Myrtle Beach Mini Marathon

I ran my first half on Sunday and it honestly wan't as bad as I thought it would be. 

I think I started out way too fast because I was dying at the end. I also didn't run the intervals I trained with. I think I really would have done well if I stuck with the intervals from the beginning. But that's neither here nor there.

On to the race itself! It started off with a performance by some knights from Medieval Times (which we missed because we were too busy chatting with ROTErs.) I think chatting helped easy some of the nerves because I wasn't standing there thinking about the race. Once the show was over, it was time for the race to start. The gun went off and Emma and I were moving! It took a bit to get to the starting line but we crossed the timing mats and were on our way. We passed a line of the knights and the king and queen right after the start and made our way around the mall, that took us through mile 1. Mile 2 we ran through an office park and saw Laura on the other side of the loop. Miles 3, 4 and 5 were just along the road. There were some bands playing along the route which was really nice to have that support. Some where around here, we were playing leap frog with Cath and eventually lost her. We thought we were done with the ROTErs at that point...but we were wrong! Miles 6 and 7 had us running a large loop around Broadway at the Beach. Mile 7 is where it all changed! Katie caught us. We thought she started the race ahead of us and we were on our own. We ran with Katie from miles 7-9. Around mile 9, I started to feel icky and dehydrated (even though I stopped at almost every stop and had Gatorade with me). I told Katie I was taking an extra break and to go ahead. She caught up with Emma and I was never able to catch up with them. Miles 9 and 10 I was running around Myrtle Beach High School and then some residential areas. Between mile 10 and 11 I hit Ocean Blvd and ran past the hotel. But I was almost there and at this point I was almost solidly walking as I had a blister forming around mile 5. I ran past a huge ROTE crew between miles 11 and 12 and even though I had my iPod turned up I could still hear them cheering. I felt like a rock star at that moment! After leaving them it was on to Mile 12 and then a turn around to hit the path to the finish!

I knew I had to kick it to the finish and leave everything out on the course. So, I replayed a song on my iPod and then when the next song came on (Knee Deep by Zac Brown Band), I gave it all I had. 

I finished in 3 hours 8 minutes and 57 seconds. My goal was just to finish as this race would be an automatic PR for me. But now, I have a time to beat!

I did go home with a heavier bag. Look at the size of thing...

...that can also be said for my blister. This was taken two days after the race too!