2:18:21 - 10:34 min per mile average
age group 132/264
overall 1686/ 3115
Chip time 2:14:35 - 10:15 min per mile average
Pre-Race:
We left Greenville around lunch time and had a smooth ride until we got right outside of MB. 45 minutes for 10 miles was quite a delay, but there's nothing you can do about that. Our first stop was the convention center to pick up our race package and then we headed over to the hotel. The FB'ing happened the whole time on the drive down here and once we were at the hotel, we got going to get the crew together to meet up for dinner. Try to get a table for 10 in MB.... Well, it took us a while, but eventually we sat and we ordered and after a little mix up in the kitchen... I also got my pizza... yum yum yum.
We got back to the hotel, later than we had planned, but were still in bed and asleep at a decent hour.
The alarm went off at a little before five. Terry had breakfast at the hotel, while I had brought my food along and had a pita bread with hummus in the room. I actually went back to bed, but eventually rolled out of there to get dressed etc. The hotel was just half a mile from the start line and we walk over along with tons of other hotel guests. We made it to the start line with 15 minutes to spare. While walking to the back half of the field, I actually ran into Brian and Todd from the relay team.
I chit chatted a little with the people around me, but then put my earphones in and zoned out. I don't run with music often, but every now and then, I just want to.
One more thing about this... It is February and I stood at the starting line at 6:30am in shorts and a t-shirt and I wasn't even a little chilly. This sure was warmer than anything we have experienced in the last couple of months.
Race:
The plan for this race was to run the 1st half at an under 172 bpm heart rate and 2nd half between 172 and 178 bpm. Shooting for a negative split. So I actually set up the display of the Garmin only to see time and heart rate. I saw my splits whenever it auto-lapped, but that was it.
It took a little while to get over the start line as usual with races of this kind of size. I started out at a really comfortable pace and when I looked at my HR, I was exactly where I was supposed to. Somewhere on mile 3, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I saw to other relay team mates, so I chit chatted a little with them. They were doing the marathon and wanted to slow down, so after a mile or so, I was on my own again... But we were close together for quite a while.
Until the turn around point, I felt like I had a very good race... Doing exactly, what I was supposed to do and feeling, that I had enough left in the tank to negative split this puppy. I was smiling a lot during the first half and for whatever reason, I was also tearing up a lot (PMS'ing or what?). No clue, what that was all about, but I saw the sunrise... tearing up... inspirational quotes on shirts and signs.... tearing up... It was quite interesting.
Honestly, I was looking forward to the turn around point, so I can finally just run and not slow down whenever my heart rate got too high. I knew my time up to that point and saw my splits and knew that I have to move some, if I wanted to reach my goals.
Well and then I saw my first splits in the second half and even though I was working harder, it didn't reflect in my pace. It almost seemed like the opposite... The harder I worked (higher HR), the slower I seemed to become. So I can make tons of guesses now, what happened and why it happened differently from how I expected it... But really, I don't know...
At mile 11, some girls were passing out beads and since the race wasn't going too great at this point anyways, I thought, I might as well can pick up a little souvenir. When I saw the 12 mile marker, I felt completely deflated for a minute and actually walked a little. I thought, I won't have to walk this time (not that there's anything wrong with it).... So I used the little break to eat the remainders of my sport beans and then got going again to bring this show home.
I crossed the finish line before 9am that morning... While I don't like such an early start, it was really nice to be done this early...
Post-Race:
What's really tragic is, that I missed the spot where they handed out the beer at the finish. And speaking of liquids... The food and drink station were so crowded, that I ended up skipping the food and just grabbed some Gatorade and water before heading back to the hotel.
On the way back, I chatted with a lady that just broke the 2 hour mark for the first time.... Great job! I wonder, how many more years of running it's going to take me until I reach this goal.
Once I showered and had a quick snack, I headed back to the finish line and got there right in time for Terry to get it... He PR'd and what's almost better than PR'ing... He felt fine and didn't have to fight with the cramping, that he usually has! Yay!
After resting some more, we met up the crew for nice lunch and some beer!!! I have been really good eating wise the whole week leading up to the race and of course, everything went out of the window the moment I crossed that finish line... That was a good burger... And some mighty good beer! ;-)
Race Review:
What can I say about this race.
It's run very well, the course is good... I was just hoping to see a little more of the ocean, but that didn't happen for the halfers... As mentioned above, the food/drink station at the finish was crowded. The swag was nice. They had women fit race shirts this year (last year's shirts were BIG) in a technical fabric and beach towels... I thought the towels were a nice touch.
Are we going to run this race again next year... Maybe.... I honestly don't care for Myrtle Beach too much, but it's kinda nice to go to the beach in February, especially with the weather we had.
We left Greenville around lunch time and had a smooth ride until we got right outside of MB. 45 minutes for 10 miles was quite a delay, but there's nothing you can do about that. Our first stop was the convention center to pick up our race package and then we headed over to the hotel. The FB'ing happened the whole time on the drive down here and once we were at the hotel, we got going to get the crew together to meet up for dinner. Try to get a table for 10 in MB.... Well, it took us a while, but eventually we sat and we ordered and after a little mix up in the kitchen... I also got my pizza... yum yum yum.
We got back to the hotel, later than we had planned, but were still in bed and asleep at a decent hour.
The alarm went off at a little before five. Terry had breakfast at the hotel, while I had brought my food along and had a pita bread with hummus in the room. I actually went back to bed, but eventually rolled out of there to get dressed etc. The hotel was just half a mile from the start line and we walk over along with tons of other hotel guests. We made it to the start line with 15 minutes to spare. While walking to the back half of the field, I actually ran into Brian and Todd from the relay team.
I chit chatted a little with the people around me, but then put my earphones in and zoned out. I don't run with music often, but every now and then, I just want to.
One more thing about this... It is February and I stood at the starting line at 6:30am in shorts and a t-shirt and I wasn't even a little chilly. This sure was warmer than anything we have experienced in the last couple of months.
Race:
The plan for this race was to run the 1st half at an under 172 bpm heart rate and 2nd half between 172 and 178 bpm. Shooting for a negative split. So I actually set up the display of the Garmin only to see time and heart rate. I saw my splits whenever it auto-lapped, but that was it.
It took a little while to get over the start line as usual with races of this kind of size. I started out at a really comfortable pace and when I looked at my HR, I was exactly where I was supposed to. Somewhere on mile 3, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I saw to other relay team mates, so I chit chatted a little with them. They were doing the marathon and wanted to slow down, so after a mile or so, I was on my own again... But we were close together for quite a while.
Until the turn around point, I felt like I had a very good race... Doing exactly, what I was supposed to do and feeling, that I had enough left in the tank to negative split this puppy. I was smiling a lot during the first half and for whatever reason, I was also tearing up a lot (PMS'ing or what?). No clue, what that was all about, but I saw the sunrise... tearing up... inspirational quotes on shirts and signs.... tearing up... It was quite interesting.
Honestly, I was looking forward to the turn around point, so I can finally just run and not slow down whenever my heart rate got too high. I knew my time up to that point and saw my splits and knew that I have to move some, if I wanted to reach my goals.
Well and then I saw my first splits in the second half and even though I was working harder, it didn't reflect in my pace. It almost seemed like the opposite... The harder I worked (higher HR), the slower I seemed to become. So I can make tons of guesses now, what happened and why it happened differently from how I expected it... But really, I don't know...
At mile 11, some girls were passing out beads and since the race wasn't going too great at this point anyways, I thought, I might as well can pick up a little souvenir. When I saw the 12 mile marker, I felt completely deflated for a minute and actually walked a little. I thought, I won't have to walk this time (not that there's anything wrong with it).... So I used the little break to eat the remainders of my sport beans and then got going again to bring this show home.
I crossed the finish line before 9am that morning... While I don't like such an early start, it was really nice to be done this early...
Post-Race:
What's really tragic is, that I missed the spot where they handed out the beer at the finish. And speaking of liquids... The food and drink station were so crowded, that I ended up skipping the food and just grabbed some Gatorade and water before heading back to the hotel.
On the way back, I chatted with a lady that just broke the 2 hour mark for the first time.... Great job! I wonder, how many more years of running it's going to take me until I reach this goal.
Once I showered and had a quick snack, I headed back to the finish line and got there right in time for Terry to get it... He PR'd and what's almost better than PR'ing... He felt fine and didn't have to fight with the cramping, that he usually has! Yay!
After resting some more, we met up the crew for nice lunch and some beer!!! I have been really good eating wise the whole week leading up to the race and of course, everything went out of the window the moment I crossed that finish line... That was a good burger... And some mighty good beer! ;-)
Race Review:
What can I say about this race.
It's run very well, the course is good... I was just hoping to see a little more of the ocean, but that didn't happen for the halfers... As mentioned above, the food/drink station at the finish was crowded. The swag was nice. They had women fit race shirts this year (last year's shirts were BIG) in a technical fabric and beach towels... I thought the towels were a nice touch.
Are we going to run this race again next year... Maybe.... I honestly don't care for Myrtle Beach too much, but it's kinda nice to go to the beach in February, especially with the weather we had.
lol, i get emo during races too sometimes. i usually just chalk it up to being a lame girl. :)
ReplyDeletemb is not my beach of choice, but it's not that bad... in the off-season anyway.