Day 4,374—Making it through the Greater St. Louis Marathon—

 

        I went to bed early last night. I hadn’t eaten a lot, and I wasn’t feeling amazing. I decided to get up at 4, so I would have plenty of time to get ready and drink more water with the Right Stuff hydration concentrate. I had so much of it yesterday, and I wanted to start my morning with it. I drank coffee and ate toast with chocolate peanut butter as I found where I wanted to park on my computer.

        Despite how much water I had, my throat was sore, and I got tired from stretching. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I remembered that last year at this time, I ran 200 miles, so if I could do that, I could do this marathon in less-than-ideal physical conditions. My only goal early on was to feel it out. I got there 55 minutes early, so I found a place to sit down and talked to some of the other runners. It is always good to meet people at the beginning of their running journey. Nicky Galzier, the comedian, made some comments at the start. I usually like her, but everything she said was a roast of runners and st. louis!? Yikes! Read the room! This is supposed to be inspirational?

        It was pretty to see the sunrise between the arch while I waited in my coral. The race started about 30 seconds late, but what’s the rush? We were off, and I was about to complete my 15th consecutive St. Louis Marathon. I started out focused on staying under 7:30-minute miles, and I did that for a long time, but I steadily slowed down after mile 18. 

I liked the bridge. There were plenty of water stations. It was consistent every two miles. It started out cold and got warm, but it was never hot. I can’t remember the last time this race was on such a perfect day. I didn’t like that section that went into Forest Park and then turned around. At least it wasn’t a section of the park that I had done a lot, but it was boring and hilly. I kept thinking, “This has to be the last hill.”

        For the first time in years, I stopped to use the facilities, which slowed me down a bit, but I was still running my race, and I was slowing down because that is what my body was telling me to do. It would have been nice to be a little faster, but I still finished feeling fine, with no problem walking the mile to my car. And I got some shout-outs. More than once, I heard someone cheer me on by name. The support felt great. I got another shoutout when I was right at the finish. It was a good reminder that this is my hometown marathon, and that every year is somewhat different, but running this race each year connects me with the past in a way I like. It is similar to a holiday or birthday. The St. Louis Marathon is a time to reflect! 

Congratulations to everyone who raced today! I talked to a first-time marathon runner this morning, Henry. I hope you had a good race, Henry, and all the other first timers, and everyone else, too. The people who come out to cheer you on are amazing in this city. There was a lady just handing out water bottles, doing her part to help. I met complete strangers who cheered me on so enthusiastically that I couldn’t help but run a little faster. This isn’t my best time, but it was a success. I didn’t get sick or blow up at any point, and I had plenty of energy for the walk home. It is strange, but even though it takes longer to park a mile away and walk, I liked doing it that way.