Race Report: Myrtle Beach Marathon, Myrtle Beach, SC

Race Report: Myrtle Beach Marathon, Myrtle Beach, SC
State: 8 of 50

After a fairly disappointing Rocket City Marathon in December, I was planning on making a huge come-back for this first marathon of 2020. Unfortunately, the winter weather had other plans in store for me. I don't remember seeing a rainier winter since I started running in 2012. The pattern was rain, rain, rain, then bitterly cold. Repeat for two months. The Greenway where I usually run stayed flooded constantly, and the treadmill was just not calling to me for those longer runs I needed. My motivation started to wane. As time grew closer, I started to panic, thinking about how a marathon is just not fun when you don't get the mileage done, and especially those long runs.

My dreams of finally breaking 3:30 faded away and I just accepted that I was going to need to adjust expectations. At least then the monkey was off my back. I did my best to get in a few miles here and there. Then, the week before the marathon, I ran the Publix Atlanta Half. I knew this would give me some sort of idea of what to count on for the marathon. Those of you from Atlanta probably understand the hilliness of this course. Knowing what I was facing, I kept a moderate pace and let the chips fall where they may. My time was 1:53:54 (8:42 pace). Very uninspiring. Those hills were tough!

Based on that information, I decided I would be lucky to break 4 hours at Myrtle Beach. But I did hold out a tiny bit of hope that maybe I could pull off a BQ time of 3:55 if I worked hard, played it smart, and got extremely lucky. After all, the course was very flat and the weather forecast was looking good.

I arrived in Myrtle Beach (a 5-hour drive from Atlanta) around 3pm Friday and headed to the expo after grabbing a late lunch/early dinner. They held it at Dave and Busters, which was in a fun area called Boardwalk at the Beach. I just wanted to get in and out fairly quickly. I thought the expo was a bit small for that size race. They were expecting over 5,000 between the full, the half, the 5K, and the fun run. But they had Gu, so I picked some up and got my number and shirt.

The location was very close to the race start, and I could tell that there would be plenty of convenient pre-race parking.

After the expo, I checked in to the hotel and laid out my gear for the next day. It was a challenge trying to decide what to wear. The start temperature was going to be 38, but it was a full-sun day and it would be warming up 10 degrees throughout the race. Normally I would wear a tank top and an extra layer to shed after the first couple of miles. But the bitterly cold high winds during my pre-race walk that afternoon convinced me I was going to need to wear more. I kept the shorts, but decided to wear a long-sleeved shirt, light jacket, hat, and gloves.

I slept fairly decently for a night before the marathon, and I woke up optimistic. Running my 19th marathon, I generally have my pre-race routine down to a fine science. I got up at 5:20 and was ready to head out the door by 5:50. Overnight oats and a banana are my go-to pre-race foods.

The drive was only 15 minutes, so I had plenty of time to hit up the porta-potties and (shiveringly) drop off my extra layer. On my way to line up, I ran into my friend, Christine, who lives in Myrtle Beach and was pacing the 3:45 group. In retrospect, I should have lined up with her. Maybe I would have come in even faster.

Once in the starting area, I focused on making sure my watch found satellites and my music was queued up and ready to go. Last marathon I accidentally tossed my headphones away, so I was very glad to be able to run with the comfort of music this time. This was the first race where I experimented by taking a Gu right at the start of the race.

As the gun went off, I felt the shot of adrenaline I inevitably feel at the start of each race, but I was very careful to keep the feeling that I "was just jogging" because I know how awful a fast start can come back to bite you. I didn't even look at my watch the whole first mile because I just wanted it to feel nice and easy. But as my watch alerted me, I was pleasantly shocked and surprised to see an 8:44. Wow, I thought, that sure felt easy for anything under 9:00!

The same thing happened a miles 2, 3, and 4. After that, we headed into a cool area called Market Common. There were a lot of buildings, spectators, and restaurants to look at. It was also and out-and-back, so I watched the lead runners and enjoyed seeing them fly by.

The wind started picking up, but so did the heat of the sun. Warm won out, though, and I took off headband and gloves. The sun was so cheery and I was still amazed that very consistent miles were falling away so easily.

The out and back I just described is at the black dot on the map below. That was the end of the first 10K. After that, we headed toward the beach. At mile 7 I took my second Gu. The plan was to have Gu at miles 0, 7, 13.1, and 19. I have a very hard time getting them down after that.

The long, straight, flat stretch of road closest to the beach lasted from mile 8 to about mile 17. As soon as we hit mile 8, the wind picked up significantly and kept getting stronger. Although it felt a bit cooler, I never did put back on my headband or gloves.

I stayed focused on all the race signs posted that echoed that of the race shirt: You can. You will. At mile 11, the half marathoners got to turn off for the completion of their shorter loop. My mind said: Sane people to the left; crazies to the right. LOL! And about that time, a huge gust of wind came along and almost knocked me off my feet. Around mile 14, I passed my hotel and had a secret thought of slipping away and taking a nap. Then I saw the sign again: You can. You will. And looking back on the splits from my first half, I see that indeed: I did.

When I got to mile 16, I had memories of having to already break into a walk while running Rocket City. I was determined to hold on to a solid pace this time for as long as I possibly could. The wind became increasingly more challenging, though. Sometimes it was head on. Other times it attacked from the side. I don't remember any tail wind, but maybe there was some. It got up to 20mph.

Mitigating the wind factor, though, was the fact that the course was the flattest I have ever seen. I've seen tracks with more elevation change than this. It make a big difference. The week before, I ran a hilly half at the exact same pace as I ran this flat full. Hills DO make a difference!

During the whole second half of the race I kept focusing on two thoughts: 1) Claw out each mile, and 2) Throttle it back before giving into a walk. Using these as mantras, I made it to 17, then to 18 with consistent splits. Miles 18-19 were an out-and-back. The wind was at its worst at 18, but mile 19 felt so sweet. At that point, I started to fish around in my shorts pocket for my last Gu. I could feel it, but it was still between a layer. After digging and digging, I finally came to a full stop, dug in violently, and grabbed it. GRRR! Technical difficulties.

Armed with my last small burst of caloric intake, I aimed for mile 20. There at the mile marker was a lady on stilts giving high fives. For some reason, that made me chuckle and it was a pleasant distraction. Then I did a double-take. I looked to my right and spotted Kevin, a classmate from way back in 2nd grade! It's amazing who you might see out running!! We chatted for a bit and wished each other well. Then I pressed on for mile 21.

Each mile gets harder at this point. But hey, I was still running, and was still maintaining the same pace! We turned on a scenic little side path and I hit what my numbed mind thought was mile 23. I looked over at the guy beside me and smiled and said: Just a 5K to go! He didn't respond. A tenth of a mile later I saw why. Oops. Damn. I was only at 22. But I was still running.

Finally, just before an aid station I hit mile 23 and walked through it. At that point, I figured even if I could walk/run at a 9:00 pace, I'd still be on track for a decent finish. But although I walked a little here and there, mile 24 was still an 8:36. My one mile over 9 was mile 25 at 9:07. At that point, my left quad was feeling pretty sore and I was drained. But I was so pleased to have gotten so far at a much better than expected pace that I pushed on for a big finish.

It was a nice sunny day and there were decent crowds gathered to cheer us in. My finish smile reflects my happiness in confirming my time. Marathon #19 done. Bam! Almost even splits for the first and second halfs.

My legs look pretty shredded at this point

Race bling!

My hair was blown to smithereens!

I was slightly disappointed to be 6th in my age group. But I did discover two things later. One was that 1st place was a transgender girl. 5th place was the pacer for the 3:45 group, my friend, Christine! Still, without those two in the running I would only have been 4th unless they had included a master's category which they didn't.

 I love this finishers tank top they handed out. I imagine I will put this to good use this summer.

After a very long hot shower and a few snacks, I met up with some folks from the marathon maniacs group. We had a great time sharing stories and drinking away our post-race aches at a place called RipTydz.

My new friend, Angela, insisted we go down to the beach and catch a few photos. I'm so glad we did!

After hanging out on the beach, we headed back to a place called Oz at Boardwalk at the Beach near the race start so I could meet up with my Atlanta friends, Michael and Kelli. We had a couple beers and then got some more yummy food.

It was a fun weekend and a great race experience! I loved the nice flat course at the beach and would not hesitate to run this one again.

2019 Year-end Review / 2020 Preview

I'll start by saying that my 2019 began with a whimper and finished with a bang! I had been really lonely, sad, and too much in my head for so much of the holidays a year ago. I was not running enough, and I was drinking a bit too much. I felt my dating life was a big fizzle (dating at 51 is not fun at all!), and I just didn't have any direction. It didn't help that it seemed to rain every single day! How could it rain AND be cold for that many days??

But I managed to start off the year meal prepping with healthy, whole food plant-based fare, and I signed up for, not one, but two, marathons! I also started going to therapy. These three things helped me pull myself out of my funk. Well, those plus the support of some very dear friends.

To jump right to the punchline, I have eaten well for almost the whole year, I ran 4 marathons, including two that qualified me to run Boston next Spring, and I reined in the drinking quite a bit. Therapy did its magic, and I made several new friends. Dating for the year was a mixed bag, but I'm pleased to say that I'm no longer lonely. And I sailed through this year's holidays feeling so calm, confident, and at peace. I'm looking forward to what's in store for 2020.

On the food front, I didn't take a photo every week, but I did manage to capture 12 pics throughout the year of my crappy fridge, which was fortunately well-stocked with healthy, tasty treats. For all the beauty of plant-based meal prepping like a boss, I owe a huge thanks to Kristen at www.hellonutritarian.com. She is simply amazing. If you think my pics look good, let me just say that hers were featured on the front page of the Living section of the Wall Street Journal. To say I have fridge envy is to put it mildly! She has asked me to help test recipes for an upcoming project. Ummm....yes please!!!

I have been eating this way for almost three years now, although I sometimes go "off-script" a bit, especially when my training volume is very high and I'd rather nap than stand for a full afternoon in the kitchen. Also, I sometimes get crazy-hungry to the point where my rational mind takes a hiatus and I instead and compelled to eat entire mounds of fries and ketchup at all costs!

If you have questions about any of this, I welcome them! It took me years to come around to seeing this is the way to go for health and longevity. It's a process, for sure.

So now on to running...

At the end of last year, I posted this on FB:

Running mileage stats:
2018: 1783, 34.3/wk, 0 marathons
2017: 657, 12.6/wk, 1 marathon
2016: 1324, 25.5/wk, 4 marathons
2015: 1738, 33.4/wk, 1 marathon
2014: 1581, 30.4/wk, 3 marathons
2013: 2563, 49.3/wk, 3 marathons
2012: 2231, 42.9/wk, 2 marathons

2019 goal 2340, 45/wk, 3 marathons

Well, folks, I'm pleased to say I beat my goal!  Instead of 2340 miles, I ran 2437. Instead of 3 marathons, I ran 4!

And just for the record, these are the ones I ran:

Tallahassee Marathon 2/3

Snickers Marathon 3/2

Last Chance BQ.2 Marathon 9/14

Rocket City Marathon 12/14

I have race reports at least for the last two. And here is my latest "wall of bling" pic...

The first rack is for "odd-distance" races (5ks, 10ks, 15ks, 10-milers, triathlons, trail races, and awards). The second rack is for marathons, and the 3rd rack if for half marathons. Close-ups of each rack are below.

Marathons: in order of when I ran them. The medals seem to be getting larger!

Half marathons: All out of room here. May have to start doubling up!

Hodge-podge collection

The year 2019 was a very good year for running! And I already have big plans for 2020. First of all, I'd like to beat my all-time annual mileage record of 2563 back in 2013. Second, I plan to run 5 marathons (and have already paid for 4 out of 5).

They are:

Myrtle Beach Marathon 3/7

Boston Marathon 4/20

San Francisco Marathon 7/26

Baltimore Marathon 10/17

New York City Marathon 11/1

Four out of five of these will be new states, bringing me to a total of 11 states by the end of next year. They include Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Utah, Virginia, plus next year's races of California, Maryland, New York, and South Carolina.

I would love to break my marathon PR of 3:30:01, but I am not sure if I think that is in the cards. I'll more cautiously set a goal of breaking 3:40 which is two minutes faster than I ran in September.

Here's to a great start to the year and the decade! I look forward to starting off this year healthier, stronger, and happier than I was last year!!

Race report: Rocket City Marathon, Huntsville, AL

State: 7 of 50

On September 14, I ran marathon #17 and pulled off a nice BQ time on a flat course in nice weather after training through the hot Georgia summer. With 12 additional weeks of training and cooler race day temps in mid-December, I felt sure I could beat this time at Rocket City and secure a better start spot for Boston in April. Instead of following my usual training plan which comes straight from Pete Pfitzinger's book, Advanced Marathoning, I decided to train with Jamie, a fastie friend who was aiming for a sub 3:20. Though I knew that particular finish time would not be in the cards for me, I still thought I could benefit from a little push in the intensity of my training. Her plan did not have quite as many weekly miles, but it did have several long runs which actually exceeded 26.2 miles. It also had two weekly speed work sessions with intervals of various lengths and reps.

I definitely did benefit from training with Jamie. She is one awesome cheerleader and is great at tricking me into doing things I was certain I could never do. In one run, we had three 1.5-mile intervals. In the last one, I stopped after only 1 mile to rest. She stopped, turned around, put her hands on her hips, and gave me her famous stare, demanding, "What exactly do you think you're doing?!!" Well, the guilt trip worked! I put on my big-girl panties and sucked it up to complete the interval. I learned then that it's much more effective to do them more slowly than you'd like than it is to go too fast and cut it short.

On the longest run we did, I managed to crank out 27 miles! The run was supposed to be 4 hours, but as you can see below, I cut it short by 5 minutes. I mean, stick a fork in me because I'M DONE!! Unfortunately, this was the first of several runs where I had a mild panic attack around mile 18. I'm not sure what triggered them, but they felt very real. Jamie managed to talk me down, and I managed to rally and finish the run. In spite of the inner trauma, I managed to negotiate with my mind and body and push through it. I'm still very proud of knocking this one out.

Jamie and I celebrated with a beer and a heaping mound of fries at Cherry Street.
As you can see, I had easily pre-burned enough calories!

After a warm, swift 21-miler, I needed a full 20-oz. coke to revive myself.

One of the factors that made this marathon extra special was that I got to run with some truly special ladies! Some say "I like to run with a fast crowd," and this race was no exception. Almost every day I go run on the Forsyth Greenway, and I almost never need to run alone. The ladies I run with every day are awesome in so many ways. Of the 14 of us who ran Rocket City together, 3 of us were first-timers (so therefore earned an automatic PR!), and almost everyone else has been to Boston at least once. Where else in the US can you find such a large group of fleet-footed female friends to run with every day of the week?

Here are some of us at the newly opened Halcyon development on a long training run.

And here we are after another long training run.

One of the runners in our group, Julie, decided to ask if we'd be interested in raising money for Camp Fire, a co-ed youth development organization whose programs emphasize camping and other outdoor activities for youth. Of course we were!  We then started our own text group to make plans for fundraising and for getting geared up to go big at Rocket City. Hilarious posts littered our thread!

8 of us made it out for a chilly pre-race run in our Camp Fire hats

On Friday, everyone piled into 4-5 vehicles and traveled 3.5 hours to get to packet pick-up together. All week we had obsessively checked the weather like the true marathon nuts that we are. Fortunately, the rain that had threatened earlier in the week had just passed through as we pulled into town, leaving us with a fairly optimal 43-degree start temperature for race morning. It was chilly as we pulled into town, and we hurried to pick up our race numbers so we could catch an early dinner.

I'm ready to rumble!

Finally, a photo with all 14 of us together, at the finish line which was indoors!

We had dinner at a local pizza place (though a couple of us brought in other fare). Then we headed back to our hotels to get organized and lay out our "flat runner" garb. I was lucky to stay with two marathon first-timers, so we got organized together and chatted about strategies while we charged our phones, watches, and earphones. I was a bit conflicted on what to wear. Since I tend to be on the chilly side, I decided I'd better wear my long-sleeved shirt over my tank top. Since I had not brought a headband or beanie, I decided to wear my Camp Fire hat. I have no regrets over that decision!

Race morning smiles! I got to be an honorary Mormon, with a throwaway BYU hoodie to keep me warm!

The marathon course had quite a few turns!

The elevation was not especially easy either. There were plenty of long inclines, even up to mile 22.

I was so thankful for a warm waiting area and flush toilets before the start of the race! At the last possible minute, we headed out into the cold and made our way to the start line. Krissy and Mary and I lined up together, but the 3:40 pacer was nowhere to be found! At about 30 seconds before the gun went off, I saw Mary, one of the other cold-natured runners like myself, pull off her throwaway layer. I decided that if she could shed hers, I could too. Additionally, I knew it was going to be a pain to pull a hoodie over my hat while I ran, so it would be better to take care of things on the front end.

I had barely finished getting the hoodie off and re-settled my hat when the gun went off. I saw Krissy sprint ahead quickly. I quickly got out of breath between trying to catch up with her and head up the hill that faced us from the very start. But by a quarter of a mile in, I decided to get my music going. That's when panic set in. I had inadvertently tossed them away because they were stuffed in the front pouch of the hoodie! So not only would I have no music on this run, but I had also just thrown away my awesome $130 Jaybird earphones. Ugh!!!

I quickly decided not to even try to keep up with Krissy because between the hill and the headphone debacle, my heart rate was seriously soaring. Instead, after a first mile at 7:56, I settled in to the 8:15 pace I was aiming for. In the second or third mile, there was a group singing the Hallelujah Chorus. As a "retired" long-time member of a choir, I felt inclined to spurt out tiny lines of the alto part with them. It truly did make my heart sing to hear it!

At about mile 5, I heard a female chatting vociferously behind me. I tilted my head and listened in, thinking I recognized the voice. Sure enough, it was Shane, one of our crew, who is known for entertaining us with great stories while running! She was animatedly chatting with our now accounted-for 3:40 pacer who had caught up. I pulled back slightly so I could run with them and hear more of the story. What I gleaned from the conversation (and from the details Shane filled in later) was that the poor guy had stayed in an AirBNB, and the neighbors thought there was something going on, so they pulled a gun on him! He still somehow made it to the race, though late and without his hydration belt. I instantly forgave him in my mind for not being there at the start. I started thinking it wouldn't matter anyway because I could already tell I was more tired than I ought to be, even though I was just at mile 8.

I reluctantly pulled back a bit and watched Shane and the pacer forge an ever-larger gap between us. As one who now had 17 marathons under her belt, I knew better than to push it too hard when I was only in the first half. So, I eased off, hoping that would help me be stronger in the final 10k.

Here's a clip from the first 10k split when I was actually feeling fairly good.

Unfortunately, at mile 10, I had to make a quick potty stop. One can't help these things. I just tried to make it quick. I didn't feel like I lost too much time in there. After that I just plugged along, staying at around an 8:30 pace through mile 15.

So my A goal was to get a 3:36 and would require an 8:15 average pace. But I decided that I would start with the 3:40 group (8:23 pace) and make the decision at the halfway point as to whether I would push it or not. I've actually had some decent negative splits when things came together well. My B goal was to beat my last marathon, which was a 3:42.

At mile 13, though, I was already feeling fairly beat up from the turns and the hills and the earphone debacle. I decided to run easily and just manage what I could. At mile 16, however, the course headed uphill for what seemed like an eternity. I broke into my first walk and felt very sad about that. It was waaaay to soon to be thinking about walking! The next 4 miles were just awful. The roads were fairly worn, and the course was not very scenic in these miles. I stopped looking at my watch altogether.

Here's a little clip where I headed downhill past a checkpoint at mile 19.3. Scroll to 1:06:42. These places always make me smile and run a little faster knowing that my friends tracking me are seeing some progress.
  

I reached the space and rocket center just before mile 20. Thankfully they chose a slight downhill spot to take photos, so they actually caught me both running and smiling. I had been here before with my son's Cub Scout troop, so the familiar surroundings were somewhat comforting.

I kept going from a run to a walk, thinking that the marathon was going to last forever at this rate. I tried to process what was causing me to feel so tired. My legs actually felt okay. It was my breathing and heart rate that were off.

Although the training cycle had been rigorous, and I'd logged plenty of extra-long runs, I felt that I had tapered a bit too long. I had an inkling this might not be my best race when back on Thanksgiving I had run a less than stellar 15k.

It's hard to know how and why things come together (or don't) sometimes, but I was not about to cry. I knew I'd finish one way or another, so I plugged on.

My form at this point was a sloppy mess.

But at least this girl and I managed to both smile!

At mile 24 or so, I caught sight of Krissy. I knew that she was probably feeling as disheartened as I was. I pulled up beside her and we just exchanged sympathetic smiles. We plugged along sort of together for that last long couple of miles.

Somewhere in that last mile, though, I saw the 3:55 pace group pass me, and I knew that even my C goal, a BQ time, was not going to be in the cards.

In spite of my sucky running for almost all of the last 10 miles of the race, I managed to pick it up just a little at mile 26 so I could smile for the camera and pose for the rare "floater" shot.

I was so relieved to know it would all be over soon!

I loved the indoor finish, although even the slight uphill into the civic center was almost unbearable.

Aaaand, we are done!!!!!! Marathon 18 and state 7 in the books!

I crossed the finish line with a sigh of relief, received my super-cool medal and space blanket, and then looked back to see where Krissy was. She looked like she might pass out, so I steered her to some chairs, gave her my space blanket. Then I went to get us some Gatorade, but when I got back she was gone. After searching for her a bit, I texted her and then went to pick up the very nice light-weight, quarter-zip finisher jacket they provided.

The next item on my agenda was to see if there was any way my earphones might still be in some discard pile somewhere, and that I might recover them from the sweatshirt mound. I found a husband and wife volunteer team and asked them for help. After searching a bit, they found it for me!!! I was so relieved to have them back and grateful for their help!

Next, I went to find the rest of the group. Natalie was busy capturing finish line videos, and the others were enjoying some post-race treats.

I wanted to stay longer, especially because I knew a few friends were getting awards, but between being chilled and feeling quite a bit down about my less than stellar race, I decided to head back to the hotel.

I felt better after getting a hot shower!

A couple of my friends were trying to track me, but they were unable to do so. When I looked up my stats, I saw the reason....

Although I had entered the data online myself when I signed up, I showed up as a male of unknown name and age. Ugh! However, they did manage to put me in the correct group to show me that I had missed an age-group award by one spot. Feeling dejected, yet vowing to work hard to make a serious come-back on my next marathon in March, I knew I would not let this race get me down for long.

After we got back to Atlanta, several of us met up to celebrate with dinner at Cincos

Just a quick postscript to say that I was not sore at all, and managed a 5-miler the very next day. Now I'm busy aiming to claim my next state, South Carolina, in early March, followed by my third Boston in April. Miles to run before I sleep...