Dasani Half Marathon - Run


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Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
United States
Myrtle Beach Marathon/Grand Strand Running Club
53F / 12C
Overcast
Total Time = 1h 55m 39s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 35-39
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Got up at 5:00 am ... because someone thought it was important to start the race at 6:30 am (day break is 6:57 am). I showered to wake up and ate a small bowl of oat meal. Took longer than expected to get to and park at the race, so had to miss the 1/2 cup of hot coffee I was hoping for ... because it was butt-freezing cold at the start of the race.
Event warmup:

Did some haphazard stretches, focusing on my calf as it had been talking to me the week leading up the race. Generally hopping around, though, to stay warm.

As one of the named charity for the event was The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (the other being the Red Cross), there was a ton of purple around.
Run
  • 1h 55m 39s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 08m 50s  min/mile
Comments:

The Garmin Forerunner is an invaluable tool for racing. As the splits show to the right, it enabled me to maintain and learn a steady pace. The real help came early in the race when I was feeling springy to slow down to a sustainable HR + pace.

Thinking I still have something to learn about gait/stride efficiency but am overall pleased with the preparation for the race. This is the first time I have run unabashed >Z2 and was happy to see that the base training paying dividends in terms of sustained stamina.
What would you do differently?:

First things first ... Body Glide; use it liberally. Second, while the nutrition worked out just fine, it was done without a lot of thought. If I am to complete a full marathon, I am going to have to develop a cognitive nutrition + hydration strategy.

Lastly, I seeded myself at the back of the pack -- my usual place. The thinking is that it is better to pass than to be passed. This also, unfortunately, led to a bottleneck of runners during the first 1/4 - 1/2 mile (there were 2500+ runners) that you had to pick through to get to your pace.

As this was a timing chip race, I am not so concerned about the effect on the 'official completion time' insomuch as extra effort to juke and jive.
Post race
Warm down:

Walk it out after the finish line to the water stand and grabbed a couple bottles. Waited for my running partner (who didn't want to kick it up at Mile 11) to cross the finish line so I could hand him the water.

We got our finisher medals and downed the water while the volunteers took off the timing chip and immediately went to the Michelob Ultra truck ... and pulled up a chair. (Not a pretty sight to see two grown, sweating and relatively smelly men drinking keg beer at 9:30 am but we felt like we earned it!)

After more than a couple, we cheered on the participants finishing and then watched the awards ceremony to cheer the winners. (We were in a cheering mood by then ...)

Lastly, we got absolutely incredible post-race massages ... not the hurried once-over and get 'em off the table variety, but deep + long lastly where they worked through the different muscle groups.

At this point it was after we found yet another free beer tent, this one with local microbrews that were requesting donations for LLS, and took the opportunity to contribute and contribute some more ... and then some more.

So, by this time, we were pliable massagees and very grateful for someone to work out our now stiffening legs and backs. I am not sure, but I think I mentioned that I loved her ...

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Think the strict base phase regimine + lack of high intensity training limited my ability to go faster during the sprint. While I felt good about the endurance part of the race, miles 1-11, I did not think that I was terribly efficient while sprinting nor that I hit the full stride I should have.

I also think I could have done a 8:30/mi pace and sustained it at ~Z2.5 instead of limiting myself to Z1.8-2.1.

Event comments:

Well done race that I plan to do again next year - perhaps as a marathon. Very impressed with the well though out and supported organization.

The only complaint is that the course is bit crowded at times when it narrow downs to one lane ... a little too much juking and jiving, especially when folks are running 3-4 abreast.




Last updated: 2006-02-19 12:00 AM
Running
01:55:39 | 13.1 miles | 08m 50s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Good
As this was the longest distance to date and it was during a race situation, I did not know what to expect from myself. I knew that races tended to make me feel overly froggy at the onset, I deliberately held back to a pace I knew I could maintain throughout the race -in this case 9:00/mi. Strategy was to maintain an even pace through Mile 7 and then assess what was in the tank to select a pace from there. Approaching Mile 7 found me with plenty of gas but also with a - uh, umm ... problem. Seems like I forgot to utilize the stick of body glide in my race bag and had some serious chafing issues in the nether-regions. While I knew I was going to run through it, it was getting to be a little painful. Luckily there was a medical tent at Mile 7 with a big ol' jar of vaseline. Grabbed a dallop with my finger, pointed with my other hand and said to the medical staff "Look, there's a puppy!" While they all looked, I quickly applied the vaseline to the right spot. Saw a fellow TNT'er and paced with him for 3 some-odd miles. Discussed the benefits of the program and how it provided additional purpose to the hours of training ... then dropped just after Mile 9 as it was time to ratchet it up. Splits: Mile 1 9:19 Mile 2 8:58 Mile 3 9:12 Mile 4 10:22 Mile 5 8:55 Mile 6 9:08 Mile 7 9:15 Mile 8 9:07 Mile 9 9:00 Mile 10 8:44 Mile 11 7:52 Mile 12 7:43 <b>Mile 13 6:57</b> Mile 13.1 6:31 Did a check at the end of Mile 10 and figured that there was something left in the tank, so ramped up the pace. Was worried that I didn't have enough in the tank about 1/4 mile out ... and HR was redlining at 103% (new max HR). Ramped down the gait + foot strike so the dang thing would not explode in my chest and focused on the Hawaii Five-O playing on the iPod (thinking that if the guys trying to get to Kona can gut out what they do, I can gut it out to the finish of a half-mary).
Course: Course was pancake flat and snaked through the beach + downtown. Great crowd support along the way -- huge TNT cheering section. It was heartening to see the effects the cheering had on the first time racers. Volunteer support + subsequent logistics was tremendous. Having volunteered for a race (coincidently a marathon), it has given me a new persepctive on what it takes to put on a race. I tried to say thanks to each volunteer I saw, even during the end of course sprinting -- not so certain that they understood what I was saying, but the thought was there.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5