Missouri: Sneaky hills of St Louis
There are just some
races that I have wanted to run after reading an article about them or seeing a booth at an expo. The Go! St
Louis marathon was exactly one of those. I don't remember where I first heard
about it, but it has been on my "to do" list for a few years now. At
the beginning of 2017, as I was planning out races for the year, I noticed that
St. Louis sat nicely within already scheduled races but it did have one issue,
it was a Sunday race. Kaela and I have been trying to do Saturday races in
order to see a little bit of the town and still be able to drive and get home at a decent
time on Sunday. However, I was able to convince Kaela since it had an early race start and it was also just a 6 1/2 hour drive. So with that we planned to head
to the "show me state" in April.
Race: GO! St. Louis
Marathon
Location: St. Louis,
MO
Date: April 9, 2017
Finishing Time:
4:30:13
Originally, we planned to just head down to STL on Saturday (day before race) and then just head back after the race so I wouldn't have to use an time off work. However, since neither of us had ever been to St. Louis we decided that it would be better to head there on Friday to do a little sight seeing before the race. So after a half day of work on Friday, we headed out west. On the way we stopped by Rudy's for BBQ lunch and then Schulers Bakery for some sweet treats in Springfield, OH. We rarely pass by Springfield without getting at least one of these.
Since I had an extra
day to rest my legs, I drove to STL as Kaela usually drives me home
to let my legs rest. Kaela and I spent the drive just chit-chatting about a
little of everything. It's always great to just unplug from the day to day routine
and just be able to talk about anything on our minds with no real
interruptions. I really do enjoy those road-trip conversations. As we
approached STL, we had decided that would make more sense to just head to the
expo on the way in to prevent having to make a special trip on Saturday.
Parking cost for the expo was $10, but since I usually just run in and out, we
found a parking spot close by and Kaela stayed at the car in case we needed to
move before getting a ticket. The expo felt like a typical small race expo,
taking place at local college arena. Bib pickup when you walk in then having to
enter the arena and head down stairs to the main expo floor. I had seen this
same set up for a few previous events. I grabbed my participant bag, and then purchased
a few caffeine Gu gels as I had ran out in Myrtle Beach, before making my way back out.
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| Expo Floor |
Back at the car,
Kaela had already inputted the address for dinner in the GPS car and we were
off to The Shaved Duck. The week before race, I spent some time on Yelp,
TripAdvisor and Google, trying to find some good options for dinner. The Shaved
Duck was rated in the top 10 on all the sites in St. Louis, so we decided that
we should give it a try. The restaurant was only a few miles from the expo but
the estimated time was about 20 minutes and I couldn't figure out why but shortly into the drive we found out. On every single block on the road we were on there was a 4 way
stop. I think we easily hit 10-15 4 way stops on the way. Finally we arrived
and set up at an outside table since we had Bella. Loaded fries with pork,
flatbread pizza, and a bbq tri-tip sandwich later, we basically rolled back to
the car. As a side note, I highly recommend a meal at The Shaved Duck if you
are ever in St. Louis.
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| Kaela's beverage for dinner |
Back in the car, we heading to our AirBNB in Maplewood, which is just outside of St.
Louis. This was first time using AirBNB and I definitely learned my lesson and
things to pay attention to when selecting a place. Pulling down the street the
house was on, we started to feel a little worried about the area that we were
in, and then when pulled up to the place we were staying it didn't lift our
thoughts of the place. This is where I forgot to tell Kaela that we were
actually staying in the basement of a house with our own entrance. This is
something I should have ran by her because she would have made me think about
what that actually meant, hearing people walking above you all day/night (yeah,
I didn't even think about it). When we walked into the place, you could
instantly smell pet dander/hair and then could see the amount of dog hair and
dust throughout the studio. I won't rant here about it (already did that in the
review) but let's just say we never once let our clothes, bags, or even bare
feet touch the floor during our stay. We did some rearranging of furniture,
cleaned up, and laid in bed watching Hulu for the rest of the evening.
The next morning, I woke up early for my shake out run. It was a pretty cool morning, but it felt
nice to get some fresh air and be outside of the studio. After the run, we spent the morning,
planning out some race day logistics (where is the start, where do we park, where
would Kaela see me) by actually driving around St Louis. After that was
completed, we decided to be tourist for a little bit. We started at Forest
Park, where we walked around the outside of the zoo and saw some animals
through the fence. Taking a stroll down their paths we stumbled upon the 5k
that was a part of the GO! St Louis race weekend in the north end of the park.
I wanted to get off my feet a little bit so we found a park picnic table and
just relaxed for a little. We talked about what else we wanted to do, as it was
still really early and we didn't want to spend the entire afternoon sitting in
the studio, we needed to fill the time the other items.
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| Bella felt left out so we had her take a picture with a turtle |
We drove around some
fancy neighborhoods checking out houses and walked around Maplewood
"downtown" area with small shops, before stopping at Schlafly
Bottleworks for lunch. Breweries are always a must stop for us, but since its
pre-race for me I was only drinking water while Kaela enjoyed a beer flight. We
grabbed some appetizers and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. There was a
couple sitting next to us, that Kaela was certain we saw running together that
morning (and of course she was right ;)) that we started to have some
conversation with. It was their first wedding anniversary weekend and they were
taking a short trip to see a friend in the area. We talked about races
completed and goals for future runs for about 30 minutes before parting ways.
It's funny how runners can just start up a conversation with each other like
they've known each other for years!
After lunch, we went
on a mini expedition to find this goat farm I stumbled upon thanks to Google, which ended up being a ladies back
yard. Kaela wanted to explore, but I didn't want to get in trouble for
trespassing (lol). Then we went to get some frozen custard from Ted Drewes
which we read was a must when in St. Louis. After all of those things for the
day, it was still only like 2pm, which was way too early to head back to the
studio. I didn’t want to continue to be on my feet walking around places so we
decided to head back to Forest Park, park the car, and literally take a nap in
the car. It felt nice to have my legs up, but as the day went on, the temps
continued to increase and I felt like I wasn't staying hydrated enough. This
caused me not to rest all that well but at least we were getting some fresh
air.
Around 4:30, we made
our way back to studio to feed Bella and start my prep for the evening.
Lay out clothes |
prep nutrition and race day items | eat dinner | stretch |shower | sleep
BUZZZZZZZ *3:30AM
ALARM*
I slowly made my way
out of bed, trying to keep quiet while Kaela was sleeping. Prepped my breakfast
using a microwave for my bagels since we didn't have a toaster and then used my
phone flashlight to help me see so I didn't have to use the lights in the studio.
As I ate, I listened to my pre-race worship mix, read a few encouraging verses,
and did final check up on the course route on my iPad. Now I talked about how
the weather was cool the morning before for my shake out run, but race day
morning was quite different. At 4:30 it was in the mid 60's and it was only
going to get warmer as the morning went on. I knew it was going to be a
challenge to push through warmer temps.
Before I had
realized, it was time to finish getting dressed, pack up the car, and get out
the door. We weren't heading back to the studio after the race so we made sure
everything was back in order, and completely packed up the car before heading
downtown. I assumed that there was going to be some traffic heading to the
start with limited parking garage options so with a 7am race start we decided
to try and be downtown by 6 to allow some time for unexpected situations.
Once we got off the
highway, heading towards the parking garage, Kaela noticed some cars just parked on
the side streets at meters. We pulled over and check and sure enough "Free
on Sundays"! She pulled into an easy to exit spot and we were all set and
$10 richer. It also worked out well with the location of the car because Kaela
would have to pass by it twice while she was walking to see me, so she didn't
have to carry everything with her that she needed for the day. From where we
parked, I wasn't 100% where the start actually was, but I knew it was close to
the Arc, so we just walked towards that until we saw the stream of runners and
then basically turned into Lemmings following along.
On the way to the
start, I started to get the "bubble guts" (maybe TMI), and was
looking for porta-john. Passing by a Hilton, Kaela recommended that I just duck
in there, which made for much nicer facilities. Back on the way to the start
and after a little over a mile of walking, we made it to the starting area.
Kaela took my pre-race photo, I gave her and Bella a kiss and I was on my way
to the starting corrals.
The corrals lined up
on a road that hugged the Mississippi River. I walked down to the end of my
corral to give me some space to get a little dynamic stretching in before the
start. I spent the time before the race really just people watching. You can see
all sorts of emotions on peoples faces from nerves to excitement to the "I
need more sleep" or "I actually paid to do this" looks. While
gazing around I noticed a pacer was making their way into the corrals and CRAP, I forgot my pace bands in the car, so I was going to have to do a big
"no-no" of doing math while running to keep myself on pace. I took a
look around and couldn't spot a pacer in my corral. I just chalked it up to
wanting to stay under 4:30, which if I hung around a 10 minute mile pace would
get me there.
After a short delay
at the start while they finished prepping the first section of the course, it
was time to for the National Anthem. I said a prayer for strength, focus, and
to know that each step taken is a gift from God. A few moments later, the first
wave of runners were on their way. I have mixed feelings on the wave start
process, but if it is done properly it definitely helps with backed up traffic
in the first few miles. Now just a couple more waves went off before I had my chance.
3…2…1…GO, ST
LOUIS!!!
We were off heading
through the crowds cheering on around the starting area. About a 1/2 mile in,
we took a hard left following the road and straight up hill. Like literally
like climbing a wall, ok maybe just figuratively, but it definitely was a way
to wake up my calve muscles early. I made the joke to someone next to me,
"I was told this is a flat course", which was returned by another
runner that shouted I was very much lied to. As we crested the hill Kaela was posted up
on the right hand side with Bella cheering us all on and taking photos.
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| Lady to my right is the one that fell |
We wrapped around a
few side roads making our way around to the MLK Bridge that would take us into
Illinois. I started to have some Déjà vu but couldn't quite figure out why at
first and then it hit me. This race started almost identical as the Flying Pig
in Cincinnati, OH. You start down by the river, power through a quick climb,
then wrap around to a bridge that looks back at the starting area and then
takes you into another state. It was so similar it was creepy. The climb up one
side of the bridge helped warm up my legs early. On the bridge I passed a few
firefighters that were running in full gear with tanks (bunch of bad asses!).
It was only the second time I had ever crossed the Mississippi and this time it
was on foot.
Making our way into
Illinois, we followed the road under the highway into East St. Louis. I think
there is a reason we were only here for a mile and passed by the police
station; the neighborhood looked a little "beaten up". That being said
the folks from Vantage Credit Union were out in full force cheering us on as we
passed by their branch. We hit our first aid station before heading back under
a different highway and taking the entry ramp to the Eads bridge. The climb up
to the peak of this bridge was a little steeper, working a short stride to keep
from overextending and heel striking.
As we approached the
center of the bridge, a beautiful view of the skyline of St. Louis emerged.
Maybe it’s the photographer in me but I love seeing an entire city downtown
that can be captured in a single frame. On the other side of the bridge, I
lengthened my stride a bit and let gravity take over for a bit. Close to the
end of the bridge, the 7k racers made their way off to the right to finish
their morning. I tried talking a few of them to keep on running with us, but
they were either listening to their music too loud or just flat out ignoring me
(I'm going to go with the latter) as they turned to their finish.
At about 4.5 miles
in, we made a left turn to head down Broadway for the next few miles. Kaela
found a nice spot around mile 5 to take some really nice photos on my approach.
I didn't see her until I noticed the flash going off on the camera. Before the race
we had chatted about her carrying some additional items for me because of the
weather and that I would let her know if/when I needed them. I felt good
through 5, but let her know that when I saw her around mile 11, that a fresh
application of body glide was going to be needed. I did however, drop off the GoPro as I only wanted to capture the beginning of the race for the race vlog.
Heading down
Broadway, we cruised past Busch Stadium, where the Cardinals actually had an
early afternoon game later that day. Passing a few parking lots and bars, we
started to get to a more residential area of St. Louis. Around mile 6, there
was local company handing out little chocolate treats, but I opted against as
it was way to early to start any indulging. Instead I opted for my favorite
Honey Stinger gel, Fruit Smoothie! Broadway turned into 7th and it took us
directly into Anheuser-Busch. As we approached the gates, I could just smell
the all the great smells of beer making. I was in the minority in the
"great smells" thought, as lots of runners around me seemed to be
disgusted by the smell. We ran through the main road in their facility, passing
some main offices and a few Clydesdale hanging out, before heading out.
Up to this point the
crowd support had been spotty as we were running in less residential areas, but
for the next 5k section of the race it was pumping. It all started right as we
left Anheuser-Busch, there was a bar on corner called Howards of Soulard (had
to look up name, no way I was remembering that). There was a crowd of people in
PJ's, onesies, and costumes, enjoying "beverages" and cheering for
all the runners as we passed by. As we made our way through some neighborhood
streets, families were set up outside their houses playing music and holding
signs of humor and encouragement to keep us moving. It's always nice to have
those type of people in the "easier" miles to keep spirits high.
Wrapping through a
few neighborhoods, we made our way by Lafayette Park (another location with
lots of crowd support) before approaching the split at mile 10 for the half
marathoners to head back to the arc and the finish line. I was surprised with
the amount of people that were staying on the marathon course, as usually it
feels like all but a small handful make the turn for the half. Even so, once
again I tried telling people to just double up their distance and stay with us,
but this time I know for sure they were just ignoring me. As we made the split,
I noticed the "Jefferson Hill" that I had heard a little bit about
that the half marathoners were hitting at mile 10 but I would be hitting at
mile 23. I tried to take that out of my mind for now, knowing full well it was
going to not be pleasant a few hours later.
Up to this point,
other than the bridges, there wasn't much of a noticable incline on the course. I
noticed in front of us a small grade that seemed to go on forever. I started
chatting with a guy next to me, Dave, that had run the race quite a few times.
I asked him about the elevation for the rest of the race, and he told me that
there were a couple instances of long steady grades like the one we were about
to tackle and then that monster of a hill we saw at the split. We chatted for a
few minutes but I gathered from his short responses that he was more interested
in running alone, so I wished him good luck as I pushed on. My stride and pace
felt nice as I powered through the hill and when I reached the top I noticed
the pace car with the leading runner heading back towards the finish. He was
about 11 miles ahead of me (mile 22 vs mile 11) and there was no one even close
to him that I could see.
On the other side of
the hill (overpass), Kaela had taken shop at a corner in the course. It was a
point that would act as the pivot point for an out and back, so we thought would
be best place for her to hang out. She took some great photos of me coming down
the hill and then quickly grabbed my requested body glide. My body was feeling
good but I knew that as the temperatures started to increase that the extra 15
seconds spent would be well worth it. I had just grabbed a gel that there we handing out an a aid just before the hill and passed that off to Kaela to try during a training run (Rule #32 - never try something new during a race).
I headed South
towards Tower Grove Park for a 4.5 mile lollipop type loop. We had a long climb
to start and then a few rolling hills before making it into the park. I kept my
focus on my stride to keep my energy used in check. I was passing a lot of people
that must have gone out a little too hard as before we even got to half way mark they were starting a walking routine.
Once we were in the park, we had to keep an eye out for speed bumps as we
circled the park roads. They did a good job at having signs warning of them coming, but then I think they got a little lazy and placed the "speed bumps ahead" signs directly on the speed bumps. There wasn't much crowd support in this section, other
than a handful of families that were having picnics just along the side of the
road, so it was a quiet stroll through the park. We approached another aid station just after mile 13, and I called out to
volunteers that needed one water and one gatorade, and a teenager said he had
me covered and handed me two cups. A few steps later I noticed it was two
waters and I had to call him out in front of his friends. Luckily another volunteer was
quick to grab me a gatorade. I appreciate anyone that helps out for races but
every once in a while I have to give them a little crap to make it interesting.
Shortly after the
aid station, I was headed out of the park and heading back North on the same
road we used to come in. Heading back was a little easier than previous since
the long climb at beginning, was an enjoyable long decent. Around this time I
started to feel a little tightness in my calves and quads but just ignored
since a lot of miles still left to run. Also the temperatures started to
increase a bit and even though the sun wasn't out shining, it started to feel
real sticky out. I made it back to the start of the out and back around mile
16. Kaela was just cheering me as I approached and then noticed instead of
taking the tangent in the road, that I was heading directly towards her. The
body glide started to feel light again and I knew that it was not going to last
the last 10 miles of the race so another application would be best. She gave me
an update on a friend of ours running her first 15k and also some "good
luck" text from a few other friends. Quick kiss and a "see ya at the finish"
and I was off heading West for yet another lollipop loop.
I started to feel
the sun hitting the back of my neck and knew that I needed to make sure that I
was keeping hydrated. We took a few turns before heading into
Forest Park. Since Kaela and I spent a decent amount of time in the park the day
before, it seemed quite familiar which helped keep my mind focused on familiar landmarks. The aid station around mile 17 was definitely bringing some energy
as we entered the main area in the park with volunteer jumping, dancing and singing to the DJ set that was happening. On the other side of the road I saw a
lady that seemed to be swaying back and forth looked completely out of it. I
was about to say something to a course marshal when I noticed another lady
doing the same thing. We ended up
running together as she told me a story of her friend that had the same issue
in another race and it ended her up in medical tent with a DNF. I didn't catch her
name but she was on her own journey for 50 states (plus DC) and this race made
#34. Yet again, she didn't seem interested in having conversation, so I said good luck as she fell back
to a walk.
The park was just as
I remembered it the day before with wide roads and rolling hills. We made a big loop near where the 5k was the
day, passing by the final relay station for the marathon. It was nice to
have a large crowd at the relay switch to help bring up mood as the suck
started to sink in. Once we left that area, we were heading East on our way
back to the finish and directly into the sun. At this point I put on the Shady
Rays to help with the glare from the road. A few more rolling hills and a
pretty strong headwind really started to break down my stride and I felt the
turnover wasn't there. I told myself to keep pushing to get to mile 20 before
taking a quick walk break. However, my inner thighs had a different plan for
how long I was going to be running. As I approached the aid station around mile
19.5, I kindly asked if they had vaseline. I must have been the first person to
ask for it from them because the volunteer had to go into a grocery bag and
break it out. After an awkward session of taking a nice scoop and rubbing
generously between my legs (that doesn't sound right) while I talked with the volunteer, I was back on the road.
Oh it felt so much
better not to have the burning and my legs seemed to have a little extra jolt
in them as well. I was doing some quick math and felt that I was still on a
good pace to hit 4:30 but didn't have as much of a buffer as before I entered
the park. I cruised through the next few miles, before walking up the long hill (overpass) heading towards the split. The sun was out in full force at this point just
beating down with no mercy. I cruised the down hill until arriving at aid
station around mile 22.5 that had some ice cold towels to help cool me down. I
grabbed two, soaking my face, arms and shoulders with one, and then just using
the second to keep around my neck. I walked for about a 1/4 mile before trying
to get back to a somewhat respectable pace, and then that’s when I had a
flashback to what was just around the corner; the mile 23 "mountain".
It looked a lot
worse than it really was, but being an overpass over I-64, it had to get up
quick making it look towering. Right at the corner, there was a group of people handing out beer, and I took a second glance before realizing that probably not the best idea. I decided to power hike the initial steep part
of the hill before going back to pace. My legs really started to feel the 23
miles that were behind them but I did my best to keep moving at more than a
fast walk. We passed under a giant American flag being held by two firetrucks
and that seemed to give me a little spark, but it was short lived. We turned
right on Washington Street and I noticed a nice downhill grade that I needed to
use to my advantage. Taking a look at my watch I knew it was going to be really
close and that I needed to continue to push to meet my goal. I stayed close to
the sidewalk, where the building were providing a little bit of shade, even
though was making the course just a little bit longer.
Two quick turns with
a mile and half left, I was falling fast. We were on a road that basically
completely shade but it had a few rolling hills, that I tried running the
downhills and power walking the uphills. At the end up the final uphill, I
recognized that this was the same area that we started the race and that we
were going to be heading through the starting corrals to head to the finish.
Right about where the lady fell at the beginning of the race, a group of people
were walking back saying that I only had just over 1/2 mile left. My watch time
was around 4:23 but my distance said I had closer to a mile, but my brain only
registered what the people said and I took off. I flew down the steep hill,
almost losing my footing, before making the final right turn to the finish.
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| Eyes on the finish |
I was pushing with
all the energy I had left, but as I looked up it seemed like the Arc was not
getting any closer. My quads started to tighten up, but after a quick look at
my watch, I had no time to stop for a quick walk and dealt with the
pain. I got to the point that was around .7 miles from where the people said
"just over 1/2 miles" and finally saw the finish line. I extended my
stride and put it all in my push off trying to cover as much ground as I could
with each step. A couple hundred yards from the finish, I realized that I
wasn't going to hit the goal and was instantly deflated. I then heard them say
my name as I approached the finish, and it gave me the final boost I needed to
make it across the finish.
4:30:13
 |
| ...and just short |
We then made our way
up the ten million numerous steps to get to the main road outside the Arc area. I told
Kaela some of the stories from the race as we headed back to the car. She
realized we hadn't taken a "finishers photo" so we lined up with the Arc at my back, and just like that St. Louis felt complete. Back in the car, I
got us lost since apparently heading West to go East doesn't help but finally on
the right track we ordered dinner from Buffalo Wild Wings, got gas, and made
the trek back home.
It was a tough thing
to swallow knowing that I was so close but just fell short. But all things
considered, I was super thrilled that I pushed through some crazy warm weather
to finish strong. In addition to the heat, I was surprised on how those long "sneaky"
hills really took the steam out of my legs throughout the race. In the last
mile I averaged under a 9 min/mi with a peak of mid 7's! I could look back and
see different points in the race that maybe if I handled just a little bit
differently that perhaps that would have made the difference. But with running,
I have learned not the play the "what ifs" because that list is never
ending.
I had a blast during
this race and would recommend to anyone wanting to run in the area. The course
was a great mix of challenge and scenery to keep your mind busy. The volunteers were
amazing and the aid stations seemed to be placed right where I needed them. My
only complaint would be the lack of music/bands/dj/circus clowns on the course
(ok maybe not last one). The crowd support was relatively light and having more
entertainment on the course would help keep you from being inside your own
head. That however is just a small thing that does not at all tarnish a well organized race.
And with that, state
#16 was complete. I'm glad I was able to fit in this race that I have wanted to
do for a few years into the schedule this year. Next stop is the Mississippi
Blues transfer to Nashville and running the St Jude's Rock and Roll Nashville
Marathon just 3 weeks later!
