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Surfside Beach Marathon - RunMarathon


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Surfside, Texas
United States
67F / 19C
Precipitation
Total Time = 6h 48m 10s
Overall Rank = /
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Drove to Stahlman Park for packet pickup and was really surprised to get, not only, a great long sleeve tech race shirt, but also a really cool coaster made by a local artist with the race logo on it, a 2011 race t-shirt, and a really awesome duffel bag with the race logo. They also had personalized race bibs. Very cool stuff for a small race!


Event warmup:

Got up at 5am, got dressed, and ate a GF blueberry muffin with almond butter. Drove down to Stahlman Park, parked on the beach about half mile from the start line. Walked to the start line and went inside the park building to get timing chip and stay warm until the start, because it was windy and rainy. Stretched a bit and waited for the start.
Run
  • 6h 48m 10s
  • 26.2 miles
  • 15m 35s  min/mile
Comments:

Started in the pouring rain, but with temps in the 60's, once I started running it felt great. Of course, I tend to be a fan of the rain as long as it's not too cold.

Decided to run a mile and then walk .2 each mile, since I was severely under trained for this marathon ( ran a total of about 40 miles in the last 2 months and nothing over 4 miles at once). I got into a good rhythm and the intervals were working great. The rain was pretty continuous and sometimes it was a downpour. I was totally soaked and loving it!

There was some lightning, but it was pretty far away and I wasn't too concerned. Crossed my mind a couple times that being out on the beach in a lightning storm probably wasn't the safest thing, but that was about it.

At mile 9 a car pulled up on the beach next to me. The woman driving said there was a really bad lightning storm about to hit and they were trying to get the runners to take shelter until it passed. I asked her if they were closing the course and she said no, I could continue on, but they were really trying to get runners to take shelter. I told her that was a pretty hard call to make if I had a "choice". I thanked her, but told her I was going to keep going. No sooner did she pull away and a bolt of lightning struck down close by with the crack of thunder nearly instantaneous. Scared the crap out of me, not literally, but you know what I mean. I was sprinting and waving my arms,trying to flag her down, because I had suddenly changed my mind, ha!

I finally caught up with her when she stopped to let another runner get in for shelter. I told her that last strike had changed my mind, and she told me to get in. I was soaking, dripping wet, and felt bad about getting her car soaked. I apologized, but was happy to be safe. To make a very long story shorter, 20 minutes later when the storm had mostly died down to just rain with an occasional distant thunder. I started back out from where I had stopped.

After sitting for 20 minutes I had stiffened up a lot and gotten chilled. Things definitely didn't feel as good as they did when I had stopped. There was also a very strong head wind. I got back to my run .8 / walk .2 and continued on, but my pace was a bit slower.

Made it to the turn around and was quite a bit warmer and the running was a bit easier, but I think I drank too much because I had to pee about 4 times in the last 9 miles. The port-o-lets were higher up on the beach in the soft flooded out sand, so each stop cost me at least 3-4 minutes. I thought about just letting it go, since I was soaking wet anyway, but I just can't pee and run, or even walk for that matter.

By mile 20 the lack of training was definitely letting itself be known and every muscle from my waist down ached and was heavy. I power walked a mile and only lost about a minute from my "run" so decided to power walk until mile 24 and then run it in. Ended up walking the rest of the race until I shuffled into the finish line. Texas: DONE!
What would you do differently?:

Train...or at least keep enough run volume up to be able to run 26.2 for fun without as much walking.
Post race
Warm down:

Went into the Stahlman Park building and grabbed some pop and a cookie. They had a really nice bbq buffet set up too, but I can never eat much right after a race, so didn't have any.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Stopping for 20 minutes, having to take so many pee breaks, and of course, not training.

Event comments:

Really a great race! It was so much fun running along the beach and listening to the ocean waves. Very well organized, great swag, awesome volunteers from the local high school who stood out there in the rain all day. Huge thanks to them!

I do recommend using some mosquito repellant if you do this race, because I didn't notice it at the time, but by the next day both my husband and I were covered with mosquito bites




Last updated: 2012-01-15 12:00 AM
Running
06:48:10 | 26.2 miles | 15m 35s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/
Performance: Below average
Course: Entire course was run on the beach: hard packed sand, except for a couple short sections of softer sand. With all the rain, there was quite a few creek crossings as well.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5]
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

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2012-02-20 10:05 PM

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Master
2005
2000
Silverton, Oregon
Subject: Surfside Beach Marathon


2012-02-20 10:17 PM
in reply to: #4057606

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Extreme Veteran
668
5001002525
NW Georgia
Subject: RE: Surfside Beach Marathon
Congrats on another great race!  I thought about you while I was running in the rain Sunday.  I think I would enjoy it more if it didn't mess up my glasses.  No lightning for me, though.  So ... when's Georgia?
2012-02-21 6:31 AM
in reply to: #4057606

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Champion
7163
500020001002525
Verona WI--Ironman Bike Country!
Subject: RE: Surfside Beach Marathon
Congrats on crossing enough state off the list.  Smart for you to take shelter in lightning even if it cost you 20" and you got crazy stiff....what's next?
2012-02-21 8:32 AM
in reply to: #4057742

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Subject: RE: Surfside Beach Marathon
Congratulations on getting it done under crazy conditions! I'm thinking this is a race you won't forget!
2012-02-21 10:32 AM
in reply to: #4057606

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Regular
641
50010025
Chicago
Subject: RE: Surfside Beach Marathon
I am the WORST at running in the rain. I hate it! So I give you major props for completing a marathon in those conditions! Way to go!
2012-02-21 1:15 PM
in reply to: #4058218

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Champion
9060
5000200020002525
Charlottesville, Virginia
Subject: RE: Surfside Beach Marathon
LOL, another awesome race Roni!


2012-02-21 7:41 PM
in reply to: #4057606

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Royal(PITA)
14270
50005000200020001001002525
West Chester, Ohio
Subject: RE: Surfside Beach Marathon
Congrats on finishing that one out.  A 20 min stop for the storm would be really hard to get going from again.  Amazing that you did!  Good strategy with your run walk plan.
2012-02-22 8:05 AM
in reply to: #4057606

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Champion
14677
5000500020002000500100252525
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Surfside Beach Marathon
Roni, your enthusiasm is great! Most people would have been whining about the rain. Nope, not you! I had to laugh about your description of the lightening strike and changing your mind. Mother nature has a way of making you take her serious. Another great race!
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