Wednesday, October 30, 2013

St. Louis Rock and Roll Marathon Part 2

Now for Part 2 since part one was running a bit long:

Saturday we decided to devote to going to Forest Park.  Again on my FB poll, that was the second most mentioned idea of places to go and see.  We settled on the Zoo since andrew loves animals right now.  What we didn't know was that Saturday was Boo at the Zoo so there were thousands of kiddos dressed up in costumes trick or treating.  It made getting around the zoo super hard and we almost left a few times.  Glad we didn't.  We rode the train all around the park as Andrew is obsessed with trains right now.  He seemed to have a good time and no one stole our stroller while we were riding.
The first thing we did was get a build a bear or should I say build a hippo.  His name is Louis and yes, he is a cardinal's fan.  Andrew kissed and licked the heart before she put it in.  It was very touching and funny.  He even helped her with the stuffing.  It says "I love you" when you press on it's leg.  So funny.  We also rode the carousel.  Andrew was so excited to do so but once he was on it and we were going, i think he got motion sickness and decided he wanted OFF.  Of course we couldn't get off and they wouldn't let me hold him (my animal i was riding didn't move) so tony just had to hold him while he fussed.  
This was taken pre-movement.  The lady that took the picture literally took 50 of the same thing.  She kept saying she didn't think it was taking anything and when I got the phone back to check, yep, 50 pics of us smiling.  Oh well.  Kind of cute I think!  The St. louis zoo is interesting in that it is free to get in but EVERYTHING ELSE is a fee.  Oh well, it was fun.  The best part was the children's zoo.  They had a naked mole rat and andrew LOVED that dang nasty looking critter.  He was glued to it's cage while it motored around.  He also got to pet several goats and a guinea pig.  I got to pet a hedge hog as well and see a little armadillo running around.  Really neat even if it was yet another fee to enter.  Mom got there that night so I had some relief.  Was able to sit with my legs up and ice the sore spots a little bit, well when andrew wasn't trying to eat the ice out of the bag.  I also put on my compression socks for a while and I think that helped as well.  We ordered in dinner so we didn't have to worry about the St. Louis world series crowd.  I have to say, the traffic and crowds weren't as bad as I thought they would be.  We weren't super close to the stadium but we could see the lights.  


Morning of.  My outfit.  Running tights, my new nike volemero 8s.  Went with my hat instead of my new brook's band for my ears.  Mizuno breathe thermal shirt, gloves and my new rock and roll fuel belt, complete with my favorite watermelon chomps.  Stayed with my typical headphones and not my new wireless headphones.  Thank goodness I had made a play list as pandora was NOT working.  I kept it on low the whole time so I could enjoy the bands and the cheering.  Woke up not nervous.  Hmmmmm...Got nervous about not being nervous LOL.  Usually my nervous stomach is not a good thing but pre-long run, it is welcomed and needed.  TMI. I know.  Anyway, mom walked with me to the start line so the boys could get some extra sleep and stay warm.  I was told that no one other than the runners could be at the start.  I was wrong but the boys were there, I just didn't get to see them.  
mom and I before I loaded into the corral.  She had bought me a super warm, super cute coat at the thrift shop to throw away at the start.  Since she was there, I just gave it back to here about 10 minutes before the race.  Bonus:)  

My corral.  Not what I expected.  This is my first big race so i envisioned pens, like what animals would go it.  Not so.  Just a sign and two people eventually holding a rope in front of us.  I wisely chose to stand at the front of my corral.  I was in the wrong one (i estimated 6 months ago that i would finish in 2:40).  Based on my 12 miler, I was hoping to be done in 2:30 or less.  I learned quickly how important it was to be in the correct corral. I probably spent 10 or so miles passing people.  I was constantly weaving back and forth.  That took up a ton of energy.  I am sure there would still be people to pass even if I was in the correct corral because I am sure people over estimate their pace too.  Heck, I had no clue what I would be capable of except what my 12 miler was like which was a week before the race.  I usually stay around 11-11:15 on long runs but my last long run was in the 10:40 range so when that number kept popping up on my watch, I wasn't hugely surprised.  I did have trouble finding someone to pace with.  I found two ladies that were always ahead of me that were dressed in tutus and colorful shirts.  I kept them in my sights the whole race but they were faster the whole race.  I hung out with a group of ladies and briefly talked with them but lost them at a water stop and got ahead of them.  Caught up to the 2:30 pace around mile 10 but they felt slow so I went ahead and passed.  I was concerned that I was running too fast but I felt good so I went with it.  I kept my watch on pace instead of distance so I could monitor my speed since I hadn't found a pace partner.  I would latch on to someone briefly but never found anyone i could stick with the whole race other than the tutu ladies.  My mantra was "it's just a long run with a few thousand friends".  I told myself to enjoy it and take it all in and I did so.  Read every sign, high fived every cheerleading squad and kid and enjoyed the scenery.  Would have liked to talk with someone but I talked to myself in my head alot LOL so i wasn't totally alone.  My brain cooperated for the most part.  I had a side stitch about mile 12 as we were going down a huge downhill.  It took me by surprise ( i don't drink unless I am fueling) and I had to run painfully slow for a few tenths of a mile and lost some time.  There were several hills and they were all pleasant surprises.  I was told this course was hilly but I never studied the elevation maps. I like to be surprised i guess.  I knew I had done hill training enough that this shouldn't be an issue.  I liked the fact that there were so many people that when people walked or had issues, I wasn't able to focus on that, I could focus on the people that were still running.  At mile twelve, after the painful stitch that luckily went away, I was able to focus and get excited about the finish.  I still had gas left in the tank so I knew I was going to be able to get that last minute kick.  Unfortunately the last mile or so was straight up hill but I still was able to to get a pretty big kick in the last .2 of a mile.  Then the chaos started.

I finished in 2:20:06.  The photographers got some awesome shots.  I practiced:)  They still got my clicking off my garmin. URGH.  They did have people lining the finish and tony and mom and andrew were there but they didn't see me:(  I was in the finishers chute where I got a banana, medal, chocolate milk, power bar, gatorade, water and blanket all thrust at me.  I wanted to sit and cry but I couldn't because all I could do was shuffle forward and carry stuff with the hundreds of other finishers.  I shuffled my way out of the chute and then tried to find tony.  Our plan was to meet up at the family re union area by the letter C, but the only letter i could find was L.  So my euphoria turned into anger because I am so use to a pre race hug and I couldn't find anyone and my cell was not working.  Finally got a hold of tony and got reunited but by then we had to rush back to the hotel to make the 12 pm check out time.

Part three coming.  Thoughts, ideas, things learned.

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