2017 Myrtle Beach Marathon

Myrtle Beach Marathon
March 4, 2017 in Myrtle Beach, SC
Chip Time: 4:04:11
Position: 522 of 1,239 overall / 61 of 101 age group

Yes there will be rambling…. TLDR :)

Back Story
I ran my first marathon April 2013 when I lived in Michigan.  I had a goal in mind and cramped at mile 15 then ran/walked the rest of the way - finished almost 40 minutes slower than I had predicted.  I decided running was stupid, didn't run all summer, ran a 50k I had signed up for before the marathon, then pretty much gave it up for 3 years.  Fast forward to December 2015 and we moved to NC from MI, and I would keep my job and be working from home all the time.  After a while I starting missing the friendships I had with my co-workers and actually seeing people face to face.  My wife knew some HSRCers so I decided to go for a few runs and meet some people who are now like family.  Before I knew it I was talked into running a marathon again.

Training
After running a few half marathons in the fall, I picked up a plan online that was basically just to finish a marathon – just running miles without purpose or target paces.  I didn’t feel like I was challenging myself enough, and after seeing Norm use the Run Less Run Faster program at CoO and then go sub-4 at Charleston, I decided to drink that kool aid and switched to that plan for the last 7 weeks of training.  I used a 5k time that was maybe a few seconds faster than I was capable of, but would give me a plan to train with and hit 4 hours.  The runs were tough but I always hit the goal pace or slightly faster.

Pre-race

The week leading up to the race was a bit stressful.  My oldest daughter got hit with the flu Sunday before, starting with a fever and then vomiting.  By Tuesday, 3 of the 4 had the fever and I was ready to start looking for somewhere else to live for a few days.  Then the aches from tapering started to set in and I began to panic that I was getting sick.  I went on a few short walks to keep my legs fresh (and get out of the house!) and focused on what I could control – eating right and drinking tons of water.  By Friday the kids were feeling better, so we packed up and drove down to our hotel.  Met up with Dave to go to the expo, got some dinner, and talked about how we were both ready to crush this race.

Race Day: Alarm went off at 4:15 so I could start eating and do an Edgar or two (thanks for the FB reminder Brian Terwilliger!).  Didn’t quite eat the 5 bananas and loaf of bread suggested by Owais, but I was fueled up and ready to race.  It was 38 degrees (felt like 32) but knowing I will be running for a long time and it could heat up, its shorts and an HSRC t-shirt today, because #nopants.  Up to the Duhons room to catch a ride to the start – thankfully didn’t have to walk 1.5 miles before running a marathon.  Also got our semi-colons drawn on, something that really means a lot to me.  Got to the start line, did our HSRC group picture, told Dave to go get his BQ, and then time to line up.

Race Day

My plan was to start right behind the 4:00 pacer and keep him in sight, then catch him by mile 20 and stay ahead for the rest of the race.  I just had to make sure that I didn’t start too fast like I always do.  They played a recording of Whitney Houston’s famous version of the National Anthem, a cannon blast started the race, and we were off!  I crossed the timing mat and started the metal – this marathon would be powered by non-stop Metallica.  I rarely run with music, but I knew I would be on my own for a while and it would give me something to pay attention to instead of my watch.

The first mile went by relatively smoothly.  Despite the loud music, I remember hearing all the feet pounding the pavement together and thinking it sounded like a pouring rainstorm hitting a window.  Mentally kept telling myself that I don’t have to run a single second faster than 9:00/mile to hit my goal, so when I passed the 1 mile sign and checked my watch and it said 8:30, I kinda freaked out.  But the actual distance on my watch said 0.88, so I knew I was ok.  Then I started wondering if the course was going to be short and got mad that I wouldn’t get an official marathon on my Garmin!  About this time I saw a pacer flag run up next to me and I looked over and saw it said 4:15.  I surged ahead and told myself that was the last time I would ever see that sign.  However, until about mile 6, at each mile I kept hearing him over my shoulder calling out the group’s pace and saying they were going to back off a bit.  At that point I was slightly ahead of where the 4:00 pacer should have been, and couldn’t even see him anymore.  Pacers would be a problem with this race.  Just before the 10k timing mat was an aid station, so as I had planned to do at all of them for the race, I walked through and got a cup of water.  There was an out-and-back section here and I saw the 1:45 half pacer, so knowing Dave was shooting for 3:27 I looked for him and Joel and saw them running the other way.  They were a mile ahead of me already and both looked strong.  I yelled some encouragement their way and continued on.  I hit the 10k mat and instantly started thinking about my HSRC friends that were tracking us, and imagined them yelling at me that I was going too fast.  I thought of Mark at our Tobacco Trail 20 miler telling us we were 26 seconds ahead of the virtual pacer and needed to back off a bit.  The tracking said I was averaging 9:00/mile, but with the first mile being short I was right where I wanted to be and felt great.

Around the next turn, a guy patted me on the shoulder and said something like ‘good job Holly Springs’.  I looked and didn’t recognize him, but found out he was from Fuquay and knew about HSRC from Facebook.  I was now on the other side of the out-and-back part where I had seen Dave before.  I looked for any other HSRCers and saw Doug Stein looking strong – he would go on to a PR.  Soon we turned onto Ocean Blvd and what I had been dreading – 9ish miles next to the ocean with a headwind.  Wouldn’t have been such a problem if I was with a group, but despite still being a minute or so ahead of where the pacer should have been, he was nowhere to be seen.  

When I hit mile 10, I grabbed my phone out of the belt to send Katie a quick text, to let her know that I would be running by our hotel in a few miles, knowing she had to get 4 kids around.  The plan was going to be to drop off the fuel belt and phone and just take a hand held bottle the rest of the way.  But I was in the zone, a well-oiled machine as I kept telling myself, as the miles kept ticking off with only a few seconds variance from my goal pace.  So I just wanted my sunglasses and a refill of my bottle and some more shot blocks.  At mile 11 it was time for some more Blocks but when I reached into my belt, they were gone!  They must have fallen out when I got my phone out, which I found funny because the night before, Katie said that might happen so we had extra, and I said there was no way I would drop any.  Good thing we are meeting in another mile, however this is where I would make the mistake that might have cost me hitting my ultimate goal.  When I saw her at 12.5 miles at our hotel, I switched out my empty bottle of Gatorade for a full one and grabbed a pack of blocks.  Made sure she opened them for me since I still had my gloves on (I was STILL cold).  I didn’t mention that I had dropped a whole pack, but if I would have she would have been with it enough to have me take two packs of blocks instead of one.  I thought I would see her again before the finish, but what I didn’t know was that my daughter’s fever had returned that morning, and I wouldn’t see them again until the finish.

After meeting Katie, and the half had split off, the crowd really started to thin out.  There was a guy named Matthew that I realized I had basically been running with side by side since the beginning so I quickly asked him what he was shooting for – same as me.  We both agreed we would run together for a while and do our best to get each other to our goal.  After the crossing the half way timing mat just under 2 hours, I looked ahead and had a good laugh at myself.  You know you have spent a lot of time around a run club when you start to recognize people by how they run.  Especially when it is someone you haven’t actually ran with, or even introduced yourself to.  For some reason I knew the guy up ahead of me was Duncan Brewer, from seeing him run many times with his group at Lowe’s on Saturday.  Sure enough as I got closer I saw he was wearing an HSRC shirt.  As I caught up I said hello and finally introduced myself to him.  It was very cool to be 3 hours away from home and still seeing people I could talk to and encourage.

It wasn’t until just after the 18.3 mile timing mat that I realized I had actually started to sweat!  At this point I hadn’t seen Katie so I figured she would just see me at the finish.  I still felt great although wondered if I would hold up for another 8 miles with just Gatorade.  I knew they had GU on the course but I hadn’t taken any during training so I didn’t want to risk it messing up my stomach.  Plus at this point my pace was still right on target.  I was still running with Matthew but it felt like our pace had slowed just a tad.  I looked over and he looked like he was hurting.  I asked if he was still good and he said he felt gassed.   We made it to the aid station near mile 20.  All race, I had been walking them while he would jog through and drink, and then I would catch up to him afterwards and we would give each other a little head nod that we were still good.  After this one when I was ready to go, I looked back and he was still walking.  At this point we both understood it was time to run our own race and off I went, grateful for his company and hoping I could do this on my own for a 10k.

We went off road and hit a greenway that ran next to the highway.  It reminded me of the Bass Lake Greenway I have run so many times.  It was a nice break from being on a road.  Here is where a lot of people – and I mean almost everyone – had started walking.  I kept picking off people, thinking of friends telling me how much it helps knowing you are still winning the mental battle.  I remember checking my watch here when it was exactly at 3:27 and hoping that Dave was finishing up his BQ.  Near the end of the greenway, about mile 23, a guy was limping badly and had no fuel with him.  I offered him some Gatorade since I knew I had plenty, but he said “nothing will help me at this point.”  I kept running hoping I wouldn’t get to that place before I was done.  My pace had slowed just a bit for 22 and 23, but I thought I might have enough gas to speed up the last few miles.

And wouldn’t you know it, I turned back onto the road and BAM!  Muscles just stopped working.  It’s like when you are trying to light birthday candles and the lighter just keeps flickering but no spark, no fire.  The wheels had started falling off.  I kept doing math, and it wasn’t long before I needed to average 8 minute miles for the last couple.  Somehow I was still passing people since we were all walking now.  I have joined the ranks of the “not quite ready for sub 4” at this point, but I am going to finish before 4:05 unless my legs fall off.  So I settle for walking 30 seconds, running 2-3 minutes.  Soon I start to recognize where we are and have a flashback to my first marathon when I ran/walked 11 miles before sprinting the finish after the last turn.  That memory gives me just enough burst to charge around the last corner and down the finishers chute.  I raised my arms over my head when I could see the clock read 4:04:xx and I knew I beat the 4:05 and set a massive PR of 18 minutes!  

The rest after that is a blur.  First thing I wanted to know was if Dave got his BQ and he did!  I got in line for food and ran into Matthew again – he finished a few minutes behind me and we said thanks for pushing each other for so long.  That’s what it’s all about and I was happy to help him to a great time also.  I’m so elated with this finish, and as I told Dave, I definitely won’t be taking 3 years off running after this one.  On to Blue Ridge!