Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon, Year Long Goal Complete

Friday

Friday wasn't too exciting.  I worked at the pool that morning and then headed straight home so that I could finish packing food for the trip and pack up the car.  Unfortunately I got a later start leaving than I had planned, but made it down to the beach by 3pm.  I had to meet up with Ron so that I could get a key from him so I could stay at his brother's or sister's condo since I was originally suppose to stay at their beach house.

I unpacked my things and headed down to the beach for a little while, about 2 or 2.5 hours to just relax.  It it probably one of the best views I could ever ask for, sitting on any beach and looking at the waves crash on the shore.  Ron and Linda came down to the beach for a little while to play with Harrison, their grandson.  He is completely adorable.  I sat on the beach looking up CrossFit gyms in the area because I wanted to get a workout in since I had been traveling most of the day, but the one I wanted to go to on did Friday morning classes.  

I headed back to the condo around 5:30 and fixed the dinner I had brought down, watched TV for a little while and then showered.  I spent the rest of the night catching up on some reading.  I can't tell you how great it feels to be away from everything you need to take care of back home just so I can sit down and relax and read.

Saturday

It felt so great to actually sleep in, and I love the fact that even though I wake up early during the week I am still able to sleep late when I get to sleep in.  I decided to go for a short run, even though I was suppose to be on a full rest day.  I would only say I ran about half to three-quarters of a mile and then did 20 muscles snatches on each arm with a 15lb db (dumbbell).  In the process of doing the snatches with my right arm I hit myself in the knee with the db.  Smart Tiffany!  Do a small workout the day before and possibly bruise your knee before a run, and the good knee at that.

Next was some pool time...Yes, I know what you're thinking.  Why go to the pool when you have the beach.  Well, I didn't want to have to drive all the way back from the beach to eat lunch so I just stayed at the pool until lunch time and then headed to the beach after that.  So about 2 hours at the pool working on the tan.  I headed inside for lunch and after that I went down to the beach for a good 3 hours and worked on my tan there.  

The weather was perfect the whole weekend.  It was middle to high 70s with a light breeze so I could have stayed on the beach forever.  After 3 hours on the beach I headed back to the condo to put on some clothes and head out to the Fitness Expo at the Grande Dunes Marina and Inn to pick up my packet.  The resort was also had a restaurant called Waterscapes that was provided a dinner for the athletes for $15 dollars which included a salad, braised short rib lasagna, and garlic bread.  

The dinner/restaurant wasn't open until 5:30pm so I played around in the Expo until then.  I bought a jacket that had Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon on it even though it didn't have the exact logo of the actual race, a little disappointing.  But my biggest adventure for the expo was trying on Newton running shoes.  I had never had any of them on, but all their shoes are bright colors.  I finally decided to try a pair on just to see what the big deal about them was.  I picked out a pair that was purple, but they were a size 7 so they were a little big.  He grabbed another pair that was a 6.5 and had me try those on.  As I sat there I feel in love with the color.  All Newton shoes are designed to improve running form.  Not only did I try them on, but one of the guys at the booth took me outside to run in them and videoed me to look at my running form.  He complimented how fast I already was and how much fast I could be.  We went back inside and I made the pain stacking decision not to buy the shoes 1) because I didn't need to spend the money, and 2) I had a pair of shoes that had been ordered in my size that arrived Friday when I left waiting on me back home.  The guy that took me outside said he could see if he could get the price lowered to $120 for me.  They had already lowered the price for the expo to $140 and the original price was $175.

The Newton shoes I feel in love with and am still searching for! 
(Newton Motion)

 I already had a pair of shoes waiting on me back home, and when I asked the guy if they would be at the Cooper River Bridge Run next year and he said yes I told him I would get them then.  

The rest of the night after dinner I spent just reading and making sure I had all my things together for my race.

Sunday = Race Day

It was the big day, the goal that I had set for myself the previous year and said I would do was about to be accomplished.  I woke up early and made sure everything I needed was packed, again.  I ate my breakfast and then headed out to Coastal Grand Mall where the start of the race would be located.  The two aspects of the race that I was looking forward to were that characters from Midevil Times Dinner show, with horses, were going to walk us up to the starting line so I was excited about getting to see horses and of course was going to take pictures; and the other thing I was excited about was going to be able to see the coast/ocean while I was running.  

Race number (175), race tech shirt, packet pick-up bag, and my commemorative jacket I bought

When I first got there my mission was to hit the bathroom, which didn't seem to move as fast as the race down in Disney probably because there weren't as many bathrooms to use.  I then took my bag of to the bag claim/check area so that it could be picked up at the finish line, after that I sat in my car for a little while to stay warm.  15 minutes to go and I started to head for the starting line.  Needless to stay I just jumped into the starting line, but got into the "corral" that was for 10:01-11:00min/mi pace.  I had to move up a "corral."

The race finally started and I was expecting a couple minutes faster time than what I had done at RaceFest since this course was all flat.  The first mile was around the mall.  I will say that I loved the fact that there was a mile marker on every mile as well as a clock, that way I could keep track of where my pace was during the race.  What I wasn't expecting during the race is my left hip flexor to hurt all the way until miles 7 and 8.  I was more worried about my left ankle bothering me since it had bothered me during the Disney race.  

My pace felt faster than it had during RaceFest, but I don't know how I really remember that far back.  Every step produced pain in my hip flexor and every once in a while a sharp pain that almost made me want to stop, but I'm too stubborn to.  Besides running around Coastal Grand Mall we also ran around Broadway at the beach and through Myrtle Beach High School and Middle School.  It wasn't quite the ocean scenery that I was hoping for.  

Along the course there were family spectators and people cheering us on with signs.  They also had it to where people could move to different spots on the course, so I think I saw the same people about 5 times cheering their special someone on.  Every mile seemed like it went by pretty fast, which I couldn't believe and was excited about.  Every mile I would tell myself "only ___ miles to go!"  

When I hit mile 10 then the slight ankle pain started, the hip flexor pain had disappeared, and the coastline view that I had looked forward to for most of the race had finally appeared.    We ran about 2.5 miles down Ocean Boulevard and then made the final left turn to start the final trek down the boardwalk.  Hitting the boardwalk my first that was to look for the finish line, success.  I saw the banner that would mean I completed my goal.  

At first the boardwalk was winding cement, slight right and slight left winding pavement started to make my ankle feel worse.  I had switched back and forth with another female racer in position throughout the race, whether she was in my age group or not was beyond me.  As the boardwalk winded back and forth people started to huge the corners and I started to get irritated with people trying to cut me off for a better position so I had to start passing people.  The last stretch the boardwalk changed to uneven wood, not an ideal running ground.  My legs were spent by the end of the run and my ankle was in pain.  I wanted to push myself faster through the finish line and that girl that I had been changing leads with the entire time started to pull away from me, but my main concern was to not be in any more pain than what I was feeling already.  

People were lined up along the boardwalk cheering in the runners.  I kept my pace and my feet ran under the memorial banner and across the timing pads.  I know most people slow down after they pass the first timing pad, but I always run all the way through the second one.  I finally slowed down after that first pad and headed to get my finisher metal.  Granted I was limping and one of the volunteers thought that I had sprained or twisted my ankle.  I said I was fine as I knew that I was and walked to the toward where they were taking pictures of everyone with their metals, had two pictures taken and then went for the food that they had provided.  I picked up a banana, half a bagel, and a pumpkin spice cookie.  Heck I deserved that cookie, and yes it was good!  After I ate I went for my bag to get food that I had packed already for after the race.  I hung out until the awards just to see by some slight chance if I had placed in my age group, but no prevail.  Either way I had done something that I said I would do a year ago!

That's a huge finisher medal.  The hook in it is for opening
bottles and it has a magnet on the back!

I headed for the shuttle back to the mall, then back to the condo for a nap.  After waking up I went to the beach for about 2 hours and then headed home.  

I ordered myself some pizza and cheesesticks for dinner which I felt I also deserved.  It was my last big race for the year and felt so good to complete that race!  

On another note, I think I've found my nitch and will start running half marathons more often.