Oh Christmas Tree....

Hot Mess

 Yesterday I was scheduled to complete an 18 mile long run.  I was actually feeling somewhat confident about this, despite the typical response of "you're crazy" every time I announced my intentions. Two weeks ago, I finished 16 miles and felt wonderful!  Without even needing to refill my water bottles (worn dutifully on my super sexy bat-belt), I practically breezed through my 16 miles.  The day was cool, the rails-to-trails path was shady and flat, and I finished the second 8 miles faster than the first!


So after my usual ritual of stalling--charging all my gadgets, eating, drinking, peeing, liberally applying Body Glide and baby powder, peeing again, tweeting about running--I was confident that I could conquer another 2 tiny miles on top of my previous success.  So what if it was 20 degrees hotter and I had no idea what this new trail was like?  I mean, it's called Riverfront Trail.  How bad could it be?

So long, suckers!

The St. Louis Gateway Arch is about 3 miles from my apartment.  This makes for a great 6 mile loop that I've enjoyed many times.  I had heard that if you follow the Mississippi River just a bit north, there is a bike trail that runs along it.  Cool!  Got to see this great statue of Lewis, Clark, and their dog Seaman.  These guys were amazingly smart.  They got the hell out of  St. Louis to get to Oregon before Oregon even existed.

Looks welcoming, doesn't it?

As promised, a quick run north took me to the start of the Riverfront Trail.  The neighborhood it was next to would have prompted me to roll up my windows if I were driving, but there was a guy just starting to ride his bike when I got there, so at least I wasn't alone.  There was a sculpture park around the first bend, and I was hopeful that there would be more artwork along the trail to break up my run along the river.


Uh-huh.

Don't think of scary movies, don't think of scary movies...

That was my view for pretty much the entire flipping run.  Industrial yards, shuffling rocks, salt, dirt, and I do believe just plain dust from warehouse to boat, or from train to truck.  I have no idea what was floating around in the air I was breathing, but it was unpleasant, to say the least. I guess maybe I should have seen that coming.  I looked up a map of the trail, and it runs directly between the train tracks and the river.  But the unending scrap metal yards and industry weren't the least scenic of my run...

St Louis's tent city

Oh.  Hi there.  This attraction wasn't mentioned on the Parks Department's webpage.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that poverty exists.  I am aware that sometimes the homeless are really and truly homeless, and don't take advantage of shelters. And I do take precautions when I run...I always let Rob know my route and check in along my run. I only have one headphone in and turn the music down so I can hear what's going on around me.  I just wish I would have been aware that this was on the trail so I could have decided beforehand if that was OK.  If this trail had any redeeming qualities otherwise, it might not bother me.  But it really didn't, and so I won't be returning.


Other fun stuff I saw...
When confused about a detour, I stopped for a minute to collect my thoughts so that I didn't get lost in North St Louis.  There was a man standing next to his van (parked on the trail where cars aren't allowed) holding a cat.  He told me how to get back around to the trail, but as I ran off I got the sense that I had interrupted him from launching that cat into the river.
A little closer to my turn around point, I saw the back of a man's head in the woods.  Looked like he was just sitting down, but I kept my eyes on him anyway.  Then a woman's face came around and it was apparent she was sitting on his lap.  Yeesh, I'm spoiling everyone's fun down by the river today!


I hit the 9 mile mark and headed for home, much slower than I would have liked.  All the water fountains served up water so hot I could have made tea.  What little water and Gatorade I had left was too warm to be any relief.  I started taking walk breaks around mile 12 or so, and finally made it back to the Arch, which meant I still had 3 miles to go before I got home.  The lovely woman at the food cart was kind enough to give me ice water after she ascertained that I was a runner and not just a bum.  And then I had to do this:

Oh no...

Yeah.  I had to climb these steps back up to the Arch.  That was pretty much my breaking point.  I sat down in the shade with my ice water and had a little heatstroke breakdown.  I was dry heaving, shaking, and not really seeing to clearly.  I checked in with Rob to let him know where I was and that I was taking a little break until I felt better.  Luckily, he had some time open in his schedule and came and rescued me.  I really don't know if I could have even walked those last 3 miles!

I've signed up to raise money for the American Cancer Society while I'm training. $1250 seems so much easier to me than the hundreds of training miles I'm putting in. But even though there are people encouraging me to run, in the end it's up to ME to lace up and dig deep. For the fundraising, I have to encourage YOU! So please, I'll endure the heat and rain and blisters and pain. It won't hurt that much to open your wallets, I promise!

Perspective

I was going to complain about how hot it is, then I realized that: 1.) It isn't 115 degrees; 2.) I'm not 5,700 miles from home; 3.) I'm not dressed in a full BDU uniform a metal helmet and carrying 70+ lbs.; and 4.) There is very little chance that anyone will shoot at me or that I might drive over a bomb in the road today! Thanks to all who serve.


Maybe some of you saw this floating around as a Facebook status this week.  It was one of the ones people encouraged you to "repost if you want to show how thankful you are".  My default is to never repost a status, as that reminds me too much of the aunt who send you the FWD:FWD:FWD:FWD: email about how we are going to knock the moon out of orbit by sending a rocket up to it.  But this one actually made me think for a minute, since virtually all I've done this week (and the few weeks before this one, frankly) is complain about this miserable midwest weather.  Triple digits nearly every day.  100% humidity. No wind.  I continually use the term "ants under a magnifying glass".  I lament that I ever had to leave the cool, blissfully overcast Pacific Northwest.


And if it's not bad enough to merely exist in this heat, I'm training for an ever-loving marathon in it!  I realize, of course, that they have contraptions that allow you to run indoors, away from the kiln-like heat.  My father and I call them "dreadmills".  The thought of being on one for more than about 5 miles makes me a bit twitchy, though I will do it if it is stormy out.  On Monday I ran nearly 6 miles in the crazy heat before giving up and finishing the remaining 4 miles in the luxury that is my apartment's gym.


But this status really resonated with me.  And so for my 5 mile tempo run on Friday, I committed to completing the whole thing outside.  (For me, this means 1 mile warmup, 3 miles at 9:27 minutes/mile, 1 mile cool down)  And while I ran, I thought about what it would be like to be thousands of miles away from my family and the comforts of home.  Running in boots instead of Nikes, with no icy water and warm shower to reward my finish. And every time I started to slow down, I remembered that I did not have an extra 70 pounds strapped to me.  And it truly did put my run and the heat into perspective! 

So thank you, to those who serve and have served, for all you do!

I've signed up to raise money for the American Cancer Society while I'm training. $1250 seems so much easier to me than the hundreds of training miles I'm putting in. But even though there are people encouraging me to run, in the end it's up to ME to lace up and dig deep. For the fundraising, I have to encourage YOU! So please, I'll endure the heat and rain and blisters and pain. It won't hurt that much to open your wallets, I promise!

Why Am I Doing This?

So many people ask me why I'm running a marathon at all. It's sometimes tough to answer, especially when I'm asking MYSELF in the middle of a 10 mile long run in 100 degree heat!

I have already completed one marathon, so it's not as though I'm looking to cross it off my bucket list. Crossing that finish line was such an amazing feeling of accomplishment, relief, elation...a flood of so many emotions. It truly ranks second only to giving birth in the memorable moments of my life.
Since I am all set on the procreation end of my life, I'm doing it all over again. 16 weeks of training. Ugly, blistered feet during sandal season. Ice on my knees. Sunscreen in my eyes. Tears-sometimes from sunscreen-sometimes from pain-sometimes from the crazy emotions running for hours will pull out of you. Chafing. Giving up hours of my week to expose myself to whatever mother nature is throwing at me, just so I can be fit enough to run in a giant damn circle around St Louis.

But those little bits of encouragement along the way are wonderful. Staff at Fleet Feet giving high fives when I tell them what I'm training for. All the 'likes' and comments on my Facebook status when I post a run. A cool bath to soak my legs in when I get home. The look of awe on my 11 year old stepdaughter's face when I tell her how far I went. Knowing waves and simple nods from other runners.

But that finish is what I'm craving. Pounding my feet for 26.2 miles so I can hold my arms up across that finish line and say that I made it!

This time there's even more to it. I've signed up to raise money for the American Cancer Society while I'm training. $1250 seems so much easier to me than the hundreds of training miles I'm putting in. But even though there are people encouraging me to run, in the end it's up to ME to lace up and dig deep. For the fundraising, I have to encou

rage YOU! So please, I'll endure the heat and rain and blisters and pain. It won't hurt that much to open your wallets, I promise!