#miamifamous
I’m lucky enough to have little or no anxiety, except when it comes to a couple of things that go together…being late and parking. People often wonder why I will be in my parking space for a UF football game at 10am, even though the game may start at 8pm. On top of that, I know that after parking in the same place for over 30 years, I could get there much later and still get my spot. The short answer is...I don’t know. I’m telling you this because I spend way too much time thinking about parking for the Miami Half Marathon than the race itself. You would think after doing this race for 12 consecutive years, leaving at the same time in the morning, and parking in the same spot, this would be nothing to worry about…but it is. More on this later, but let’s get to it.
Lindsey flew in on Friday for the race, but Mary had to cancel due to an injury. The plan was to go to the expo first thing on Saturday and meet Lindsey’s friend Robert for lunch after that. We realized last year that getting to the expo when they first opened would make it an easier time to look around with not as many people. The expo was once again at the Miami Beach Convention Center, with lots of room to roam around. We picked up our race packets, but the shirt in my opinion was as ugly as it gets. It was black with the logo on the side of the shirt. I know they were going for the artsy look, but I give it a major thumbs down. In terms of vendors and merchandise, there were no heavy hitters here. I did purchase a travel massage gun for $175 (regularly $400), so not all was lost. Lindsey conveniently had the cash on her, so I didn’t have to pay sales tax. After one more trip through the building, we met Robert at Orange Blossom. Robert recommended this to us last year, so we went for it again. The food was just okay, but we had great conversation. Robert had nothing but great things to say about Lindsey, and vice-versa. The food was expensive, but it seems as if the price of eating out has skyrocketed recently. We had an early supper and tried to go to bed as early as possible. The WWE Royal Rumble was on that night, but I would have to wait for the replay.
When you do a race where you just walk out of the hotel and straight to the starting line, the stress and anxiety level is at zero. When you leave your house at 3:15am and arrive at the parking garage at 4pm to avoid traffic, well…that’s how I roll. Predictably, there was no traffic, and we got right into the garage. I was now able to relax, but we also had two solid hours to kill. It was 73° when we started the race, which was a total sellout. 12,574 entered the half, with 2,782 running the full (15,356 in total). The good news was we moved up one corral from last year; the bad news was we still waited close to 45 minutes before we started. To me, this is the most torturous part of the race (as Tom Petty once said, “the waiting is the hardest part”). Lindsey wasn’t going to run with me, so it would just be me and the music. I didn’t need to use the potty at the beginning, so I was off to a roaring start.
As many people that were running, it didn’t see as much “bumper-to-bumper” as usual. I felt really good and saw Robert cheering us on around the four-mile mark. Nothing super eventful to report (except for minimal bathroom breaks), but this was the first marathon/half marathon that I didn’t have any liquid on me. Even though I would only be carrying an 11-ounce bottle in my belt, I’m going to make sure I have it on me for Gasparilla. Lindsey finished about a half hour ahead of me, and of course the medals were outstanding. It seemed as if they ran out of food, but we weren’t going to eat anyway. They decided this year to sell the race photos, so no in-action shots.
We are of course signed up for next year, and even pressured Elaine to register as well. Now on to Tampa and Gasparilla.
