St Patrick's day race in St Louis - Hubby's first official race

No race in February because life happened. I also wanted to focus on training without worrying about racing. I was able to keep up with the training schedule in February because there were no major events at work going on. 

Then, March hit me at the speed of a small hurricane. In a blink of an eye, it's already the middle of March and I fell behind at work. I had to be in St Louis for work. We know one person who lives in St Louis through the cooking class that we teach and have become good friends with him. Since I would be in St Louis anyway, I asked Pat if he wanted to join me for the weekend so we could visit our friend's house and get to meet his wife and kids. There was a St Patrick's day race (5 miles) on that Saturday, which our friend usually runs with his dad and cousin. He asked if I would like to register for the race and of course, I said yes (because I had to get my training in any way). To my surprise, Pat also told our friend that he would run the race with them. So, I signed up for both of us. 

Pat flew in on Friday morning (I was already there since Wednesday) and we hung out with our friend and his wife on Friday night. On Saturday morning, it was really cold (15 degrees) at the start and I was worried that Pat would not have warm enough clothes to wear during the run as he never ran outside in the winter. I told him to layer up and brought an extra pair of gloves for him. A lot of people DNSed because of the cold. Luckily, the race was in downtown St Louis only 2 blocks from where we stayed so we waited until 10 minutes before the start time to walk to the start. 

The race was considered pretty hilly (considering that we were in Missouri) with a long slow uphill at Mile 2. I took off right after the gun started because I was cold and I felt pretty good on that day. I told Pat that I would wait for him at the finish line because he would be running at a slower pace than me. Mile 2 was a pain in the neck as it's long slow uphill but the good thing is Mile 4 to the finish was a long downhill. I felt great the whole time. 

After I crossed the finish line (45 minutes), I went back to find Pat on the course. I thought it would take him about 1 hour+ to run 5 miles considering that he hadn't been running much since November. It turned out that he took about 1 hour. I found him on the course, took photos, and ran along with him for a bit before I stepped outside the course to let him finish. After crossing the finish line, Pat said that he did not walk at all during the race even during the uphill section. 

It was too cold to hang out around the finish line. I was wet and cold. We grabbed a beer (Michelob Ultra. ugh) at the finish line, drank it, and left. We told our friends that we would go back to the hotel and change. Then, we went to meet him at another brewery after he finished. 

Overall, I had a lot of fun and I think it's because Pat also ran with me. The course was ok (nothing exciting) and it took us through downtown St Louis. After crossing the finish line, I think Pat was hooked. He said that the concrete was hard on his feet and would prefer to run on softer ground. I immediately looked up for a race on the Towpath and found one on April 10 LOL. I will sign him up for the 5 miler and I think I will do the half marathon. 

I'm very glad that Pat started exercising regularly and that he likes to race. I will see if I can convince him to sign up for a half marathon or not LOL