The Good, The Bad and The UGLY- ING Miami Marathon Style!

As I shared yesterday, my first Marathon, 1 week ago on my 21st...I mean 31st Birthday went well.  I was a bit disappointed, but in the scope of the larger picture I think I did very well for training on my own, missing a lot of the filler runs and fueling properly.  BUT there were some Good things, some BAD things and 1 or 2 quite UGLY things that went with this race.  (the good outweighs the others by a TONS! )

The Good!

- My husband and I had our first night away with no kids in 1,493 days...yeah that's right just over 4 years...since our 4 year old was born.  AND it was quite possibly the most relaxing night.  I mean we were in bed at 8pm and up at 3:15am...slept in separate full sized beds and were not woken up once by a child.  (it was the most un-romantic night EVER! )

- We arrived on Friday night and our hotel was right on the water, directly behind Versace's house...great location.  We did a quick jog Saturday to get used to Miami weather and loosen up right on the beach.

-For the first time in a very long time I felt NO post run injury pain....which meant NO post run ice.  It was really the first time in months I did not ice my knees, feet, Achilles or anything.  Great feeling (even though my body was full of post race aches and soreness)

-Whatever I did Friday and Saturday worked because following 3 port-o-potty stops between 5am and 6:15am I did not stop once during the race to visit a port-o-jon!  I didn't eat crazy, but just pretty normal.  The best thing ever was the Starbucks VIA I got to make a quick cup of coffee in my hotel room (no coffee makers!)

-It was a great experience running a race on my Birthday.  I wish I had put something like "BD Girl" or something on my bib instead of "Heather."  It would have been great to be wished Happy Birthday by 1000's of people.

- I got to spend a fun filled 48 hours with friends and my husband...it was great to get away knowing that my mom had the boys.  The girls and I stayed in bed Saturday morning until 11am watching E! and then just relaxed the rest of the day until the husbands arrived.  We ate great food and had great conversation.

- I ran a marathon in 4:20 which was a sub 10 minute pace.  I know I am capable of so much more and I will find ways to drop that time considerably!

-I treated myself to some amazing hot pink Zensah recovery socks Monday morning...granted we will be eating Ramen noodles for weeks because of the price, but my lower legs loved it and I think they are heavenly...and pretty cute too!

-My husband (Oz) and Jens husband got along great and wore their backpack chairs...they watched the sun rise in the median of the road at the race start.  Quite a cute two-some!

The Bad

-Unfortunately the race t shirt was a bit less than stellar.  The shirt looks great...navy blue with one of the sleeves striped orange and white, but the cut is NOT for a female.  The seams come right across my chest...and the sleeves come down past my elbows...LOVELY!

- Sunday after the race I felt OK.  Monday morning I felt OK.  Monday afternoon I hit a wall straight on.  My legs killed...I was side shuffling around my house.  I also felt nauseous due because I was dehydrated. I don't think I drank nearly enough fluids after the race...and my skin was covered with salt when I finished.

-I am a light sleeper and the first night I shared a room with my 2 friends...needless to say they snored and I ended up sleeping in the bathtub.  It was a little small, but nice a quiet!

-Yes our hotel was in a fabulous location, but it seemed more like the hostel I stayed in while backpacking through Ireland.  The rooms looked like "sheek" dorms and there were people coming and going all night long.  It was a loud couple of nights...

The Ugly

-Ahhhh my toe. I never felt any pain when I was running, but when I got back to the hotel I noticed blood all over the top of my sneaker.  When I removed my shoe my sock was completely red and under the sock my foot was all bloody.  (I did take a picture but I will spare you from that visual...)

Hope your weekend is going great.