I’ve never been one to write race recaps. I just don’t think it’s fun to write and I’m not sure who enjoys reading them but this is one recap I’m excited to write and I’m excited for you to read. Why? Well, I won’t give away too much but if you follow me on Instagram, you know the end of this Go Half Marathon story. But let’s start back at the beginning.
I’ve been “training” for this race since about January. I hired a coach. I got a plan designed for me and my crazy goal and I got to work. The training cycle was filled with ups and downs (as all training cycles are).
Last week was rough. I had an old child bearing injury come back to haunt me…as if I weren’t stressed enough. I only got 3 miles in last week before the weekend’s events. YIKES!
Saturday – 5K
Saturday rolled around and I was anxious for the 5K. I was feeling pretty good and after placing 2nd in my age group last year, I was pretty determined to beat last year’s time. Saturday morning was cold (36 degrees at start time) so I tried to dress warm. I did a little warming up, just trying to get acclimated to the temps and the 7:00 AM start time (I’m SO NOT a morning person). The race started right on time and I took off. In the past I would’ve started off a little slower, trying to “save my energy” for the last part of the race but I decided to just try going out faster. Thinking I was going to have to slow down sooner or later.
First mile…8:10. I was pretty happy with that. Lots of bobbing and weaving.
Second mile included every hill in Forest Park (at least it felt like that).. 8:02. Damn. Not bad.
Third mile. I was starting to feel it. The air burned, my legs burned but I was almost done. I kept telling myself I technically only had 3 minutes of running left. 8:00. This, my friends, was enough to get me in at 25:03. That’s a PR….to the tune of 1:07 seconds. Where is this speed coming from?! I watched the results and it was enough to let me keep my second place age group status. First place was a avg 6:49 pace. I’m a ways off from that so this is just fine by me.
Sunday – Half Marathon
After that, I wasn’t sure how much I would be willing to push Sunday especially given my lack of confidence in my training. Race day came and I started by myself in corral C, I took off and quickly ran up on some friends who were trying something I had never tried before. Galloway Method. I’ll admit, I had only heard about it in passing and when they explained my first reaction was to huff and pass unsubstantiated judgement.
“There’s no way.”
Scott, the Galloway Coach I was talking to as we ran, asked me what my goal was and I told him 2:00 but I wasn’t feeling very confident. He said:
I can get you there if you run with me (and Nikki from Glitter Skirts).
I did a little more internal judgement passing and said
“What the hell”
At this point, I didn’t feel comfortable that I could reach sub 2:00 running by myself and if nothing else, the group alone would help some what. At this point, I told myself if I could cut 5 minutes off it would be a win but Scott didn’t know that. So from about mile 1.5 and beyond we stuck close together.
Scott is a former Marine whose passion for the Galloway method was obvious from the first stride. His knowledge and instruction throughout made my piece of all this effortless. He had music playing from a phone in his pocket I presume and his watch was perfectly timed with the planned intervals. As we ran, he explained the run/walk/run principle. I’ll admit there’s a part of me that thought I was giving up somehow. The idea of walking during a race like this had always only meant one thing in the past…that I didn’t have the endurance to finish. I was weak and undertrained. I hated that thought. I pushed it from my head. IF I was going to try this I was going to commit to it entirely. What I wasn’t expecting but ended up really loving was the paces we got up to when we ran. I should’ve asked for his times but my Garmin had us catching up to a 7:55 pace at times and hovering around 8:10ish on most 2 min intervals.

Thanks Nikki for taking the picture!
This race is pretty unique in St. Louis. It’s the only race that lets you say you ran in two states in one race. Last year I took it all in. This year, there was no time. I was WAY more focused. Oddly enough. By the time we hit 4 miles, we were around 35 minutes (8:45 pace) and I was feeling just fine…actually having fun. I kept telling myself we’ll see what mile 8 feels like. That’s always my Oh Crap mile. It’s just never fun. BUT to my surprise, I completely missed mile 8. By the time I looked at my Garmin again, I was at 9.25 WHAT? Between the intervals and peppering Scott with questions, the time literally flew.
Around mile 11 we started talking about the finish. I couldn’t believe how closely we were tracking to a 2:00 finish AND I was still feeling pretty good. We decided that Nikki and I would go on ahead to try to get me to my goal. Nikki is a speed demon so she tried to pull me through to the finish but after doing the intervals, it was harder for me to sustain for the last mile but when I crossed the finish in 2:00:50 I was shocked. I was happy. I was grateful and more intrigued by this method than ever before.

Thanks Scott for the picture
I’ve been thinking about this for a couple days now and I’m still intrigued. I figured out that this method MIGHT be good for me given my past. My muscles are fast twitch muscles or they were all the way through college so quick, fast and short periods of times is what I’m use to…I had NO problem starting and stopping throughout the race. It felt easier. Maybe I’m just old. It’s weird, that I keep judging myself for “walking” during a race but the end state shows that it wasn’t a bad thing.
Do I think the comrade of the people I was running with helped? Absolutely. You can form a bond with someone you never new before in 2 hours. And I’ve said before the power of the group can be strong if you let it be.
Do I think I could do this method again if I were on my own? I don’t know…honestly. I might be giving it another try though. Scott and I are going to talk later this week. In the meantime, I’m definitely giving my legs a day or two to rest which so happens to coincide with my next business trip tomorrow.
For now I’m just going to be proud of how close I got to my goal. It was a PLEASANT, unexpected and happy occurrence. Ellen, my coach, was right. It was all in my head but it took these runners to help me see it. Running can definitely be a team sport!
I’ll keep you up to date on the Galloway Method and Coach Scott and check out the rest of my kind of-sort of race calendar here.
Have you ever used the Galloway Method? How do you like to train? Did you race this weekend?
Way to go!!! Such great times at the 5k and the Half!
Kristen Jones recently posted…Friday Five: Quick & Easy Dinners
Yes, I did both the 5K and the Half this past weekend too! Only difference in mine and yours? I walked both distances! 52:25 for the 5K walking with some friends. And 3:24.25 for the Half!
Thanks for a well written review.
I’ve heard of Galloway but never tried it!
1) Can I just say I love seeing that there is one other runner in the world who isn’t a morning person?! Thank you for saying it! I needed to see that. 2) I am just like you when it comes to being skeptical of the Galloway method… but if that can get me to the elusive sub-2 hr half marathon time maybe I’ll give it a shot.
I love that you found someone to get you to the 2 hr mark. I don’t have many running friends and they all are either much faster than me or run more leisurely than I do. I wish I could find the camaraderie! Looks like you had an amazing weekend.
That is so awesome! I wish I would have seen you, I was in Corral C too. I pushed super hard for a 2:10 (originally wanted under the 2 hour mark) but ended up with a 2:15, which is 6 minutes better from last year. I have heard of the Galloway method, but never tried it. I might try it now though! I just figured if I ran the whole time without walking it would get me a better time.
I had so much running with you!!! Let’s dust off those bikes and pick a half Ironman to do. 🙂 Until next time…
I ended up walking a bunch of the half as well, but didn’t plan it. It felt like a pacing disaster, and like you I felt like a failure for walking, but I ended up beating my last half time by 11 minutes. I still prefer running straight through but maybe there is something to the walk run method. Also I ended up racing by myself and really missed my Big River people. Running alone is rough when you’re used to miles flying by with a group.
Nora recently posted…Go! St. Louis Half Marathon 4/10/16
I can’t believe I overlooked this post! Must have been the focus on Darkside Half at WDW. Great race report, Katie! I’m still kicking myself for not getting you that sub-2hr, though… I’m looking forward to chatting this week. The Galloway Method is under exposed & misunderstood here in the St Louis region. Thanks, in advance, for sharing your platform to get he word out…Cheers!!!