Josh, Dad, Matt and Ben in St. Louis - just arrived after driving 1,000 miles.
Josh has three high school basketball games in four days, so instead of coming for Christmas I waited a week and it's great to all be together as always. Am working out Tuesday with Matt and his girlfriend Amanda. Next race is Jan. 25 Manhattan Half-Marathon.
hello there..I found your blog when searching for info on the St Louis marathon...I am thinking of doing my first half there in April...from your race report it sounds like you had a good time, congrats on the finish...I am not sure I am ready for a full yet, as I just started running maybe 5 months ago....
ReplyDeleteCan you tell me if people were allowed to wear headphones/ipods during the race? I saw on the race details that they weren't allowed, but you mentioned that you used yours...also, what is the best hotel to stay in that's close to the start? Thanks. Keep running
Hey, nice to meet you. It is a great marathon. The biggest challenge is the back 10 miles, as the hills start in Clayton and then Delmar is a long and steady incline...that's when I had to start walking and make a med-tent stop for dizziness. You would want to make sure you've got some decent hill training in, and I recommend hill repeats mixed in. I also recommend using their pace coaches. Five months sounds perhaps early for your first full, but everyone is different. Avoiding overuse injuries in the first year is important, so be sure to train smart as well as hard. Proper footwear is the most important thing, I have found. They have a Half in that event, maybe start with that and then do a full this summer. San Francisco Marathon in July would be an amazing debut.
ReplyDeleteAs for ipods, officially they are not allowed but you see them everywhere. Once in a while you will hear about a marathon where an idiotic organizer disqualifies people found using them. It is very rare. The NYC Marathon has the best outlook: They aren't banned, but you're crazy for listening to them when 2 million spectators and 100 bands are there for you the whole way. Your own call on that one, I would maybe just put the Nike Sportband on under your race shirt sleeve and the earbuds come out the neck of your shirt so it's not obvious. Good to have when you need the OCCASIONAL pump-up like I did.
Good luck and say hi anytime.