Myrtle Beach Half Marathon (Dasani) - RunHalf Marathon

Should have just worn a short sleeve shirt, I got hot after the first 3 miles, but my number was pinned to the front and back of my jacket and I knew that I couldn't take them off and re-attach it to my shirt, so I ran hot.

Started out at sub 9 pace, which I expected to work my way around the crowd. Mile 1 and 2 were sub 9, mile 3 was right at 9, 4 was about 9:10, 5 and 6 were at 9:22, 7 was at 9:30 and then the wheels on the bus came off. Mile 8 and 9 were 9:45 then 10 was 10:40. I struggled at mile 10 to just stay running.

Not sure if it was the McDonald's the night before or if it was because of a gel problem.

At mile 3.5 I saw a water stop about 100 yds ahead, so I took a big swig of gel from my gel flask. Well, when I get to the aid station, it's not an aid station. It's a medical tent and the water is on pallets for storage I'm assuming. The volunteers are yelling 1/2 mile to water. So I had to go about 4:15 or so before I could take any water after that gel. I'm thinking this was my undoing as it relates to my stomach issues. I started having problems around mile 8 and by mile 10 I was forced to a 10:40 pace. I kept thinking I would stop but the portojohns were only at the aid stations which were 2 miles apart and all had lines waiting for them. So I hung on as best as I could, and as I came into the final mile I managed to get back to a 9:45 pace, but that's about all I could do. I was just happy to finish at that point. I did measure the race at 13.3 miles instead of 13.1, so technically, I probably did beat my best time in an average pace sense.

During the race the song "the wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round. The wheels on the bus go round and round all day long" was in my head over and over again. I have no idea why, but I was singing it to myself. With verses about the windshield wipers, too. Then when I started having issues, all I could think of was that the wheels on the bus had fallen off. And yes, I sang this in my head to the tune of the song. I guess it was my way of trying to take my mind off the pain...

Wait to take gels with water in my hand. Also, eat a better pre-race meal.

just walked around trying to find derek


Stomach issues.


Some days are like this!