Hatha Yoga

My new goal is to do yoga at least once a week. I went to a class yesterday and it was incredibly challenging. We had to hold these poses for like 1-3 minutes at a time. I thought I was going to die. I would be holding one pose and then the instructor guru person would come over and make me do it the correct way which would end up hurting so much more. I felt pretty lost and always one step behind, but I really am going to try to make it a weekly habit. I am still running, but don't officially start training for 1/2 marathon until after our Italy trip.

We had some strong storms roll through Saturday afternoon. Both of our cars now have hail damage, which irks me. We took a walk around the neighborhood to check out some of the damage and I saw this rose...

Yup, I know how you feel little rose...I'm pretty sad too!

Crappy Race Picture

Well, here it is. I wish I looked HAPPY to be at the finish line, ha.

Go! St. Louis Marathon

I feel pretty proud of myself although I'm sitting here in quite a lot of pain! Whew, that was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. My goal was to do it in 5 hours. I knew that wasn't good by any means, but I was not "in it to win it". My dream finish time was 4 hours 45 minutes.

I had been so nervous about the weather all week. First they said it was going to be nice, sunny, highs in the low 70s. That sounded pleasant. But as the week went on, the weather just got worse. Rain, thunderstorms, severe weather, heat...wind. But in the end, Sunday morning turned out to be a beautiful day. It was a bit on the hot side and it was breezy, but at least it wasn't pouring down rain (like the day before).

My friend Eric drove in from Columbia to run the Half-Marathon. Josh dropped us off near the starting line. I was feeling pretty nervous. I knew I was going to be in a lot of pain. We had to be in our corral by 6:40 am. They really packed us into those corrals... I really think they should have given us more room. I was already so nervous and to be crammed in with all those people made my annoyed.

I took it nice and slow starting out. I tried to stay at 10:56 min/miles. I enjoyed this slow pace and not once did I think about the full 26.2 miles. I had run this part of the course before and I've been training in Soulard so I knew there would be no surprises. Soulard definitely had the best cheer zone. I love my neighborhood!

I was feeling really good. I dominated the Victor hill, passing tons of people already walking. I ran by Josh around the 3rd mile. It was really nice to see my neighbor Gail out there cheering for me as well! Here I am waving at Josh.

I also ended up in the Soulard Restoration Group twitter pic! I thought that was cool and kinda ironic.

The Soulard part of the run was a lot of fun. Then we headed back downtown. I took my GU at mile 6 and I HATE those things. So gross. I literally gagged trying to "eat" it. I only had half and threw the rest away. I had a couple more GU's on me, but I just couldn't do it again. There were water/Gatorade stops around every two miles (and then every mile after the 17th mile). I stopped at every one for a quick drink. I wanted to stay hydrated. It was feeling pretty warm out.

Then came the Olive hill. I didn't really fear it because I ran it a couple weeks ago. It wasn't that bad. I ran the entire way up, passing some folks. Around the 10 mile mark, the groups split. Half-marathoners turned around and headed back downtown, while the marathoners kept going straight. It was so weird...running with tons of others, then all of a sudden you are out on your own. It was like I just entered a different race entirely. I did like the space, but at the same time I felt like I needed all those people to push me.

We entered Forest Park and I ran with a pacer for a bit. However, she slowed down on the hills and it actually hurt to run that slow. There was one killer hill in Forest Park, not because of the hill but because of the strong headwind. I had to walk some of it. Forest Park wasn't really all that exciting. It seemed really dead. Usually there are so many people there. They handed out sponges that were in a bath of ice cold water. I loved that sponge. We carried on down Forsyth into Clayton. Someone had a sprinkler going in their front yard and I put my head into it. That felt so good. Clayton is pretty hilly. I tried to run most of it, but had to walk up some of the hills. 

I was running alongside this guy named Dennis for a while. This was his 100th marathon!!! I couldn't believe that. I wanted to tell him that this was my first, but I wasn't in the mood to talk and he didn't look like it either. He pushed me to keep moving though. We finally got to the turnaround back to downtown around mile 18. There was a lady cheering for us saying, "You all are about to be marathoners...how awesome is that". Yup, I started to tear up a bit. Then there were some dudes handing out Stag. Really?? I for sure would have puked if I had some beer. There were some more rolling hills...but there was shade and for that I was grateful. 

I think the worst part of the race was mile 22. It was a very long stretch with no shade. It was getting pretty hot outside. One of the volunteers around mile 23 asked me if I was okay, ha. Did I not look ok?!? Of course I was tired. The last 4 miles of the race were killer. I ran what I could. My legs felt like bricks. Some guy patted me on the back and told me I could do it. I guess I really looked like I was struggling. I saw some guy puke around mile 24. Glad that wasn't me. There was a beautiful downhill portion and I could see the finish line!!! I started to get pretty emotional, but kept it together. There was one more hill and I really wanted to walk it. I felt like I had no legs. I then spotted my friend Eric at the bottom of the hill and he started running it with me. I really really needed that. He pushed me to run the entire way to the finish line. Here are some pictures of the final 0.2whatever miles. I was so incredibly happy even though I was in so much pain. I also high-fived Jay Jacobs on this final stretch..! He is one of my favorite Biggest Losers.

And there I go...almost to the finish line!!

This is how Josh found me after the race. I could barely walk.

Pure joy even though I look pretty worn out. 

I finished the marathon in 5:01:45, pace 11:31. I was 1 minute, 45 seconds over my goal time, but whatever. I'm just happy I finished. I'm not sure if I'll ever do another marathon. If I do, I won't do the Go! St. Louis Marathon. It's way too hilly. The volunteers were wonderful though. I just thought some parts were boring, especially on Delmar after exiting the Loop. There was a ton of trash on the street and didn't really showcase St. Louis all that well. 

This was a wonderful experience. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I'm just so happy I can finally say that I'm a marathoner.

Check out that elevation profile!!!

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Never once did I feel any groin or knee pain during the race. I couldn't do several of my training runs because of it.

Getting Excited!

Hello to my three readers! I'm feeling much more optimistic about the marathon. Tomorrow I'm running a part of the course that I've never done before...or even driven. I hear it's pretty hilly so I think it will be good to test it out so there are no surprises on marathon day. Dunno though, surprises can be good. Not sure I want to "dread" the hills if they are really bad. I've been doing my hill training around Soulard so hopefully the course won't be too hard on me. I know running up Olive is going to be killer. Hoping to finish marathon around 5 hours.

20 Days Away

The Marathon is 20 days away and I don't feel ready. I attempted 20 miles on Saturday and made it just under 19. The first 13-14 miles wasn't too bad, but then I had to do some walking. I also had to take some resting breaks to stretch and drink water. After the run, my right knee and groin killed me!!! I literally felt like I was about to fall apart.

Training for 1/2's can be fun. Training for a full just sucks. I hate it. I haven't been doing my short runs during the week because my body is in too much pain from the long run. I am now starting to taper, doing a 12 mile run this weekend, followed by an 8 the next weekend. I am not sure how many short runs I will do.

Distance: 18.67 miles
Time: 03:25:44
Pace: 11.01

Oh, I also had about a 1/2 bottle of wine the night before this run... so, it is what it is. I won't be drinking wine the night before the Marathon, so maybe that will help some, lol.

On Sunday, my husband and I took the pups to Castlewood State Park to do a short 1.5 mile hike. We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up doing 3.6 miles. It was a bit challenging because my leg was still bugging me, but it was nice to take our time and enjoy the scenery.

St. Patty's Day Hell

I woke up at 4.30 am on Saturday to prepare myself for my 20 mile run. I was a bit more excited about this run because a friend wanted to try to run with me! We set out at 5 a.m. My plan was to get 15 miles knocked out before 8.30 am...b/c I was running the last 5 in the St. Patrick's Day Parade Run.

It was pretty foggy outside and humid. But we took it nice and slow and it was really nice to run with someone. I usually get bored after a while of running on my own. My friend made it 3.5 miles before he turned around and I carried on by myself. I got to 7 miles when I first started to feel pain in my knee. I figured I didn't want to run that far away from home again, so I hopped in my car, drove my butt to the YMCA and did 7.3 miles there. I was in a hurry because I still needed to go home, change (I was a sweaty mess) and make it to the race start line. My knee was bugging me, but I thought it wasn't going to be a huge issue.

I was at the starting line by myself (I couldn't find my friends because the race was so huge)... and I was scared. The farthest I've ever ran before was 15 and now I was going to do 19+. That's a huge jump for me. The race started out good. I kept a nice slow pace. I even managed to run the first hill (I saw a lot of people walking it). But after 1.5 miles, my knee went from bad to fucking bad. I decided to walk for a bit, but that didn't help. I know I looked ABSOLUTELY miserable. People probably thought I was terribly out of shape and I was kinda embarrassed about that. Anyways, I kept on and tried to run some more. Then we got to a huge hill and I just decided to walk it. My knee was really starting to piss me off. I couldn't even run on the huge downhill. I got so mad at myself, I started to cry. My knee felt way worse than ever before and I kept telling myself there is no way I will be able to complete this marathon. I kept walking...and would try to run on it but that didn't last long. I did muster up enough strength to jog the last .7 miles and although it hurt, it was bearable. I was pretty pissy after the race and literally laid on the couch all day.

I'm kind of embarrassed at my finish time in the race, but oh well, it is what it is. I accomplished 19.4 miles!!!! And that I am happy for! I know the marathon isn't going to be easy, I expect pain and that's okay. I plan on doing 18-20 this weekend and then I'm going to start to taper. I'M SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT! Ha.

Splits from St. Patty's Day Run: (see, horrible)

So even though it was broken up and I ran outside in the dark w/ friend, in the gym on a treadmill and at a packed race, my time for 19.4 miles was 03:34:16. Average pace: 11:03.

The Things I've Learned...

1) My MRI results show a normal brain!! well, w/ mild degenerative white matter which my doctor informed me that this is relatively common. They are assuming that my 9-day headache was a "cluster headache." ...but now I have to go see a cardiologist to monitor my heart murmur. I guess they don't want me to drop dead on marathon day.

2) Watch out on those Soulard sidewalks! I took a mean spill while running about 3 weeks ago. It looked like a superman flying belly flop. Ouch! (I also tripped about a year ago on the Soulard sidewalks and ended up w/ a broken elbow).

3) Slowing down my speed has helped out with the stomach pinches I used to get. I rarely get a stomach pinch now, which makes me very happy!

4) My doctor said that an average hr of 160 while running isn't abnormal...at all. He expects that.

5) Even though Soulard has horrible sidewalks (Soulard is a historic neighborhood and most of the sidewalks are brick...which are very uneven, but look pretty so it's okay), I love my neighborhood and my house. I've been doing the majority of my runs around Soulard/Benton Park and love how many people I see out walking their pups, the architecture is great and I can always spot something that I've never seen before.

6) I came across a pictorial map of St. Louis, dated 1875. Records say our house was built in 1883, but our house is on this map! Maybe this is not our house on the map, but it sure looks like it (Our house is set back from the road and from the other houses in our row) . Maybe the records are wrong. But whatever the date our house was built, I always imagine what it looked like 100 years ago...who lived there, what did they do?

Our house is a flounder...which is a house type that is unique to St. Louis. Since these houses were exclusively working class homes, decoration was limited, confined to segmental arched windows and perhaps a corbelled cornice. Flounder houses were especially appropriate for dense neighborhoods, where space was at a premium. They were often constructed as alley buildings, sharing a lot with as many as two larger tenement buildings.

There are a couple reasons why to build a flounder: to shed roof rainwater to one side of the property. Yup, water gushes down our side alley and into our basement :o/. Another reason, taxes on a half-house were assessed at half-rate.

Ok, so our house is considered the "poor house" of Soulard, but I still love it.