Miami Half Marathon

I can now say I'm officially a Half Marathoner! What an amazing race!

We started out before dawn (had to be in the corrals by 5:55) but neither of us could sleep anyway so getting up wasn't a big deal. There were 15,500 people running so it was a bit of a zoo near the start line, although it was very well-organized. The atmosphere was great - everyone was excited to be there. The temperature was also perfect - about 13 degrees.

The race started at 6:15 but because of the number of people, it was almost 6:30 before we even reached the start line. The first part of the course was incredible, running across the bridge beside the cruise ships. Because it was so early, it was still dark but the ships were all lit up and looked so pretty! The support along the course was good too - there was a police boat in the water along beside us, sounding its siren at everyone. There were 3 helicoptors hovering above us as we ran across the bridge. Really neat!

Running along Ocean Drive was fun - all kinds of little cafes and restaurants, with people sitting outside cheering us on.

At about the 18km mark, I was starting to get really tired. I knew I'd be able to finish but my pace was starting to slow down and I felt like I needed more frequent walk breaks. Luckily, it was also at about that point when there started to be more people lining the course and cheering us on so that motivated me to keep moving.

I finished in 2:31:39. I had been hoping for 2:30 but since it was my first one, I was happy just to have finished it.

All in all, it was a great race and one I wouldn't mind doing again some year.