Moving further afield!! by Heather_B

Hi to all my old blogging friends!  I can't believe it is almost a year since I've been on here - I've been meaning too for ages but just never seemed to get round to it!

I'll try to fit 9 months into a couple of paragraphs!  Back to last summer, after feeling like sh*t for a long time I finally took a complete break from running.  I went to the docs to get my blood tested & was actually quite relieved to find out I was iron anaemic - I had started to think it was all in my head!  I started onto iron tablets around the start of August & by the time I came home from Bulgaria I felt rested & ready to start hitting the roads again.

After a few weeks I was back into marathon training for my 5th marathon - Miami on 31st January 2010.  Training went well & it was great to feel normal again when running & not have the overwhelming fatigue I'd felt all summer.  Colin, Glenn & I then left for Miami on Thursday 28th January which would give me 2 full days to try and aclimatise.  Miami was totally amazing & there was a fanstatic buzz about the place as it was in full super-bowl prepartion for the following week. 

The race started outside the American Airlines arena at 6.15am and when I stepped out of the hotel to head down to the start (10mins walk away), the heat & humidity was so high that I walked down in shorts & t-shirt.  The humidity at this time was 90% & to say I was nervous & apprehensive would be an understatement.  By the time I said my goodbyes to Colin (Glenn was still in bed!), I was in tears.  I lined up with the 4hrs 15pace group which I had signed up to at the expo, hoping I would be able to stay with them as long as possible.  I was so wanting to beat my London time of 4hrs 21mins, but I really hadn't a clue how I would cope in the humidity.  Once the National Anthem & a few fireworks were out of the way we set off turning onto the McArthur Causeway to head over to Miami Beach.  After 1 mile my hair and neck were soaked with sweat & was feeling quite tough.  I kept with my group and after another couple of miles started to get into my stride & enjoy the occassion a bit!  Running up Ocean Drive just as the day was breaking, getting handed cups of water by the most outrageous trannies was a mad experience!  All the water stations were paper cups of water & gatorade so the most sensible thing to do was to slow down to a walk in order to get as much liquid on board as possible. 

I seemed to feel stronger as the miles went by and was totally loving every minute.  Before I knew it we were crossing back over to downtown Miami and just past the halfway point I met Colin & Glenn shouting encouragement.  I hit the halfway point in 2hr 7mins so knew I was on target to beat London - I was still around my pace group, sometimes a bit ahead, sometimes a bit behind.  That was until I hit mile 16 when without warning the wheels seemed to come off!  I went from feeling really good to wondering if I could even finish the race, I was exhausted, overheating & in a panic!  I decided to slow it down & get to the next water station & then if necessary run/walk the remainder.  That water must have had something special in it because before I knew it,  the feeling passed & I started to push myself again to get back on track.  The miles counted down & finally I was on my last 6 miles, it was then mind games when I kept imagining I was running my fav. 6 mile route around Larne!  My legs were so sore but I knew if I kept pushing I would get a p.b., so I dug as deep as I could to keep the pace going & finally I was on the last mile.  I was so focused on keeping pushing the pace that Glenn & Colin were almost in the middle of the road shouting before I noticed them!  At long last I caught sight of the finish line & made an attempted sprint for it, finish in 4hrs 16mins 47secs.

I was totally elated - at long last the hard work had paid off & I had knocked 5 minutes off my time.  Now was the fun part - it was 10.35am & the ship we were booked onto, the Liberty of the Seas was heading to the Caribbean at 4pm that afternoon.  I was back to the hotel, showered changed, taxi to the port, embarked & sitting in the Windjammer cafe eating pizza by 12.55pm!!  Not too bad!  We had the most fabulous week's cruise around the Western Caribbean which was an amazing way to recover from my marathon exploits.

I would totally recommend the Miami marathon to anyone who want to combine running with a holiday in the sun.  Yes it is hot & humid, but the occasion & the scenery more than makes up for this.

Next in my running plans is the Robin Hood marathon on 12th September.  My aim this time will be sub 4hrs 10mins but I would love a sub 4hrs!!

I hope everyone who is training for London is enjoying it & things are going well.  I will be interested to hear what everyone thinks of Virgin & what way it will differ from Flora.
Happy running folks!!