Publix Ft. Lauderdale A1A Half Marathon Recap!
I ran a half marathon on Sunday! For me, it was more of a “fun run” than a race. I’ve (crazily?) registered for a 50 mile race at the end of April, and because of my recent hamstring issues, I’m behind on my long runs. My plan was to run a few miles before the start and then treat this race as continuation of a long run. The day started when my alarm went off at 3 am (AUUUUGH!!!) I got my gear together and then picked up Darlene! Honestly, I wouldn’t have signed up for this race if it weren’t for Darlene. I’ve been focusing on longer trail races lately, and felt like I had no business running a road race. But, Darlene was doing it and I knew it would be fun to do together. We got to the parking area at 4:30- PLENTY of time to spare, since the start time was 5:50. But we had to wait in a long line to take a shuttle to the start. I did think about just running to the start, but it was dark (obviously), I didn’t really know where I was going, and I decided spending some extra time with Darlene was more important. We finally got to the start at 5:30. I had forgotten how exciting the start of a race is! At this point, I was actually wishing I were doing the full marathon (we’ll come back to that thought later.) I only had time to run about 1.75 miles before the race- I was still doing my “bonus” miles when the race started, and I crossed the starting line at the very back of all the runners. I actually highly recommend this, if you’re not racing for a specific time! I didn’t have to stand around waiting. And, it was fun to work my way up from the back and pass a lot of people- it made me feel like I was running fast (WHICH I WASN’T!) Luckily we were running on wide streets at this point, so it wasn’t too congested. We ran over a bridge (the only “hill” of the race) and onto A1A- in time to see the sunrise (photo at the top of this post!) I definitely treated this as a long run. I didn’t do any planned walking intervals, but I did walk if there was a good reason. Good reasons included taking a drink, getting out a gel, or taking a photo. I had NO time goal whatsoever. We ran up A1A and into Birch State Park. When my husband and I first moved to Florida, we lived in Ft. Lauderdale for a couple years, and I did many runs in this park. And here’s a fun fact- we got married in this park! I actually took a little detour to get a photo of our wedding spot. You may be thinking- why did you get married THERE? It doesn’t look that special! Well, here’s what it looked like 25 years ago: Let’s talk about the weather. It was hot. The forecast for the day showed a high of 86, and it was around 72 when we started. While we were in the park I started to feel the heat, and at every water station I drank a cup and poured a cup over my head. I was worried about Darlene- not because I question her abilities as a runner, but because she had no time to get acclimated to the heat. She told me where she lives (upstate New York) 20 degrees is a warm day. Yikes. Anyway, we ran out of the park and continued on A1A. There were a lot of turnarounds in this race, with opportunities to see runners ahead and behind you. I kept looking for Darlene, but I figured I missed her- which wouldn’t be surprising, because this was a big race. Finally we turned and headed back to the finish line. Those last several miles would have been the most brutal heat-wise, but there was a stiff headwind. It was so strong, I felt like I was running in slow motion, but I welcomed it because it saved us all from having a heatstroke. And then guess who I saw just ahead of me… Darlene!!! She’ll be doing her own race recap, but I’m here to tell you she did GREAT. She really toughed it out in difficult conditions- this was not an easy race! We chatted briefly, and then I ran on ahead. Right before the finish, the half marathoners were herded forward while the marathoners made a u-turn… and I thought “I’m SO GLAD I’m not doing the marathon!!!” (Think Veruca Salt when she says “Daddy, I do NOT want a boat like this!” That’s how I felt.) Anyway… I finished! I thought I would run some more, since I didn’t get to run much before the race. But the situation really wasn’t conducive. Even after I got out of the finish area, it was very crowded. I also now had this huge medal: Obviously I took it off, but even carrying it was annoying- those little charms made clinking noises and it was heavy! Also, my hip flexors were killing me (the pain in my hamstring moved to my glutes and then, weirdly, to my hip flexors.) I ran a little to end at an even 15 miles, and called it a day. I went back to meet Darlene at the finish! They had lots of food- none of which sounded appealing to us. We marveled at all the people eating hot dogs and tacos and drinking beer at 8:30 am. We each had a popsicle and those REALLY hit the spot. This race was fun- I’m very happy Darlene convinced me to do it! My only complaint would be, the shirts are hideous. This went right into my Goodwill donation bag: