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……………………………………..