Rock 'n' Roll St. Louis 2012

I was really nervous going into this race because I knew I was going to push my comfort level. I am one of those people that trail other runners. If I like your pace, I'm going to follow you for a while. My first mile pace was 9:42.7. I was actually feeling really good. I was a bit afraid I was going too fast, but I wanted to see what my body could do. I kept pushing my pace and then really started to feel it around mile 10. To be honest, I'm surprised I lasted that long!! I kept thinking about that asshole punk that robbed me at gunpoint while I was out running. Since that day I have been so scared on my runs and I definitely don't run as much as I would like because I'm afraid it will happen again. I think the anger really helped push myself.

Weeee!

My goal was to come in under 2:10 and my official time was 2:06:01!!! I really hope to come in under 2 hours during my next 1/2 marathon (tbd).

A new PR!!

Beautiful Fall

A Tree's Shadow - October 16, 2012

I was walking around the St. Louis Arch grounds and snapped this picture. The lighting was just perfect and really showcased the yellow/red leaves on the trees. I loved the contrast against the green grass. I was using my Canon 7D (15-85mm wide angle lens), f/22, 1/40s, ISO 400, 31mm.  I edited the photo in Lightroom to bring out the shadows. 

Halloween 10k

I debated about running this race. I had a friend in town and we really hit it hard Friday night. I had a rather large headache most of Saturday and just wanted to sleep in on Sunday. But I got my butt moving and headed to the start line.

It had rained most of the night, so I thought it was going to be rather cool Sunday morning. Boy was I wrong. It was super humid and wiiiindy. I overdressed big time.

I started out pretty fast. I wanted to push my comfort level to see how long I could maintain faster speeds. There were many times when I wanted to walk, but I ran the entire race, even all of the hills. I'm really proud of myself.

My goal was to come in under an hour and I crossed the finish line with an official time of 58:59!

Here are my splits:

My goal is to run a 9:40 pace this weekend during the Rock -n- Roll Half Marathon. I'm just not sure I'll be able to push my comfort level for another 7ish miles.

Mo' Cowbell 2012

Well, I loved this race. I wasn't sure what to expect because Mo' Cowbell 2011 was my first half-marathon and it really kicked my butt. ...I also trained really hard (for a beginner) for that race. I live in Soulard and it's rather hilly, so I'm always running uphill, downhill. The Mo' Cowbell course is relatively flat. I find flats kind of boring. 

All bundled up, started out with 38° temps.

I didn't line up in any corral, I started in the back because it wasn't crowded. I found myself passing a lot of people, but it wasn't an issue. There was tons of space to pass. My first mile pace was 10:39. It was nice and slow and I liked that. I knew I'd have to pick it up if I wanted to PR. I wasn't pushing myself at all.  I was breathing comfortably, I wasn't too hot or too cold. There was a slight breeze, but it felt nice.

At mile 6. That girl next to me has got to be freezing!!!

At mile 7. Shedding my jacket.

The course finally gets challenging around 9.5 miles where there is this looooong uphill that lasts a little over a mile. This thing kicked my ass last year, I think I walked the majority of it. This year though, I ran the entire hill. It wasn't really that hard. I mean, I was plenty tired for already running over 1 hour and 40-ish minutes. There is a nice downhill segment after the bitch hill and then back to flats. I think the absolute worst part of the race is the steep downhill before mile 12. OUCH! The sucker killed my knees. I wanted to walk it, but I wanted to stay strong. After sprinting down the hill, I had to walk it. I walked maybe a tenth of a mile and then told myself to get going. But... then we hit the last water break and I extended my walk there too. I decided to suck it up and run to the finish, whew I was in a lot of pain!!!

Happy with a new PR!

I'm really proud of myself, I didn't train as hard as I should have. I only did three long training runs: a 7- and 9-miler back in August (after Sea Wheeze Half Marathon) and only one 10-miler in mid-September (all other runs were 5 miles or less). So I'm happy with my finish time: 02:12:55... a new PR!!! By like 7 minutes!!! My next race is in two weeks. My goal is to finish under 2 hours 10 minutes. Eeekkk! I'm going to have to push my comfort level.

I'm happy I was able to pick up my pace each 5k :o).

Warrior Dash 2012

This has to be my favorite dash yet!! I almost didn't sign up for it, since I had already done the Missouri dash in 2011. I figured it would be the same route, same obstacles. Although some parts were the same, there were a lot of new obstacles. I ran with my friend Greg and he didn't think he could run a lot of it. I got him to run the majority of it, we had some walking breaks now and then, but he did a really good job keeping up. I felt really strong and happy. My time was just under 47 minutes, which is about 4 minutes slower than the 2011 dash, but whatever. It was great to have someone to talk to.

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.