ING Miami Half Marathon

3rd Place Overall, 1:10:10

1-29-2006; 6:00AM- Miami, FL; 75-degrees, 10-12 mph headwinds
SPLITS- 5:40, 11:04 (5:23), 21:49 (10:44), 27:06 (5:16), 32:15 (5:09), 10K- 33:06, 37:22 (5:06), 42:46 (5:23), 48:06 (5:19), 53:02 (4:55), 58:33 (5:31), 1:03:53 (5:19), 6:17

* Whoa.. what a race. My legs felt pretty good pre-race, not much tightness from yesterday's 5K, and that was good, but my stomach was a complete mess. No idea why. Anyhow, once again, the wind was outrageous. I truly felt bad for the marathoners out there. To battle that wind for 13 miles was enough, for 26, unreal. We started out cautiously, as the first 4 miles would be into the most direct of headwinds, up to 12 mph or perhaps more. No one wanted to work. No one wanted to lead. Everyone just wanted to tuck in and have someone else block the wind. Thank goodness that I was one of the smallest guys in the field, as I was able to tuck in behind some 6-footers and attempt to run as comfortably as possible in the darkness.

I don't think the human body, at least mine, is ready to run sub-5:10 pace at 6AM on a Sunday morning. I felt like a fish in school, swarming left and right across the road with the movement of the pack. I felt content to just tuck in and stick with my race plan, which was to begin racing after 5 miles. Try to avoid the wind as much as I could. As we passed the opening mile in 5:40, there was a collective laugh from the group. Could it get any slower?

I was trying to key off of pre-race favorite, Ronnie Holassie, as I thought I could give him a challenge. He would continually send off Kenyan Paul Mwangi to break the wind for him and push the pace, using Mwangi as a shield to break away. I noted this and followed immediately. However, I got a little rough at about 5-6 miles, with my left leg starting to give me problems (an issue I have dealt with on and off for years). For the next couple of miles I served as a personal race escort to one of the Russian marathoners, as I tried to work out of my funk. The lead pack was not getting away, but I wasn't capable of gaining either, as my leg was just shut-down and I was not fluid at all.. just working way too hard, too early in the race. But alas, at about 9-10 miles, all systems were go, and I took off..

Probably too hard. I dropped a 4:55 mile in order to catch the leaders, but I was in a zone and feeling good. I completely focused and finally caught what ended up being 3rd place after the 11-mile mark. I was starting to get apprehensive that perhaps I had awoken too late in the race. I would have to run another 15:40-something 5K in order to at least get runner-up, but I was on my way. When I caught 3rd, he (Dan from Atlanta) surged with me. This caused me to accelerate even more, as I wanted to discourage him immediately, but he stayed with me. Finally, he broke and I was gaining on 2nd, but soon by 12 miles, I was pretty much bankrupt. I slowed to a crawl, my body unwilling to give more. But I had to hold on. I had the over-whelming feeling that 4th would catch me quite soon if I didn't get going, and man, was I trying. Finally, I got some life into me and made another charge for home, but I would come up short of 2nd, 1:09:45, by 25 seconds.

Oh well, it was one heck of an exciting roller-coaster of a race. It was definitely the hardest 1:10 I have ever run in a half. The surging, the conditions, everything contributed to the race. Perhaps I would have had more if I did not race the day before, but this was my time to experiment and I'm pleased with the results. I'll take 3rd, 1:10 (my pre-race prediction based on the conditions), and the $100 and airplane ticket for top local runner.

Now my goal is to duplicate this effort at Boston and run a 2:20:20 or thereabouts... :) Perhaps the best surprise of the day was my wife's 1:32:43 performance. How she continues to whip these races out of nowhere with limited training just blows me away. Her performance was strong enough for 4th place in the 25-29 age group, and she even split 43:18 for her 10K, which is what she has been racing at recently! Also, a big congratulations to my dad for his rabbiting duties of boss and friend, Carlos Pino, and his mighty impressive 2:10:14 Half Marathon debut! Congratulations to everyone!

Tropical 5K

15:41, 1st Place Overall (Course Record)

1-28-2006, 7:30AM- Miami, FL; 70-degrees, 15 mph headwind, gusting to 20 mph
SPLITS- 4:57, 9:58 (5:00), 15:10 (5:11), :31

* Alright, a good morning overall. Was disappointed with the weather conditions, but what a great event. There must have been over 2,000 runners, and about 200 "celebrities" (almost everyone that has ever done anything gains celebrity status in Miami, it seems), including Emilio Estefan and Alfonso Soriano. Anyhow, the course was a point-to-point gorgeous run over the causeway with billion dollar cruiseships on your right and multi-million dollar homes on your left. I, however, was unable to enjoy the scenery, as I basically ran the 5K with my head down the whole way battling the up to 20 mph headwinds.

Talk about a hurricane, it was so windy today, and with the course being run East into the direct headwind, that my experiment of running steady the day before a major race, almost went awry, as I did have to work a little harder than I would have liked because of the wind. I was actually quite surprised that I was clicking off sub-5 minute miles into the wind, but I wanted to get off the bridge as soon as I could and get the run over with, that's how windy it was. Josh Brashears caused me to get a bit nervous, as he hung on gamely through the mile before falling back and finishing in second with a 16:49 for the former Penn State star.

Otherwise, I cooled down easily in preparation for tomorrow's half marathon and enjoyed a nice conversation with Frank Shorter and my wife while eating bagels and our infamous cream cheese (long story) at the post-race party. Shorter told some great war stories and reminded me why I train so hard. It was actually a nice conversation about running in general... about Fukuoka and going out in 29:33 for the opening 10K. How he liked racing marathons alone and in front... about fuel issues in a marathon... about training.

The awards were great, as I got to be presented with my award by Major League Baseball star, Alfonso Soriano, of the Washington Nationals and the Dominican Republic.

And now, the rest of the day will be dedicated to recovery, as my boss called and has allowed me to skip tonight's game versus South Dakota State in order to rest for the nice 4AM wake-up and 6AM ING Miami Half Marathon...

Perla and her lost child... not really, just one heck of a cute angel from Montana...

Monkey Madelyn Series

Thought these were beautiful pictures of my beautiful daughter...

Chispa

Date III: Best Restaurant to Take Out-of-Towners

This time around, it was my turn to choose a restaurant, and since my wife is not from Miami, why not go with the Miami New Times selection for the Best Restaurant to Take Out-of-Towners, the Spanish, Chispa Restaurant.

Of all our dates so far, Chispa has the most creative interior design. Very modern, lots of usage of reds and blacks, comfortable luxorious leather seats and wooden tables, buffalo-skin lamp shades, but a couple of corny art pieces that incorporate Chispa's logo (sparks).

Anyhow, everyone we mentioned that we were headed to Chispa said make sure to bring money, as it is expensive, but we planned ahead of time to purchase a bottle of wine, and so we did with the assistance of our wine experts, Chad James and Tito Quinones. We settled upon an Argentinian Malbec, Louis Bosca. Chispa mentioned that they would not assign a corkage fee. And so, we were in business.

Once inside, it was gorgeous, but sort've wished I would have asked for a more romantic spot other than near the front door. However, the seats had plenty of room to sit comfortably side-by-side, and so we opened our bottle of wine, and ordered. I was immediately drawn to the "Classic Grilled 20 oz. Skirt Steak" with Mashed Potatoes. I think I'm just a sucker for anything "classic" in the title. Sounds like they know what they're doing. Perla ordered the Organic Chicken a la Plancha. Typical Perla plate.

My plate was absolutely delicious. Imagine a skirt steak rolled up and pinned with a generous serving of mashed potatoes; the meat delicately cooked, soft and bloody on the inside, yet crispy and crunchy on the exterior. It was almost perfect (the end tasted a little too much like oil/grease). Perla enjoyed her plate as well, but my skirt steak here is now my favorite all-time plate. Absolutely what I have been wanting since my bachelor party churrasco...

Interesting story: the bill comes after some Cuban Coffee, and there is a $10 corkage fee. I mention to the waitress that we were told we would not be charged a corkage fee. She says she'll speak to the Manager. She returns, says there is always a corkage fee, the best we can do is half it. I respond, now knowing retail after my 3 years at On the Run, "that is bad business. We could have chosen to go elsewhere." She returns with the corkage fee removed, but obviously did not want to. Cost actually was very decent. $25 less than Caffe da Vinci. ***.5/***** stars. Their only weakness was that since they are a Spanish restaurant, they did not have any respectable desserts. But that was fine with me, as my mom had cooked some of her infamously delicious brownies back home..

Until next time, Chispa did not disappoint, my meal was great, our date was great, we sang Matisyahu on the way home and talked like teenagers again. Very nice date. Who knows where next...

Lou Gehrig's Disease 10K

Perla, Madelyn, and I with the Garrity Family

32:25, 1st Place Overall

1-21-2006, 7:30 AM- Coral Gables, FL; 80-degrees/Windy

Splits- 4:52, 10:00 (5:08), 15:12 (5:12), 20:43 (5:31), 26:23 (5:39), 6:02

* Interesting race. I decided just to go out and see what I would run since it was so windy, I threw the time out the window and figured to run about a 32-minute 10K. Surprised that I went through the mile in 4:52, but I kept my rhythm and tried to keep the pace, but I didn't want to struggle. By Mile 4, the opening mile started sinking in and I started struggling a little with tightness in my left hamstring/leg, so I shut it down a little bit, but not to the point of 5:30-miles, as I feel the mile markers might have been off since I don't think I closed in a 5:00 final mile... perhaps closer to 5:15 or so.

Anyway, it was a fun race for a great cause. I got to see my boss (Mike Garrity) and his wife out at the race, which was great. He is, as we say in Cuban, buena gente, a phenomenal human being who has allowed me to really gain experience in event management, and one whom will mentor me in my career and make me who I am in my field of study. His wife's father passed away to ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, and it was great to see them out there. It was also great to see the FIU guys out there, as Egon Vollmer won the 5K and Jose Castro placed 2nd in the 10K.

Otherwise, I was a bit disappointed in my effort. "Tempo" efforts are not feeling comfortable after three miles, and I need to work on that. I understand I definitely went out too fast, but now I've learned to pace it a bit better. I think for the ING Miami Half Marathon, I will aim for 5:10-5:15 miles early on and if I feel great after 10K, I'll put down the hammer. A fun day, especially with Madelyn's "balloon" and then later than night she was a cheerleader for the FIU basketball games. Perla place 2nd overall with her 43:11 effort, as well.

Martin Luther King 5K

14:50, 1st Place Overall

* Completely crazy race. I had sort've planned on this double ahead of time (racing both the Audi Scholarship 10K and the Martin Luther King 5K), but I had my doubts, especially after my dismal performance yesterday (time-wise, not effort-wise). However, learning of Ronnie Holassie's trip to Houston to race in the US Half Champs solidified my plans to race, since I figured there was no way he was going to line up for this 5K, even with the airplane ticket on the line. So, worst-case scenario, is that I would run 16-minutes and at least win some plane tickets for psychological consolation of my race weekend.

Well, a Rodriguez-race trip is never without difficulties, and so we arrived with 15-minutes to spare before the race, which barely gave me time to warm-up, which might have been a blessing. I was very tight and stiff with a lot of muscle soreness, but I did some strides, and while I was running guess who I saw jogging around the course: Ronnie Holassie and Kenyan Paul Mwangi! Great, I thought. What the heck are they doing here!? What was I doing here!? Holassie is the legendary runner in Miami. A 2:13-Marathoner who led the 2000 Sydney Olympic Marathon through halfway (finishing 32nd), he is a world-class talent from Trinidad & Tobago and a world-class person. However, I knew he had to be tired after running 1:07:18 the day before, especially for a 39-year old phenom. I'm getting old, but not that old...

So, after getting in trouble again for using nature's restroom (long story), my wife tells me that she hears that Mwangi, the Kenyan, will be rabbitting Holassie through 2 miles on a very fast pace. I figure, what the heck, what do I have to lose. I was just going to hang with them until I could no longer, until my hamstrings tightened up too much or until I completely fell apart. I had nothing to lose, as the prize (American Airlines World Ticket) only went to the victor.

The cannon (literally, a cannon) boomed and off we went. Did I mention this race was on MLK Blvd. in inner-city Miami? So, I was probably in 30th place through the quarter, in which several young men and a couple girls went through in under 55-seconds. I crossed over the street and immediately tucked in behind Mwangi and Holassie. I couldn't really run behind them as they were obviously faster than me. Holassie looked so smooth, and Mwangi, well, he just looked Kenyan, but since I had defeated him yesterday over 10K, I did not truly consider him a threat, though over 5K he could be even more dangerous. Anyway, there were no mile splits, so I did my best to just compete, and man, was I sprinting. I just hung on to my 20m gap behind Holassie and Mwangi, and I think somewhere by a mile, Mwangi fell off, and I was left alone chasing Holassie down MLK Blvd. among throngs of fans lining the streets. Holassie, the several-time champion of this 23rd Annual event, was the obvious favorite, as almost everyone knew his name. I kept hanging tough, virtually sprinting the whole way. By 2 miles, I pulled even with Holassie and we just ran side by side, at times he would pull ahead and at others I would. Finally, we took one last right hand turn (the course was a square) on what I figured was the last turn home, checked my watch, which read 11-something, so I figured we had to have about 800 meters remaining and started to gap Holassie. I had felt strong the whole way, with no muscle fatigue, but the sad part was that I was running all-out and had been for the past 12-minutes so I didn't know how I was going to out-kick him or win. However, my move and strength was enough as I pulled away significantly over the last 600 meters to win in a new course record, 14:49 (rounded to 14:50- the old was Holassie, 14:54 in '00) and a nicely unexpected road PR.

This picture speaks volumes of my effort:

What a great race and experience. I was feeling very down after yesterday's race, as I know I have been working well and capable of such a performance, but for it to come the day after a solid 10K effort, was icing on the cake. I figure I just ran 4:45's every single mile, without much variation. It was so satisfying to have no muscle tightness or fatigue other than the feeling of wanting to puke with 400m to go. My whole body just wanted to get sick.

Afterwards, I had to work the Martin Luther King, Jr. Parade and I walked over 30 blocks in a procession celebrating the great leader of our nation. It was fun and a good way to work out the muscle soreness, post-race. Next up will be another low-key 10K in favor of a workout and then the big one: the ING Miami Half Marathon course record attempt...

Audi Scholarship Run 10K

32:20, 2nd Place Overall

1-15-2006, 7:50AM; Parkland, FL / 50-degrees, windy
Splits- 10:27, 5:08, 5:19, 5:11, 5:15, :56

* A bit of a disappointing race. I was aiming to run 5:05-pace, but with the arrival of four Kenyans, I decided to race a little tactical. I did not know how fast these guys were going to be, so I hung back a little at the start to surprise them, and before I knew it, the eventual winner, Mike Korir was gone... he would go on to set a course and city record 30:31 on the cold, windy morning. Anyway...

I did not catch the first mile marker in order to recognize that I had gone out too slowly. I hit two miles in about 10:25 and almost freaked out. I wanted to be closer to 10:10, but I was running too conservatively, so I set off after the lead Kenyan (who I thought was running 4:45 pace) and immediately dropped my two African pursuers. However, I could not reel in the leader and he put in quite a bit of distance on me into the headwind from 3-5 miles, as my legs were tight, but I rallied to finish strongly over the last 1.2 miles. The finishing time was a bit of a disappointment, but the effort was pretty solid, as I did defeat Paul Mwangi of New York (KEN) for the first time. I believe his time was closer to 33:30 or so on the course.

Well, at least I ran close to goal half marathon pace and so I will take the race as a good workout, and of course, my wifey got to get in a good run with her 42:39, first place in the 25-29 age group performance. Now, some breakfast with my brother and his wife and then hopefully some rest before tomorrow's race and parade...

Boston Marathon Track Workout

Thursday, 1-12-2006
Goal Workout
1200, 1200, 1600, 1200, 1200, 1600 with 2' jog between 1200's and 4' jog after 1600
Goal Pace
3:40, 4:55

Actual Workout Pace
3:41, 3:40, 4:59, 3:42, 3:39, 4:53

Caffe da Vinci

Date II: Best Expensive Italian Restaurant

Date II of the on-going Perla and Gaby dating series coincided with our 3-year Wedding Anniversary. And so, this being our most special day of the year, I decided to research Miami's Most Romantic Restaurant, and lo-and-behold, Caffe da Vinci was the name most often mentioned in this category. And so to the Bay Harbor Islands, we headed...

With reservations at 7:30 PM, my plan was to leave by 6 PM so we could take the scenic route up South Beach and into Bay Harbor, one of South Florida's most affluent communities. However, my plan also included staying over my older brother's house in Pembroke Pines for a low-key local 5K road race the following morning with my wife... and it included consuming a wonderful Christmas/Anniversary gift from Chad James, a bottle of Walla Walla Vinters 2002 Colubmia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. So, by the time we completely packed for our weekend with the race and brunch with my brother and his wife, we left the houst a 7 PM, in danger of being late.

We actually arrived at 7:40 PM at Caffe da Vinci, and after valet parking the luxurious Jetta, we entered a very warm environment of red walls, brown tables, and many pictures of the famous artist. We started immediately on the bottle of wine, letting it breathe a little, and snacking on some bruschetta and bread. My wife ordered the Trio Veneziano, while I ordered the infamous Ossobucco, a veal shank with saffron rissotto. The food was absolutely delicious and worth the wait and the wine seemed to last forever. We topped off the meal, and our wine, with dessert, an Amaretto Mousse brownies, a la mode. Yum.

Amazingly I drove home without difficulty, although I called an exit a workout for some reason (race on the mind) on the Turnpike, but otherwise, it was a wonderfully romantic evening that ended at my brother's house watching a hilarious home video of Hurricane Wilma that my brother and his friend pieced together during the storm. What a powerful hurricane! and amazing how funny a couple of delirious, stressed out adults can be.

Date III is on the horizon, and perhaps it will be soon, as my wife has been offered and accepted a teaching position (4th Grade) at a local elementary school in Homestead. Stay tuned...

St. Jude/Jason Federman 5K

15:32, 1st Place Overall

1-07-2006, 7:15 AM; Sunrise, FL (Marham Park) / 44-degrees
Splits- 5:03, 10:06 (5:02), 15:00 (4:54), :31

A solid workout. Bypassed a workout earlier in the week in favor of this low-key race, which was for a great cause. Even better, my wife won the Women's Overall Title in 20:21, and my little brother captured 2nd place overall in 16:45. It was pretty much a Rodriguez-dominated event as we infiltrated the small town of Sunrise.

Anyway, my goal was to at least run 10K pace, which I pretty much did. We headed out into a 14 mph headwind on the out-and-back course, so I was disappointed at my opening mile, but I was working well. Hit the turnaround strongly and had some solid running between 2-2.75 miles. Had no struggle the entire race and felt strong and in command, so I was very pleased. Race turned out to be a good rust-burner, and was pleased with an excellent week of training at 91 miles.

Next race will be the Audi Scholarship 10K in Parkland, FL, on Sunday, January 15th. Will be aiming for a sub-31:30, as of now.

The World's Tallest Runner

Meet Luke Beevor of Great Britain and a member of the Florida State University Cross Country and Track teams. Luke is the biggest guy I have ever met... he's a monster! He is taller than all of the basketball players I have met. And he's fast too... He has run 8:17 for 3000m and 14:25 for 5000m. Talk about stride length. Let's just say that Madelyn was a bit scared to meet Luke, my little brother's teammate at FSU. We had a nice 8-mile run through Miami in beautiful 70-degree weather on the local canals. Oh, he is 6'9-6'10" for those interested in his actual height.

Boston Marathon Workouts

Three Busy Days...

Saturday, 12-31-05
Goal Workout:
2 x (300, 300, 600, 1000) at 2/3 Effort with 1:40 jog rest / 4' between sets
Actual Workout:
2 x (:50, :51, 1:42, 2:57 / :52, :51, 1:45, 3:00)

Sunday, 01-01-06
Workout:
17 miles in 1:43:38 with pickups of 1', 3', 10', 3', 1' at 5:15-5:20 pace

Monday, 01-02-06
Workout:
3 mile warm-up, 9 x 1:30 up 120th Bridge (jog down recovery), 3 mile cool-down in 1:19:02