Beating a Genie to the Finish Line

Greetings Friends! Even though Halloween is just around the corner, we are going to take a break from all things scary to share Stephen’s race report from this last weekend’s Cocoa Beach Half Marathon. So let’s unpack our bags and talk about beating a Genie to the finish line.

I Got No Plans

Following my pacing gig at the Chicago Marathon two weeks ago, I didn’t really have any plans to run any more races this year. With my heart related health issues, my training has been sporadic at best. But then…I got a text from my friend, Phil on Wednesday.

He wanted to know if I’d be interested in running a half marathon in Cocoa Beach on Sunday. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to run the race, but since I had a few friends who would be there, I thought we could at least go. I mean, a couple days on Cocoa Beach could be fun. So, I booked a room at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront for Saturday night and told Jill to pack an over night bag. (Fortunately for me she is ALWAYS ready for an adventure.) 

And AWAAAAY We Go!

After spending the morning at Epcot for some wining and dining, we made the hour drive to the space coast.

First stop, Carib Brewery to meet Phil. Not only did they have beer, packet pickup for the race was there too. So I decided to bite the bullet and register.

Surprise #1

After handing over $100, I was informed that I had to get a ticket to ride a BUS to the race. This was the first surprise. My very cursory look at the race details on-line showed the start and finish line right outside of our hotel. Had I looked a little closer I would have discovered the map for the 10K race and not the half marathon. Turns out the start line was at Hanger’s Beach, which was about 7 miles from where I thought it would be. 

Surprise #2

Whilst hanging out talking to other runners about the race and the course I found out that just under three miles of the race were run on the actual beach. This was surprise number two. Anyone who has run on sand before can tell you how not fun it is. (This is why I don’t sign up for races last minute without doing some research and studying the course in advance!)

Surprise #3

I also found out the finish line was on I Dream of Jeannie Lane and that was the theme for the race. Many of the runners I talked to said they would be running dressed as Jeannie or Major Nelson. Had I known this I would have made sure to pack my Jeannie costume to join in on the fun!

After checking into our hotel, we hung out at Longboards Tiki Beach Grille. This was our first time back here since last year’s Space Coast Half Marathon in November.

Our plan was to watch football and eat dinner before going out to the beach to watch the Space X launch scheduled for 10:17 pm. I almost made it to 7:30 before I decided there was no way I was going to stay up that late. I grabbed a chocolate croissant for breakfast from the Starbucks at the hotel and up to the room we went. I laid out my race kit and promptly fell asleep shorty thereafter. I guess they successfully launched the rocket but I didn’t hear a thing. 

The Morning

The alarm was set for 5 am and I found myself awake about five minutes before it went off. This is usually a good sign. It means I got a good night sleep and was well rested for what was to come next. After quickly downing my coffee and croissant, Jill walked me down to the parking lot where the busses were waiting to shuttle us to the start. Even though it was 65 degrees out, it was rather windy and I found myself to be cold. Fortunately Jill loaned me her sweatshirt that she picked up at goodwill some time ago so I wouldn’t freeze while waiting for the race to start.

The race was scheduled to start at 6:50 am. I told Jill I figured I’d be done between 8:30-8:50 am, having no idea if that was remotely accurate. After a quick kiss goodbye I was on the bus and headed to the start line. 

Visiting the House of Shame

Once at the start I did the thing I always do. I hopped in line to use the porta potties, which is always a treat. As I was waiting in line I noticed a trend that I’ve seen at many of my races this year. Instead of making multiple lines, spread out in front of the long row of porta potties, people are forming one long line. Am I the only one who thinks this is an ineffective and dumb way to do it?

As I opened the door when it was my turn I turned on the flashlight feature of my watch because these things can be kind of scary inside. Turns out it was a good thing I did. Much to my surprise there was a rather large frog sitting on the seat. Had I not looked before I sat he would have suffered a very unfortunate demise. Makes me wonder what the lady who was in there before me did?! After freeing the frog I took care of business and made my way outside to wait the half hour remaining before the race started. I was able to chat with Phil, as well as Sharon and Elizabeth, a couple of other friends who were down from Michigan for the race. 

The Planning

It was at this point I finally thought about what I was going to do during the race. My heart rate and  breathing were still an issue for me so I knew that running fast was out of the question. I decided that I would let my heart rate dictate the pace. I knew from my last half marathon in February when I went under 1:30 my average heart rate was 171 and my max was 190. The goal was to run whatever pace fell within this window. With the limited amount of running I had been doing I had no idea what pace that would be. 

The Anthem Report

Right before we lined up on the road to start the race they played the National Anthem. I was pleased that it was a recording instead of someone hacking it. If you didn’t already know, I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to how the anthem should be performed. 

And We’re Off

The weather report called for light winds and a temperature of 65 with humidity around 90%. It didn’t feel warm at that point because it was actually very windy. Turns out we were going to have a strong head wind for the first nine miles of the race. As the horn sounded and we took off my heart rate jumped up over 160 pretty quickly. The only data screen I had showing on my watch was heart rate. I didn’t want to get caught up on pace so I figured it best to not to focus on it, just checking to see where I was at as I hit the mile splits. 

Miles 1-5

There were only 242 runners in the race, compared to the over 48,000 I ran with two weeks ago in Chicago so I had plenty of elbow room. After hitting mile one in 7:16 I was a little worried that there would be no way for me to keep that pace up. I hadn’t attempted to run that fast in a while, certainly not for 13 miles. With the strong headwind I was eager to try and do some drafting on the people in front of me.  People were running in a single file line so I locked in behind a guy for the next few miles clocking splits of 7:10, 7:02, 7:08, and 7:09. My heart rate was staying steady and by this time was up just over 170 bpm. 

The Drafts – Miles 6-7

The guy I was working to draft with started to slow down so I thanked him as I passed and tried to maintain pace and catch up to the next person ahead of me. I caught up to a guy within a mile posting a 7:17 split and tucked in behind him for a bit. He kept pulling to the side and I tried to stay behind him. Eventually he slowed to almost a walk. As I went around him I offered to take the lead so he could draft and he wasn’t at all interested in working together. To be honest, he was kind of a jerk so I left him behind. I was a little rattled by this encounter and hit the 7 mile marker with a 7:15 split. I decided that my only goal from then on was to finish in front of him. He probably did me a favor as he ended up running a much slower time. 

Heading to the Beach – Miles 8-9

I knew that I had two more miles to go before hitting the beach so I just kept plugging along. My heart rate was now hovering between 175-180. Things were feeling tough but I was determined to hang on for as long as I could. My splits for the next two miles were 7:24 and 7:23. It was nice to see that even though I was working hard I was able to maintain a decent pace without my heart rate rising. The jerk was nowhere in sight as I made the right hand turn after mile nine to get on the beach. It was low tide so the sand was pretty hard packed. Getting to that hard packed sand required running thru what I imagine it feels like running in quicksand. My heart rate spiked to over 190 as I tried to maintain my pace. For a quick second I forgot that I was supposed to be running by effort, not pace. 

Remembering to Enjoy the Experience – Miles 10-11

After hitting the packed sand things got a little easier. The wind was finally at my back and I made sure to keep my heart rate under 190. More importantly for the first time in the race I took the time to look around and appreciate the beauty of where I was. Watching the sun continue to rise running next to the ocean made it all worth it. There were people walking around picking up shells offering encouragement. Not the crowd support one experiences at a big city race but definitely appreciated at this point. My splits for miles 10 and 11 were 7:42 and 7:47. 

Back to the Road – Miles 12-13.1

If I thought getting from the road to the packed sand was hard, going from the packed sand back to the road felt impossible. It reminded me of running in place at Big Sur in gale force winds up to Hurricane Point. Shortly after exiting the beach I made a right hand turn on to A1A passing the mile 12 marker with a split of 8:15. At this point my heart rate was consistently at 190. I was fairly confident with just over a mile to go I probably wouldn’t die so I tried to pick up the pace. I hit mile 13 with a split of 8:04 and made the turn on to I Dream of Jeannie Lane sprinting at a 7:57 pace to get to the finish line. 

The BIG Finish

I was so happy to be done and even more happy to see Jill there waiting for me. My average heart rate ended up being 177 with my max at 197. I probably pushed a little more than I should have but that’s what happens on race day sometimes, even if I’m not really racing. This gave me a realistic idea of where I am and what I need to do going forward to get ready for what’s next. I ended up finishing in 1:37:26 with an average pace of 7:26. This is a far cry from the 1:29 I ran in Jacksonville in February but all things considered I was tickled with the result. I finished 14/242 overall and 1/12 in my age group. Fortunately all the really fast guys were over 55. The Ron Jon medal was really nice and the I Dream of Jeannie bottle age group award was a pleasant surprise. 

After sharing some beers with friends at the finish line and scarfing down some Taco Bell we enjoyed a Bloody Mary at Grill’s Tiki Bar before making our way back over to Carib Brewery to watch the Lions. They may not be the same old Lions but they definitely didn’t add to today’s victory celebration. 

I’m not sure what’s next for me racing wise but I’ll keep showing up to put in the work and do what my body will let me do. If you made it this far thanks for following along. If you’d like to follow us on our next adventure subscribe today for free. I think Jill has a great ghost story to share with y’all next week.