I knew to start out slow because otherwise I'd be dead by the end. The fist few miles were great. I caught up with one of my coworkers who had run the St. Louis marathon last March and I actually told him about this race, which he didn't really train for. So we ran to about mile 4 together until his shoe came untied and I had to leave him behind! Once on my own, I felt great! Kept my breath and set my pace where I was actually passing people. After I got to the MKT, I was at home, if you will, because I had run that leg of the race MANY times before and I knew exactly what to expect. Up until this point, I hadn't stopped at any of the stations for water because that's not how I'd been training and I was a little hesitant to put anything into my body in case it threw me off. But I knew that at mile 6 there was a station at the bottom of our first real hill. I had decided to take a GU (said like goo, which is exactly what it is) packet. (Let me just tell you that I'd heard about GU a few days before and wasn't sure what it was exactly. All I knew was that you're supposed to take it 15 minutes before you start and every 45 minutes after that.) Betsy had given my one of hers and they were passing them out along the way. There is actually a lot of GU per packet so I sucked it up and took it down in several swallows, making sure I could still breathe, then followed it up with a mini cup of water (which was a feat in its own.) Drinking and running is quite difficult. I'm sure I choked a few times, got it up my nose a few times, and threw it on the volunteers. Really, all I wanted was a high-five!
Miles 8-10 were pretty tough. It was actually the only part of the route I hadn't gone on and it was HILLY. This is where I caught up to Jose and we took turns in the lead until the last big hill where I was golden! Speed walking up the hills seemed like the best idea because it took less steps and I had more energy on the other end. At this point, I was just trying to get to Schnuck's, where I knew Teki, Cameron, and Beckett were waiting for me. I saw them before and kinda made a scene because I was really excited to see them. At that point, it was all down hill to the finish line. Also, around that corner, I ran into Betsy's family who had come in for the weekend. This is where my facebook picture was taken. I was still smiling, so that's a good sign. The last mile was back on the trail towards downtown (another stretch I had run SEVERAL times.) It seemed like it was never going to end but once you start seeing the number on the bridges go down, the closer you are. The timer wasn't working, but I still had the energy to actually speed up to cross this finish line! I had done it. They took off my time clip, handed me a water, a meal ticket (who would want pulled pork right after that I have no idea,) and my FINISHER BELT BUCKLE! I stretched, paced, and waited at the finish line for my friends! Never had I ever beaten everyone else I knew, and it was a good feeling. Granted, I was actually training for a full so I was ONLY half way there. I actually laughed at myself on mile 13 because NO WAY could I turn around and do it again. 26.2 is INSANE!
The rest of the day, I made overalls our of bubble wrap for the Anything But Clothing party over at Brad's that night! I have a very creative bunch of friends!
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