Florida Half Marathon 2023

It has been a while since my last post. I have been wrestling with piriformis syndrome for a year now. It didn’t stop me completely, I wouldn’t let it. Although I had to stop running for several weeks then took all summer to ease into a run-walk scenario. Suprisingly, that was very enjoyable. I gradually increased my run time while decreasing walk time over several months and still racked up the miles, sometimes 18 miles for my morning workout. Rember “things take time”.

When October rolled around, I had created a solid base for Boston marathon training in April 2023. As of November 28, the training began. Since speed work was the bane of my injury, it was minimized with no great pace expectations. I scheduled a half marathon in February, https://thefloridamarathon.com/ which would be a good measure of my fitness leading into key marathon training for March.

February 12, 2023, Melbourne Florida Half Marathon start time at 6:30 am. Stayed at Hotel Melby, a very short walk (maybe 3/4 of a mile) from race events. This was a Half Fanatic & Marathon Maniac event so I received an extra hat and was privy to some other goodies upon finishing.

The packet pickup was located right near the start and finish at the Front Street civic center. Small but offering everything needed going into the race.

Start time for the full marathon was 6 am and the half at 6:30 so we ran about 15-20 minutes with lighting only from street lights. The course was flat except for two overpasses which were quite rewarding for this New York runner who is always facing hills during training.

There was plenty of music and encouragement along the course. The pacers seemed to be spot on. I followed the 1:55 pacer for 2 miles clocking an 8:31 pace exactly. This seemed slow as I was constantly checking myself back so I moved up until catching the 1:50 pacer. This was fine until crossing the first overpass when I felt a bit to good for being in a race. While I didn’t want to push my piriformis, I did want to see what it could do with minimal discomfort. At about the 8 mile point, it began to ache but slightly so no big concern.

Here is the recap of my morning.

Alarm off at 4:10 am so I could eat a Clif Bar and shoot down a 5-Hour energy. I do this early ONE so my stomach doesn’t get upset with food digestion and TWO that energy shot gets my system moving so I don’t have “go” once I begin the race.

The temperature was 65 degrees with 14 mph wind that was only going to get stronger as the morning progressed. It felt cold. I ran in pocket shorts to hold my gels, a tank with a back pocket for my phone (thank you #Rabbitrunning) and my current favorite race shoe, Asics Meta Speed Sky. Complements were made during the race regarding my neon orange shoes.

After running by the 1:50 pacer, I took a UCAN gel at about 6 miles. At this point I steadied my pace. I wanted to remain consistent up that last overpass on bridge route 192 because from there it was downhill to the finish at Front St park. I felt good. I didn’t push any hard effort so I know I could have run better if I wasn’t so concerned about re-injury going into Boston. Better to play it safe.