A1A Half Marathon wrap-up (day two)
Continuing from day one………………………………
“Never Trust a Fart”
That was a sign I saw while running the race. It had personal implications!
When I awoke at 12:00 midnight, I had severe cramps and an urgent desire to go to the bathroom.
This isn’t the exact sign, but runners will appreciate it!
Some may wish to skip the next paragraph or two as it is a bit graphic.
I ran to the bathroom where I experienced what is termed in the medical profession as, “explosive diarrhea”. The cause seems to have been those hot dogs mentioned in the day one recap as everything else I ate was gluten-free and fresh.
I continued running to the bathroom and returning to bed for the next 4 1/2 hours. A total of 26 trips in all…which has to be some sort of record!
The good news, when I returned home, I had lost 7 pounds over the weekend.
The bad news….the cause of an old nemesis reared its ugly head. 😦
The last words my wife said to me before I left for the race, “Remember to hydrate, as you are probably very dehydrated by now”. I hate it when she is right!
At approximately 4:55 am, I left the hotel and went to the VIP parking lot located at the Bahia Mar hotel. Rarely do I have complaints about this race, but this time, I will make an exception.
In previous years, VIP parking for this event was located directly at the finish line. I would assume that the powers that be at the City of Fort Lauderdale no longer wanted the liability of cars parking where runners were finishing or wanted more money for the race promoters to use this area, or both.
In any event, the VIP parking was moved across the street to the Bahia Mar. Unfortunately, the staff at the Bahia Mar must not have been informed that a bunch of people would be using their parking lot at 4:30 in the morning. Eventually, I was able to find a parking spot at the very rear of the parking lot. That wasted about 15 minutes. Ever try to find a parking spot in a dimly to non-existent lit parking lot at 5 in the morning?
Now, it was time to walk to the bus pick up point. Which was probably further away from the VIP parking than our hotel! When I finally got to the bus pick up spot, the line was a lined up on a significant portion of the road running north on A1A. It took six buses to get the people in front of me loaded and on their way to the race. Finally, I got on the next bus and was on my way.
The ride to the start line was uneventful, unlike last year where we had to get off the bus on Broward Boulevard and run to the start line, but, I arrived, apparently, after the start of the race. It isn’t a big deal as your time doesn’t start until you cross the starting line, but still, I like to have some time just in case I had to use the bathroom….which at this time was my greatest fear!
I started the race and at my first interval, hear my pace of 15:40 and thought, “this is going to be fun”! My second interval announcement came 2 minutes later and was 12:52, so things were looking up.
Mile 1: Time: 12:42 Pace: 12:42.
Mile 2: Time: 25:21 Pace: 12:39
Mile 3: Time: 38:13 Pace: 12:52
5K Time 39:10 A personal Best!!!
Making the turn up A1A the 5K mark.
I was running at a 12:45 pace and doing it quite easily!
Mile 4: Time: 51:50 Pace:13:36
Mile 5: Time: 1:05:26 Pace: 13:35
Mile 6: Time: 1:18:56 Pace: 13:29
Mile 7: Time: 1:33:08 Pace: 14:11
Remember that old nemesis I spoke of earlier? Well, here it is: Cramps!! The cramps started out in my right calf. That continued for two miles, then, cramps in my left calf, then cramps in both calves…for the remainder of the race.
Mile 8: Time:1:47:09 Pace: 14:00
Mile 9: Time: 1:59:38 Pace: 12:28!!!
I had a brief respite from the cramps, or more accurately, this is after the cramps in the right calf stopped and before the cramps in the left leg started! This was also my fastest mile.
Mile 10: Time: 2:14:24 Pace: 14:45 Ouch…here come the cramps in the left calf!
Mile 11: Time: 2:28:10 Pace: 13:45
Mile 12: Time: 2:43:08 Pace: 14:57
Ouch x 2 cramps in both calves. I had to stop and stretch. 😦
Mile 13: Time: 2:57:08 Pace: 13:59
Mile .63 aka .1: Time: 3:05:46 Pace: 13:41
Final results:
Endomondo: Distance: 13.63 mi Duration: 3:05:45 Pace:13:37
Official results: Distance: 13.1 mi Duration: 3:04:35 Pace:14:06
One issue was I ran an extra half a mile because some people still haven’t learned, that there are other people on the course, not just you! Dumbasses!!!!
The other issue was dehydration. And, boy, did I have that in spades! I barely sweat during this run, which even though the temperature was in the 60s, I sweat a lot and was pretty much dry at the end of the race.
I can’t be too upset with my performance as had I stayed on the pace of my first 3 miles, I would have had a pr and might have even broken the 2:30 barrier.
Here I am at the finish and note…”His hair was perfect”! (WZ)
The aftermath: For the fourth race in a row, I am in little pain. Just a little soreness in my calves and that is about it. I have been to the gym twice this week and tomorrow will be a run day.
Bathroom issues: There were none to report during or after the race. The 4 Advil I took did the trick and I was “locked up” and didn’t have to use the restroom until I got back to the hotel! 🙂
We had lunch at the hotel, a drink or two, enjoyed the view and headed home.
A Mojito and a Cosmopolitan finish celebration drink!
The view from the pool deck…7 floors up!
Now that I have time to train, I can set my intervals to 1 minute run, 1 minute walk, up from the previous setting of 30/60.
This will help in the weight loss as well as endurance and eventually speed.
The next race on the calendar is the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon in November…..unless something else comes up first!
Stay tuned……………………………………..
A1A Half Marathon wrap-up (day one)
Time for a recap of my 9th half marathon! Wow…I never thought I would say those words!
There were high hopes for this run…..were being the operative word!
During the two weeks prior to this race, as race director for our cub scout packs Pinewood Derby, I was busy making preparations for the event. This entails organizing everything, designing trophies, arranging a place for the race, and a whole host of things that take up a bunch of time. The reason for that is, that it was my first time running the entire event, with little left from the people who ran the event previously.
This meant, that everything I designed, would have to be sustainable for years to come. Luckily, that turned out to be the case as all of the “backroom” work has already been done for next years race. And even if I weren’t there to do it next year, someone else could easily step in to run everything.
The downside to this is that it took a lot of time…and most of that was leading up to the race itself, which was Friday night and Saturday morning prior to the A1A race! Our Derby will be scheduled a week earlier than the A1A race next year!!!!!!
Friday night we had “Test and Tune” which is where the Scouts register and tech in their cars. They also get to make time runs down the track and can modify their cars between runs. I tried to bring my drag racing experience to the event and by all accounts, it was a big hit.
Marshalls car
Marshalls official Drivers License
Time Trial Cards
During the week prior to the A1A race, I averaged 3 hours of sleep a night. Thursday, I decided to make some hot dogs for lunch. I got them out of the freezer, but they weren’t frozen! I didn’t think anything of it and just cooked them. Later that night….my stomach felt a little off.
Friday, I woke up to a very painful stomach along with cramps. Friday was a long day. I spent the majority of the day setting up the track for the race and decorating the hall where we have the race. Then, I had to get my Scout uniform and then, back to the hall to run Test and Tune.
This went on until about 9:00 pm. I came home, printed out programs for the race and went to bed.
Saturday morning I awoke to a painful stomach again…..and cramps…..at 3:00 am! I never did get back to sleep! I went to the hall, started the race and everything went smoothly and everyone seemed to have a great time!
After cleaning up, time to go home and leave for the hotel.
As we did last year, we used our Marriott Rewards points to book a room at the Ritz Carlton Fort Lauderdale Beach! No charge! Since it was Valentines Day, I spent a few dollars to get the beach side upgraded room. And, it was well worth it!
The bed
The view from our room…..
The bar……………..
Our official toast to start off a race! It’s a tradition!
After checking in and having a drink…….or three….time for dinner.
After last years tremendous meal at the H2O Cafe, we had no choice but to return!
Once again, the service and food was great. Our Server, Andre, was funny and was always right there to see if we needed anything.
They didn’t have the mussels that I ordered last year, but did have a suitable replacement.
Shrimp sautéed in a cognac saucewith cherry tomatoes, pinenuts and mushrooms.
The Shrimp Cipria was outstanding!!!! I could have had about 4 more plates of this…especially since Marshall ate most of the shrimp!
Time for the main course!
An array of fresh fish, mussels, clams shrimp and a touch of tomato.
Teala had the Risotto Da Vinci pictured above and I had the Prime Rib, pictured below.
Prime Rib
Slow roasted with au jus, served with mashed potatoes and vegetable of the day.
The wife decided that since she deferred to next year, she would have a treat to go along with her wine!
Key Lime Pie
As you can see…someone started before I could even get the picture!
After a delicious dinner, we walked back to the hotel, had a glass of wine on the balcony, then I went to bed. It was roughly 9:00 pm.
I woke up at midnight…a full three hours before my alarm was supposed to go off.
On day two of this blog…you will find out why and also a race recap.
Stay tuned………………………
Eric Van De Vens Blog 