GO! St. Louis Marathon

Sunday - April 10, 2011

This was the day I was going to complete my second full marathon.  It has been a date that has been stuck in my head for weeks.  20 weeks.  That's how long training has been.  Training begins in December.  It starts off easy and I slowly start building confidence.  Once January comes the training gets a little longer and a little harder.  It still seems manageable.  I look into Feb. and March and know training is going to get tough.  But...if I can keep up on my schedule it won't be so bad.

I have had great training runs, bad training runs and some in-between.  Having a goal in front of me keeps me going.  If I didn't have a goal I wouldn't have a reason to run.  It's my motivation.  Training peaks by the end of March and it is time to taper and get ready for the big day.  All of the hard work has been put in. Now is the time to get yourself ready mentally.

The day before the race is one of my favorite days.  You get to celebrate all your hard work by going out to pick up your race number and head out to the expo with some of your running friends.  We've all been on the long journey together.  Later in the evening you have a pasta dinner and carb up for race day.  It's a last minute chance to go over strategies and hopefully build confidence with your fellow runners.

It is now race day.  I wake up around 4:30 am and get ready to go.  It only takes a few minutes to get ready since everything has been laid out the day before.  We leave our house for the race a little after 5:00.  Nerves are really starting to set in my stomach now.  We get to the starting corals an hour before the race begins.  Not too many people yet, but soon there will be over 18,000 people.  Next we meet up with the rest of our running club.  We use the port o potties, take pictures, use the port o potties one more time and then line up in our starting corals.  The race is about to start in 10 more minutes.  The Star Spangled Banner is played and a few moments later the race begins.

The moment is here.  We are off running.  Thousands of people with one goal in common.  It's such an exciting feeling.  I started off a little faster than I wanted to.  I felt like I was being ran over in a way.  I thought I was moving really slow until I looked at my garmin for my pace.  I tried to slow down, but it was really hard.  After the first few miles I did settle into the pace I wanted to maintain for the rest of the race.

The weather was very hot for April 10th.  It got up to 90 degrees that afternoon.  When the race started it was already in the 70's.  Our training runs were all in freezing, snowy conditions.  There were a few nice days, but not many.  Two weeks before the race we had 5 inches of snow in St. Louis.  So...our bodies were not ready for the heat.  I had seen a couple of people lying on the ground with medical attention during the race.  At the half-marathon, marathon split the race directors decided to redirect runners who were not keeping a 10 min/mile pace.  I made it before the cut off, but some of my team didn't quite make the cut off.  I felt bad for them, but it may have been for the best.  My team members were really great sports about it too.

Once I entered the gate for the marathoners I got such a rush of excitement.  I was now at mile 10 and thought things were going really well.  The crowded streets became almost bare.  Not nearly as many runners in front of me anymore.  I was feeling really good at this point. Soon I would enter into Forest Park.  The park is beautiful.  I enjoyed looking at the fountains, seeing the kids out playing.  Lots of people were out with their dogs too.  Once I got out of forest park, about mile 14.5, I started up a long, gradual hill.  I really don't know how long it was.  Just long.  The neighborhood spectators were great.  Some would take their hoses out and spray the runners down.  That felt so good.  Once I was up that hill I was still feeling really strong.  I was right around mile 17 by now.  I remember from the year before that at mile 18 there was a really steep hill.  I was making my way closer to the hill now.  Last year I walked up the hill, this year I ran up the hill.  It was hard, but felt so good too!  After more rolling hills I was at mile 20.  Only a 10K left at this point.  Surprisingly enough I was still feeling really good.  My running coach caught up to me around mile 22.  She was filling me in on some of the race details and how some of our team was diverted.  She let me know that my husband finished his half-marathon.  It was good knowing everyone was doing okay.  At this point my legs were starting to feel it.  I knew I had it in me to run the last 4 miles.  Around mile 23 a couple more team members came out to bring me into the finish line.  It's great having friends who will make sure you finish strong.  They understand your goals and help you out.  Only 30 more minutes of running left.  I know I can do it.  It's getting harder, but you know how great you're going to feel if you keep pushing.  Finally I pass the 26 mile marker.  Only .2 miles left.  My husband came out and finished the race with me.  I was ready to finish so I decided to try to run a little harder.  Big mistake.  My first muscle cramp in my left hamstring.  I only had .1 miles left.  I was that close and I was not going to stop.  The finish line was right there.  I kept moving and finished the race in 4 hours and 23 minutes.  It was such an exciting moment.

The training is over and the race is now over.  What now?  ROCK N' ROLL ST. LOUIS!!!!  Oct. 23, 2011.