Good race for me this weekend at the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon... 1st place in the 60-64 age group (1:35:51 gun time).
Somebody told me they thought my forced and unplanned taper of running 7 miles in 5 days last week probably helped my cause.
Others just called me a sandbagger.
Richard Hefner Past Race Results (Athlinks)
Joe, I wasn't there for the race that got cancelled. Tough year for sure. The weather was perfect for this race and by the afternoon, it was completely miserable. We lucked out!
Congratulations Richard! It was good to see you standing in the finish area looking healthy and ready to run! It would be a sad day for me to see anything otherwise!
I ran a 2 minute PR, so I have to be happy about my time @ 1:38:54. 5 minutes faster than last year. I had 1:38:45 on my watch. Not sure where that difference came from. I missed my shuttle bus, so I had to sprint to the start for 1.5 miles for gun time. Made it with 1 minute to spare. I heard the Star Spangled Banner being sung from a half mile out and went to a sprint. Chip time is ok, but I would still have to pass a bunch of runners, so I wasn't sure which would be worse. Running hard to the start or passing runners. It probably cost me a little but it's just another story to tell.
Most of the race was miserable for me, and other than the sprint to the start, I think my biggest problem is, I just don't like running early. Much less at 6:30 am. I got slower and slower as the race went on, and by the 10K point I was at 49:00. My legs just wouldn't go. I decided to hang on and see if I could wake up and make a move. Finally, at mile 9 I started picking up some steam, and the last 5k had to be one of my fastest.
Congrats, guys!
... I think my biggest problem is, I just don't like running early. Much less at 6:30 am. I got slower and slower as the race went on, and by the 10K point I was at 49:00. My legs just wouldn't go. I decided to hang on and see if I could wake up and make a move.
Here's an idea.
"I want you to pray as if everything depends on it, but I want you to prepare yourself as if everything depends on you."
-- Dick LeBeau
That's funny Cliff. And the interesting thing is, for the first time, I decided not to drink coffee before the start. I didn't want to manage the porta pottie lines. Now I know what really happened! I won't make that mistake again.
I finally looked up my cousin's time that I have to beat. I might have had a shot at it. 1:38:09. So I need to find a race where I could do 1:38:08 or better. Wondering about The Scream if it's not sold out.
Richard, I was thinking that you will have a good race because of your forced taper and your pronouncement that you were feeling better on Friday. And contrary to what you keep saying a 40 degree day is PR weather after all isn't it?
Lynwood, why was gun time important for you? AG placing? That sprint probably caused your heavy legs, basically by the 10K point you were at 8 min pace, but did manage to bring it back down to 7:30, so you ran the second half around 7:00 pace. That is some pickup and I think you had that 1:35 in you today.