Our Tuesdays on the Run topic this week is a Fall Goals Checkup. Did you set some? How’s your progress toward achieving them? Off the top of my head I could not even think of what goals I may have set. I took a guess and said this was the year of new running adventures: New races, new states, new countries. If that was in fact my goal. I’d give myself an A. Alas looking back through the blog, I found a goals post here. Whaddya know? A year of being adventurous was not on it. Ha! Oh well, goals were made to be changed. No? Well in my case they are, apparently. So without any further hemming and hawing I’m going to tell you about my latest running adventure: The pursuit of the Midwest Quest.
This weekend found me road tripping with the teenager down to Missouri (a new running state for me) for the Rockn Roll St. Louis Remix. I’d run the 5k on Saturday followed by the half marathon on Sunday. Since I’d also run RocknRoll Chicago last July, St. Louis would complete the requirements to complete the Midwest Quest.
The drive down was smooth and uneventful save for a traffic jam just south of Springfield IL when a truck carrying…the teenagers swears it was poop, I think it was animal organs/scraps/grossness intended for pet food manufacture…lost its load all over the left lane. Words cannot describe how disgusting this was to see let alone smell. Thank heavens we did not have to drive over it.
We made it to the Lou Friday afternoon and beelined to the expo which was right across the street from our hotel. Yay! The expo was good except, to my horror and disappointment, there was no RnRSTL pint glass for my collection. Instead they had a generic RocknRoll 13.1 one. No buneo.
5k
Saturday morning it was time to bust out the 5k.
Goal: Run easy breezy in order to save myself for the agony of the next day’s half marathon.
I was thrilled the start/finish line was maybe a 10 minute walk from our hotel. I got there just in time for the Runsocial meetup and finally, after many attempts over the years, met Katie. Yay!
Weather was relatively good, low-mid 60’s and overcast. It could be far worse. I kind of wished it were half marathon day as more heat was in the forecast on Sunday.
I reported to the back of Corral 1 (seriously, they’re so good to put this old bag in corral 1) and we were off, soon up an incline. A long one. I struggled with finding a “happy” pace. Everything felt hard on this incline. I never looked at my watch because I didn’t care. I ran by feel. Approaching the turnaround, my olfactory senses were treated to the aroma of Pappy’s Smokehouse, getting started for the day. Oh my.
After some climbing in the first mile, I enjoyed a brief, gentle downhill. Since the first couple of miles were an out and back, I could see that mile 2 was basically all uphill. Ugh. Not sure how I did it, but I ran up the whole thing. The last mile had some glorious downhill before we turned the corner to the homestretch: a climb toward the finish line with the arch in the distance, which was amazing. Before I knew it, I was done.
Despite running slow, this didn’t feel as easy breezy as I’d hoped. Clearly incline is not my bag.
29:07 finish time
12/93 AG
137/1073 females
Post race snacks consisted of a variety of pretzels, bananas and electrolyte water, which I missed somehow. The medal is a beauty. They had me at purple. The shirt is a great women’s cut one from Brooks. Well done.
We spent the rest of the day refueling and sightseeing. If you haven’t gone to the top of the Gateway Arch, I recommend it. Yes for the spectacular view of the city as well as the Mississippi River but also for the way you are transported up there. It’s an engineering marvel. Really.
No running junket would be complete without a hunt for the perfect donut. We found them downtown at Pharaoh’s Donuts. O. M. G. So good! While we’re talking about post-run treats, you also need to have a gelato pop from Porano Pasta. I had a salted caramel one and it was so tasty I didn’t even get a pic.
Next up: RocknRoll St. Louis Half Marathon. Have you run a RocknRoll race? Been to St. Louis? Fave donuts?
I’m linking up with Tricia and Holly for the Weekly Wrap…
…and with Ilka and Angela for the Fitness and Food Linkup. Join us!
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RnR always puts on a great race! I wouldn’t appreciate that uphill climb in the beginning either.
OMG to the donuts! They’re going on my post-race treats list for after MCM. Glad you had a decent race, fun meet-up, and can’t wait to hear about your half marathon!
I am always impressed by these back to back races! I have never been to St Louis. My SIL is moving to Kansas City so we are hoping to do a Missouri race at some point (but I think the two cities are far apart). Im not usually a donut person but those look really good!
I’ve done a few RnR races back in 2013 and did the half in St. Louis. I remember it being hilly and cold in the beginning. One day I would like to do a Remix.
Can I say that I love the ribbon from the medal? That is awesome! And that donut, well, that goes without wsaying 😀
Yuck to the animal load but yay for delicious donuts!! Great job on your race even with the incline. 🙂
Oh, the things you see on the highway. Ewwww….if that was for pet food, my poor pup!
Congrats on a great race. Looking forward to the half recap.
I’ve been to Kansas City, but not to St. Louis. A couple years ago, they had Sportscenter broadcast outside the Cardinals stadium, and the RnR race was going on behind them. I was more interested in the runners than than what they were talking about.
Hills were not my friend this weekend either!
I’ve never been to St. Louis, but it’s on my (very long) list of places to visit soon.
I recently found a great doughnut shop about 6 miles from home! Can’t believe I’ve been living in this area for 15 years and never knew about it.
Love the medal – RnR rarely disappoints! Sounds like a very hilly 5K – inclines to the finish just shouldn’t happen 🙂
Yes, I’ve run 3 RnR races. Not a huge donut fan, but we lived off our cinnamon roll for DAYS . . . . and still left some in the last hotel.
Sounds like you did great! A little afraid to read that half recap, I’m suspecting it must’ve been brutal? We really were channeling each other – heat, hills, except thank god nothing disgusting on the road for us; just lots of traffic in Phoenix when we arrived.
I’d say those donuts alone were worth the trip to St. Louis!! I drove through there when I was driving out to Arizona to go to college but we never went up the Arch. I would love to! Looking forward to your recap on the half! Congrats on your Midwest Quest!
RnR St Louis looks like a fun time! oh and donuts-YUM
I’ve never done a back to back race before but I’m signed up to do the MS Gulf Coast one, with a 5k then half, the very weekend after PCB half. What was I thinking?
That medal is just freaking awesome, but I have yet to see a RnR one I didn’t like.
So how far is St. Louis for you? I wondered if we had not gotten PCB on the books if St. Louis would be a more central location for a blogger meet up?
Thanks for the link up! Happy Tuesday Marcia
My first half was an RnR in San Antonio! I lived just outside of St. Louis for almost 6 years. It’s a great city! Great job on your race!
Congrats on that beautiful medal Marcia!! I loved reading about you not even bothering looking at your watch during the race because you didn’t care about the time …I can totally relate to that – it happens to me a lot, too!
Have a great week!!!
Marcia you did great 🙂
It is always fun when you get a nice climb up right in the beginning right lol I had that for my race this past weekend. I love the shirt and medal! and I assume you may get some perk or bling for completing the quest??
The donuts loook very yummmmy! Can’t wait to hear about the half!
Love the recap! Okay, I noticed at Philly they didn’t have a race-specific pint glass there either….I love the one from DC! I went to St. Louis a few years ago for a conference and had a really fun time. You got some awesome swag, I don’t know which one I love more, the medal or the T-shirt!
Never been to St. Louis nor done a RnR. They have started in Europe (as you know !) but not France.
OMG, that truck ? Gross.
I am not a donut lover but gelato ? Yes mam !
I love that St Louis RNR shirt – very cool!
Congrats on the finish at the 5k! I’m not a huge fan of hills since I never train on them. However an occasional 5k with rollers adds just enough challenge that I can live with them at that distance.
Umm…that truck accident sounds horrible! 🙁
Congrats on another successful Rock ‘n’ Roll race weekend! I really love that 5K medal. I loved the Chicago 5K medal but this one might be even better!
Yikes in regards to the truck incident! Great job on the 5K! Always love Rock ‘n’ Roll races! They always have the best medals and Brooks shirts! Those donuts look so good! That was one thing we did not have while in Chicago. I think we asked our Lyft driver and they didn’t know of any good places.
I’m glad your teen is still amenable to road trips with Mom, that’s really special and will be a good memory. St. Louis sounds fun! Well except for that one road incident– makes you want to feed your pets only premium food doesn’t it?
That medal!! Gorgeous, love the music notes on the lanyard! And the donuts. They were pretty darn gorgeous too. But old bag?? Girl, please. 😉 🙂
I’ve run one RNR but it was an inaugural and not well organized. I want to try another.
Drooling over that donut!!!!!!
Those donuts look amazing! 5ks are really hard for me. I feel like they should be easy, but they’re not.
St. Louis is such a fun town. My dad worked on some construction project at the Arch site ages ago, I always think of him when I see the arch.
I agree with the teen — it was a truckload of poop. It sounds like a run race and the medal is super cool. Thank goodness for the women’s cut tee. I’m sorry you didn’t get a race specific pint glass. But hey, you found your donut! Thanks for linking, Marcia!
That 5K sounds brutal but that is a great time- I would have been super happy with that! I think I may have been 12 when I went to St Louis and I have not been back since! Sounds like a fun start to the weekend minus the animal guts- yuck!