Sunday, February 17, 2013

Myrtle Beach Half Marathon


 This past weekend I did another race, but unlike the previous weekend I did not have to eat twelve donuts and run right after, but there was an elephant at the start just sitting on the median of the road.Instead I had to run 13.1 miles. I know this sounds like a lot, but in reality it is not all that bad. Considering the fact that a full marathon is twice that much, and there are races that are 100 milers. I was pleasantly surprised with how well I ended up in doing. I think that when you are actually competing in a race with thousands of people surrounding you it puts you into a whole new mind set. Who knows maybe my body is pumping hormones or something differently than just a normal old practice run. Is it the fact that I don't want to get passed by some old fart or by the guy in jesus sandals or is there something more to it. Normally when I run I just run on the greenway by myself, so all that I have pushing me is myself. I normally end up in walking quiet a bit more than I do in a race. These past two races I have not walked during the whole race portion or if I could not help it. I honestly wonder what all goes into me and others into not walking. I believe for myself that it is a combination of I don't want to be shamed, I've worked too hard for this, and there's only one part I can walk and that is after the finish line. As you get closer to the finish line there are more and more people that are yelling and screaming and shaking there cowbells for the runners. If you walk this portion you will get heckled until you ran through that finish line. I wonder if this is similar to the way our english class is we cheer each other on right when we are close to the finish and the start, but we as individuals have to push ourselves for the middle section.
Here are my individual splits for each mile(there was two emergency bathroom pit stops see if you can figure out which miles those were on)
Here is a nice little map showing the route we ran and a nice graphic at the bottom
Here are the official results by gun time, I beat the guy ahead of me according to chip time.
Posted by at

4 comments:

  1. KedricFebruary 18, 2013 at 2:08 PM

    Lol, I can't figure out which miles the bathroom stops were in! But I think it's interesting how you see the idea of pushing each other to finish the race. I have never ran anything more than 3 miles at once, but I can see how running with others helps you to stay strong and finish!

    ReplyDelete
  2. EJesalvaFebruary 19, 2013 at 6:46 PM

    Kind of makes me think of Kedric's post on unity. Having everyone run with you sounds like a great motivator, kind of like study groups at school. If you have great partners it can really help push you to concentrate and learn the material.

    ReplyDelete
  3. patrick.boulwareFebruary 20, 2013 at 6:42 AM

    I think others push you to do better in an actual competition setting. Everyone has their normal speed then a "game speed" and some might say thats not true, but in my experiences it is. I trained a lady for a marathon last year when I was in wrestling shape and it is unreal, I have a lot of respect for people who can finish it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. UnknownFebruary 28, 2013 at 8:30 PM

    I did a leg of this race a few years ago, but I think they don't do the relay thing at this one anymore? I am interesting in thinking more about what Patrick is saying here about competition and how that hooks up to thinking here... do you think it is the competition or the community that pushes you?

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)