Myrtle Beach Marathon 2009

Had a great run! This will be a belated brain dump so I remember the issues for next year and the upcoming Wisconsin Marathon.

Evening before: ate at P.F. Changs, but kept my entree mild (Cantonese shrimp and scallops/brown rice/belgian ale). All good.

Night before: usual restless night, exacerbated by a chiming sports watch!

Morning: up at 4:00 to eat...two eggs, toast, coffee, faux sausage...missed my breakfast cookies. Temp about 50 for start, predicted to go into upper 50's. Rain in the forecast. Dressed in CWX summer tights, Injini socks, arm warmers, Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8 (with about 30 miles on them), newish Nike Drifit top, LiveStrong running hat with wicking headband, race belt with pouch containing five Lemon Sublime Gu packs. Left for parking area at 5:00 (too early by about 30 minutes) for the 6:30 start. Sat in the truck until close to start time. Ate one Gu pack 45 minutes before start, one just before gun. Sipped on Cytomax/Gu2O mixture while waiting.

The run: great moment on the first south bound leg...sun just coming up and P-Funk coming up on the MP3 player. Felt good starting, but crowded...some quick sprints to clear slower runners/walkers. Shed arm warmers after two miles, tossed to crew at 3 mile mark. Ate Gu/drank water at 4,8,12,16,20,22,24. Crew passed me bottles of Cytomax/Gu2O at 13 and 20...drank what i wanted each time (maybe 8 ounces). At 20 miles I also loaded up on caffeinated Gu (TripleBerry...maybe have some ExpressoLove next time). Face was a little hot rolling into mile 20, but it started raining some on the way out of the aid station...cooled right down.Quads felt like they were going to cramp on the slight downhill section at about mile 21. Pulled over and stretched a little and then cautiously restarted. I chalk this up to too much treadmill training/not being ready for the impact stresses. Crossed the line (after my JA Flecha celebration) at 4:23, new PR by about 40 minutes.

Post race: had to find family and recovery drink...was hard for spectators to see the finish (a bad redesign of the finish area as compared to last year). Felt pretty good...quads sore! Walked back to the car for the ride to the hotel for a quick shower before burgers at River City Cafe. Found a little sore rubbed on the back of my knee on my right leg! Must have been a little pinch in my tights and the stitching of the vent panel rubbed the sore. Must body glide this spot in the future if running long in the summer tights. Small spot on my left shoulder blade that was sore...maybe caused by the mp3 player armband?

Sore until Tuesday, when most DOMS was gone. No running until Sunday after marathon.

Overall, great marathon. Wonderful feeling knowing I was on schedule the whole way! Pretty consistent pace, again.

New course for Kenosha Marathon

An improved course has been announced for the inaugural Wisconsin Marathon in Kenosha on May 2.

And best of all, no ambiguous headphone policy:

Can I wear headphones anyway?
USATF recently changed the rules about allowing headphones in races. YES! You can now run with headphones on. You might not want to with all the fun you'll miss, but you can.

In the taper

So glad to be well into the taper. Way too much running on the treadmill this year. I have now done a 19 and 23 miler on the treadmill...that will so make you mentally tough. Temps in the teens (and lower) and a couple of feet of snow made outdoor running just too challenging.

Marathon is next weekend and I feel GOOD. Hope the weather is agreeable. I have done everything on my training plan. Speed work was done at a minute/mile faster than planned, long runs 30 seconds to a minute faster per mile than plan. I think the chances of a PR are pretty good. Time to start thinking about getting the bike set up on the trainer and getting into cycling shape.