Fall Happenings!

I love October! It's such a fun month for runners. I have a lot of events to look forward to.

September 16: Lululemon Lemon Drop 5k
October 7: Mo' Cowbell Half-Marathon
October 14: Halloween 10k
October 21: Rock n Roll Half-Marathon
November 10: The Skippo 10k Trail Race

I'm debating about signing up for the Warrior Dash September 29.  ...it's a fun event, but I did the same course last year and I dunno, would like to do a different obstacles.

SeaWheeze Half Marathon 2012

I met a good friend in Vancouver so of course we wanted to see and do a lot. We arrived Vancouver Thursday morning and spent the majority of the day walking and touring. On Friday, we went to the race expo around 9 am (opened at 8 am) and that was pretty crazy. I heard there was a line starting before 7 am to enter. We didn't get a race bib, instead got a bracelet and a shoe timing chip. We also received a free pair of flip flops. We then had to wait in a short line to enter the merchandise store. Wow, I saw some major Lulu addicts. They were only selling the special Lululemon Sea Wheeze gear at the expo and I saw some ladies with 10+ items. A lot of the cute stuff had already sold out, but somehow I managed to grab this colorful duffel bag. I gave it to my friend to see if she'd be interested in purchasing it. Two ladies approached her asking if she wanted to buy the bag. It's CRAZINESS. After spending a little over an hour at the store, we had to wait in line another 2 hours to check out. A couple before me spent $940 (well they tried to, their credit card wasn't approved. Tons of Americans were having issues with that b/c of the large out-of-country expense)!!!! We made it out a little after noon. We spent the rest of the day walking around the city and then hit the hay pretty early, around 8 pm. My legs were feeling pretty sore from all of the walking.

Craziness at the expo

I woke up well rested for the run. We only had a short distance to walk to the race start. We hopped in the 2:20 corral and started running about 15 minutes after the race start. The race started downtown on normal city streets. There were tons of people, but you expect that in the beginning. I wanted to keep a slow pace, but it almost seemed too slow b/c of the congestion. It didn't really matter to me because I did not sign up for this race to have a PR, I just really wanted to enjoy the event and the weather. (But you know, it would be nice to have a PR).

Ready for the race to start!

I started out feeling really good. I was breathing easy, my legs didn't feel heavy. I think I was smiling. There was a point where it got so congested, we had to walk! But...the scenery was beautiful, so it wasn't that big of a deal.

Gorgeous weather!

My iPod Shuffle crapped out around the 3 mile mark. I was a bit bummed, but I did have my iPhone w/ me with a limited playlist so I listened to a couple songs over and over again. I have a feeling I won't listen to that playlist for a long time. The water stops were kind of a joke. They were running out of cups so they were handing out these huge bottles of water! It was such a waste. Well, I guess it wasn't a waste if you had your own bottle.

Wasted water bottles

We ran over the Burrard Street Bridge and there was a slight incline. I didn't have any issues with it, it was probably the only hilly part of the course. There were a ton of people walking, which made passing difficult. Also, the travel lanes were so narrow so that didn't help any.

Burrard Street Bridge

We worked our way to the West End and then around Stanley Park. I really wanted to enjoy the view, but I kept looking down because I didn't want to trip (there was a bike lane and a walking lane, one lane was higher than the other). I was feeling really good, even started to pick up my pace some.

Running around Stanley Park

I finally started to crap out around mile 11.6. It happened just after a water break and I think I just drank too much. I got a tight pinch in my stomach, so I gave into temptation and started to walk it out. From here I did a run/walk to the finish line. People started yelling..."You only have 1 kilometer left!" The crowd support was really amazing around the finish line.

Me and my medal!

There are some things I loved about the race and some things I hated.

Pros: (1) The medal was kinda cool - it was a key chain linked to a bright pair of Lulu shoelaces. It's likely I won't ever use the shoelaces because I like to hang all of my medals. (2) It seemed like everyone (except me) was wearing Lulu. I think I was checking out all of the matching outfits more than the scenery at times. I'm not really sure if this is a pro or a con, but it definitely kept me entertained. (3) The weather was perfect. It felt so good to run in 60 degree weather again. (4) Although the race course wasn't very practical, it was a good change. Lulu did an excellent job showcasing Vancouver. (5) They served breakfast after the race (waffles/fruit) and they had the band .Fun there, but we didn't go. I just wanted to get back to the hotel and shower. (6) They gave us bracelets instead of a bib. I like this because pinning a bib to my shirt usually messes it up. However, this means no race pictures unless you are lucky and spot yourself in someone's picture.

Cons: (1) The congestion!!! How much can I bitch about this?? Maybe I just started in a slower corral than I should have, but I just felt like I couldn't move. (2) They ranked us by the official race start time, not by chip time. Well, I started a good 15 minutes after the start clock. Maybe some slower people started in the first corral and this is why it was bottleneck at some points (we literally had to walk at times). (3) There were tons of people walking and they weren't very polite about it. If you have to walk, please move over so the runners can pass you. (4) My biggest issue is that...this was my worst half marathon time yet!!! I even felt really good like 90% of the race. I ran all of the hills, I smiled. I high-fived. So why is this my worst time?? My first half (the Mo' Cowbell) I had to start run/walking around mile 6 and I still did 3 minutes better there. A lot of folks who ran the Sea Wheeze are saying that their GPS calculated the race a bit longer than a half marathon, as did mine (around 13.42 miles). I just can't believe that I did worse and felt so good, so frustrating. (5) I felt a little nauseous after I crossed the finish line. Do other people feel like they need to puke?? What is my deal? I really think it's motion sickness because I don't feel queasy until I stop moving. I really have no clue. But, I didn't puke so I call it a win. (6) This was my first destination race and I had trouble "being good" while on vacation. I wanted to stay up late, enjoy some drinks...you know, be on vacation.

My splits were pretty terrible...talk about being all over the place.

I did find the most perfect Bloody Mary in Vancouver. It's called the Caesar and they use clamato juice instead of tomato juice. It was pretty perfect and yummy.

The Caesar

Maybe that's why my run wasn't a success...I had too many Caesar's.

My Summer at a Glance

I haven't posted in a very long time. I figure it's because I've been less obsessed about my running. Anyways - a few updates. My husband and I ran the Benton Park 5k. I ran this race last year and it sort of kick-started my running hobby. I set a new 5k PR (27:15)!

Benton Park 5k. A new PR!

Then a couple days later, we set off for Italy and I took two weeks off from running (not that I'm complaining).

Venice

Florence: We took a bus up to Fiesole thinking we'd spend an hour there. Turns out we were on the last bus before they closed off the roads for a race. Of course, we didn't know this b/c we don't understand Italian. Anyways, we were stuck in Fiesole for 5 hours and watched the runners. I enjoyed watching instead of running b/c the route was straight uphill.

A more iconic view of Florence

Amalfi Coast, Positano

Pompeii

Rome

When we got back from Italy, I started my training for the Sea Wheeze...which is this Saturday!! I'm so excited. I'm meeting a girl friend there (Vancouver) and this will be her first half marathon! Training was going really well, doing a lot of my runs outside rather than on the treadmill...until I got robbed at gun point. It was a pretty scary event and therefore I don't run outdoors in the morning anymore (it happened at 6 am). The St. Louis City cops were pretty awesome, however, they were never able to recover my phone :o(. My husband took this picture of me after the robbery, and I think it's kind of funny.

Anyways, I've been making up my own training plan for the Sea Wheeze... doing what I can. I hope it's enough. I just really want to enjoy Vancouver and not really care about a PR.

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.