which mostly went right over
my head. Since the Carbon X and the
Clifton were so supportive, and I knew I could return the Gaviota if they didn’t
work out, I bought a pair in a dark blue/green, and did a three-mile run during
the week. All was good. I did eight
miles on the weekend, and was convinced I could wear them for the Miami Half
Marathon. I ordered a second pair in…wait
for it…ROYAL BLUE. Can you believe
it? Running a race for the first time
ever in a shoe not black or grey? As a
Hollywood fashion plate, this was monumental for me.
I picked up Elaine and Lindsey at the airport
on Friday, and we went to lunch at…you guessed it…Bento. We then went to pick up my new royal blue
beauties, and I bought a pair of the Hoka Ora, which is their recovery
flip-flop. Glenda had already been
working late, because of tax season, and we went to supper around 7:30 at Bonefish Mac’s.
We woke up early on Saturday, as I wanted to
take Elaine to a breakfast place in Parkland that Rachel recently turned us on
to. It’s called Carmela Coffee Company, and their avocado
toast is outstanding. After our meal (and
a quick tour of Parkland), it was on to the expo. Renee and Runner’s Depot once again stepped
up to the plate, and hired a bus to the expo and back. For a race of this size, the expo was once
again a disappointment. It’s the same
reason every year…Mana Wynwood. The venue is too small for the amount of
traffic coming through, which is why they should go back to the Miami Beach Convention Center. Lindsey had the foresight
to make lunch reservations at the Wynwood Diner, but it surprisingly wasn’t all that crowded. Glenda made vegetable lasagna for supper, and
I was in bed by 7:45.
My alarm was set for 2am, but I was “up and
at ‘em” by 1:45. The race was moved up
one week this year to accommodate the Super Bowl (it’s usually the last week in
January). We left around 3:15, and
parked around 4:15.
MEMO TO SELF: Make the left turn at NW 5th Street.
We were in corral “I” this year, which was
curious to us all. Lindsey and Elaine
are significantly faster than me; why were they so far back? The weather was around 65°, with no threat of
rain. 18,567 runners took their mark (15,431 for the half; 3,136 for the full), which
was 1,660 more than last year. Once the
gun sounded at 6am, it took us close to 45 minutes for our corral to
start. If I had only one complaint about
this race, this would be it. Can’t we purchase
a fast pass? Elaine and Lindsey both
said they would run with me, but that didn’t last too long. Lindsey took off after a couple of miles, and
I set Elaine free of her prison sentence shortly after that. I hate holding them back because of lack of
speed, and all of my bathroom breaks. I
got a lot of complements on my shirt, and of course a lot of “you are my
inspiration” because of the brace. It’s
all good; I like to be engaged with my fellow runners. The sun stayed under cloud cover for most of
the race, which certainly helped. I
looked good, my shoes looked good, but I was running really slow. I saw a sign in the crowd that said something
like “You have a 💩-ton of miles
left.” This was hilarious, and it was even
funnier that we all saw it during the race.
With around two miles to go, I struck up a conversation with a woman
that I had been running the same pace with for most of the race. We were good motivation for each other, as I
was able to cross the finish line pretty strong (I don’t know about her). The medals were very nice, and a departure
from the design of previous years. The after
party is always good, with box lunches and plenty of snacks.
Lindsey and I went to the car to change, and
then went back to the finish line to wait for Elaine. I wore my new Hoka flip-flops, but they
really cut up my feet. Hoka had a booth
at the after party, so I sat with them and picked their brains about all the
different running shoes they make (and complained about the flip-flops). Elaine eventually crossed the finish line,
and we made our way back home to the 954.
She flew home later that night, and Glenda was kind enough to take both
her and Lindsey to the airport. I would
normally go in late to work on Monday, but I had an event to cover early in the
morning (yay me).
Another year of being #miamifamous. We are all signed up for next year.
