Myrtle Beach Marathon 2013 Recap

I wasn't sure what to expect at Myrtle, as my legs felt heavy going into the race and the grocery store didn't have Eggo nutrigrain waffles, which was my planned breakfast.  I stared at the selections for about 5 minutes before going with the chocolate chip waffles.  I told Jason if I had a bad race it was because of the waffles. 

Theoden, Jason, and me pre-race

Fueled up with Mellow Mushroom pizza and tired from a long trip, I was ready to get to bed ... just so I could toss and turn for 6 hours - definitely not the type of sleep I was hoping for before going for a marathon PR.  With temps in the high 30's, I layered up with a tank top, arm warmers, and long sleeve shirt, and after meeting up with friends from LRC and UCRR, it was time to head to the start. 

John, me, and Jason around MM 18

 Scott (LRC), John (WhyMarathon), and I met up at the 3:35 pacer since we were planning on running together, as we were all shooting for 3:30.  The first mile was pretty crowded, which was good because it kept us from starting off too fast.  We settled into a low 8 minute pace for the first 10 and then dropped to sub-8 for a few miles before settling back into the low 8's.  I knew at mile 13 that 3:30 was going to be out of reach, but I was okay with that because all I really wanted was a 3:35.  Thankfully, I had a good cushion after the first half.  I unraveled after mile 20 and started walking for a few seconds through the water stops.  Over the last 10K, I was constantly crunching numbers in my head to see how much of a cushion I still had left and figure out what pace I had to maintain.  Funny how I become a math whiz while I'm running.  At mile 22, I knew I had it, but it was going to be tough mentally and physically; I was just trying to hang on and not blow it.  When I made the final turn and could see the finish line, I was ecstatic. I wanted to cry. 3:33:39. Just over a 30 second PR and a BQ. 

Post race

This race really meant a lot to me.  Running wise, 2012 was a rough year.  I wilted up at Boston and then DNF'ed at Sugarloaf.  I wasn't really sure how long it would take me to recover from heat exhaustion at both of those races and was nervous about racing 26.2 again.

Big thanks goes out to the Dam 5 AMer's and LRC for helping me get back on my feet, to UCRR for helping me get through another round of training, WhyMarathon ambassadors for being awesome, my family and friends for encouraging me, and especially Jason - couldn't have done it without him!  

 

PR + Beach = Happy Girl

Celebrating with LRC friends

Oh yea, on top of the great race and spending time with friends, it snowed - at the beach!  We were on the 15th floor so it felt like we were in a snow globe.

 

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. - Romans 5:2-5

Notes on race fuel - took a Gu at 5ish and 11ish then switched to Honey Stinger chews at 17.  Went through one pack over 2 miles and then took in no fuel, other than Vitamin Water Revive I was running with and water.  Had to start taking water at stations because of too much sweetness. 

Here are the numbers:

First half: 1:45:43

Second half: 1:47:56

Total: 3:33:39 (10 out of 115 age group; 256 out of 1621 overall) - PR and BQ!

1 - 8:28

2 - 7:55

3 - 8:04

4 - 8:01

5 - 8:03

6 - 8:01

7 - 8:03

8 - 7:58

9 - 8:04

10 - 7:56

11 - 7:57

12 - 7:56

13 - 7:59

14 - 7:57

15 - 8:06

16 - 8:04

17 - 8:06

18 - 8:11

19 - 8:09

20 - 8:12

21 -  8:45

22 - 8:19

23 - 8:33
24 - 8:26
25 - 8:27
26 - 8:16
.2 - 7:17 pace

Race swag - fleece blanket!

BQ or Bust - getting ready for Myrtle!

After the honeymoon, it was time to start training for the Myrtle Beach marathon.  Since November, I've logged 600 miles, with 3 weeks over 50 and maxing out at 55, which seems to be my happy max.  I knew I didn't want to do straight McMillan, as it left me depleted in all sorts of ways.  I didn't want to do straight SmartCoach, as I wanted a little bit of a tougher plan.  I ended up merging those two, along with what I know works for me, to make a customized plan.  I had to work around the Frosty 50K in January and make sure I somewhat tapered for that and recovered after without taking too much away from MB training.

I kept the structure of SmartCoach, with one speed workout and one long run a week, but instead of 2 easy days of running, I did 3.  I also switched from just running steady during a long run, to incorporating workouts during these runs.  Some were based on a 10-10-10 format, some had some mileage at half marathon pace, and some were just at a steady pace.  On my easy runs, I added in some strides and picks up.  I also raced a few 5Ks, a half marathon, and a 50K during training.  I love incorporating races into my training, as I tend to run harder and I also use them as benchmarks if I race the same distance at the beginning and then towards the end of the training cycle.  My 5K time held pretty steady, and while I felt horrible during the Huntersville half, I managed to scrape up a PR despite walking.  I raced the same 5K this January as I did last year and had a big improvement in time, so that was a good mark for me to see.  Another important comparison to me was my time at the Frosty 50K.  The first time I ran it was in 2011 and it was the weekend before I hit my marathon PR and I ran it in 4:41; this year I ran it in 4:24 and change and felt strong the entire way.  I've been running my mile intervals in the 6:20's and my 800's under 3:10, which I've never hit those times before.  Tempo runs have been faster too - 7:20's vs 7:40's.

All pics below inspired my sweet baby, Bella Blue.  My mantra shall be, "Faster than a greyhound."

Beginning of race

Middle of race

End of race

Based on times in training, I should be good to go, but the legs have had little power the past couple of weeks, so who knows what will happen on Saturday.  With that being said,  here are the goals:

1. Finish (Never know what might happen!)
2. 5:27:46 (Why?  This beats my Boston time by a second.)
3. 3:36:01 (Beats previous MB time by a second.)
4. 3:35:00 (BQ!!)
5. 3:34:12 (PR by a second!)
6. 3:29:59