BI-LO Myrtle Beach Marathon - RunMarathon


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Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
United States
Myrtle Beach Marathon
25F / -4C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 4h 18m
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb across my head.
Made my way downstairs and drank a cup (of Gatorade).....ok, enough of that..... Had a Cliff bar, apple and Gatorade for breakfast.
Hotel was fairly close to the start, still, my wife and the boys drove me to within a couple hundred yards of the start. Hung with them until about 10 minutes before race time. It was awesome having them there....long drive, very cold and very early morning....I'm grateful for all they did to be there.
Event warmup:

Warm up????...more like "Minimize the Freeze". Huddled with the the other poor saps in the starting area trying to keep out of the breeze and stay warm. It was really really frickin cold.
Run
  • 4h 18m
  • 26.2 miles
  • 09m 51s  min/mile
Comments:

I am really disappointed in the results. I thought was fit enough to break 4 hours. I thought my training and taper went well. I started out slow, heart rate was a little higher than I wanted after 3 miles so I kept my pace where it was. I was on target for a 3:55ish at the half, I felt good. I never felt like I was pushing too hard. I remember thinking that the day was going well since my legs felt relatively fresh, not too heavy.

Things changed dramatically after mile 17. I started to feel the cramps in my upper calves and hamstrings and it was all downhill from there. The worst part (mentally) was when the Team in Training 4:00 pace guy went by me as I was trying to stretch out my calves at mile 20.5. I started running again and kept him close for about a quarter mile then had to stop again. Spent the next mile cussing, then just focused on finishing.
What would you do differently?:

Not sure....I followed my race plan pretty closely. I guess I need to look at the typical things that cause cramps. Focus on what I eat, train harder, put in more miles and more time cross training....get stronger....run faster....not cramp....?????
Post race
Warm down:

Hobbled to a spot on the grass where I could sit down a bark orders to my kids to get me stuff. Then hobbled to the car where it took 3 trys to get into it. I had to get back out twice to stretchh because my hip flexors were cramping.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Cramps. Cramps suck!! Cold??

Event comments:

Race Volunteers are AWESOME!!




Last updated: 2007-02-03 12:00 AM
Running
04:18:00 | 26.2 miles | 09m 51s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Bad
Mile 1 - 9:29 (HR-159) 2 - 8:54 (152) 3 - 8:48 4 - 8:47 5 - 8:50 (155) 6 - 8:43 7 - 8:53 8 - 8:41 9 - 9:32 (157) 10 - 9:15 11 - 9:02 12 - 8:55 13 - 8:50 (159) Half - 1:57:40 14 - 8:43 15 - 9:14 (165) 16 - 9:07 17 - 9:26 (Here is where the wheels came off the bus) 18 - 10:17 19 - 9:59 (165) 20 - 10:30 21 - 10:34 22 - 11:28 23 - 12:08 (169) 24 - 12:35 25 - 12:43 26 - 11:51 (165) 26.2 - 4:18:00 (According to the Garmin I ran 26.42 miles. The actual finish time is approximate since I forgot to hit the stop button as I crossed the line. Chip time differed from Gun time by about 2 minutes)
Course: Course was flat, not very scenic, typical urban street running. But lots of volunteers at the aid stations. Police did a great job at the intersections!
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
Good race?
Evaluation
Course challenge
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5]