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.
No comments:
Post a Comment