GO! Saint Louis 1/2 Marathon

This would be my second real half marathon race. And the first of which I have actually trained for. My first half was the Joker's Wild put on by Ultramax in 2007. It was a miserable 2 laps of Creve Coeur Park on a 100 degree day in July. I had never run that far in my life. It was hot. There were not enough water stops. I hit a wall at 11 miles. But all I had to do was finish to get points toward the Ultramax Championship Series (of which I ended up winning!).

So back to this year's race. I bit the bullet in January or so and registered. Seeing as how I had been running throughout the winter, I figured why not. Training was going well. Running on a treadmill was not the most fun I've ever had but I got through it. Then came spring in St. Louis. Maybe it's just me but it seemed like we skipped it. I was able to go from running indoors every day to running outside every day in little more than a tee-shirt and shorts at times. I was running higher mileage weeks than I have ever done (40 miles) and training on hills. Now I'm sure it was a culmination of things including overuse... but I acquired a pain in the ass. And no, I'm not talking about Jason. Nope. I'm talking the kind of pain that made me fear my run every afternoon. The kind that was so painful I felt as if I was only running with my right leg and dragging my left behind me. Hills were soon out. Running outside quickly followed. I resorted to running on the treadmill the last week or so before the race. I just couldn't bear the pain. And it wasn't just when I was running. It was longer car rides and sitting in chairs. I prayed to just get me through the race.

Race day came. Woke up early and had a bite to eat. Left the house without the customary race morning poop. That worried me a little bit. That's part of the morning in all my important races. Putting it out of my mind, I arrived downtown. There was a single port-o-potty right by the parking lot so I figured I'd use it since once I got to the start line, there would probably be a bazillion people. It was super nice not to have to wait in line. And I finally pooped. That put my nerves a little more at ease.

Now seeing as how this is only my second half I took to heart the words of advice from those who had raced before. This was mostly from my fellow dietitians at work who had run before. They reported that it was possible that I would not cross the line for near 10 minutes after the gun went off. I am not afraid to admit that this fact scared me. What?! There are so many people that I might not start for 10 minutes... you have got to be kidding me. Well, once I got there, I came to the conclusion that they were wrong or I was expecting to run much faster than they anticipated I would. My goal was a 1:35 (ambitious since my first was 1:42) so I lined up with the 3:10 marathon group. And to my surprise, my friend Kevin was racing the marathon and that was his goal. So I got to run some of my race with someone I know! Neat.

After the gun went off, I'm pretty sure I crossed the line within 30 seconds or so. There were not all that many people ahead of me considering there were like 20,000 people racing. Scary stuff. So I ran with the 3:10 marathon pace group for a while. I was actually feeling kinda sluggish from the get go. I felt heavy for lack of a better description. But I was running okay. Stayed with the group until the hill near 6.5 miles. It killed me. I tried to hold some semblance of a pace but could not. And I did not want to anger my butt. So the pace group left me. Although I was able to keep them within 15-30 seconds or so until they turned off on the marathon course. Miles 8-11 had been relatively uneventful. But the last 2 miles felt pretty horrible. I was struggling. And it had gotten warmer than most had expected. The last 2 miles are not easy. I don't care what anyone says. I wanted to kill the woman standing on an overpass yelling at me to "Keep moving, don't walk, you're almost done." Excuse me? Listen here lady, I'm still holding 7:30 pace. I'm still RUNNING. And you are just standing there. Don't I look like I'm running? Because I sure felt like it!

Anyways... I finished in 1:36:38. I was a little bit off my goal but I was pleased. I guess I could run the NYC Marathon if I wanted to now... ha. I only had to run 1:37 or better to qualify with a half but would have to run a 3:23 to qualify with a marathon. I don't think I'll be pulling out a 3:23 marathon any time soon so I think I'll pass.

St. Patty's Day Run

Wow... I had only done this race once before but this year it was BIG. So big that it was by far the largest road race I have entered to date. I didn't know where to start. My bib was yellow meaning that I was supposed to start down past Clark St. which was forever and a day away from the start line. I mean really, there were people with jogging strollers ahead of me. Jason insisted that I just move up and start closer. So I timidly placed myself about 25 yards from the start line and hoped I didn't get in trouble.

Once the race started, I quickly realized that, yes, I should have moved up even closer. There were still people with jogging strollers and walkers in my way. I actually ended up running on the sidewalk for the first half mile opting to dodge mailboxes and newspaper stands instead of humans. I must have been pretty excited because I came through the first mile in 6:05. Yeah. My mile PR (as an adult) was 6:13 last year. So I was thinking, oops, that was a little fast.

Came through the finish line in 34:18! Fastest race to date....

Castlewood Cup

Long story short... I felt great and raced well. I had been working the hills during the winter quite a bit and dropped about 10 minutes off my Pere Marquette time from the previous year. So I headed into the Castlewood Cup with a pretty nice base. I settled in with a woman from Ghisallo who was running at a decent clip. Towards the 5 mile mark, we came up on about 4 or so girls running together. She tucked in behind them and I was left with a choice... stay or go? What the hell, I went. And nobody followed. I raced the last 4.5 miles by myself and ended up coming in 2nd. Had I known that the girl in front of me was only a little over a minute ahead... ah, oh well. I was pleased with my effort. Especially because the course was a mess this year. I think everyone agreed that the ruts left by the mountain bikes on the upper parts of the course were really tough on the ankles. And the lower half of the race was still a wet, sloppy mess from recent rains. Needless to say, my shoes didn't make it out alive. I think that means I get to buy some new ones!!

Running Fool

I am a terrible blogger. Inconsistent at best. But I'm trying. So an update on 2010 so far... The first half of the year was consumed by running. And pretty much only running. Jason and I got a little crazy and signed up for both the Frostbite Series and Snowball Series (long of course). All of this was a ploy to keep us running throughout the winter. Jason has seemingly never had a real problem with this besides the fact that he can't feel his hands 5 seconds after he steps out the door.

Me on the other hand, well, I am pretty much terrified of cold weather. I train and race in the temperate months only. For the past 10 years or so, it is safe to say that I stop training and racing in late November or early December and I don't come out of hibernation until April. This usually does not bode well for early spring races. But this year... I got crazy. Signing up for long distance races lit a fire under my a@% ! Never one for running on a treadmill, I was religious. I headed to the hospital gym nearly ever day after work and put in the needed miles. Let me just preface that impressiveness with the fact that I DON'T DO TREADMILLS... EVER. Until this winter that is. And not only did I run on a treadmill but I actually went outside on the weekends (yeah, I wasn't going to drive to work to run on the treadmill). I was that girl running down the road in 4 long sleeve shirts and a windbreaker, often 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of gloves, a hat/headband, and the trusted Oakley shades (more for wind protection mind you). Jason gave me a hard time about wearing so much clothing but I figure if it got me out the door and was working for me then so what...

Anyways, the Frostbite and Snowball Series came and went and I did pretty good... especially for someone who has NEVER run all winter before.