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| I Ran This Beach!!! |
This weekend past weekend I accepted the challenge to run the beach. Not only did I run the mini marathon on Sunday I made it a full weekend and also ran the 5k on Saturday. In this recap I will give my personal options on the Expo, 5k, Mini Marathon as well as the Bling.
The Expo
After a rainy 6 hour drive from Atlanta we headed straight for the host hotel (Marina Inn At Grande Dunes) to pick my race packet and explore the expo. As soon as you enter the Marina Inn you realize why they charge such a high rate to stay there, it was beautiful. Unfortunately I could afford to stay there but it was still nice to look around as I headed down stairs to the expo. There were some slight confusion at the race number pick up. Before the expo the race sent out emails to everyone in the Half Marathon with there bib number on it, so all you had to do was walk you to the counter, give then your bib number and poof your in and out fast. But the number that the race were wrong and you had to go to a different station for them to look up your number, but even after that I still felt like it was rather quick. With this race only being in its fourth year I wasn't expecting much in terms of size and vendors. And I was right but they still had the usual race promoters and official race merchandise vendors and everything a runner needed just encase they forgot to pack something.I must admit that I was slightly disappointed that I couldn't find a decal or magnet with race logo on it but maybe next time. After the expo we headed to North Myrtle Beach to eat at a great local seafood restaurant and check into our hotel for the night.
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| Shirts, Bib and Bag |
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| Expo |
Eukanuba Coastal 5k
After laying down to rain the night before I was hoping for a clear day in time of the race. The first thing I did after my alarm woke me at 6:45 was check the weather, and it was suppose to rain all weekend. With anticipation of cold rain I dressed with an extra layer underneath. Once I was dressed and ready I ate some Gatorade energy chews (even thou I wasn't every hungry) and off to the 5k.
It was held on the campus of the Marina Inn and the course was a pretty simple out and by route. The set up was as of a typical 5k, No Corrals, All of the runners hovering around the start line. Yeah of course there were announcements for the non competitive runners to move to towards the back but, who listens to announcements? Right? I hovered as close to the middle of the pack wishing I would have moved closer to the front. After the National Anthem and a short countdown we were off. The first mile I was bobbing and wiving through all of the slower runners but it wasn't until I saw the time on the mile 1 marker did I realize I have the opportunity to PR. So for then to the end of the race I pushed myself to maintain my pace,which was not problem until the last mile. My legs started to feel extremely tired so I tired to switch up my race style to run more on my toes and less on my full foot. It defiantly took the stress off my legs allowing me to finish my fasted mile of the race and brand new shiny PR.
| 37 | 481 | MICHAEL ANDERSON | FAIRBURN | GA | 26 | Male | 0:22:39 |
Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon
My alarm went off at 6 am and I did the same routine as the day before but the only difference was, it was raining on the drive to the race. At one point it was raining so hard that we missed the turn and had to drive an extra 3 miles to turn around. On a normal race day missing the turn wouldn't have been such a big deal but today we were running late so, those extra 3 miles to make a u-turn seemed like an extra 12 or 13 miles. When I arrived at the starting line the rain stopped and I barely had enough time to locate a pace group before the National Anthem finished and the countdown ended to start the race.
The first four mile were great. I didn't really pay attention to the times on the mile markers, I just focus in on the bright yellow shirt the 8 minute mile pacer was wearing and zoned out to my playlist. I knew that choosing the 8 min pacer was a long shot especially since I have never ran a sub 2 hour Half Marathon but after my PR in the 5k I may have been a little over confident.
Around mile 5 the pacer was stating to put some distances between us, lucky one of the guys that was also running with the pacer was falling behind as well. Mile 6-8 were uneventful but we still maintain a good pace, and my legs still felt fresh. A little bit out after the 8 mile marker I ripped open a gel and downed it. Yuck man I hate the texture of those things but the usual seem to work. Mile 8-13 are advertised as oceanfront running but it seemed to be more like oceanfront house running with a couple of miles of clear ocean views.
By this time of the race it started to warm up a bit but it was still overcast that made me feel like the rain could start at any moment.
During the last 4 miles me and my newly found running buddy play leap frog motivating each other to keep up our pace. My legs were felt like I was running through mud and my stomach was killing me even since I took that gel but I knew I only had a couple of miles left and I wasn't about to slow down when I am so close to another PR in the same weekend. In between mile 12 and 13 was the turn to the boardwalk and the sun literally popped out from behind the clouds. That was Que to thank my running partner and try to pick up my pace to as close to a sprint as possible to get the best time. I cross the finish line with a quick fist pump for the cameras as I peered up at the time that read 1:49:04. My last Half Marathon I ran a time of 2:17:04 so I didn't just PR I CRUSHED my previous time by almost 30 min.
My alarm went off at 6 am and I did the same routine as the day before but the only difference was, it was raining on the drive to the race. At one point it was raining so hard that we missed the turn and had to drive an extra 3 miles to turn around. On a normal race day missing the turn wouldn't have been such a big deal but today we were running late so, those extra 3 miles to make a u-turn seemed like an extra 12 or 13 miles. When I arrived at the starting line the rain stopped and I barely had enough time to locate a pace group before the National Anthem finished and the countdown ended to start the race.
The first four mile were great. I didn't really pay attention to the times on the mile markers, I just focus in on the bright yellow shirt the 8 minute mile pacer was wearing and zoned out to my playlist. I knew that choosing the 8 min pacer was a long shot especially since I have never ran a sub 2 hour Half Marathon but after my PR in the 5k I may have been a little over confident.
Around mile 5 the pacer was stating to put some distances between us, lucky one of the guys that was also running with the pacer was falling behind as well. Mile 6-8 were uneventful but we still maintain a good pace, and my legs still felt fresh. A little bit out after the 8 mile marker I ripped open a gel and downed it. Yuck man I hate the texture of those things but the usual seem to work. Mile 8-13 are advertised as oceanfront running but it seemed to be more like oceanfront house running with a couple of miles of clear ocean views.
By this time of the race it started to warm up a bit but it was still overcast that made me feel like the rain could start at any moment.
During the last 4 miles me and my newly found running buddy play leap frog motivating each other to keep up our pace. My legs were felt like I was running through mud and my stomach was killing me even since I took that gel but I knew I only had a couple of miles left and I wasn't about to slow down when I am so close to another PR in the same weekend. In between mile 12 and 13 was the turn to the boardwalk and the sun literally popped out from behind the clouds. That was Que to thank my running partner and try to pick up my pace to as close to a sprint as possible to get the best time. I cross the finish line with a quick fist pump for the cameras as I peered up at the time that read 1:49:04. My last Half Marathon I ran a time of 2:17:04 so I didn't just PR I CRUSHED my previous time by almost 30 min.
| 306 | 141 | MICHAEL ANDERSON | FAIRBURN | GA | 26 | Male | 1:48:48 |
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| Finish Line on the Boardwalk |
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| Awesome Medals |
