Post Marathon Update

Well, it’s been a while since I last posted anything. I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I’ll continue this blog, now that I’m not training for the marathon. Originally, I didn’t think so. But after doing this for a while, I kind of like having a place to share what’s going on in my life with friends and family (and the rest of the internet community). So, I may not be able to give weekly updates on my life (it’s not that exciting), but I’ll continue to keep you updated on my running, races, thoughts, plans, ideas and activities.

So, it’s been almost a month since the marathon. I’ve only managed to run 20 something miles in the last three plus weeks – which is less than I have been running on just Saturday mornings. Pathetic, I know. It’s been a nice break, but I really miss running. I think I have a mild case of Post-Marathon Depression. Training for this race has been such a huge part of my life over the last half year; I’m a little lost without it. It was such an amazing feeling to set your mind on a certain goal and do everything possible to achieve it. Now, I’m goal-less. I’m feeling rather lazy and undisciplined as well. I miss the energy and excitement that comes from running.

What I really want to do is run another marathon! I know, right? CRAZY!!! Who would have imagined that I would love it so much? It was just the most amazing experience and I want that feeling back! To my happiness, this is exactly the way I hoped I’d feel after the marathon. I’ve heard so many people say after their first marathon that they’ll never run another marathon again, or just never run again, period. That scared me. I really wanted to train wisely (physically and mentally) and then just enjoy myself during the race (to the extent one can possibly enjoy running for nearly 5 solid hours). If I could do that, I’d have a positive experience and want to keep running and possibly want to run another marathon. Mission accomplished.

But, as you can tell from reading this blog, marathon training is very intense and most of all, time consuming. It really took a toll on my relationship, friendships, social life and career. Not to say that it isn’t worth it, but it’s hard to think that I’m ready and willing to do that again so soon. Ryan would probably hate me and I’d most likely get fired. So, maybe it’s not worth it. I said maybe… :)

That being said, I need to do something to keep myself active, so I’ve decided to set a few new running goals for the remainder of the year. They’re not really new (see New Year Goals post), just awoken (is that a word?) from their winter hibernation. They mainly have to do with improving my times from previous races and getting some company out there on the road. So, here they are:

1. Run a 5k around 28:00
2. Run a 10k under 1:00
3. Run a Half Marathon under 2:00
4. Take Anna to a wheelchair race
5. Get Ryan to run with me more often

Simple enough, right? Ok then. I’ve signed up to run the St. Louis Science Center’s Run For the Stars 10k in Forest Park on June 7. That gives me just over a month to work on my 10k time. I’m also planning on running the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon again this fall, for the third time. This is a flat course, so I should be able to run it fast (fast for me, which is not really that fast). And just for fun, I’m thinking about doing the Columbia Half Marathon in October. I love Columbia (where I went to undergrad) and the course is a little hilly, but beautiful. So, that’ll be fun. And who knows, maybe I’ll reevaluate the goals in the fall and think about another marathon. In the meantime, there’s lots of wedding planning to be done. :

MTA: By the way, Rick and Lorna both kicked butt in their marathons. Rick finished Glass City Marathon, under awful miserable weather conditions (and a hurt leg) in 4:38:00. Way to HTFU!! Lorna gave Paula Radcliffe a run for her money, and finished the London Marathon in 4:42:43 (which means I was the closest to guess her finish time and she owes me dinner). You MUST read their Race Reports! Here is Rick's - Glass City Marathon. Here is Lorna's - London Marathon. Congrats to both of you AGAIN!

More Marathon Pictures

Action shot of Ryan taking our picture.

Still smiling around Mile 17.

Still going at Mile 21.

Abby and me after the race.

Me and Laura.

My support crew: Jacquie, Heather and Kasey.

go! St. Louis Marathon Race Report – April 6, 2008

Ladies and Gentlemen, the race report we’ve all been waiting for. Five long months in the making and it’s finally over! It’s been a long journey, so this post is incredibly lengthy and rambling. I make no apologies for the length, I want to make sure to write down everything I can remember (you know, for the grandkids). I’m starting this race report a day early, in an attempt to capture the entire weekend of activities and excitement, but feel free to skip over the next few paragraphs of intro material to get to the good stuff if you can’t wait. I’m not fast, nor am I brief.

Saturday afternoon was spent in a whirlwind of packing, planning and last minute activities before leaving the house. True to form, I was a nervous wreck and Ryan was attempting to calm me down and placate my nerves. I know I must have been pretty difficult to live with this last week, and my darling fiancé is a total saint for putting up with me without killing me. We were spending the night at the Westin, downtown St. Louis with Team in Training so I had to have everything packed and be ready to go the afternoon before. I decided to wear a bumble bee pin on my tank in memory of Ryan Brown, who loved bumble bees (I’m a Beeliever). I also ironed my name on the front of my shirt and "In Memory of RDB" on the back – for Ryan Douglas Brown.

We arrived at the Westin just in time to check in and get downstairs for the TNT Pasta Dinner. To be honest with you, I wasn’t really feeling the TNT love at this point. I’d been having a lot of mixed feelings about TNT and a general lack of inspiration about the program. I loved the idea of running a marathon to raise money for a charity – and cancer research is about as great as they come – but I didn’t feel like I had the quintessential TNT emotional bonding experience that I anticipated. But all that was about to change.

My friend Lindsay, who previously ran the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon with TNT told me that her favorite part of the experience was the Pasta Dinner. Being a big fan of all things carb-related, I was already a fan. I figured it would be cheesy and sappy and inspirational and all of that good stuff. And it was…only better. Ryan and I sat at a table with Abby, her mom and a few coaches. We heard that together we had raised over a quarter of a million dollars for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was at the top of the fundraisers, bringing in almost $5,000!!! We listened to a pediatric oncologist talk about how running had literally saved his life, and how TNT’s donations make a difference in the lives of the children he treats. We heard from a mother whose son had been diagnosed with cancer six times, fighting each time to overcome it. He was even there to talk about his survival and thank us (of all things). He will be starting college in the fall – how amazing. By the time I left, I felt so good about my decision to do this through TNT and so proud to have been a part of something that truly makes a difference.

Surprisingly, I slept rather well Saturday night. I guess I was making up for all the missed sleep from the week leading up to the race. I woke up Sunday morning around 5:00, groggy, but excited. I had all my race clothes laid out and ready, so I Body Glided up and got dressed. Breakfast was muffins and water, but I was too nervous to eat much. I packed a bag of emergency supplies (band-aids, lip balm, sunscreen, extra socks, Gatorade, etc.) for Ryan to carry and we went downstairs to meet up with the rest of the TNT crew. We left the hotel and walked up to the race in a sea of purple.

The temperature was in the low 40s, but was supposed to warm up to almost 70 degrees and sunny by noon. Perfect running weather. Abby and I had no trouble finding our training buddy Jenny, my friend Julie, who was running the half marathon and my mother, who would be our official race photographer. It was an amazing site to see the huge American flag hanging over Market Street with the old Capital Building and the Arch in front of us. We all walked up to the starting line together, with just enough time to snap a couple pictures before we were off!

The first six miles were fantastic and flew by. We were all so chatty and excited and having a blast. The race course took us through the historic Soulard neighborhood, where Julie and I had both lived for the past 4+ years, which held a lot of memories for us. We circled a park near the Anheuser Busch Brewery and headed back towards downtown. The sun was just starting to come up and we were warming up nicely. I couldn’t believe all the people out there cheering the runners on. And so many of them specifically cheered for Abby and I because we were wearing the Team in Training shirt. "Go Team!"

At mile 6 I spied my personal cheering crew of Ryan, his mom Bonnie and my best friend Kasey. I dropped my jacket off with them, smiled and waved and kept moving. About a mile later I saw my mom, which made me so happy that she was there, even though I’m sure she has no clue why her other-wise sane daughter would decide to do something as crazy as run a marathon.

With about 4 miles to go before Julie (and the rest of the half marathoners) turned around and heading back towards the finish line we started seeing the other runners coming back down, getting closer to their goal of 13.1. So, we cheered…loudly! We tried to give a shout-out to every single TNT runner we saw, with plenty more cheering for everyone else. And this just made it so much better for us. At one point I looked at Abby and said, "Do I dare say it? I’m having so much fun!"

We saw my mom again at Mile 10, who snapped some really great pictures of just how happy and excited we were.

After that, the half marathoners left us and the crowd thinned out dramatically. I couldn’t believe the difference as we entered Forest Park to emptiness and silence. It was about this point when I realized just how much farther and longer we had to go. Immediately I felt pretty drained and tired. This is also the part of the course that I know the best – and I know it’s really HILLY. But there was good news too: (1) we had paced ourselves very well and we were still exactly on track for finishing in between 4:45 and 5:00, which means we didn’t go out too fast (which I was terrified of doing); (2) Abby’s best friend just booked her wedding ceremony and reception venue, which turned out to be somewhere along the race course. She was going to be there waiting to surprise Abby with the news. How cute is that? (3) we were still together and having fun.

Forest Park is one of my absolute favorite places in the city. It’s HUGE at 1,293 acres (approx. 500 acres larger than Central Park) and has amazing monuments, historic buildings, wildlife, waterways and landscapes. I love running in the park and know it well; this was home turf. This was also about the time when other runners started talking to us. We were passed by an older gentlemen who said he was working on completing his 50 states marathon, fulfilling his Missouri requirement, and had previously run with TNT. He told us how much it meant to him and what an amazing experience it was. We also ran with a lady who said she was a leukemia survivor and was featured in one of the TNT pamphlets. She thanked us for doing what we were doing. Unbelievable!

When we got to the Forest Park Visitor’s Center, Abby’s friend was waiting there to tell her that’s where the wedding would be. It’s a beautiful venue and I’m sure it’ll be a fantastic wedding! Just down the road we met up with TNT coach Michelle, who told us how wonderful we were doing – as if we didn’t know it!! We got out of the park just to go up a massive hill that runs along the Washington University campus. There were a bunch of kids at one corner saying that their High 5’s were super-powered for extra speed. I made sure to give them all a High 5, just in case they were right.

We were at mile 16, Clayton was next. We were approached from behind by a red mini-van full of Abby supporters. Team Abby had signs, music, horns, and more excitement than we could have hoped for. It was great to see them. They sped off as we topped a hill and then saw my mom and Anna waiting for us. What an amazing site to see that little blonde smiling and clapping for me this time. Mom pushed her in the wheelchair along-side us for a while and told us she’d see us at the finish line. As I looked away and back to the course, there was Ryan again, waiting and smiling. I cannot express how amazing our support crews were. We were never too far from friends and family though the whole course.

The next few miles of the race (17-21) were perhaps the most painful. Abby and I both started to really hurt. Her knees were bothering her and my hips, quads and back were screaming. Our training runs never felt this bad, it must be the hills. The hills in the park, Clayton and University City were all miserable. There was a guy ahead of us that stopped running to take pictures of every hill we ran because he said people didn’t believe him that this course is so hard and hilly. I believe you! But there were also a few runners that kept us smiling. The former TNT runner that we met earlier showed up again and asked me about RDB. It felt great telling him all about Ryan Brown and his family as I was pushing myself like that.

At mile 21 we saw Ryan, Bonnie and Kasey again! I love you guys. At this point I really wanted to stop. I told Ryan my legs were dead and he smiled and told me how proud he was of me and to just keep going. I really needed to hear that. As we entered Forest Park again Abby said her knees were hurting her too bad to keep running. She wanted to walk a while and told me to just keep going. I didn’t want to go without her. Never leave a man behind. But she told me to go, and I knew if the roles were reversed, I would want her to keep running. So I ran.

It was a lonely last couple miles to the end. At this point I just had to pick a spot on the course ahead of me and run towards it. When I got there, I’d pick another. And repeat. Luckily there was a lot of TNT support to help me along in the last 2 miles. I bet at least 6 TNT people took turns running beside me and encouraging me to keep going. Towards the end, my coach Rhonda was there with a smile and more kind words. Thank you all. And once I got close to that big American flag again, I saw my friends Jacquie and Heather. I know I didn’t (couldn’t) show it at the time, but it was so great to see you two! Heather ran beside me for a block or two until I made that final turn into the corral of spectators and saw the finish line.

Rounding the corner at the finish.

What an unbelievable feeling!! I was all alone. Everyone there was cheering for ME. I was laughing and crying. I saw my mom as tears poured down my face. I crossed the finish line in 4:53:21.

My medal and finisher's cap.

My support crew: Bonnie, Kasey, Jacquie and Heather.

My proud coach.

I also want to congratulate Abby, who finished in 5:08:02. You rock!! And Julie finished her second half marathon in 2:19:56. Great job ladies!!

I'm a Beeliever, in Memory of Ryan Douglas Brown

(June 29, 2000 - July 10, 2005)

Anna’s 50 Yard Dash Race Report

I think my favorite thing about running has been sharing the experience with so many other people. Running has given me the opportunity to bond with my family and friends in a new way, unite with my community and make connections with absolute strangers (this website is a great example). I love sharing this passion with others and find myself talking about running to everyone I meet, including my clients, my colleagues and random people in the grocery store. Most importantly, running has given me the opportunity to be a role model for a little girl that will never run on her own, Anna.

Anna is my cousin’s daughter, she is 4 years old and has spina bifida. She was born with a gap in her spine and is paralyzed from the chest down. Anna is an amazing kid; she’s smart and funny with an over-active imagination and a million stories to tell. She loves swimming, crafts and horse-back riding. And most recently, she has taken up “running.”

Back in November, Anna ran her first race and was amazing. Click HERE to read all about it. She absolutely loved the excitement of it and she’s been patiently waiting all winter to run again. So, with the St. Louis Marathon this weekend and all the related activities, we signed her up for the Youth Run – 50 yard dash.

It was a hectic morning. I didn’t sleep well again; pre-race jitters for my first ever marathon tomorrow morning. I got a phone call from my mom as I was leaving the house around 9:00 a.m. saying she was at Forest Park and looking for the race in a sea of people and traffic. I got there as fast as I could, worried that I might have to park a ways from the race and scared I’d miss it. The race was to begin at 9:45. I got to the start line with a few minutes to spare and couldn’t find mom and Anna anywhere. I called and she said that they went to get food and they’d be there in a little while. Apparently she thought the race started at 10:45 and was miles away. Uh oh.

Luckily, the race was a little unorganized and kids and parents were scattered everywhere, not paying a lick of attention to the announcer trying to get them lined up. This gave mom and Anna enough time to fly into the parking lot, unload and sprint to the starting line. In a whirlwind, we got her number pinned on her and into the correct corral before the gun went off.


Of course, Anna was wearing her bunny slippers again…because bunnies are fast.


I’m not sure if she had a clue what the hell was going on, but Anna started “racing” - pushing her wheels as fast and hard as she could. She’s very shy, but the crowd support and cheering was fantastic and she loved every minute of it. She kept looking around at the crowd and the other kids and smiling as she pushed and pushed. The course was slightly uphill, to her disadvantage, but she finished victoriously and lined up to get her medal and goodie bag.



Anna proudly wore that medal and showed it off to everyone that stopped to talk to her about it. She told everyone that she won because she was so fast and her prize was getting to go to the zoo. Congratulations Anna!! I know that finishing my marathon tomorrow will be an amazing experience, I can only hope that it's going to be nearly as wonderful as running with you. I can’t wait until our next race!!

Week # 20 - Taper Madness

First of all, tapering sucks. I’m seriously going out of my mind!! I’ve heard other runners say that the toughest part of marathon training isn't the first few weeks out the door. Or the slow grinding buildup of mileage. Or the dedication and commitment it takes to train 4-6 days a week. Or even the last sweat-soaked long run of 22 miles. It's the three weeks before the race…the dreaded TAPER.

Let me back up and explain this tapering phenomenon to those of you who don’t run, or haven’t trained for a marathon. Tapering means a decrease in running during the last few weeks of marathon training. You run less and rest more. Tapering allows your muscles to repair the micro-damage of intervals, your energy systems to store up glycogen, your body to overcome the chronic dehydration of hard training, and that last bit of tendonitis in your knee or ankle or hip to finally go away. All in all, tapering enables your body to recover from all the stress from the previous months of training and be in prime condition for competition.

All this rest sounds well and good, right? No. Tapering is a period of great anxiety for many runners. Over the course of training for a marathon, runners develop not only a physical but also a psychological dependency on running. They become accustomed to running a lot of miles every week and constantly feeling the rush of endorphin driven highs and the persistent fatigue and soreness of effort. So when runners take time off, they go through withdrawal, not unlike the addict going cold turkey. Needless to say, this is the time where most marathoners go a bit crazy! The runner will be irritable, anxious, nervous, overly emotional, short-tempered, restless, tired, cranky, and depressed. Sounds like a great couple weeks doesn’t it?

At first, it’s not too bad. It’s really like most "easy weeks" following a twenty mile run. Recovery is critical and the mileage is not dropping by a large amount. You’re ok with resting because you know you need it after your final long run. But then your nerves begin to fray and doubt starts setting in. It’s about this time when every small ache and pain is confused for a broken leg or torn ligament or some other severely traumatic injury. Every twinge becomes a reason to think about postponing the marathon or a reason why it can’t be run. Every sneeze, sniffle, cough or pimple becomes a life-threatening virus or infection. Tight hamstrings, inflamed ITB, tweaked Achilles, plantar fascitis, black toenails, blisters, chafing, etc. can each inspire its own panic attack.

Next comes the depression. You start to really miss running. There are no more double-digit runs before the marathon. The longest run for the next two weeks will be just 6 miles. That’s it! The body is starting to recover and therefore has more energy than needed. You become restless and have more energy than you thought possible. But no "extra" running is allowed – so it’s torture! It’s as if you can feel the fitness draining out of your body. You feel fat and lazy and slow!! This restlessness often becomes frustration and perhaps a very short-temper. Please understand that this frustration will be projected at anyone and everyone within reach. It’s nothing personal; it’s the lack of mileage talking.

With only a week left, the self-doubt and worry kick in. Here are just a few things that run through my head every few minutes: "I’ll never make it. My foot hurts. Why did I sign up for this? My nose is running. My ankles hurt. I’m not ready. My leg hurts. My last run sucked. My knee hurts. I’ll die out there. My calves hurt. I’m getting fat and slow. My toes hurt. I shouldn’t have skipped that 4 mile run back in January. My throat hurts. What if I twist an ankle in my heels? What if I fall down these stairs and break my leg? What if I get in a car wreck? What if I drop something heavy on my foot? My shoes are dead, my shoes are too small, my shoes are too big, my shoes are too white." Ahhhh!!!

Screw March Madness, this is taper madness. Every day this week I've woken up with a new symptom that I'm getting horribly sick. At least 18 times I've had some weird ache or pain or cramp that convinces me that I might not be able to run the marathon this weekend. And then it mysteriously goes away when I stop thinking about it. I’ve had worst-case scenario nightmares nearly every night for the last month. I can't stop coughing for some reason. My head is full of allergy-induced snot. I'm pretty sure I've gained about 35 pounds. I’m an emotional wreck - Monday night I cried for two solid hours about absolutely nothing! And last night I only got 1.5 hours of sleep - I was freaking bouncing off the walls with energy all night.

I’m also finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on anything other than the upcoming race. I have to talk about it with every single person I see, whether I know them or not. I mention it to strangers in the elevator, on the phone, at the grocery store. I send emails to everyone in my address book with constant updates on my training and state of mind. I nearly bored our veterinarian to tears with my worries about the race and the weather this weekend. And then I harass friends that have run a marathon before asking them repeatedly if this behavior is normal.

My nerves are killing me too. Up until now, when people asked if I was nervous, I could honestly say no and believe it. I was confident! But now things have changed. As I look at pictures of the course map and watch the virtual tour online, I realize that it looks REALLY long! I mean really really long! Ack!! I know I have to be confident in my training. I know I can do this. I know I’m ready. I know I’m being crazy. :) Only 4 more days to go!!!

Week # 19

I was really surprised at how quickly my legs recovered after Saturday’s long run of 22 miles. I took an ice bath and a long nap, but I was out dancing in heels Saturday night! Of course, I was sore the next day, but not nearly as bad as I expected. That’s a good sign! And although my legs didn’t hurt, I was definitely tired and worn out. I couldn’t motivate myself to do much of anything over the next few days. I took Sunday off, and tried for an easy 5 miler on Monday on the treadmill. No such luck. After 2.5 miles I gave up. And I just couldn’t get motivated on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sad, I know. But it was taper time. Resting is more important now than running. It didn't take much to convince me that it was ok to skip a couple runs this week to make sure I was "well-rested." :)

The weather on Thursday was beautiful and I was determined to get a run in outside. I sat in my office all morning longing to go home and run. Finally, around 5:30 I bolted for my car and drove as fast as I could to get home and run. Traffic was horrible and it took me nearly an hour to get home, changed and out the door. I wanted to get in 6 miles before it got dark and Ryan started to worry. So I needed to kick it up a notch. After a few days of resting, I was finally ready to run.

There are some days, where the running gods align all the elements to create the "perfect run." This doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it makes up for all the hundreds of long miserable miles of not-so-great runs. These "perfect runs" are what keeps a runner coming back again and again, through the rain, sleet, snow, hail, ice, heat, and humidity. Perfect runs happen when all the conditions are just right: the right weather, the right time of day, the right distance, the right attitude, the right songs on the iPod. For that one run, everything is perfect.

I have had maybe 2 "perfect runs" in my three year running career. They are definitely few and far between. I’ve had lots of "good runs" and plenty of "not-so-great runs," but the "perfect run" is pretty elusive. It usually happens when you least expect it – when you’ve had to force your fat tired ass out the door nearly in tears because you just don’t want to run that day. So you can imagine my surprise when I began running on Thursday night to find that everything felt really good.

I’m not fast. But for some reason, I wanted to run fast. I’m usually pretty happy with consistent 10:30 minute miles. Anything faster is reserved for races. I decided to see how fast I could push myself for a new 5k time. Anything under 30 minutes would be great. Surprise surprise, 5k time was 28 minutes. I felt like I was flying. And I felt great, so I kept going. I turned my 6 mile run into a 10 mile run. At the 5 mile turn around point I noticed it starting to get dark, so I picked up the pace again. I had no idea if or for how long I could keep up this pace. I figured I would crash somewhere around mile 7. But I just kept going. I repeated Rhonda’s mantra – I am fast, I am strong – over and over in my head. By the time I got back to the house, I was convinced…I was FAST…I was STRONG. It was a perfect run!

My mile splits:
1 - 9:30
2 - 9:20
3 - 9:03
4 - 9:10
5 - 9:15
6 - 8:57
7 - 8:51
8 - 8:40
9 - 9:05
10 - 8:57


Weekly recap:

Monday: 2.5 miles
Thursday: 10.5
Saturday: 12.0

Total: 25.0 miles

Week # 18

I started the week off still in West Palm Beach, with a lot of work to do and very little time to run. I didn’t have a chance to take an ice bath on Saturday after my 20 mile long run, so my legs were incredibly sore and achy on Sunday. I tried stretching and walking around as much as possible, but it’s hard to read contracts and agreements on the move. Late Sunday night, I was lying in bed in my hotel room with screaming legs. I’d tried Advil to no avail. It was late, but I decided there was only one way to make myself feel better, so I laced up my shoes and hit the treadmill in the gym. I finished five miles close to 1:00 am. I felt better immediately.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. Work a lot, run a little. I had decided that I wanted to rest up to prepare myself for Saturday’s longest and final long run of training – 22 miles. Yikes! Mentally I knew if I could get beyond the 20 mile mark, I would be ready for the marathon. This would be a really tough run for me. Even though I’ve done 20 twice, I was absolutely ready to stop at the end of both those runs. I didn’t know if I would be able to work up the energy to keep going after that 20 mile point. It would definitely be my biggest challenge yet.

Friday was spent in mental preparation for the run. Ryan and I had a casual dinner with our friends Brooke, John, Megan, Robert and Michelle. I don’t know how John did it, but that was the best damn Boca burger I’ve ever had! Delicious! I went home early to hydrate and get my stuff ready. I laid out my clothes, checked the weather about a dozen times (rainy and cold), charged my iPod and Garmin, packed my Sport Beans and Gatorade, hunted for safety pins, decided on breakfast, and drank about a gallon of water. Ready.

Saturday morning I woke up the first time the alarm went off. That never happens!! I was actually wide awake, but I didn’t want to go! It was cold, dark and rainy outside. I checked the weather (again) and the forecast hadn’t changed – rainy, cloudy, cold the rest of the day. I was kicking myself for not running on Friday with sunny perfect weather. Just my luck. I would’ve given an arm to go back to bed.

I pulled up to Grant’s Trail, our TNT group training meeting place, with about 1 minute to spare. I was worried that they would send the other long distance runners out ahead of time, leaving me to run on my own. Or I was worried that there would be no one there running this distance with me and I’d have to do it by myself. With both my previous 20 milers done alone, I really wanted some company on this run. To my absolute delight, Abby was there. Yay!! Abby’s the girl I ran with a few weeks ago on my 16 miler. She’s energetic, happy, funny, and a great person to talk to over the miles. I couldn’t believe how much we had in common and we had a great time running together before. And as I signed in, I saw that she was doing 22 too. Perfect!!

So we were off. The first few miles I spent telling her all about Ryan’s proposal and our wedding plans. To me that’s the best thing in the world to talk about these days! Then we were joined by Jenny, who agreed to go the full 22 mile distance with us. And then the madness really began. We talked about nearly everything under the sun: boys, weddings, musicals, parties, books, weather, running, J-Lo’s babies, vacations, You Tube, dogs, jobs, kids, wine, friends, real estate, etc. It sprinkled on us a little bit, but luckily we didn't get the rain that was expected. It was overcast and cool, but the weather didn't bother us at all.

At mile 8, Grant’s Trail ends. Our options were to turn around and run back to the trailhead, and then tack on a 3 mile out and back (for a total of 22 miles) or run 6 miles around Kirkwood before getting back on the trail and running back. We opted for the latter. So we took off and made it all the way to Manchester, turned around, went through downtown Kirkwood, stopped at Kaldi’s for a water break and meandered our way back to the trail. It was a nice change in scenery and split up the run for the monotonous landscape of the backs houses and buildings. This also insured us that we would end up at exactly 22 miles at the end of the trail, with no out and back required. We thought this was a better approach because that last out and back would be unbelievably challenging to get through once we were so close to our cars.

We stopped for a water break around mile 17 and found it incredibly painful to start running again once we had stopped for a minute. My legs were feeling really funny, and not in a good way. But we plowed through. It got harder and hard to talk or laugh, but Abby asked us questions about our favorite movies, restaurants, books and TV shows to distract us from the pain. Our next water break was even more painful than the last one. We had previously seen the video clip of the screaming runner that week, so we thought we’d give it a shot. Any time we were feeling the pain, we’d just start screaming! It was hysterical and it worked!

Our coach Rhonda met up with us around mile 21 and ran us in. It was such an amazing feeling to be finished. I can’t even describe how proud of us I am!! I never thought I’d be able to run 22 miles – I’ve come a really long (literally) way to get here. It’s now time to taper and rest up for the big day. I’ve put in the time and miles – I’ve put my heart and soul into this challenge. I’m mentally and physically ready for this marathon!!! Bring it on!!!

Mile splits:
1 10:41
2 10:37
3 11:17
4 10:53
5 11:05
6 11:04
7 11:21
8 11:10
9 11:12
10 11:05
11 11:05
12 11:43
13 11:15
14 11:22
15 11:04
16 11:01
17 11:04
18 11:30
19 11:16
20 12:39
21 11:48
22 11:47

Weekly recap:

Sunday: 5.0 miles
Tuesday: 5.25 miles
Wednesday: 5.0 miles
Saturday: 22.0 miles

Total: 37.3 miles

Here's the video of the "Screaming Runner" - try it, it works!!

Week # 17

My week started out with the news that I would be going to West Palm Beach, Florida for a week on a due diligence trip for work. Exciting!! I was thrilled at the prospect of running outside in the sunshine along the beach. And the trip couldn’t have come at a better time, weather-wise. Although the weekend weather in St. Louis was absolutely beautiful (70 degrees), it turned viciously cold on Monday and then dumped nearly 9 inches on snow on us within a few hours on Tuesday.

All flights in and out of St. Louis were canceled on Tuesday. With my flight Wednesday morning, I was spared the hassle of being canceled and rescheduled, but had to sacrifice precious hours of sleep to get up around 3:30 a.m. to catch the first flight out that morning. The roads on the way to the airport were a nightmare – I saw at least 15 cars that had run off the road and stuck in the ditch or median. The exit ramps were not plowed and dangerously icy. Fortunately, I made it to the airport safely, only to be shocked at the number of people in line for security! I got there at 5:30 am and had to wait in the line for nearly two hours, almost missing my flight! What a disaster.

After a two-hour delay in Tampa (for no apparent reason) I arrived in Palm Beach to the most gorgeous weather I’d seen in months. Palm trees, crisp breeze, and sunshine. All I wanted to do was lace up my sneakers and go for a run. Unfortunately, I had to go straight to work. I spent the next three days in a freezing cold (air conditioned) board room going through boxes and boxes of documents. Believe me, work related travel is not as glamorous as it sounds. However, my client’s CFO is a runner. A four-time marathoner, actually. We got along famously! With my long run coming up on Saturday, he suggested a few places for me to run and gave me directions and pointers.

I woke up early on Saturday to rain and clouds. At 5:30 a.m. I finished my breakfast and decided to just go back to bed for a while, hoping it would clear up. At 7:00 it was still raining. At 8:00 it was still raining. I decided to just get up and go anyway. While training for this marathon, I’ve run in sleet, through snow, over slick ice, in freezing cold temperatures with negative windchills. I could handle a little rain – it was still 65 degrees outside!

So I drove over to Palm Beach, parked the rental car and began my run. Palm Beach is an island; on one side of the island is an inter-coastal waterway and on the other side is the ocean. This picture is from the start of my run, at a little park, looking over the waterway towards West Palm Beach. I began my run along the inside of the island, running north along the Lake Trail, a paved pathway running in between the gorgeous mansions and their boat docks. Right away I knew this was going to be an amazing run – just the change in scenery was enough to distract me mile after mile. I figured that 18 miles in the rain wouldn’t be nearly as miserable as it sounded.

My first trip up the trail was adventurous. Nearly every house was completely hidden by high shrubs and fences. I peeked through as many as possible to try to see what I was missing. These places were amazing! There was one place (maybe an inn) that was completely open and had couches and lounge chairs sprawled out on the lawn. The place was so open and warm. The trail itself was also gorgeous. Lots of knotty palm trees, sprawling banyan trees, freshly mowed green grass and flowers everywhere. I ran "next to" an enormous beautiful sailboat cruising up the waterway. I was in heaven. I think I even saw Vanna White!! Seriously! At least I'm pretty sure it was her. Looking beautiful in jeans and a ball cap. She smiled as I did a double take. And then, to top it off, about 2 miles into my run – the rain stopped and the sun came out!!!

The trail went up the island for about 3.5 miles, where it ended around a yacht club. I then took to the streets, winding my way back and forth. I found Angler Avenue, which is where Ryan would insist we live, if we could afford a house on Palm Beach. I reached the top of the island and found a drinking fountain with very cold and tasty water. This place is not bad! I wound my way back down on the other side, trying to run along the outermost roads and taking in the scenery. I was eyeing a gorgeous two story yellow terra cotta home when I rounded a corner and saw the ocean! WOW!!! Bright white sand beaches and crystal clear blue water. I was in love. I almost started crying. I took my headphones off and ran quietly, listening to the sound of the waves. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it – I ran right into the middle of traffic...twice!

On my second loop I refueled with some Gatorade and grabbed the camera from my rental car. It was a little difficult carrying a camera, a water bottle and my Sport Beans for the rest of the run, but I had to get some pictures – in case I saw Vanna again. Stopping every few minutes to take a picture probably slowed me down a little, but the run felt great! I couldn’t believe how light and fast I felt without 27 layers of clothing on. I had to slow myself down multiple times because I was going too fast for a long run. At 18 miles I was still feeling pretty good, so I decided to tack on two more and call it 20. Why not? Might as well take advantage of the weather while I have it. :) Total time: 3:40:15.

My splits:
1 10:10
2 10:06
3 10:48
4 10:05
5 11:13
6 9:52
7 10:31
8 11:25
9 10:34
10 10:33
11 10:35
12 11:48
13 11:00
14 11:47
15 11:20
16 12:33
17 11:18
18 11:02
19 12:23
20 11:35

Weekly recap:

Monday: 3.0 miles
Tuesday: 7.0
Friday: 4.25
Saturday: 20.5

Total: 34.8 miles

Maybe Vanna lives in one of these houses...

Week # 16

Note: Sorry this post is so late. It’s been a busy week for me, which I will tell you all about in my next post.

I started my week off pretty sore from my 20 mile long run on Sunday. My friend Julie is also training for the go! St. Louis race in April, but she’ll be running the Half Marathon. She mentioned the previous week that she wanted some extra motivation for her long runs and help with pacing, so we decided to run together on Sunday. Coming off a 20 miler, I didn’t know if I’d be up for doing the whole 8 miles she had to do, but I thought I could see how I felt after a few miles. If I felt good, I’d stretch one loop around the park into 8 miles. If I didn’t feel good, it would be a direct route closer to 5.5, perhaps with a lot of walking. This is a picture of me and Julie from my birthday party.

Turns out it felt pretty good! We kept a pretty slow pace to avoid slipping and sliding around on the ice. The word of the day was "SLUSH" – it was everywhere. We finished around 1:31 – slow and steady. It was great running with a friend, especially after my lonely 20 the day before (see last week’s post for that story).

Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday were all spent on the treadmill. Work had been keeping me late and I just couldn’t get outside. Not that I wanted to with the nasty cold weather we had. Friday I had planned on running after work, before my dinner date with Ryan, but he was adamant about me getting up early to run before work. I figured I’d have plenty of time to run before dinner, but he insisted…little did I know what he was planning for me after work!! :)

If you read the post below, you know that Friday night was spent celebrating! We had so much fun and so much champagne. Luckily it was a step back week, where I was only supposed to run 10 miles. I knew I couldn’t do the run in the morning b/c I had to go to a bridal shower for our friend Paige, so I made plans to run that afternoon with Julie again.

The weather had taken a fantastic turn and it was 70 degrees and sunny for our run. She met me at my house and we took off for Grant’s Trail. I love Grant’s Trail because it’s incredibly flat, which makes for easy miles. A few miles in, you also pass Grant’s Farm, established by Ulysses S. Grant and is a 281-acre ancestral home of the Busch family. The Farm is home to more than 1,000 animals representing more than 100 different species from six continents and includes the famous Anheuser-Busch Clydesdales. I love running by the Clydesdales because they’re very curious and always come up to the fence to be touched. Julie and I even got to see two baby Clydesdales. We made it back to the house with a time of 1:39.

Julie - it's so much fun running with you, we're going to have to keep this up!

Weekly recap:
Sunday: 8.0 miles
Tuesday: 6.0
Wednesday: 8.0
Friday: 4.25
Saturday: 9.0

Total: 35.3 miles

I said "YES"!!!!

What is Leap Day?
Friday, February 29, 2008 was Leap Day. Because it takes the Earth 365 days, five hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds to travel around the sun, an extra day was added to the calendar every fourth year. It was the Romans who first designated Feb. 29 as Leap Day. In the 16th century, a more precise formula was adopted when the Gregorian calendar fine-tuned the calculations to include a leap day in years only divisible by four. Years which are evenly divisible by 100 are not leap years, unless they are also evenly divisible by 400, in which case they are leap years. However you look at it, Leap Day is a little gift, a special extra day in our lives which only happens every four years.

An Exceptional Leap of Faith

My Leap Day started out like any other day. Run in the morning, work, meeting over lunch, afternoon conference call, etc. Ryan and I had talked about going out for dinner that evening, but we both decided to get as much work done that day as we could to help with hours, since we have a few trips planned. He sent me an email around 5:00 saying that he was ready to go home and told me to hurry up and finish my work and meet him there. I told him to just go home without me and I’d be there as soon as I could. I got a few more calls and emails and was starting to get a little ticked off that he just wouldn’t go home without me. What was the damn hurry?!

I left the office a little before 6:00. Traffic was bad, as usual. I stopped by Walgreen’s and got a bridal shower card and some wrapping paper. I took my time and thought about when and where I was going to do my long run the next day. As I pulled into the garage I noticed the floor covered with something…”What did he spill?” was the first thing I thought of. When I got out of the car I noticed they were rose petals. There was note on the door with my name on it, telling me to go inside and follow the notes.

Inside, the entire place was covered with rose petals. Thousands and thousands of them. They were all over the floors, the countertops, everywhere. And there were hundreds of tealight candles lit. There was music playing and pictures of us flashing on the laptop. I started crying immediately. Ryan was nowhere to be found. There was a bottle of Veuve champagne on the countertop and another little note. I made my way down the hall to find another note and a fishing pole next to the laundry shoot. The note told me to go “fishing” and see what I caught.

I cast my line down the laundry shoot and reeled in a card. “Do you love me? If yes, cast again.” I got another card. “Do you want to spend the rest of your life with me? If yes, cast again.” I was smiling and crying and laughing. I couldn’t believe this was really happening. This time I got a card and a little blue box with a pink bow on it. “Will you marry me? If yes, turn around.”

I turned around and Ryan was standing there. We walked into the living room where he asked me if I would marry him and I said yes. I jumped up and hugged him so hard I thought I’d strangle him. “Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!” We were both crying and laughing. He finally pulled me away and asked, “Does it fit? Do you like it?” I started laughing because I hadn’t even opened the box!! But when I did…WOW!! I love it!! It’s perfect!!

We poured ourselves some champagne and I finally said, “Oh my God, we’re getting married!!!” 

We both spent the next 45 minutes on the phone calling our families and closest friends, giving each other hugs and kisses in between calls. Finally he told me to go get ready; a limo would be picking us up at 8:00 to take us to our favorite celebration restaurant. We had a romantic corner table in the back and a fantastic bottle of champagne waiting for us there (thank you J&B).

I couldn't believe it was actually happening. Four years into our relationship, on a day that only comes once in every four years. It was perfect.

At dinner he told me all about his secret proposal plan: how he got the idea, how many roses it took, how he made the music mix and the picture montage, how long he’d been planning, and how he pulled it off. Turns out he wasn’t at work waiting for me to leave, after all!! I was so surprised, which was exactly what he wanted. I couldn’t believe he went to so much trouble. And he couldn’t believe I stopped at Walgreen’s on the way home!! 

Dinner was fabulous (as always). Afterwards, a few close friends met us at the bar to toast our engagement and celebrate with us. More champagne, hugs, dancing, laughing and toasting. It was such an amazing night!!! 

Ryan, I love you more than you’ll ever know. I have been blessed beyond belief!! My cup runneth over.

(…and yes, I’m crying even as I type this out)