Lewis & Clark Half Marathon

I used this race as a training run (I was supposed to run 14 today). We ran in the remnants of Hurricane Ike. Rain beats heat any day. Well, all was going well until we learned that the officials were making all racers stop at 10 miles. Apparently, part of the course was flooded out. Unofficially I crossed the line in 1:24. I feel good about my time, just wish I could have finished it out. Now, I have 4 more miles to run tonight. I guess I should count my blessings knowing that a lot of people lost their lives and homes due to this storm.

Steve

Steve-That's horrible that you couldn't do your whole run! You get all psyched and prepare for it, and then the weather chimes in. The Rochester (NY) Marathon closed the course at 20 miles for most runners today due to the heat. We KNOW this won't happen to the Chicago Marathon after last year....it just won't! But, whatever happens, you make the most of it and know you did what you could.

Hi Steve,

Sorry you didn't get to finish your half today! My sister-in-law was supposed to run in the Lewis & Clark today, too, but went back to bed after waking up and seeing the weather forecast.

I live about 2 hours East of St. Louis and was able to finish my 18-miler, albeit in the remnants of Hurricane Ike, early this morning. Thankfully we didn't get as much rain and wind as you did in St. Louis! Still, you should have seen the faces on people driving past us - they know we're nuts to run in this kind of weather, but you never know what you're going to get on race day so it's good to train in all conditions.

(For more ramblings about my run this AM, you can check out my blog at http://www.realbuzz.com/?pageID=1997&blog=9165 [realbuzz.com] ; it's called "Marathon for Mom.")

My total time for our 18-miler was 3 hours, 3 minutes (including a couple of water stops and a bathroom break) - averaging around a 10 min/mile pace. Our total running time was 2 hours, 47 minutes. I was sooooo happy to get this one under my belt!

:) Good luck with your training!
Tammy

fall4daisies
Hi Steve,

Sorry you didn't get to finish your half today! My sister-in-law was supposed to run in the Lewis & Clark today, too, but went back to bed after waking up and seeing the weather forecast.

I live about 2 hours East of St. Louis and was able to finish my 18-miler, albeit in the remnants of Hurricane Ike, early this morning. Thankfully we didn't get as much rain and wind as you did in St. Louis! Still, you should have seen the faces on people driving past us - they know we're nuts to run in this kind of weather, but you never know what you're going to get on race day so it's good to train in all conditions.

(For more ramblings about my run this AM, you can check out my blog at http://www.realbuzz.com/?pageID=1997&blog=9165 [realbuzz.com] ; it's called "Marathon for Mom.")

My total time for our 18-miler was 3 hours, 3 minutes (including a couple of water stops and a bathroom break) - averaging around a 10 min/mile pace. Our total running time was 2 hours, 47 minutes. I was sooooo happy to get this one under my belt!

:) Good luck with your training!
Tammy

Hiya, Steve! I also have one more 20-miler which I'll be doing bright and early in the morning (5 bells!) I'm just praying my knee holds out on this one because it was quite sore after my 18 miler last weekend.

Gotta go finish preparing our spaghetti dinner!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck on your 20-miler, Steve!

I, too, experienced some soreness in my knee after my 20 miler. Ice and advil seems to definitely help (both immediately after and about twice a day for a few days following!).

Good luck to you guys, I'm just under 5 weeks out from marine Corps, hoping to do my last big run (18 miles?) this Saturday. Hope your last few days/weeks stay injury-free!!

Betsy Parker-Marine Corps team

20 miler done (3:08:00). I sure hope the taper works - I am concerned that I will be crawling the last 6 miles.

Edited Mon Sep 22nd 2008 7:15 pm by surge2

Hey Steve-
Congrats on such a great 20 miler! I know it seems like 20 just isn't long enough, but it is! You can read a million studies on what the longest run should be for the marathon and almost all of them say 20 is all you need. Beyond that, you are just pushing too hard. If you have done all of your training according to a good plan, then your body is ready for 26. No one says the last 6 will be easy on race day but your body can do it. Beyond 20 in training really just breaks you down and risks injury. You need to have confidence that you can do it. Don't let any doubt creep in at this point! It's freaky to taper, but your body will start to feel strong again. You won't be so broken down on race day. Enjoy having the hardest part of the training behind you!

Congrats Steve on the 20 miler! And you posted an AWESOME time too, you shouldn't have ANY problems with the final 6! Great job!! I too have a few doubts about the whole "taper" process, but I trust the many folks that have done this successfully and I will follow their wisdom!

Good luck and enjoy these final weeks!!!

betsy P-
MMRF Marine Corps Team

Thanks Jane and Betsy for the words of encouragement. I welcome and plan to enjoy the lower mileage the next couple of weeks.

Betsy - good luck to you on the 23rd!

Great 20 miler, Steve! Your time of 3hrs 3 minutes was awesome -- that was my time on my 18-miler (including breaks...2hrs 43 min running time)....on my 20-miler my total time was 3hr 34 min and included a few "cornfield stops" (stomach problems!!!) and drink breaks with the girls. I took 2 advil around mile 5...I felt my knee toward the end, but it seemed to help when I made an effort to RELAX...seems I hold a lot of tension in my hips and legs! I felt great after my 20-miler, even better than I felt after my 18-miler!

How's your knee doing? We're on the home stretch now!!!

Great last long run Tammy. I wish I had friends that would do my long runs with me. Some will run but not 20 miles. I found that my knee would start hurting when my legs got tired. When I concentrated on landing my foot properly, the pain would go away. So far so good. Hope the taper is good to your knee.