Spring Race Reviews

All Roads Lead to Shiloh Relay
May 10th

Chester, IL

Half Marathon Relay (4 Person Team)
11th Overall in Mixed Teams

This event was a fundraiser for scholarships in the name for 4 children that were killed in a horrific house fire.  It was the first year for the event and they had an outpouring of teams and I am hopeful that it will continue in the years to come.

Most of my running pals were running the half marathon, Tim included.  Leah was already on a relay team, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to participate.  My knee was still hurting after Uncorked, so a half was not in the cards!  Leah suggested I ask her coworker Michael Holcomb if he was interested. He was, and even got 2 other folks to join us.

I like relays because it's fun to cheer folks on.  I don't like relays because there is usually a lot of a standing around before you get to run. I was runner 3.  The morning started off cloudy and humid, by the time I got to run, it was sunny... and humid.  Fun stuff.

Really, the running wasn't as bad as it could have been.  My leg started on an uphill, but it was in the shade.  The worst part was an long. flat section without any shade. After I got through that, there was a pretty steep downhill and then the finish.  My knee started hurting pretty much the minute I started going downhill, but I managed a pretty even (slow) pace throughout and was happy to be done!

The event flew by and our team had a lot of fun cheering ourselves and other teams on. It was brutally hot at the end of the event and watching the half finishers coming in was intense.  Most were sweaty messes.  Tim was miserable because he wore a very old pair of shoes.  Poor guy couldn't even walk after!

Overall, it was a fun day and I was happy that I was able to fumble through a run without too much pain.

Levee Fest 5k/Half Marathon
June 14th 

The Bottoms

Time/Distance:  31:20/5k

We had just gotten back from our vacation in Florida and even though we ran while there, we also overindulged in food and drink.  Tim decided he would do this half as a kick-off to his marathon training.  I decided to to just sign up for the 5k just to get a run in.  My running has not been going very well.  In fact, I haven't been able to run a full 3 miles without stopping because of my knee for a few weeks now, so it's been frustrating.

The morning of the race was gorgeous!  Cool temps always makes for a better run for me.  The 5k and half started at the same time, so Tim decided to run the first part of the 5k with me.  Well, my watch messed up and then my shoe came untied, so I told Tim to just go on.  I was already checking out of this thing.  I told myself to run until the turnaround and then I could walk.  When I was almost there, I realized my knee wasn't bothering me too much, so I decided to just keep running.  Then, I was behind a girl that was running a good pace for me, so I just stayed behind her.  The route was uber flat.  I could see the finish and decided to kick it a little bit.  Well, that was stupid. Because it was so flat, it only LOOKED like the finish was close.  In reality, I still had a little under a mile when I decided to try to push.  My last mile was insanely fast for me and I was a mess when I finished.   Sure, it was no record breaking time for me, buuuut, I ran a full 3.1 miles without walking!  This was a total win for me!

Tim came in feeling pretty good about his "training run" with a time of 2:04:34.  He said he came out a bit too hard in the beginning and it was pretty lonely out there.  I'm looking forward to supporting him in these upcoming months of his training.

Race Review: Uncorked 100K Relay

Uncorked 100K Relay
4/26/14

Katy Trail, Missouri

Time/distance:  10:23:07/100K

This was so much fun!  Seriously, doing events like this makes running worth it!

After the Land Between the Lakes 23K, Jaime and her family left right after for vacation.  As we were driving home, Jaime sent me a text about doing this relay.  Tim and I were like, "Sign us up!"  We figured we'd have no problem finding a 4th runner. Why would we, right?  Um, wrong!

So, we signed up and figured we'd split the course up between us if we absolutely had to.  As we got closer to the event, the more nervous we were getting.  A 100K is about 62 miles.  Split between the 3 of us?  Um, that's a lot.  Especially since I was a slacker with distance training at the moment.  We decided that we had to convince Leah to do it with us.  I think we all became rather annoying to her, but in the end, she decided to join us.  Thank goodness!  There is no way we would have been able to do it without her!

This event was on the Katy Trail, which they had just opened up for foot races.  It was the first race on the trail, so there really weren't a lot of teams.  I was runner 3 with Leah passing off to me.  My first leg was really flat, but quite shaded and pretty on the trail.  A little girl was waving to everyone as they passed.  I stopped to give her a high five and she gave me a flower, so I put it in my hair.  I ran the entire time at a steady pace and when I passed off to Tim,  I was excited about the day.

My second leg was my longest one.  It was hot and I didn't eat properly, so I was pretty hungry the entire time I was running.  Also, I was completely alone on the trail.  At one point, I was afraid I had missed a sign telling me to turn or something.  I was uber relieved when I finally saw the hand off spot.  Which I could see for like a mile!  I handed off and went directly to the car to eat.  Talk about a case of the rungries!

Before my final leg, I was feeling a bit nervous.  I just didn't want to run anymore.  Tim offered to do my leg, but that would be mean him doing two back to back, and we knew the final leg was going to be hilly.  I had to just suck it up.  It started to sprinkle when Leah passed off to me.  It never fully rained, but it did make it pretty sticky out.  I was near 2 other runners, so I wasn't so lonely on the trail.  I also had a random moment where I ran into a girl I went to high school with!  She probably thought I was nuts because I was so excited to see her.  The last couple of miles were up hill and I could tell I was having issues.  My leg was burning pretty bad when I approached the final hill.  Jaime was at the bottom ready to run up it with me (in flip flops!) and said "Don't worry, they can't see you until the curve."  So, I walked until then.  I handed off to Tim and the SoIL Halfcorked Trailblazers were almost done with the relay!

We hurried to the finish and waited for Tim at the top of his last hill.  He kicked butt, of course.

I think when you spend a day running with folks, you can't help but get to know them in a whole new way.The four of us had a lot of laughs throughout the day.  These people are awesome.

Race Review: Land Between the Lakes 23K Trail Run

Land Between the Lakes 23K Trail Run
3/8/14

Grand Rivers, KY

Time/distance:  3:45:32/14.291 miles

So even though I haven't been blogging much, this girl still has been running. Although, with this whole "Polar Vortex" business, the running hasn't been as often as I would have liked.  And if I really want to be truthful in regards to this event, I would really have to confess that my training was spotty at best.  I did get a 10 miler in and I did run (slip? slide?) some trails as well, but I would not say that my confidence was all that high when I was standing at the start of this race.

For some background, Land Between the Lake Trail Run actually has 4 events:  23K, Marathon, 60K and 50 Mile.  The 23K course was a little under 2 miles of road, then a little over 11 miles on a trail, and then finishing on road again.  Folks that did the Marathon, etc would do 2, 3 or 4 loops of the trail.  I must say this:  Those runners are HARDCORE.  Seriously, I barely made it one loop around that trail.  I would have just sat down and started my own colony in the woods if I had to run anymore than that!

Jaime had done this race last year and while we were doing our best to muddle through the trails around Cedar Lake, she would tell us how the LBL trail was not going to be covered with leaves or that we would not have to deal with a hill full of rocks to climb up.  She said it was hard, but a pretty clear path.  And I'm sure it is.  When there isn't 6 inches of sleet and snow on it!

Yep, the Sunday before the race, winter struck Kentucky.  A post on Facebook from the organizers assured us that the trail drains well and though it would be more challenging it, it would be doable.  I wasn't sure how to take that, but what can ya do? It is what is.  We'd just have to see how it looked on race day.

To shake my confidence even more, the sick monster decided to attack me on Wednesday.  By Friday, I felt better (NyQuil induced comas can help!), but I was still pretty congested.  My plan of attack:  pack lots of Kleenex.  Shrug.  I told myself to back out if I really needed to, but in all honesty I didn't want to do that.  I wanted to do this darn trail run, dammit!  So, Saturday morning, I blew my nose about a dozen times and hoped for the best.

Regrets of my decision hit me pretty early on.  The first few miles on the road never felt comfortable to me and I was already having issues finding a rhythm for my breathing.  I knew things were bad when a guy in front of me snot rocketed and instead of being grossed out, I was immensely jealous.  I have not mastered this disgusting, but necessary act while running.  I really wish I had.  Sigh.  Still so much to learn about running.

Anyway, we made it to the trail and sure enough, they were covered in snow.

It was actually easier to run on this than it may look.  Sure,  there were a few slick spots here or there.  I mostly had problems when it would dip down right before a small creek or something.  I am not good at committing to jumping over things, so sliding down a hill and then needing to jump?  Um, yeah not my strength.  Though it was easier than I had expected, I still couldn't manage to keep up with Jaime and Tim.  I am a very sloppy trail runner and somehow manage to slip and slide even when things aren't slick.  I was also a snotty mess and that started to impact my breathing more than I had anticipated.  At one point, we were going up a pretty long hill and I started wheezing.  It totally freaked me out and I felt like I couldn't breathe.  I stepped off the trail with Tim and he calmed me down, but I'm embarrassed to say that I just started crying.  Yep, that happened.

Though the breathing issue had me spazzing, I drudged on with Tim's encouragement. We caught back up with Jaime (she had to stop and wait for us several times!) and once again I started wheezing as we were going up an incline.  So, I stopped again. Caught my breath and moved on.  At this point, I didn't think I was ever going to finish this stupid thing.  I just tried to keep moving forward and not think about time or distance. Just one foot in front of the other.  This was easy to do because with trail running,  I feel like I"m always just looking at my feet.  Tim and Jaime encouraged me along and I just tried my best to believe them.

And then the trail started to look like this:

It was like running in wet sand.   It was exhausting.

The second half of the trail was harder.  More hills, more mud/slush.  In fact, I really feel like the last 2 miles on the trail was all mud.  Jaime got so annoyed with it, she took off and we didn't see her until we emerged from the trail.  She said she just wanted to be done.  I didn't blame her.  I was over the whole experience at that point. However, a volunteer had just informed me I only had 1.7 miles of road to go!  Yay. Not really.

I was pretty beaten at that point.  The trail came out at road heading uphill that was covered in ice.  I said I'd walk to the top.  We started running again with Jaime's encouragement.  "To the bridge," she said.  "To the orange cones!" She was the only reason I ran.  I would have just walked the rest of the course if it wasn't for her.

When we (finally!) finished, I felt like I was going to collapse.  Seriously, that was HARD.  I hurt more after those 14.291 miles than I did after running a marathon.  But, I did it.  It wasn't pretty, but I finished.

I often say that the best part of running is doing it with others.  I have ran many miles with my running friends and I learn so much about them and myself.  Jaime is a fantastic runner.  The girl could have rocked that course,  but she stuck with us.  Girl, if you are reading this, I think you got what it takes to do the marathon on that course. I really do.  You and Tim should totally do it next year!  I'll even cheer you guys on when you pass by me on your second loop when I'm still pushing through my first!  :)

This race was really well organized and a lot of fun.  The volunteers and other runners- even those crazy ones doing multiple loops of the course- were so encouraging!  I will definitely be attempting this one again in the future.  Hopefully the trail conditions will be a bit less challenging!  :)

Race Report: Santa's North Pole Dash (5k) & Children's Snowman Shuffle

Santa's North Pole Dash (5k)

12/14/2013

St. Charles, Missouri

Time:  35:39 (unofficial)

A bunch of us signed up for this months ago, and I was super excited to go to St. Charles during the holiday season because I had heard such wonderful things about it. So, when the weather started looking dicey the days before the event, I was getting a bit annoyed.  The winter storm had already canceled the Ugly Sweater Run and Lights Fantastic Parade-- I was not gonna be a happy elf if this was cancelled as well. Though the forecast said there was a chance for some icy roads, Tim and I decided to go ahead and make our way there.  Thankfully, we didn't have any problems and got there before the snow started to fall.

However, the morning of the race, we woke up to this:

Winter Wonderland.

The race directors posted on Facebook that they would make the call by 6am if the race was canceled.  It wasn't looking good.  Some parts of Interstate 70 were closed due to bad conditions.  Over 4,000 runners had signed up and some that were in St. Charles were deeming the streets as being too bad to run on.  I was conflicted.  On one hand, I was going to be really bummed if another festive event got canceled, on the other hand, did I really want to run in this snow?!?!  At about 5:50 am, the race folks posted that it was on, so Tim and I suited up!  

Hey, Santa!

We met up with everyone in the hotel lobby and started our wintry walk to the start line.  The snow was still falling and we were all dressed in our Santa gear.  We couldn't help but laugh at one another.  We were dressed like Santa.  And we were running in the snow.  Crazy runners!  

Ho, Ho, Ho!

When we got to the start, Tim and I attempted to find the shirt exchange.  His shirt was just a bit too snug.  I don't know if it was because of the weather, but the volunteers were pretty useless.  No one seemed to know anything.  Tim decided to just suck it up and wear the smaller shirt.  We headed back and I desperately started looking for Leah and Jaime.  Oh my goodness, do you know how impossible is to find someone when everyone is dressed like Santa!?!  Just when I was about to give up, we heard them calling for us.  Yay!  

The race started and even though I have been running in snow, I had not been running while it was snowing or in FRESH snow.  It was a mess!  We attempted to stay in the middle of the road where there seemed to be a bit of a path, but that strategy only got us so far.  On top of the snow falling from the sky, large chunks would also fall from the trees and powerlines.  None of this was really a problem, if anything it made the whole thing more festive.  About a half mile in, we saw Travis and Jack and in true wintertime spirit, they threw snowballs at us.  We also got passed by Santa Claus at one point!  Good times!

Dashing through the snow...

Okay, so besides the wet shoes, the other issue about running in the snow was how much energy it took.  It was kind of like running in wet sand.  My calves were pretty achy near the end.  Leah was still having knee issues, so I'm sure the snow wasn't helping her.  Tim was his usual spry self, and even ate a candy cane that volunteers were passing out. We took a short walk break in the last mile and then dashed our way in to finish off my first ever 5k in the snow!

Overall, this event was super fun and festive!  I don't do 5k races for time because, well, I'm slow, but this one really was more about enjoying a run with some good company.  It's too bad the weather prevented so many from being able to make it-- only about 1,000 out of 4,100 registered ran the event.  Regardless, running with 1,000 folks dressed as Santa was a trip!

After the race, we walked around St. Charles Main Street area.  It has all these cute shops and there are holiday characters like, Scrooge, Santa and carolers walking around greeting folks.  You couldn't help but be full of holiday cheer!  We will definitely be back next year!

Merry Christmas!

I hope to eek one more blog before the year ends, but if not, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Race Report: 1st Annual Turkey Burn Off Trail Run

1st Annual Turkey Burn Off Trail Run
11/30/13

Perryville, Missouri

Distance/Time:  3.51 miles/38:59 minutes

I have never really ran trails before.  Sure, one time Tim and I went to Giant City and I attempted to run one of the trails, but ended up just walking it as Tim continued on without me.  In my defense, it was a crazy humid day and I also almost fell down a dozen times.  Excuses, excuses.  I just didn't feel it that day.  Tim has always had an interest in it, but feels limited because there aren't a lot of areas near us.  With street running, we just walk out the door and go.  Trail running requires driving somewhere to seek out a place to run.  And as we all know, sometimes having to actively drive somewhere makes it harder to get your butt out the door!

Anyway, we were looking for a run to do over the holiday weekend.  Surprisingly, there weren't a lot of choices.  We found this one and even though it was about an hour away, the appeal of it being on a trail made it worth it.  We signed up so long ago, that it didn't occur to me at the time that the weather could have majorly impacted the fun factor.  Thankfully, we awoke to sunny skies and not super cold temps.  A perfect morning for a run!

Although Google Maps tried to take us to another area of the park, we managed to find the start of the race by following a car with a 70.3 sticker on his car. Hmmm.  Serious competition-- for Tim anyway! Packet pick up was easy and organized.  I was able to get both of our packets while Tim waited in line for the bathroom.  Oddly enough there wasn't a line for the women's.  Shocking, I know.  For some reason, I requested a large shirt and it was HUGE. They were nice enough to let me exchange it for a smaller size.

Another cute turkey shirt for me!

After hanging out in the car to stay warm (it was cold and windy by the lake!), we headed up a gravel road where the start was.  The race director explained the course to us, grass, gravel road and trail.  He said they did their best to mark major obstacles (rocks, roots, etc.) and there were volunteers at trickier areas and turns.  Um, what? How tricky were we talking here?  This girl can handle potholes and vehicles, moving or parked, and the occasional gumball (damn you, gumballs!), but rocks?  Mud? Tree roots?  What did Tim get me into?  After my mini-panic attack, I wished Tim good luck and headed to the back of the pack.  No way was I going to start in the front-- I feared falling and tripping dozens of others behind me!

The first quarter mile was a combo of the gravel road and then grass before hitting the trail entrance.  Running on the grass was brutal.  It was on a slant and it had warmed up enough that the ground was soft.  My fear of falling became worse when a girl in front of me fell and rolled down the hill a bit.  Thankfully, she wasn't hurt and laughed it off.  However, all I could think was "Please don't fall.  Please don't fall.  Please don't fall."   When we finally made it to the trail (yeah, that quarter mile felt THAT long) I was actually relieved. Surely the trail would be easier than lumpy grass, right?

The biggest difference I found with trail running is how much I was looking down.  With street running, my eyes are always in front of me, looking for cars, etc.  With trail running, I was always looking at the ground ahead of me.  Roots, ditches, rocks and branches were always needing to be hopped, skipped or jumped over.  True to their word, large rocks or roots in the middle of the trail were marked in orange.  This is probably a nice benefit that trail runners don't have when they are running regular trails. I certainly appreciated it.  

Not too far into the race, a woman beside me commented that she hoped she wasn't crowding me, but I was running a good pace for her.  I told her that I enjoyed the company, but wasn't sure how my pace would continue since it was my first trail race. Truth be told, I didn't really look at my watch or anything during the run.  I was mostly concerned with just getting it done without hurting myself!  The woman, Sara, and I stayed together the entire time and it turns out she knew another runner I know from Steeleville.  Small world, I tell ya.  

The trail had a lot more hills than I would have liked.  I had learned to embrace hills during marathon training, but trail hills are a whole other beast.  These hills were short, steep and windy.  And then there is the down hill.  Running on loose gravel down hill is a bit trickier than just regular road hills.  One area a lady warned us that it was rocky and muddy, sure enough, I slipped on some mud and decided that walking down the hill would be better than slipping down it.  Sara agreed with me, along with most of the other runners that were in front of us.  This was really the hardest part of the entire thing and I think if the ground was solid, it wouldn't have been so bad.  

The final half mile of the race was once again a mix of trail, gravel and grass.  This time the grass wasn't slanted or anything.  Flat and easy to run on.  I saw Tim cheering me on at the finish and I just moved my butt through that finishing shoot. With any race, I'm always happy to be done!  I was extra happy this time because I didn't sprain an ankle or hurt myself!  Yay me!

Post race was pretty fantastic.  There were plenty of treats:  the usual fruit offerings (super frozen bananas- bummer), hot dogs, chips, beer and s'mores.  Yes, I said S'MORES.  Awesome!  Tim and I both got a beer and I'll have to admit, it tasted pretty darn good.  Granted, I couldn't drink it all, but Tim didn't mind having a little extra.  Tim knew he came in 15th overall, but wasn't sure if he would place or anything.  We stuck around for awards regardless because, well, the snacks were tasty.  :)  Turns out Tim did place 3rd in his age group and got a pretty nifty medal!

Pretty cool, right?!?

So, that was my first experience with trail running, and I'm pretty sure I am going to have to do it more often!  I totally felt like a little kid at times.  A BAD ASS little kid. Jumping over logs and rocks really does make time fly when running, too.  My time might not reflect it, but out there on the trail, the miles really flew by.  I think it was because I wasn't thinking about the mileage, but just thinking about how to maneuver the next few feet ahead.  It was a fun experience and I think Tim and I will make a better effort to seek out some trails around here.

Great event!

Race Report: Kevin & Art Reveal Turkey Run

Kevin & Art Reveal Memorial Turkey Run
11/16/13

Herrin, IL

Time:  29:23 (PR!)

Confession:  Before this 5k, I had only ran twice since my marathon.  One of those "runs" was a run/walk (emphasis on walk) with Tim around Murphy Lake to see the Fall colors.  The second run was on Columbus Day with Leah and Tim-- and it was HARD.  I had achy bits after we finished.  Not fun.  Needless to say, I didn't have any major hopes for this 5k.  Just wanted to get my feet back to pounding the pavement!

This is only the second 5k I have done this year, which seems crazy to me, but I hurt myself last spring at Fly With The Eagles and had to skip out on a lot of the Spring races.  Then, marathon training took over my life.  It's nice to be able to sign up for some fun runs without stressing about how I was going to get my long run in. 

This is the first time I ran the 5k race at this event.  In 2011, I did the 10k and Tim ran the 15k.  Neither of us cared for the course because it was just the 5k course repeated either 2 or 3 times.  Not something I'd want to do again.  The biggest reason why we wanted to sign up for this one was the shirt was super cute.  I mean, it has a turkey on it! 

The day of the event was cloudy and chilly, but not nearly as cold as it could have been.  The real issue was the wind.  Standing at the start line wasn't too bad, but once we started, I was running against the wind during most of the first mile.  My shins just didn't like that too much.  The course is pretty flat for the first mile and half with a few small hills around the midpoint.  My first mile was faster than my typical 5k, but I think it was because I was trying to stay with some girls that I had talked to before the start.  They were young pups, so I was only able to keep up with them for about three quarters of a mile.  I was feeling pretty good and not really focusing on time or anything.  I was pushing more than a typical run, but not to the point that I was miserable.  This is one of the reasons I hate 5k races.  I always feel like I'm about to die, yet I'm still going so very slow compared to everyone else.  Shrug.

After the water station and the hills, I played the "fishing game."  I'd focus on a person in front of me and just try to either catch up or pass them.  This usually helps me stay focused during the last mile of most races.  Otherwise, I'd just constantly look at my Garmin to see how much further I had to run.  :/  I managed to pass 4 runners when out of nowhere a girl in a green shirt flew past me.  I think she may have been playing the same game.  I tried my hardest to catch up with her, but ol' girl was just sprinting at the end, so I did not succeed.  When my watch beeped at mile 3, I looked down and realized that I was going to come in under 30 minutes, possibly a personal best for me.  Woot!  I made sure to get my high fives from Tracy's girls and crossed the finish line with a big ol' smile on my face. 

I found Tim and he was feeling pretty good about his time as well:  21:54.  He admitted he yakked after he crossed the finish line, but he was pretty sure he placed in his age group.  We stuck around to watch Tracy's girls run in the kid's mile run.  They were awesome!  Kinsley was the first girl to cross the finish line and Kealey had so much determination in her face when she finished!  It's so cool to see kids doing the running thing.  If Tim and I have kiddos, I hope they are as into running as we are.

Tim did end up coming in first in his age group.  The boy is on fire and I'm a bit jelly that he can pull out these times without a lot of preparation.  Although, he'd be the first to tell you that his legs have been sore all week because of it!  :P

So, overall, I'd say a successful 5k event for The Johnson's.  I know it has at the very least got me back into running.  I did a speed workout on Monday and I'm planning on getting a 3 miler in today after work.  We are signed up for a couple of other runs before the year is out and I'm already looking at some spring half marathons.  I do best when working towards a goal.  I need to have a race to train for to get me out the door when it'd cold and dark out! 

Upcoming Events:

Turkey Burn Off Trail Run- 11/30/13
Ugly Sweater Fun Run/Walk- 12/7/13
Santa's North Pole Dash- 12/14/13
Frostbite 5k Jog for James- 1/11/13

I'm a Marathoner!

I did it.  I really did it.  It feels so surreal to me.  I don't even know how to start this post.  My apologies on the possible rambling and overload of pics!

I hope I haven't annoyed too many folks, but

YEAH, I RAN A MARATHON!!!

We headed up to the expo after lunch on Saturday.  We would have gone a bit earlier, but Tim did a 5k that morning- PR for Timmy!  It was kind of nice getting to the expo a bit later.  It wasn't nearly as crowded and it gave us an opportunity to do some of the fun stuff.  Brooks had an awesome area this year.  Both Laura and Tim won a free pair of shoes!  I was totally jealous of course, as I just got a key holders and a t-shirt.  :P  I was still iffy on what I was going to wear the next day, and found some arm sleeves that I thought that even if I didn't wear them on race day, they'd come in handy at some point.  I also bought myself a 26.2 Sweaty Band. 

I was pretty much a ball of nerves that evening.  I was trying not to think too hard about what it was I was actually going to be doing that next day.  Also, it didn't help that Tim was a bit of grump-- he was hungry.  Once I got him fed though, we headed back to the hotel and I tried on all the potential outfits, trying to decide on which one.  I went with my capris, a tank and the arm sleeves.  I kind of felt goofy in the sleeves, but they were really comfortable and it eliminated having to wear a throwaway shirt. 

The Cardinal's game was on, so I settled into bed and watched a bit of that.  I eventually fell asleep and then woke up to see the crazy obstruction call that led to a Cardinal win.  Tim came to bed after that and pretty much fell right to sleep.  I did not.  I tossed and turned pretty much the entire night.  When the alarm went off at 5am, I was not a happy camper.  I tried to shake it off and headed down for some breakfast.  I had a bagel, peanut butter and a banana.  A lady saw my blue bib that indicated I was doing the marathon and said, "Oh my, the full?  Bless your heart."  My low self-esteem took this the wrong way, of course.  What is it about me that made the very idea of me running a marathon seem like such an impossible feat?  Then I realized, she was doing the Half Marathon Relay, so maybe she was just trying to compliment me.  Shrug.

We finished up getting ready and headed back downstairs for some pics with the crew.  It was a chilly morning out-- 30ish degrees-- and we all had various ways of dealing with it.  I actually think the trash bag was pretty effective.  I wasn't cold at all.  I look pretty goofy though. 

Many miles have been shared with these folks.

 Cold air?  Don't care!  :P

We headed towards the start line and sang "Happy Birthday" to Leah along the way.  I was on the look out for Laura and was thrilled that I was able to find her and wish her luck on her first half marathon.  Leah and I made a quick dash for a potty break and I was thankful that there were little lines AND toilet paper still available.  In the past, this was not the case.  The wait in our corral didn't feel that long.  We snapped a few photos, and then waited for the corrals to start going.  Oddly enough, I was still pretty relaxed that point, which is very unusual for me.  I don't think it quite hit me that I was actually going to run twenty-six point two miles!



We finally got going and honestly, the first 10 or so miles, flew by.  Leah and I had fun giving high fives to the various cheerleaders (and bananas!) and just  taking in the whole the thing.  Tim was being a goof and taking photos of us, and we were just having fun.  Around mile 11, I decided I really needed a potty break.  I was hoping to wait for the split off point, but my stomach was a bit upset and I was afraid that waiting would be a bad idea.  Thankfully, it wasn't anything (no poops for me!), but boy, did I ever have to pee. 

We soon came to the "No turning back now" split.  Half marathoners went to the right, marathoners to the left.  I did get a bit of butterflies at this point.  This was it.  This was when the run got real for me.

No turning back now! 

It was also at this point that we caught up with the 5 hour pacer.  I had a moment of excitement because we were doing so much better than the 5:30 time we had originally signed up at.  I had told Leah that I thought we should aim to beat Katie Holmes NYC Marathon time of 5:30.  When our long training runs started, I wasn't so sure that would happen, but once the weather got better, I thought we would be closer to 5:15, than 5:30.  Seeing that 5 hour pacer made me feel like things were going great.

Then we hit Forest Park.

Now, I love Forest Park.  It's one of my favorite places in St. Louis.  However, the route was ridiculous.  It was a lot of out and backs and I was just not feeling it after a few miles of it.  We started walking the water stations after the split to make sure we were getting in enough fluids.  I started to long for those walk breaks.  Also, my fingers were super swollen, like sausage fingers.  I started doing the Gatorade as well, but it was so sickly sweet.  I finally figured out to grab a water and pour that into the Gatorade cup.  That seemed to help.  When we finally started heading out of Forest Park around mile 20, my right calf seized up.  It was the worst charley horse in the world.  I stopped and cried out.  It pretty much sucked- physically and mentally.

I pushed on, having to stop every now and then and try to stretch my calf.  Going up any kind of hill made it feel like it was going to explode.  I got a little weepy and whiny.  Tim and Leah were pretty encouraging though, and I am grateful that I was not alone during those last 4 miles.  I think my real breaking point was around mile 23.  My calf was hurting and I stopped to stretch and just sat down.  I mentally was giving up at this point.  I think I even said I didn't want to finish.  Tim came over to me and kissed my salty face and said, "You got this, babe.  You can be mad at me, but you got to keep moving."  I wiped the snot off my face and got moving.  We soon came to the 24 mile marker and I just told myself that I would crawl the last few miles if I had to.  No more complaining. 

Leah and I hitting miles 13, 20, 24 and 26!



Those last few miles felt endless.  Our watches were way off.  They would beep and then three tenths later we'd see the mile marker.  This was messing with our brains.  I think that was the only time Leah even said anything remotely negative during the entire 26.2 miles.  Her knees were hurting, but really I think it was the damn watch that annoyed her more than anything.  There were random folks encouraging us at this point, no more big crowds.  They were angels to me.  Just hearing, "Great job, you got this!" made me push a bit harder.  When we turned at the start of mile 25, I had a bit of a surge of energy that was quickly demolished by hill.  Guh. We walked a little more and then saw that turn off to the finish.  We were almost there!  We were ready to run it out.

I cannot even put into words how emotional that last half mile was.  I looked over at Leah and said, "We are doing this!"  It still felt so unreal to me (it was very real to my calf though).  We turned and could see the finishing shoot.  We saw Dennis and then Travis,  then we heard our group cheering us on.  I felt tears (salt?) stinging my eyes and I pushed as hard as I could.  As we crossed the finished line, I grabbed Tim and Leah's hands and it was the best feeling ever.  It was so hard running 26.2 miles, but finishing it made it so worth it! 

Point 2 miles to go! 

After we crossed the finish line, we got our medals and some pics.  Tim was on the look out for the chocolate milk.  Like a good husband, he grabbed 3 cartons:  one for each of us and one for us to share.  :)  We found our family and exchanged hugs and congratulations.  There were 7 of us running:  6 doing the marathon and 1 doing the half.  How cool is that?  I have no excuses not to be inspired when I'm surrounded by so many runners! 



At the expo, I told Tim that it was a priority for me to get my beer bracelet this year.  As most of you know, I don't really drink and I when I do, it's typically not beer, but I was going to run 26.2 miles!  A toast with a beer was a must!  (FYI- two sips and I was buzzed!)

Happy Birthday, Leah!  Thanks for running 26.2 miles with me!



Overall, I am pleased with my first marathon.  We finished in 5:09:59 (We beat Joey Potter!) and that is under my 5:15 goal.  Sure, I would have loved to finish in 5 hours, but those last six miles slayed me.  I knew they weren't going to be easy.  During our twenty miler, Leah and I  said we would get through those miles no matter how long it took us and that is what we did.  We walked when we needed to.  I whined when I had to- Leah deserves a second medal just for tolerating my weepiness!  We managed to get through those last six miles and FINISHED.  I'm so proud of us!

Tim.  I know I get mushy about him all the time- how he supports and encourages me.  How he tells me that he actually enjoys running with me, even when I get all Bitchy Betty on him.  I would have never thought I could actually run a marathon if it wasn't for him.  Tim never doubted me.  He always believed I could do it.  On bad days he let me vent, on good ones he told me how much I rocked.  Without him, this running thing wouldn't have ever happened.  I'm so lucky that he shares (and totally gets) the crazy love for running.

I want to thank everyone that sent me messages encouraging me and congratulating me.  I got so many texts and Facebook messages the day of the race.  Thank you so much!  It feels great to know that so many folks were rooting for me.  Special shout out to John H.  Thank you so much for the kind words!

I love signs with my name on it!  :)

So, what's next?  Well, I'm pretty sure my first words to folks after I finished the marathon were, "That was hard.  I'm never doing that again!"  And it really was hard.  But I totally want to run another marathon!  Now that I know I can do it, I want to do it better.  Train better.  Eat better-- cause I seriously failed at that!  I know it sounds crazy.  But that is part of the fun of running.  If you aren't a little bit crazy, then you are never really pushing yourself hard enough.  :)

That's the plan!