Marathon Relay

April 12:  After my 5K in October I wanted to train to do a bigger race.  I was intimidated by jumping into training for a half marathon so when my friend Liz suggested a marathon relay (approximately 10K per person) I thought that sounded very doable!  Liz and Sarah are the girlfriends I ran my first 5K with.  We needed one more runner so I asked my sister to join us since the race was in St. Louis.  The race we signed up for was called the Go! Marathon Relay.  It is run in combination with half marathon runners and full marathon runners.  Relay teams share a belt with a timing chip and pass this off at check points along the way.  None of us girls were in this race to compete but rather to have fun and to finish!  I offered to take the longest leg (7 1/2 miles).  I followed the couch to 10 K training program which was quite a commitment.  Instead of 2 shorter/1 longer run per week it has you run the same distance each time just adding more running/less walking as you progress.  This meant that I was committed to hour+ running work outs 3x per week.  For me it was hard to get this in before the kids school time.  I also started my training in February which meant brutally cold temps and snow covered running paths.  I had to do a lot of training inside so I choose the track (instead of the treadmill).  Running at the Y was a great fit for me because of the built in childcare.  As soon as the snow melted, I began running on the outdoor track at the Y.  I also enjoyed weekend runs outside--in my opinion the cold is much more bearable if there is some sunshine to go with it!  As the race grew closer I added some longer weekly runs--6.5, 7, 7.5.  I went into this race feeling very prepared and excited.  

Liz, Sarah, and I spent the night together and drove town early.  (My sister was running the last leg so she hooked up with us a bit later).  Liz ran the first leg so she could get us all around to the various check points.  Sarah ran second, I went third, and Jessica finished us.  My part was very hilly but I had lots of fun things to look at.  My favorite section went right by the Muny theater.  It was a cold day but the sun came out making it enjoyable.  We all waited for Jessica 1/4 mile from the finish and ran the last little bit together.  One of my favorite parts of this day was waiting for Jessica and getting to watch all the marathon runners finish their races.  Seeing the grit and determination on their faces was so amazing and inspiring--willing their bodies to not stop.  We even got to watch a woman finish her 100th marathon--100!!!  That is absolutely crazy-impressive.  She had an entire entourage in matching shirts running with her holding up signs.  She even got to wear number 100 as her bib number!  It was such a great feeling to see Tim & Marc with the kids waving to us as we neared the finish and such an amazing feeling to cross that finish line.  It was a fun day and a great challenge met.   

I LOVE my little support crew! 

This won't be last race!