Saturday, November 5, 2011

Two races, one day

I couldn't decide on which race to run today. My husband said to run both, so I am! The first one is at 10:00 AM. The second one is 10:00 PM. This should be interesting.

This is the first time I have run since the half marathon. As they say, here goes nothing!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

This Weekend Race Choices.....

What to do, what to do.

I could run the race at 10:00 AM or the race at 11:00 PM.

10:00 AM seems like a more agreeable time for a run.  But the 11:00 PM run sounds fun.  Although I would be running both by myself.  The night time race may be more fun if I could sucker some other people into running it with me. 

I need to get some more K in.  I'm currently sitting at 78.2 K.  I have registered for 2 races in November and will be registering for one in December.  Leaving me 6.8K.

Running a race on Saturday will leave me 1.8K left.  Which I could pick up at the Frostbite Festival Run.  I'll do the 2 mile run because I have heard those hills are KILLER.  I can't imagine running 10 miles on the hills of West Springfield.  For a flat state, we're pretty hilly. 

Sunday, October 23, 2011

13.1 and DONE!

Today was the big day!  I had signed up, thought about training, got busy, went to NYC and ended up not training at all for the St. Louis Rock N Roll Half Marathon & Marathon. Oops!



The morning of the race we got out of bed and headed down there.  Due to road closures we had to be there before 6:30 AM.  Ugh.  My husband is such a trooper.  He did it all willingly and with a smile. 

After a late start, the corrals were let go.  It took about 30 minutes for all of us to get across the starting line.  There were two announcers who were trying their best to get us motivated.  They seemed to have lost their motivation around corral 11 as they had no more fun rhymes or sayings for the rest of us.  

The race route was lined with loads of people at first.  I saw some great signs.  People were clapping and cheering everyone.  Then we hit mile 5.  Spectators were few and far between.  There was supposed to be bands at every mile.  We had bands here and there.  When the course hit neighborhoods, namely Tower Grove, there were loads of people in their yards cheering the runners on.

Around mile 9, I got my first leg cramp.  I tried to stop to flex my leg but my legs wanted to keep going!  It was so hard to stop!  I've never had that happen before. 

I started texting my husband around this time to let him know I was still alive.  I had signed him for text alerts but it didn't seem to provide near the updates it said it would.  He was holed up in a Starbucks, sipping a coffee and waiting for me.  As I hit each mile, I let him know I was still alive.  Mile 11 is when I was really feeling this.  My feet hurt.  My right foot felt like it had been smashed.  My right calf was cramped.  My only relief was to keep jogging.  If I walked my foot really hurt. 

As I got closer to the finish line (the last few miles had all been uphill!), I saw people walking back who had finished.  It was so great to know I was close.  Their medals were gleaming as much as their smiles - they had done it and I was almost there. 

Crossing the finish line was unbelievable.  I had done it.  I could stop.  All I wanted was my medal, my shirt and a drink.  A number of us were disappointed to find out that THEY RAN OUT OF MEDALS.  What?  Apparently, so many people had dropped out of the full marathon into the half that they had run out.  The reason?  There was a sale early on where registration for the full was cheaper than the half and a number of people registered for the full to save money.  Argh!  I wanted that dang medal! I admit I was very disappointed.  I only found out after asking a number of race staff.  Ok, fine, I will buy the shirt.  After again asking a number of clueless people, I found the tent where I could buy a finisher shirt.  I literally got the last one.  It's a size too big but I wanted something.

It was an ok race.  Now I have a baseline to beat for my next race - Lincoln Presidential Half Marathon.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Run, Rock & Roll For Victim Rights 5K

This was a marvelous day to race!  The sun was out and while a little hot, it was still a beautiful spring day.  The downside was that the wind was strong that day. 

The race was held at Southwind Park - this was my first time at the park.  The race was a two part out and back race.  First around the outer loop of the park and then out on a country road and back. 

I ran mostly ok.  It was hot and I ended up really hot.  There was no shade on the course.  The course inside of the park was great.  Nice and flat, no problems.  The country road part was difficult.  The road was concave and full of potholes and rocks.  It was challenging. 

This is me and my husband, after the race.

I ended up improving my time and getting a medal.  All participants received a medal. I love it when they give me shiny things.  The race packet also included a t-shirt.