Last year, I was in Myrtle Beach for the Terrain Race, and I discovered while I was there that the marathon was the same weekend. Man! I'd rather have been doing the marathon. Especially because the weather was perfect for a PR... chilly and cloudy. I signed up for the following year's race immediately.
The MBM was actually my first hands-on exposure to the world of marathoning. I was in 6th grade when I joined my middle school's Running Club, which went for a 5K run after school on Fridays. We signed up for the Myrtle Beach Marathon relay, sending 3 teams of 5 runners. I was on the B-team, running the second? leg. It was exciting. We heard about what it would be like to participate. I was excited about my leg, since it would go by an amusement park. The best leg was the last leg, since the course went through Broadway on the Beach, which is a tourist attraction with restaurants, fun stores, and other amusements. Our coach, who was also our history teacher, said that it was the closest thing to running in the Olympics, to be cheered on by spectators at the end.
I remember going to a small expo at a hotel to pick up our packets. I remember running my leg with the dad of one of my classmates. We were going by the airport, so with the big field with no natural wind blockers, the wind was really strong, and I was literally being blown from one side of the road to the other in the cross-wind. The dad ran next to me to try to shield me from the wind.
I was excited to go back to the MBM as an adult. All year, I was planning to use it as a BQ attempt. BQ standards had been raised by 5 minutes, so I would need to set a PR by a couple of minutes to get in. It was time for Boston to raise its standards, since for several years, more people were qualifying than they had spots available, and it was kind of messed up to have people qualify but not actually get in after acceptances were granted based on how much you beat the qualifying time by.
[LACK OF] TRAINING OVERVIEW
Unfortunately, I didn't get in the training that I should. In past years, I kind of always used the same plan. It was one that I adapted from Runner's World Smart Coach for my very first marathon in Houston. I like it because it's low-mileage, and I haven't been able to build up to being a high-mileage runner, since me listening to my body ends up keeping the mileage low. It's also a good mix of speedwork and long runs, with a though-out progression on the LR distances. It also contains cycles of 3 consecutive weeks of buildups, followed by a backoff week, so that you can absorb the training and recover, in stronger form.
I had that plan in mind, and but I didn't try to follow it strictly. Instead, I'd loosely know that this week, I should be hitting a long run of this distance. But I wouldn't even necessarily do that, either. I traveled for 3 weeks in Taiwan and Thailand, and it isn't as easy to 1) do long runs while traveling, and 2) find appropriate places in cities you don't know well. So, I didn't take training seriously enough. I happened to get one or two speed sessions in, but not the weekly ones that I should've been doing. I only got to a couple of 13-15 mile runs. It was enough so that I knew I could finish the marathon, and I wasn't going in completely cold, but I didn't expect to PR.
Based on how things had gone, I planned on it just being a run for fun. I even toyed with the idea of just skipping it, a couple of times. But I had already paid for it, and there was some swag waiting for me, so why not.
In the two weeks right before the race, my feet started feeling stress fractury too, though. I've never knowingly had a stress fracture, but once a year, maybe, my feet sometimes feel like what I'd imagine the beginnings of a stress fracture might feel like, not that I've done any extensive research on what it feels like. The mile-a-day rucking challenge with weight increasing each week, despite me keeping the increases very moderate, might've been contributing. The MAC-V1 boots might've been a factor, too, doing that daily rucking in those. I felt like they might've been stressing my arches a bit more than the Salomon XR Missions that I used to ruck in.
I laid off of running in the week leading up. . My last run was on Sunday a week before, where I did 7.6 miles at a 9:43 pace. I wanted to let that potential stress fracture have every opportunity to heal itself and to not turn into anything worse.
PRE-RACE
On Friday after work, I drove out to Myrtle Beach. Their expo ended at 8pm, but fortunately, my mom decided that she'd join me for the weekend, so she went earlier in the day to pick up my packet for me. We got a hotel by the beach (granted, our room was facing inland), so I was looking forward to having a nice weekend with her.
Myrtle Beach is pretty easy to get around. The race started at 7am on Saturday morning, so I drove out to Boardwalk on the Beach, where there was plentiful parking. I went to the porta-potties and checked in my gear. It was going to be in the upper 50's, lower 60's. It was decent in a sports bra... chilly at the start, but it would be warm once you get going if you're going for a fast time.
Even walking around before the race, I noticed that my feet were getting numb in my shoes. Typically, I'd attribute that to the cold weather, but it wasn't even cold. I figured that my laces were too tight, so I tried loosening them some, but it didn't help a whole lot. Not a good sign.
Fortunately, the field of competitors is small compared to most races. I got the urge to use the restroom again with like 15 minutes before the start. I had time to go to the porta-potties again, and make it back to my spot in line, with plenty of time. I wouldn't recommend it, because I was nervous the whole time that something might happen, and I might get trapped way in the back like what happened to me at Houston. It was OK at this race, though, fortunately.
THE RACE
It was strangely quiet as we set off. There weren't a ton of spectators at the start, and past the start, there was pretty much nobody. It was like we were in a church, as we all ran in a giant crowd down streets that would've been packed with cars during tourist season. This was a quiet early morning in the off-season, though.
It was so quiet that when I was coming up to my mom, who was waiting for me on the race course 2 blocks from our hotel at the 3 mile mark, I didn't think to shout out to her to get her attention. I waved until she saw me, which was pretty much when I was already directly in front of her.
At this point in time, I was still optimistic. Even though I hadn't gotten in a full training cycle, maybe my years of cumulative endurance and marathon magic (which comes from a good taper and adrenaline) would kick in and somehow give me a PR or at least a good time.
We went along highway 17 business, which has restaurants and souvenir shops for the tourists. The race course goes south for about 7 miles, then loops back up to be in-line with where the start was, and then goes north for like 6-7 miles and then goes south again back to the finish.
At mile 6, we went through a nice community with houses that remind me of Daniel Island in Charleston. It's a new development where they have buildings with shops and restaurants on the first floor, and housing on the floors above it. It's pretty and seems like a nice place to live.
At one water stop, there was a girl volunteering who was wearing a Pikachu beanie that looked like a Pikachu head. I said "I choose you" to her as I grabbed the water cup. I chuckled at myself for the next quarter mile for the clever remark ;)
The pace, which wasn't even that fast... it was about my BQ speed, was starting to get to me, though. By mile 7, I knew that this was way harder than it was supposed to feel, and my expectations for what I could do that day started going down.
Through mile 10, where I'd loop back around to see my mom close to the hotel again, I just focused on letting the miles pass, not worrying so much about maintaining a good pace anymore. She saw me more in advance this time, and I didn't even need to shout out.
This stretch is fun, since we go by the beachfront resorts. There are 1-2 amusement parks and stuff, too. Soon, we got to where the half marathoners turned off. By then, I was struggling. I couldn't even hold marathon pace for the half marathon distance. I wouldn't have even been able to run a good half marathon that day.
By then, I knew that this was merely going to be about finishing. I made it my new goal to simply not stop running. I've never stopped in a race before (apart from the Disney Marathon that I ran with my dad and sister, since they were using a run/walk strategy, and apart from OCRs or trail runs, where it's natural and smart to walk for parts of it like uphills).
I was grimacing just to keep running. I wished that my shoes (the Adidas Boston Boost) had more cushioning. My feet were not ready for this mileage with those shoes on pavement. I'd sometimes close my eyes, too, because it felt like I was resting or somehow saving energy just a little bit.
I was doing fine in terms of nutrition. The course only offered 2 stops with Clif gels, and water and gatorade every 2 miles. I therefore brought 3 gels of my own, and was taking them every 5-6 miles. I didn't even notice the gels at mile 14, so I'm glad that I brought my own. I even skipped a few of the water stops, because I felt like I didn't need it. As it was, my stomach was sounding like a slosh pipe. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't normal for it to be sloshing. I think my nutritional plan and execution was fine, though, and wasn't the reason for my poor performance. There was nothing abnormal in my meals leading up, and taking pre-workouts is relatively new to me, but it hasn't seemed to have any adverse affects yet.
The northern half of the course goes through residential areas, so it feels even quieter. At one point, closer to the northern turnaround, we went along a sidewalk by the beach, for a while. It was nice and would've been nice, had I been running better. Instead, I was getting passed by the 3:45 pace group.
Eventually, we were nearing the point of the northern turnaround. We went through a large subdivision. For a little while, I felt like I was getting a second wind, where there was a DJ playing some inspirational Disney-branded music (Star Wars and stuff). It reminded me of the fun times at the Disney Marathon. The DJ was calling people "Superman" and "Superwoman", too, which felt good.
Finally, we were going south again. I could start to count down the 7 miles that we still had to go. Let me tell you, those were the slowest going 7 miles ever. Normally, on a long run, I'd be chuckling to myself that I "only have 7 miles left", that it's only a normal training run left. Those miles ticked on forever, though. I was shuffling, it felt like, just trying to keep forward motion. My legs were not having it, and even if I could mentally push myself to go harder, I knew that it wouldn't be good for my potentially stress fractury feet, and it wouldn't be worth it. There was no BQ on the line or anything anymore.
I kept asking myself how it could be physically possible for the finish line to still be 4 miles away. We had been running south for so long. Just kept going. We started turning in different directions, adding on more miles. I kept hoping that I'd see signs of Broadway at the Beach again soon, which would signal the coming of the finish line.
The volunteers and spectators were encouraging. I think they saw that I was on the struggle bus. I had started taking 2 cups of water... one to cool myself off with, and the other to drink a little from. It was warmer then.
Finally, we were in the Broadway area. Just a little bit of running left. I'd normally sprint and stuff, but my race had blown up already, so I just wanted to finish. When I crossed the finish line, I was so glad to not be running anymore. I hobbled over to get a space blanket and the large medal. They had a second runner's area with a finisher's tank top and free food. During the race, I had actually been craving pepperoni pizza, which is odd, because I haven't had pepperoni pizza in like 15 years. I ate two slices, though, and they were delicious. It was cold now that I had stopped running. I also got beer. Sam Adams was a sponsor, and early on, they had cans of 26.2 Brew, which would've been so cool, but they ran out by the time I got there. I drank a bottle of Cold Snap, instead.
I picked up my drop bag and went back to the car. I drove to the hotel, where I met up with my mom. We went down to the pool and the beach, since it was our one day in MB, and the checkout the next morning was at 10am, which wouldn't leave time for much on Sunday.
Then, we went to Broadway at the Beach, to browse the shops and attractions.
After that, we went to Original Benjamin's Calabash, where we used to go with family friends on annual New Years trips to Myrtle Beach when we were kids. Their food is really good. It's a buffet, but quality food.
On Sunday, one more short trip down to the beach, before we started towards home.
So... the race... it is a good race for a PR. Good weather, flat course. But I didn't take training seriously enough this time. I learned that marathon magic won't make up for not training. That was tough. I finished in 3:59:50, just under the 4 hour mark. I normally run consistently in the 3:32-3:38 range, when I do train, and am not doing something like the Goofy or Dopey challenge. Gotta train next time.
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