Well, it's done...

Today was the Rock N Roll St. Louis Marathon. 

My alarm was set for 3:45am, but I was lying in bed awake at 3:20 so decided to just go ahead, get up and start the morning "procedures."  Coffee was consumed (x2), dressed for the race, fed the cats, made my breakfast to take along, and gathered all the things I would need for the morning.

I'd been watching the weather, and the forecast made me a little nervous.  It was a low of just under 50 and the high for the day was in the mid-70s, with temps entering the 60s likely before I would reach the halfway point of the marathon.  This, coupled with the treacherous hills that I knew awaited me in the second half definitely had me wondering what the day would bring.

Headed for the port-a-potties around 6:30 - the lines for the close ones weren't too bad.  While in line there, I noticed a bunch of additional ones a block away that were hardly being used at all, so we wandered back there for a final trip about 6:50, then headed to the corrals.

Waiting in the corrals for the start, the reality of the weather really set in.  I was able to ditch my jacket and wasn't particularly cold - I was standing around in my Wild Animal SparkleTech, Michelob Ultra singlet, Zensah arm sleeves and a pair of thin ditch gloves.  Personally, I prefer race starts where I need to keep my ditch items until mile 5 at least, preferably closer to mile 8.  That usually guarantees that the later miles are relatively comfortable.  Needing to ditch the stuff before race start is often a sign of higher temps later.

Race start was supposed to be at 7am.  There was some sort of delay, and the first corral wasn't set off until 7:10.  I was in corral 4, and went off about 4 minutes later.  

The 3:45 group was closer to the front, and the 4 hour group was at the start of corral 5.  I started easy, not that I had much of a choice with the crowds, but I was able to pick up the pace about a mile & a half in.  The first half of the course was nice - rolling hills, nothing too difficult.  I was able to hold a better pace than I planned.  I started at the very back of 4.

And then we turned off at the split for the half and full, just before mile 13... and the real fun began.  Being from the area, I knew what kind of hills we had to face in that second half.  The course was essentially an out & back with a loop through Forest Park as the turn-around.  Going out on Market Street was sure to be a bear as it was essentially an uphill climb from the time we turned off until we got to Forest Park Parkway, where there were some rolling hills to transition between the two.  After that, we were on the Parkway for several miles - this section appeared flat upon first glance, but was actually a very gradual long hill.  This is where I started to die.  I slowed to a walk to be able to eat my granola bar.  Up til this point, I was on pace for about a 3:40.

From the Parkway, we entered Forest Park, which is notoriously hilly, but thankfully, the course didn't contain the worst of them.  Off and on through the park,  I started noticing cramps in my abdominal muscles.  Sadly, they were bad enough that I had to do a bit of walking to calm them down.  Obviously this was detrimental to my pace.  By the time we were a little more than half way through the park, I was in desperate need of a port-a-potty.  Never a good thing, as my legs often stiffen up during the stop.  Did okay running for a bit after that, but then the ab cramps came back.  Maintained a run:walk of no particular rate from there - tried to run the flat sections and downhills, and walk the uphills.  I continued this through the remainder of the park and back down Forest Park Parkway.

Instead of continuing directly down Market on the final stretch back, we turned onto Compton and took one of the side streets back into the heart of downtown St. Louis.  A friend from the Belleville Running Club caught me at this point, about mile 23, and I tried to run with her for a bit, but a new issue caused me to walk - I felt like my trachea and lungs weren't letting any air in and I was nearly gasping trying to run.  This, along with the ab cramps, continued for pretty much the remainder of the race.  Talk about a dramatic slow-down.  My sub-4 marathon was slipping out of my grasp.

Just after mile 25, another friend from the BRC caught up to me, and I tried to keep him in my sights for a while to keep my mind off the issues.  I knew my hope of a sub-4 hour marathon was gone.  There was no way I was going to be able to make up the time.  However, I still had that PR in my sights.  A little more walking just before entering the VERY long finishers' chute, and then I was able to get myself together and run in, finishing in 4:04:35.

My Splits from RnR StL

RnR StL Marathon Place Results

Overall, I can't complain about my finish.  I met goal #1 - finish, and goal #2 - PR.  In fact, this was a 12-minute PR off my time from the 2011 Country Music Marathon.  I, however, am still a touch disappointed that I fell short of my #3 goal - a sub-4 marathon, particularly when my training runs indicated that it was a good possibility and I was on pace for a 3:45 past halfway.

I'll be attempting goal #3 (sub-4 marathon), #4 (sub-3:45 marathon) and #5 (BQ at <3:34:59) again in 4 weeks at the Tulsa Route 66 Marathon.

2012 RnR StL shirt (women's fit), bib and finisher's medal

2012 RnR StL Marathon Finisher's Medal