Spirit of Saint Louis Half Marathon - RunHalf Marathon


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St. Louis, Missouri
United States
Spirit of St. Louis Marathon
65F / 18C
Sunny
 		Total Time = 2h 33m 10s
Overall Rank = 6040/8131
Age Group = F25-29
Age Group Rank = 710/962
Pre-race routine:

This was a bit of an unusual pre-race routine for me. The night before the race was spent at a bar cheering on my Kansas Jayhawks. Then the remainder of the night was spent celebrating the fact we beat Roy Williams and UNC in the Final Four match up. I managed to limit myself to 2-3 drinks, but had to eat bar food for dinner which was just a bad idea. I devoured some toasted ravioli and a grilled chicken sandwich for dinner. Washed it all down with water...lots and lots of water. My throat was sore from screaming and cheering all night long. By the time I got to sleep...it was about 1:30.

Woke up at 5. Nothing like 3.5 hours of sleep before a race. Had some gatorade my morning muffin. Took a tylenol. And headed downtown (about a 15 minute drive). My husband was supposed to run as well, however he didn't stop at 2-3 drinks...and was still feeling the effects of the previous night's victory. He agreed to go downtown and cheer from the sidelines with my mom.

I ran into my dad, who was also running the half, while waiting in line for the porta-potties. So we stuck together for the morning. Two more trips to the bathroom and we lined up in the corral.

We figured we'd start off together and then he'd pull ahead since he's much faster than I am.
Event warmup:

Walked about a mile.
Run
  • 2h 33m 10s
  • 13.1 miles
  • 11m 41s  min/mile
Comments:

The plan was to run with my dad for the first few miles and pull ahead. I usually run half marathons around a 12:05 pace. I was quite surprised and pleased with myself that I was able to run with my dad up to mile 10 at a relatively even pace (in the 11:15 range). At mile 5, I grabbed the KU flag from my mom and ran with it for the remaining 8 miles. Got a few boo's, but lots of cheers which was a great boost.

By Mile 10 my hamstring had it with the hills and I had to slow down to walk up all the remaining hills. It was thoroughly irritating for the three mile stretch back toward the finish.
What would you do differently?:

HTFU and run through the hamstring pain.
Post race
Warm down:

Walked around and stretched. Ate a banana and showered.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

My right hamstring.

Event comments:

The first water station was just before mile 3 and a lot of folks were anticipating it earlier in the course. It was likely misplaced by volunteers. But everything was always well stocked when I ran through.




Last updated: 2008-04-01 12:00 AM
Running
02:33:10 | 13.1 miles | 11m 41s  min/mile
Age Group: 710/962
Overall: 6040/8131
Performance:
1- 11:11 2- 11:13 3- 11:16 4- 11:14 5- 11:58 (restroom) 6- 11:12 7- 10:55 8- 11:23 9- 11:08 10- 12:38 (revenge of the hamstring begins) 11- 12:40 12- 13:05 13- 11:08 (I decided to HTFU and run anyway) .1- 9:05 pace 13.23 miles covered due to weaving. The first 9 miles of even splits is incredible for me. Absolutely incredible. Home girl doesn't run consistently even splits. :) I think it was the Kansas Jayhawk victory that gave me the great mojo to run like that.
Course: Essentially two different out and backs that take you up by the brewery and through SLU's campus. It was definitely hillier than I anticipated. This made my hamstring extremely pissed off considering I have done ZERO hill training this year.
Keeping cool Good Drinking Just right
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Good
Mental exertion [1-5] 4
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Average
Race evaluation [1-5] 4