The 2007 ING Miami Marathon

Published 1 year, 5 months ago by Rob Abbott

On your mark. Get set. Jump over the puddle!

Yes, mother nature joined us at the very start of the race with torrential rain. From 5am until 6:30am the rain was soaking us all head to toe. There was not a dry sock or shoelace to be found on any of the 11,665 runners at the start of this years ING Miami Marathon.

Just after the starting line ran a 4 inch deep river of rain across Biscayne Blvd.

Oh, joy!

Luckily the rain finally let up and we started to dry off.

The race was really well organized and the course was a moderate one at best. Most of the race was run on flat asphalt and there was only 5 bridges to cross. Beginning at mile 3 we came across the first water station, just short of the second bridge going into South Beach.

One thing I learned as I entered into South Beach. If you’re due at the airport the morning of a marathon filled with 11+ thousand runners. You just might have to wait a while and chances are you’ll miss your flight. This was the case for most of the day as we passed by hotel parking lots, intersections downtown and in Coconut Grove. Traffic was at a stand still. During my run there was not a minute that went by that I wished I was in car waiting on the marathon to pass. Even in pain, I was happy to be in uninterrupted forward motion.

For the first 9 miles I ran with 3 people from my group who I had trained with in San Francisco. As a group we were doing our best to maintain a 10 minute per mile pace. After running the first 5 miles with out stopping we started a 9 minute run and 1 minute walk pace. This began to slow us down at least 2-3 minutes per mile. At mile 9, I made the decision to break away from my group because I felt I would be able to maintain much faster pace on my own.

For 3 weeks up until the marathon I had been in physical therapy for 3 days a week. In mid-November I began to experience a sharp pain inside my left knee. The pain eventually caused a shin splint in my left leg and so I sidelined myself for 2 and half weeks to let both heal. When I started running again I had a few sporadic pains in my left leg and one in my right ankle.

The shin splint had healed, but my knee pain was still lingering. At this point I was very worried about my ability to finish the marathon because of the problems and pain I had been dealing with were keeping me under 20 miles. Some runs were even worse, where I could only complete 5-10 miles before severe pain set in. After more rest and some short 5 mile runs later December I finally got around to seeing a doctor.

I went to Presidio Sports and Medicine in San Francisco. There I under went ultra sound treatment on my knee about 30 minutes of serious stretching and 15 minutes on the bike during my sessions. My PT also took time re-educating the muscles in my left hip, thigh and knee hoping to progressively strengthen my leg.

I will admit, I felt a little bit like a lab rat with all the diagnoses and tests that were run. The nice part about all of that is it gave me reassurance that I was in good hands and it helped rebuild my confidence in my ability to run long distances.

When I left for Miami on the weekend of the marathon. I had not run more than 20 miles in almost 60 days. The most I had run was 3 miles only 3 weeks before the marathon, but my body was feeling good and my confidence was at 80%. Every day I stretched 3 times a day for 30 minutes and when I arrived I did two short 3 mile runs during the two days before the marathon.

The morning of I spent the same 30 minutes stretching and concentrating on staying that way through out the race. At mile 5 I began stretching again after every mile. My left leg was holding together fine and at mile 10 I began to feel the same sharp pain I had felt in my left knee a month before but now it was strangely in my right knee.

My knee stretching become more intense, especially when focusing on my right knee. Finally at mile 14 after running through some horrible pain, my stretching paid off. Something in my right knee popped as I was stretching it. It was scary for a moment because I thought I had seriously injured my right knee.

Luckily, as I placed my right leg on the ground and let my weight shift over it. I realized that the pop alleviated whatever was ailing my knee.

From that point on my legs held together for the rest of the run and it all became a mental game as I continued running the rest of the marathon solo. Once you’re past the first 17 miles the race becomes all about single digits with 9 miles to finish. Each mile also goes by much faster and running 9 more almost seems trivial. The only difference at that point for me was, my feet began to feel sore. Then I correctly assumed they would remain that way until I finished.

To avoid utter boredom from the mindless running I began to focus on the pain. Why? The pain was manageable enough to continue but with the lack of focus on any particular thought that entered my mind. I realized I needed start locking on to a consistent thought and in this case is was the soreness in my feet. Plus, I had not brought my iPod on the run with me.

At mile 21 I saw my coach standing in the middle of the runners. It was a really great feeling to see someone I recognized the first time in more than 10 miles. He gave a few words of congrats as I passed and told me I was in great form. My speed then begun to pick up and I decided at mile 23 that I was not going to stop and that I was going to try to make up as much time as I could.

When 23 rolled around I continued to pick up my pace and focused on the finish line.

During the course of the race there were a number of things that I really enjoyed. One was the water/Gatorade/medical station after each mile. Usually there were a bunch of middle school kids holding out cups of fluids to the runners passing by.

Something else I saw were school marching bands, particularly the percussion kids drumming on the side of the course. It was an amazing feeling to hear those beats and it usually resulted in a faster pace for most of the runners.

One thing I would really like to point out were the fantastic police, fire fighters and EMTs that were at every step of the way during the course. They made sure traffic stopped for us so our pace went uninterrupted. They were also there for our safety and well being as I saw a few runners getting medical assistance through out the race.

Finally what I enjoyed the most was the fans and families at every turn or driveway cheering us on. Some families would sit out in lawn chairs in Coconut Grove to encourage us and sometimes the children would be handing out orange slices to the runners. It is amazing how delicious an orange slice is during the last 10 miles of a marathon.

At every fan filled corner or road I felt my pace accelerate tremendously as I ran through the crowds. That was the best feeling of all, because it was like a shot of energy and confidence, which left no question of not finishing.

My final time came in at 4h:41m:18s (see the cool stats).

I am very satisfied with the time for my first marathon, especially considering my condition prior to heading to Miami and the many times I had to stretch and walk along the 26.2 mile course.

I am signing up for the San Francisco Marathon and I will more than likely head to Miami again next year. I am already planning on how to get my time down to 4h:20m or better.

The last thing I would like to say is, thank you to all the friends and family who contributed to my fund raising as well as giving words of encouragement before and congratulations after my run. I really do appreciate all of it!

rob.

P.S - I am still raising money for my $3,000 commitment to the AIDS Foundation. If you are able and would like to contribute you can do so below.

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JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge - 9/13/06
Running in the AIDS Marathon
Running in San Francisco
Buckle up and stay safe this holiday (and every other day of the year)

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