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Dasani Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
United States
Myrtle Beach Marathon
27F / -3C
Sunny
Total Time = 2h 43m 58s
Overall Rank = 2051/2431
Age Group =
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Stumbled out of bed. Managed to down some Diet Coke and peanut butter/cheese crackers. Got dressed ... smartwool socks, knee brace, winter cycling pants sans chamois, long sleeve mock turtle neck tech shirt, short sleeved blue NCRC tech shirt made especially for the event, pink C9 jacket, ear warmer, Mizuno running gloves, anti-fog glasses (only true for the outsides, by the way), and my running hat from the Cayman Islands tri.

Got dropped off at the barricades and walked towards start with other NC Roadrunners.

Then it happened ...

10 minutes to the start of the race, and Mother Nature hammered on me with a vengeance! I HAD to find a bathroom, or I wouldn't be running. The end.
Event warmup:

Stood in line for more than 10 minutes at the convenience store across the street from the start. Resolved my issue with Mother Nature and headed out the door. Who was at the Start? NO ONE! I ran across the start line and the guys on the bikes with the blinky lights ... the ones behind the walkers ... were about 500 yards in front of me.

I ran until I caught them ... and passed them ... and then I passed the walkers ... and then I caught some runners ... and by then I was through my first 5 minute run and enjoyed my first 1 minute walk.
Run
  • 2h 43m 58s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 12m 31s  min/mile
Comments:

I can't imagine having a worse start. I don't remember anything about the first mile other than I was passing people left and right. Of course, at my speed, this was nothing I had been training for!!!

The hydration stations were 2 miles apart, so I had planned to take Powerade at miles 2, 6, and 10 and water with sport beans at 4, 8, and 12. That worked well until ... well ... mile 2 when the Powerade was gone before I got there. :) I pretty much stayed on track for the rest of the race, though. The Sport Beans work well for me as long as I have water with them.

I met up with some of my running group at the portajohns at mile 4, which made me very happy. Fortunately, my earlier stop had taken care of my issues with Mother Nature for awhile, so I ran on ahead. They're faster than I am, so I knew they'd catch me ... which they did at about mile 5. Just shy of mile 5, I dropped my jacket, gloves and ear warmer ... and picked up a package of Sport Beans from my jockstrap. I was able to carry two bags of beans in the little pocket of my pants, but I wanted the third. It seemed to work out well for me ... except that the Sport Beans do NOTHING to curb the craving for doughnuts when you pass the Krispy Kreme.

Based on my training, I was confident that I'd be okay through at least half the race with regard to maintaining my 5 min run/ 1 min walk. At mile 8.5, my body lied to me and told me we had to pee. There was a construction site on the right side of the road as we passed from Ocean to King's. There was one portajohn and two MEN in line. I stood for about 10 seconds and then dipped behind the building, copped a quick squat (my bladder was a big fat liar), and got back on my way. I caught my running buddies in a couple of minutes, but I was afraid I'd used too much precious energy during the race catching up with people. In the end, I guess not.

I kept up well until about mile 11 ... when I think my brain realized that we were truly in uncharted territory. I walked an extra minute to get my head together, and then I got back to the run. The two women I was running with are very different runners, and I was able to take advantage of that during miles 11-13.1. Karin has a longer stride and slower cadence, so I dropped in behind her for awhile and just matched her pace, stride and cadence as long as possible. She is really a faster runner and wanted to move ahead, so I dropped back and she took off. I then ran with my friend Terri (not NCTriNewbie ... ANOTHER Terri). Terri's cadence is faster, and my legs really liked the slightly slower pace with the higher cadence. I mostly just liked having someone to run with.

We remained conversational most of the race, but I would note that the ability to converse later in the race was not to be confused with being chatty ... it was more like "You okay?" "Yeah, you?" "Yeah." "Did you see the Krispy Kreme?" "Yeah." "The HOT doughnuts sign was on." "Yeah. I saw that." "Rat B@st@rds!" "Yeah, really."

I walked another extra minute in mile 12 until I convinced myself I was really just finishing up with a little 5k added to an already done and gone 10 miler.

Contrary to what anyone might say is good form, Terri and I managed to reach down somewhere and find the energy to sprint to the finish. Our finish times are exactly the same ... down to the hundredths of a minute.
What would you do differently?:

Not be in the bathroom at the gun?

Train more? Lose more weight? PFFT ... maybe ... but I am positively thrilled with the result. I had predicted between 3 and 3.5 hours ... so you can only imagine how I felt when I saw the clock. I'd given up on splits because I think the folks that put out the mile 2 and 3 markers were still partying or something.
Post race
Warm down:

Got my medal and my blue poncho ... proudly put both on! Stretched for a good 5 minutes. Grabbed a banana and some potato chips ... just couldn't do a beer just yet. Got a photo with three of my best running buddies. Located my jockstrap via some cop's cell phone. Because of my poor estimation of my finish time ... he didn't even get to see me finish. :(

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Mother Nature. The fat in my butt that makes my butt look fat. Training.

Event comments:

I don't have tons of experience with this, of course ... but two miles between drink stations just seems like alot.




Last updated: 2007-02-03 12:00 AM
Running
02:43:58 | 13.1 miles | 12m 31s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 0/2431
Performance: Good
Corrected time!
Course: A flat course that looped around Broadway at the Beach, down 29th to Ocean, down past the Boardwalk, looped around, came back up King's Highway to 21st and ended near where it started.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
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? No
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5

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2007-02-19 2:03 PM

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Elite
2451
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West Chicago, IL
Subject: Dasani Half Marathon
I FORGOT to mention that I had breakfast with Tri'nNC, Ellasdad and Jenneunc!!! OMGosh ... that was SO cool! I wish I'd had the chance to meet/see everyone else!

Edited by 1 Foot The Other 2007-02-19 2:07 PM


2007-02-19 2:09 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Champion
7704
50002000500100100
Williamston, Michigan
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
Awesoem Job Robin congrats on your first 1/2!!!
2007-02-19 3:27 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Extreme Veteran
413
100100100100
Clayton/Raleigh, North Carolina
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
Amazing job girl, congratulations, you had an awesome race! I loved reading your race report! You give me hope that it might be possible for me to pull off the half at Shamrock next month! You did absolutely amazing and all of your training really paid off!

And the bathroom story was hilarious!
2007-02-19 5:05 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Master
1791
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Raleigh, North Carolina
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon

Sport Beans do NOTHING to curb the craving for doughnuts when you pass the Krispy Kreme. 

OMG!  You just brought out my first repressed memory from the race.  They smelled sooooo good.  

 

You ran an OUTSTANDING race!!!  Anytime that your beat your jockstrapper to the finish has got to be flat out an excellent race.  Congratulations on making all your hard work pan out to a great finish. 

2007-02-19 6:48 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Expert
1023
1000
,
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
Congratulations on a great job on your first half marathon after a pretty interesting start. You should be "positively thrilled with the result" because you really did super.
2007-02-19 8:01 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Veteran
174
1002525
Severna Park, MD
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
WTF??? What race did I run??? I have NO recollection of hot krispy kreme donunts. Damnit!!
(good thing they weren't between miles 22 and 24....I might have gone inside and started carbo/fat loading, I was sooooo ready to say f&^%$#it at that point)
Sounds like you had a great race! Congrats on beating your goal time!
Sorry I missed breakfast....I was up early and decided to hit the road.
Again, congrats!


2007-02-20 9:02 AM
in reply to: #695821

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Elite
2451
20001001001001002525
West Chicago, IL
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
Thanks, everyone! It was a great experience overall. All things considered, it was probably as good a first distance race that I could have had. I still have alot of work to do, but in my mind, I'll be laughing at that 5k during the sprint ... well, maybe not laughing!
2007-02-20 9:15 AM
in reply to: #695821

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Master
2346
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Dayton, Minnesota
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
WOO HOO! Great race! And what a great report too! Congrats!
2007-02-20 10:12 AM
in reply to: #695821

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Expert
853
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Fort Worth, Texas
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
Loved the RR and especially the part where you "squat" behind the porta potty! Very nice run for your first half mary!
2007-02-20 2:20 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Champion
5615
5000500100
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon

You rock, Robin.  Great job on the race.

Just think, if you hadn't been in the bathroom at the start, you'd have the time to stop for KK. 

 

2007-02-20 6:10 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Extreme Veteran
348
10010010025
Cary, NC
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon

Was I the only one who found the odor of sugar and grease absolutely revolting at mile nine.  I have always been a fan of Krispy Kreme, and was even considering doing the KK run in raleigh a few weeks ago, but not after this.  The mental smell of Krispy Kreme donuts now sits in my memory banks along with Tequila and Peppermint Schnaaps.

Great Job on the race and the RR.  You did a great job sticking to your plan.



2007-02-21 4:12 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Elite
2451
20001001001001002525
West Chicago, IL
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
I got my corrected time ... *snicker* ... I really WAS 5 minutes behind the start ...

2:43:58

rather than

2:48:23

2007-02-22 6:31 AM
in reply to: #695821

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Master
1573
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Red Sox Nation
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
Great Race!  Glad you had fun and achieved your goal!  Fun report! 
2007-02-23 9:08 PM
in reply to: #695821

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COURT JESTER
12230
50005000200010010025
ROCKFORD, IL
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
GREAT WORK!!!!
2007-02-24 6:14 AM
in reply to: #695821

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Extreme Veteran
1491
1000100100100100252525
northeast Ohio
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
What a great RR!  Congratulations on an outstanding race!  That was really fun to read.   
2007-03-07 7:55 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Master
1201
1000100100
Indian Harbour Beach, Florida
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
ROCK ON SISTAH! Great job Robin!


2007-03-08 10:52 AM
in reply to: #695821

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Master
1381
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Clifton, NJ
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon

great job!

(i keep reading all these 1/2 mary race reports in hopes that i'll absorb some of your success.)

2007-03-09 12:45 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Extreme Veteran
532
50025
Plymouth MA
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon

Congrats on your first 1/2!

I hope you treated yourself to a Krispy Kreme after the race!

2007-03-09 3:13 PM
in reply to: #695821

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Alpharetta, Georgia
Bronze member
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
Nice job! That's pretty cruel, to make everyone run past a Krispy Kreme!

Great job!!!
2007-03-11 12:04 AM
in reply to: #695821

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Extreme Veteran
570
5002525
Subject: RE: Dasani Half Marathon
Great race report and congrats on your first HM!
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