The Orlando Xtreme Half Marathon

Friday I flew to Orlando for the Xtreme half marathon. It was at the wetlands just east of Orlando (in Christmas) and is basically in the middle of nowhere. The course was a 2 and change loop course around a series of, well, wetlands including a few lakes. It was interesting to see the “Watch out for alligators” because that is simply not something I’m used to looking for while pounding the roads in Ohio.

The start was at 7 and we were instructed to walk to our start line at 6:45. What they didn’t mention is there were 4 different start lines (5k, 10k, half and full marathon) and because it was dark there was no telling exactly which way to go. I did manage to head in the correct direction but didn’t realize it was a mile from the finish line to the start line. Most of the other people didn’t either and the race started about 10 minutes late. At the start, it was clear this was going to be a quasi-trail race with us running on a double track of compressed sand on each track with a big grassy patch in between. Footing was definitely not the best although it was much softer than running on asphalt or concrete. The weather was in the low 50’s with no clouds to speak of!

Like many of my other races, the pack spread out rather quickly. This time I wasn’t quite so far back. Water stops were about every mile and a quarter and because of this I had to stop at mile 3 for an unscheduled pit stop! Despite the terrain, I somehow managed to establish a rhythm and throughout the first lap, my mile splits were fairly even. What was interesting about the race is because of the different starting points, I was getting passed regularly by marathoners and 10k runners. I’ve been passed more times than the Patriots practice balls in my running “career” so it’s no big deal but it was interesting to see the faster runners blow by me. I cramped right before mile 9 and had to walk for a minute to stretch out the right quad. My guess is it was due to the rough terrain. By mile 10 I realized I would be much faster than the previous weekend’s event and while I was starting to tire, I was still able to limp in about 8 minutes faster than the 13.1 mile mark of last week but still short of where I wanted to be. I’ll chalk that up to the terrain! Oh well, another state (that’s 16 where I’ve run at least a half..only 34 more to go!!)

Overall, a fun race with some really nice people. I didn’t talk to many while I was out on the course but before, after and at Denny’s I talked to the participants and it was enjoyable trading stories of the road!

Coming soon: I’m 98 races into my running “career” so I’ll do a top 5 or so list of favorites as well as a top 5 or so least favorites.

Also: Half at the Hamptons report…

Until next time, see you on the roads!!