Day 3269 —Thank you Baby!—

I completed my second marathon at the Go St. Louis event in 2010, and have since finished the full marathon each year at the Go, except for 2011 when I ran the half marathon instead. Out of the 12 marathons I have participated in, I have only finished faster three times: in 2015 (3:17:58), 2016 (3:15:22), and 2020 (3:17:25). This year, I did the race completely on my own because my wife was 39 weeks pregnant and it didn't make sense for her to drop me off and pick me up. Instead, I parked off Skinker, about a mile from the start, which wasn't bad at first. However, the mile afterwards was miserable, and the bus ride back to Forest Park was not ideal.

    During the race, I started out too fast, as I have done in my faster marathons before. The race felt easy thanks to the favorable weather conditions, with little wind. However, the wind picked up on the way back by the river and started blowing against us. This caused me to slow down a bit, but I was still pacing to finish around 3:15. However, the smell of the river overwhelmed me, and I had to run a 10-minute mile to recover. Although I didn't achieve my desired time, I am still satisfied with my performance and plan to set a personal record in the future.

    I was not sure if I would be able to participate in the race at all, as I thought my wife might deliver or be in labor. However, I lucked out and the baby held off, which allowed me to run in the race. I like to think that the baby made a conscious decision to let me participate, so thank you, baby!