The Perfect Storm - STL Half Marathon Race Report

With an exuberant finish at Sunday’s St. Louis Half-Marathon, my 2008 racing season has officially come to a close. To be honest I have mixed feelings about it. What athlete doesn’t? On the one hand I am GLAD to be able to sleep past 5am, worry less about finding a pool when I travel, take a hiatus from the two-a-day workout schedules, and revel in being able to stay awake past 8:30pm (even on weekends). The most trying (and possibly amusing for family and friends to watch) was the constant need to eat and subsequent feeling of not being satisfied. (A friend at church has a t-shirt that says “Always Hungry” and at one point I was breaking the 10th Commandment – I was seriously coveting the shirt! :)). I could (and did sometimes) go all day grazing from the fridge or my briefcase, depending on what city I happened to be in that week. One night at home I was so tired of having dinner and a dessert (always chocolate-something) and not feeling “full” that I took an entire box of miniature peanut butter cups and simply sat on the couch watching CSI, eating them slowly, pausing for a few minutes to take it in, then resuming – just to see how many I could eat before it was too much.

30 cups later I was done - like a turkey in the oven - but at least I found the end of the rope :).

All joking aside, to do all of the above for 10 months straight is not only physically draining but takes its toll mentally as well. Coach Jen has repeatedly explained to me the mark of a class-act athlete is recognizing downtime to recharge is equally important, if not more so, as the all-out laser focus demands of training and racing.

On the other hand, a small part of me is already thinking about 2009 and the fun out there waiting like a good friend of many years. There are endless races to choose from, and 2 of the 3 A-races on my calendar will be new venues for me, places I’ve never raced. I can hardly wait…really…

This past Sunday was what I call The Perfect Storm. I’m fit from racing all season, leaner than I’ve ever been in my life (this year I took off 9 lbs from my 135lb frame and now weigh what I did in my 20s, except I have wads more tone thanks to swimming 10-12K yards/week), the weather was an outstanding 50F and sunny, I knew the course, and Daylight Savings was ending Saturday night giving me a rare extra hour of sleep the night before the race. It didn’t get any better than that.

We woke up early and drove a whopping 15 minutes to the race site, where I picked up my number and walked back to the car to get ready. I warmed up 2 miles, listened to my Fave Five tunes, prayed earnestly out of gratitude and for a safe and strong race, visualized my finish repeatedly, and finally walked to the Start.

The gun went off and I executed on my plan to run conservatively the first 3 miles. The entire course was hilly, some of them lonnnnnngg. I didn’t care about everyone around me, how fast/slow they were running. I just saw the ground and upcoming mile markers and stayed focused on the plan to leave it all out there, like a fuel gauge slowing running down to Empty. Because it was the last race of the season, the goal was to finish feeling like I couldn’t take another step. Immediately following the Finish is an entire week of NOTHING – no swimming, biking, running, bricks, track workouts, intervals, Masters, NOTHING. Just REST and possibly another week of NOTHING after that :).

I felt great until Mile 7 when fatigue in my legs, ankles really, began to set in. It was hard to keep going but the visualization of finishing, my mantra of being “fireproof” (not blowing up), and knowing it would be terribly difficult but gutting it out anyway – all of that is woven into the fabric of who I am -- and the entire challenge spurred me on.

The last 2.5 miles had some small plateaus but were mostly uphill. I remembered walking this portion of the course when I ran this same race 8 years ago at the age of 36.

Not today. Although very challenging, I dug deep and ran on legs that felt like stilts to the Finish where from 100 feet away I could see Steve waving. I forgot all about the pain and fatigue, and sprinted to the Finish where I promptly lifted the wrong leg for the volunteer to remove my timing chip :).

It was all I had left but I finished in exactly the same time as the spring race and on a more difficult course. I was thrilled.

Time to hang up the shoes, the swimsuit, and the bike for a couple weeks and REST.

It was a fantastic year, and I learned a TON. I’m amazed I’m still getting fitter and faster at 44 years old. I know this won’t be the case forever, but for now…

…I’ll take it :).

Good night everyone!