Marathon #55: Kansas Rails to Trails Extravaganza, Ottawa Kansas, Oct 2020

 

"Extravaganza"

I can't believe I ran a marathon in 2020. Finding marathons to run has been quite the challenge this year, but a Facebook page was created to help with this endeavor. Yes, it is called, "Finding Marathons That Won't Be Cancelled", and has over three thousand members so far! This is where I found out about this race. I confirmed that this was the same race my friend Jerod Honrath had once ran and posted about. He had nothing but positive things to say about it, so I added it to my short list of possibilities. It had a good probability of happening since it was a trail race and quite remote. As the short list got even shorter this ended up being the marathon we went with.

I have run trail runs before, but never a trail marathon. Yes, I have run marathons that are on trails, but it's not the same thing! Let me explain. Trail runs are different in so many ways! First of all, they have an assortment of whacky distances. This one in particular has a 100 miler, 100K, 50 miler, 50K, and a marathon and half marathon. Secondly, when you arrive, people are already running and may possibly have been running for hours, and when you leave, same story. Your kiddie run is only a small part of the running adventure taking place. There are no mile markers, no timing clocks, no "water stops" where you run by and grab a cup without stopping, and very few places to see potential spectators. You are required to carry a bottle, which you either fill as you come across crates of water along the trail, or at one of their few "manned stations", that also provide tables of snacks like chips and candy.

Unlike most trail runs this one is on a very non technical, flat, easy course lined up as one long out and back on what used to be a railroad, so getting lost or tripped up was not a worry. The mentality of trail running vs road running is the biggest difference of all. I'm generalizing I'm sure, but most of them are out there for the experience and not so much concerned about how long it takes them. Road runners, in general, are pretty much obsessed with each mile marker split and their overall time. (And possibly placing in their age groups). We are "in a hurry", so to speak. Oh, and on the trail as people pass each other they customarily say, "Good job" to one another. I guess that's better than hearing, "You're almost there"...

Dallas peeps!

I'm not sure during non Covid times if the start would be any more lively than this, since there were only 39 marathoners total, but hey it did feel good to be running in a race! Our group just drove to the start, hopped out of the car, and ran across the starting line in single file. That was it! It was pretty lively during the first half, with a lot of encounters along the path. It was everything from walkers to speedy runners, so it was hard to tell who was doing what distance. The trail itself was very pretty, and the turn around provided the most quintessential Kansas back drop ever!

Remote yes, but beautiful

Not too long after the turn around it got a lot quieter, but I was still enjoying the scenery and the playlist I had put together. I found myself struggling physically though, and continually slowing down, which honestly, was expected. It hasn't been my year. Has it been anybody's year though? What the hell! Mentally, I was so grateful to be running, so I just had to battle the physical stuff. The only one of our group that I was near to at this point was Mike--we were playing tag as he would stop to get rocks out of his shoes and I would stop to dig out stuff from my pockets with my frozen hands. At our last water in a crate stop I told him I didn't think we were going to make 4:30, which inspired him to pick it up and I never passed him again.

It did get hideous near the end. As we entered Ottawa we popped off the trail to run parallel to a busy highway, and then onto a crooked asphalt path with wide cracks patched up with blobs of black tar. My wobbly legs were not happy! We were no longer protected from the cold by the trees either, so it was quite brisk, but luckily we turned off to the finish before too long.

Not snow, just gravel

I had imagined crossing the finish line to be an emotional experience, since it had been so long, but I must say I was not feeling it. I'm still trying to put my finger on it. Maybe it's all the race elements that were missing due to Covid--no packet pickup or expo, no group start, (remembering the standard singing of the Star Spangled Banner and the amped up pre race announcements and music), no spectators at the finish, and no festivities at the finish. Just a table with bananas on it. At least I had my Dallas peeps, including Toby, who took care of us all morning! 

Thank God we had each other!

My time was 4:30:26...not that it matters, right? It's ALL about the experience...hmm...something tells me I'm not a trail runner at heart...

Some training runs are Different than the Others

I don't normally blog about training runs, but it's been a very long time since I've ran a marathon, or any race for that matter, hence no marathon story blogs! This comes as a surprise to no one, as the COVID 19 pandemic has, for the most part, put an end to those. Training plans for the first planned marathon of 2020 went awry as early as March, when my chosen marathon, to be held in May, was cancelled. Since marathons were falling like dominoes at that point it was expected, and on "race day" they had a massive storm hit the area with snow and gale force winds, so I felt like we dodged a bullet anyhow. Training continued for the next feasible marathon in July. It was going to be in Juneau, Alaska, which had the additional promise of happening due to its remoteness. 

Obviously Juneau didn't happen, as plan B, plan C, and plan D didn't happen. We are all now well aware of the fact that NOTHING was going to happen for a long long time. And yes, it's shallow to focus on trying to run a marathon when others are literally fighting for their lives or sources of income or even meals or shelter. The only defense I have is that it gave me something positive to focus on and at times obsess over. Not to mention that running in and of itself was my solace during the madness.

So back to the training run. I really did come here to talk about a run I did in Mackenzie Park in Lubbock a few weeks ago. I drove to Lubbock to visit the "Linder Laws", and decided to take advantage of the lower humidity and run 20 miles. I love running at this park. There's a 7 mile loop that runs through the park to and around Dunbar Lake. There are interesting points of interest along the route, such as an amusement park, a windmill farm and of course a cemetery at the top of a steep hill. My plan was to run the 7 mile loop, pit stop at the car, run a 6 mile loop north of the park, which I haven't really done before, then back out to do the 7 mile loop in the opposite direction.

Toby willingly drove me out to the park and insisted on sticking around while I ran this thing. Normally he'd run too, but on May 13th, while riding his bike, he ran a red light and didn't see the car going 40+ mph that hit him. What could have killed him or left him paralyzed or severely brain damaged left him with a fractured pelvis, broken ribs, and a concussion. A great surgeon put him back together, but his road to recovery has and continues to be a long one. 

Toby flew out beforehand (on crutches by now) to handle family matters while I drove up on Friday. After five hours on the road I was taking the exit to Slaton (where the Linders live) when I saw a text from my cousin saying my sister was in the ICU. I pulled into the Family Dollar parking lot and called him to see what was up. My sister has had her share of visits to the ICU over the years, so at first I wasn't sure it was as bad as it seemed, but after talking to Cliff it didn't sound good.

My sister Donna had her share of demons, the deadliest of which was alcoholism. Fourteen years ago they diagnosed her with end stage liver disease and said if she kept drinking she would die. Fourteen years ago! After some time we began to joke that she'd be smoking a cigarette, and with a drink in her hand be dancing on our graves. She seemed to start losing what little grip she had on self control over the past year, so I started sensing that time was running out for her. Was her time up? I called my parents. They had been with her that morning and called an ambulance. She was very critical and had already been put on a ventilator shortly after being admitted. Her liver was failing. They said it wouldn't do any good to turn around and come back to Ft. Worth because none of us could be in the hospital due to COVID 19. My poor parents were sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring with updates.

That night I put the phone next to my head as I tried to sleep, but didn't really, and got up at 4:00 AM to head to the park. No calls. Maybe she's pulling through like she did before? No news is good news, right? We got to the park around 5:00 AM. As I gathered up my things I handed my phone to Toby in case my parents called. We were discussing what he should do if they would call to say she died while I was out running when the phone rang. It was my dad. Donna had died.

I was numb. My only thought was to start the run and let it flow into my brain piece by piece, the enormity of what just happened. I thought, well I have 20 miles to let this sink in. Blankly, I started running. It was still dark, but it was peaceful, not scary. There were other runners out there and Toby was driving ahead and stopping from time to time, so it was all good. Pieces started flowing in. What about all of her animals? I need to tell her childhood friends on Facebook. What kind of funeral can we possibly have at this time? What was the last thing we said to each other--I can't remember...

Before I knew it I was at the lake. I kept hearing this sound across the water that almost sounded like a baby crying. It was a strange high pitched shrill of a sound. Once I rounded the other side of the lake and made it over the Cemetery Hill I realized what the source of the noise was. In the field sat a rather large fox, just sitting there crying out. I had no idea they made such a sound. A street light was shining on him so there was no mistaking that it was him. I just stopped and stared at him, which startled him. He made some weird garbling sound at me and ran off. I have tons of strange encounters with wildlife in the dark, but this was one of the strangest yet.

The sun was rising as I made it back to the car for a pit stop. My only complaint was that my back was bothering me. It has been bothering me off and on and I've been blaming it on lots of things; not being as mobile because I was no longer working, not going to yoga, not doing my regular stretching routine, sitting in chairs in the ER and hospitals for hours on end, and for three weeks I dealt with passing a rather large kidney stone! I had just driven five hours in the car, so I attributed this morning's back pain to that. I told Toby he had plenty of time to go get coffee as I ran the next 6 miles, and headed north of the park for part 2 of the run.

Almost right away I started having issues with this section. First of all it started out ridiculously hilly, which caused my back to tighten up even more. After a few turns onto the main out and back portion I doubted I was on the right road because it was very dismal and sketchy. I had used the Strava heat map to map this section out, which is a great tool that shows where people run in any given town, so it had to be right. Sure enough I saw a few runners along the road eventually. Still, note to self not to run this section again...I had my music with me this time, but my mind was still too busy thinking about Donna to turn it on. Even though we were only 2-3 years apart in age we had almost nothing in common. We we never close as kids, but we were even further apart as adults, living our lives in completely opposite directions. Before the alcohol there was drug addiction, which she overcame. As long as she was alive there was the hope that she'd overcome the drinking too. And now that hope was gone. She was gone. She was funny as a kid. She would have us in stitches with her impersonations. She liked dumb movies and so did I, so we did share that. The other day I watched "Ready or Not" and almost instinctively went to text her to be sure to watch it. (Seriously, check this movie out. It is crazy dumb but funny as hell). I'm not haunted by what wasn't said or known. We knew we loved each other, but I started to feel the haunted feeling that she was gone completely, definitively. 

As I hit the hills heading back to the car my back was hurting so bad that I had to stop and walk. I tried all sorts of bends and twists to no avail. I even took a 2nd Aleve, which I rarely do. I approached the car with a lot of negativity about the situation. Toby tried to help loosen up my back as I refilled my water bottle for part 3 of the run. I told him I'd blast my music and power through it, just 7 more miles, and walk the hills if I had to. He said he'd drive up to the base of the first hill and wait for me there, and off I went. You're probably wondering why he didn't just tell me I should quit. The same reason why I didn't tell him not to buy a new bike. 

The first mile out was pretty flat, which made it fairly easy to get moving again and fall into some semblance of a rhythm, but it didn't last long. I felt like I was pushing on the pedal of a car with no gas. I had absolutely nothing inside of me to keep moving me forward. Without consciously deciding to do so I started walking. I was done. I saw the car in the parking lot across the street from the hill and crossed over, walking towards the car. Toby saw me coming and pulled out a camping chair from the trunk, where I plopped down and burst into tears.

We drove back to Ft.Worth that day and spent the night with my parents, and have been living in the whirlwind that follows the death of a family member ever since. I saw a doctor about my back, and while explaining to him how I felt this weight on it like someone was sitting on it I realized that my body was doing what it has instinctively done all my life, and that is it was saying ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. Deal with your emotions. For the first time in forever my runs became unstructured and mostly alone. My back is loosening up, but I still find myself walking some, stopping to take in things, like just yesterday I stopped to watch the sun rise over the lake. I don't have any fight in me to do much else right now and that's ok. 

Ironically, our plan F (or is it plan G?) marathon is actually happening in just two weeks and I'm not running the full. I'll run the half while Jamie runs the full. There's still a chance that the race will be cancelled, so I'm trying not to get too excited. Very few marathons have taken place since March, and sadly, very few marathons will take place in the near future. Trying to make sense of 2020 so far has been an act of futility and probably not helping my back pain, so I'm trying hard to accept this current day to day life as is, with its many many limitations and non-stop negativity. Day by day, find the gratitude, no matter how hard, for being here, and for being alive. That's the goal.

My top 10 Most Memorable Runs of 2019

Just a handful of my favorites!

I started the year immersed in injury recovery; deep tissue massage, back adjustments, dry needling, and eventually a cortisone shot in the butt cheek. Training for a March marathon in the middle of all this madness was not the smartest, but I managed to get past my injury eventually. I remained mostly injury free (except for ramming my toe into the bedpost 4 days before the Indianapolis marathon) for the remainder of the year and had a pretty decent year of running events and memorable runs. Here are my top 10 most memorable (not necessarily all good) in chronological order:

1. The HAIL run. Many local runners will never forget this Saturday morning in early March. The lake was packed with runners that morning, completely ignoring the ever increasing dark skies and thunder rumbling. In the middle of a 21 mile run, I was just ahead of the TB pack because they had stopped at Benny's Bench for water, which is typically a ridiculously long pause. First came the rain, then OW, hail started pinging on my head and face, getting larger and more fierce in a hurry. I ducked under a park awning to ride it out, but what's funny is the girls all circled around a large tree and each other until it passed. Talk about memorable!

2. The Skidaway Island marathon outside of Savannah Georgia. I didn't think I was going to make it to this one due to an injury, which makes the memory that much sweeter. I blogged about it here: https://tntlinder.blogspot.com/2019/03/marathon-52-skidaway-island-marathon.html

3. The Mt Charleston Half marathon just outside of Las Vegas. Not that the race itself was memorable (boring), but being at the finish line to watch my friends finish the full marathon certainly was!

4. The Missoula marathon in Montana. It was harder than I thought it would be, and overshadowed by the epic camping trip in Glacier National Park, but still an amazing experience. I blogged about it here: https://tntlinder.blogspot.com/2019/07/marathon-53-missoula-marathon-june-2019.html

5. We were only about 2 miles into the hill run when we encountered a kitten on the side of a somewhat busy road (only not so busy at 5:30 AM). Of all the runners he chose ME and would NOT leave my side, crying and purring and weaving in and out of my feet. That was it for me. I said goodbye to the others and headed back to the car with this guy running by my side. Finally I just scooped him up, held onto him really tight and ran back to my car with him in my arms. We ended up finding him a great home, but it did break my heart to say goodbye to him. I will never forget this little guy!

True love!

6. In August we took a break from the summer heat and spent a week-end in Monterey. We mapped out a 15 mile run along the bay and I said it then and it still holds true that this was hands down my favorite run of the year. To literally go to a near 30 degree drop in temperature on a training run in and of itself is an incredible running boost, but combined with stunning scenery, wow, just wow.  It was exactly what I needed to be able to come back and survive the relentless heat that plagued us throughout the entire month of September. There were many runs during this time frame that I would rather forget; some that ended in walking, some that ended on a treadmill, and one that I almost lied down on a park bench! My memory of how great running felt while in Monterey is what kept me going.

7. Indianapolis Marathon. Of the 3 marathons I ran this year I have to say I enjoyed running this one the most. The 26 degree temperature start made us nervous since obviously we didn't train for that, but it ended up being a non issue. I blogged about it here: https://tntlinder.blogspot.com/2019/11/marathon-54-indianapolis-monumental.html

8. The Thanksgiving day Turkey Trot always makes my list, as it is one of my favorite runs of all! This year was no different, even though it didn't go as planned. I was supposed to start with Laura (LSP), but because of the unexpected large number of runners in the chip timed corral we couldn't find each other, so I started alone. About halfway into the run I looked ahead and saw Lori Green! In the past Lori has pulled me through many many long runs. As life has gotten in the way I have missed running with her, so it was so great to finish the Turkey Trot together!

The only thing missing is LSP!

9. Sometimes I get bored with my regular routes and I tend to just go "wander", not really caring about the pace or miles, as was the case one day early December. I decided to head north on the White Rock Trail, which I used to run along many years ago. It's used mostly by cyclists as a way to head back and forth to the lake. It's kind of beat up in places and tends to get muddy when it rains, so it's not the greatest path, but hey, something different. So I found myself in that area near Walnut Hill that creeps the hell out of all of us local runners, and that's the place where a runner was running along the path on a pretty sunny morning and out of nowhere a lunatic charges him with a machete and hacks him to death right then and there on the path. Yeah that really happened. His wife killed herself 2 weeks later. I remembered that they did some kind of tribute, so I looked around and found this bench. I must say I'm not comfortable being reminded about this event, but I did think the tribute was nice, and I left the area with gratitude for being alive, because you just never know...

Tell me this isn't creepy though

10. Loop the Lake. Of course this run makes my top 10 list! The BEST way to end the year  is to loop the lake with my friends and then enjoy post run libations with the heavy handed bar tender who seems to remember me from last year because when making my mimosas he remembers that I don't like orange juice that much...

As always with the Festivus Pole to air those 2019 grievances!

So 2019, another lap around the sun has been completed. I'm grateful for every single run, memorable, forgettable, painful, sluggish, funny (singing Cher's "Half Breed" comes to mind),  those where mother nature dishes out her fury, and those where mother nature takes my breath away with her beauty. The 2020 lap has begun! Get out there and make some memories!

Marathon #54: Indianapolis Monumental Marathon, Nov 2019

Monument Circle

As it goes sometimes, most of my marathon drama occurred the week before the marathon. In addition to adjusting to a new job so to speak (my original job location was destroyed by a tornado), four days prior to the marathon I rammed my toe into the corner of the bed. I didn't think I broke it at first, but panicked about 24 hours later when it turned purple and hurt to walk on. Luckily I turned out to be right the first time, as an x-ray would show no fracture, and the toe continued to improve every day until it was a non issue come race day. What's funny is the x-ray tech/philosopher suggested that I ask myself why did this happen, indeed, is there some sort of subconscious plot to dislodge myself from the race, perhaps due to lack of confidence or fear of failure? I gave it some thought. It had been a terrible summer of training. On one long run I came perilously close to lying down on a park bench and calling it a day. I finished another long run on a treadmill after crying uncle from the heat outdoors.  A lot of walking was involved. Speed work was out of the question. Still, I concluded that I'm just a pretty clumsy person. I will admit though, that situations like these always leave me feeling ever more grateful at the opportunity to be able to toe the line and run yet another marathon.

So onward about the marathon! Although I love the more scenic and smaller marathons, it was nice to mix it up this year with an urban one. As far as urban marathons go, this one has been flying under the radar, but I think the word is getting out, as it had a record sell out in all three races for the first time, with about 5,000 full marathoners and twice that for the half marathon. Not only is it a flat and fast course, but logistically a really easy race as well. The start and finish are in the center of downtown, with several hotels just a couple of blocks away. Several restaurants and stores are within walking distance too.

Our only real concern was the weather. With a forecast of a 27 degree low, this was going to be the coldest marathon most of us have ever ran, so what to wear? Conversations went back and forth for days about vests vs two long sleeved tech tops, vs upper layer throwaways, etc etc. As Texans we rarely run in temperatures much below freezing, but in the end I think we all pretty much nailed it. Hand warmers in the gloves was HUGE! From now on I am using hand warmers on colder runs. They were still warm when I finally tossed them after about 3 hours.

Since the hotel was so close to the start we decided to forego checking a bag and just run straight into the starting corrals with less than 30 minutes to go. This saved us from having to deal with porta potties and having to drop off the bag and later retrieving the bag. So easy! The only bad part was that Laura (LSP) and I ditched our sweats and were ready to run, but our corral didn't head off until 15 minutes later and it was COLD COLD COLD! Before too long though, FINALLY, we were off!

With the half marathoners with us it was way too crowded at first. There was lots of dodging combined with a lot of turns and some uneven spots in the pavement. We rounded Monument circle, a scenic part I was looking forward to, but came to a near dead stop as we all funneled in and around. I wasn't able to settle into a pace until around mile 4 or 5. They need to rethink this going forward. At any rate, the half marathoners peeled off just past mile 7 and we were on our own for the rest of the race.

Just before mile 9 we passed under the Monon trail, which is where I ran when I came here a couple of years ago. We passed a lot of sights and through a lot of neighborhoods, all alive with spectators, even on such a cold morning! They had water stops at practically every mile and every single one of them had tons of volunteers! Lots and lots of kids were either handing out water or cheering for the runners. It was really great to see a city embrace their marathon!

There was also quite a few bands on the course, all varied from country to new wave to hip hop. There was even an all boys choir singing! There was a long dreary stretch with no buildings and no spectators on the second half of the course, so they had funny signs and trivia signs to entertain you. (But to be honest I was having a bad moment and didn't think anything was funny so I ignored most of them).  Yes, there were some bad stretches here and there. Sometimes we were on what I thought was too busy of a road or on a road that was a bit too beat up, but I'd use my music to pull me along and keep me out of a funk about it.

Museum Grounds

Passed this on mile 19...appropriate!

Around mile 19 we entered the grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and ran along a beautiful tree lined path around to the front of the museum and then exited the park. I really enjoyed that! I had been holding a consistent pace until just past mile 20, then starting slowing down some, but never got to a point where I had to give in to walking. I just had those bad stretches, especially when the wind would kick up, as it was mostly head wind as we headed back into downtown. Doing the math I could tell I was going to come in under 4:30, which I guess is my new benchmark these days, so all was good. I did enjoy those last few miles, especially the long stretch on Meridian street into the heart of the city. You could hear the finish line echoing off the buildings and people were lined up behind barricades for quite a distance. I forgot how fun these large urban finishes are. It turns out that Toby was right there yelling at me as I rounded the corner to the finish, but I didn't even see or hear him.

I came in at 4:23. I'll take it. I got processed through the chute, grabbed a bag of chips, then headed back to the hotel before the shivering kicked in. Before the race we had said to each other to just finish and head back to the hotel and not wait for each other (because of the cold), but it turns out Toby and LSP were there and they couldn't find me in the finisher's area. I think this was the only real disappointment-finishing alone and not hanging around for beers or anything, but it really was just too cold for any of that. I did love the cold weather on the course though! I was never too cold while running! Everyone else had a great race too and had very positive things to say about this one.  Let's see, the expo was decent enough with race gear to buy, and if you're into posters they were handing them out for free. Our race shirts were decent short sleeved shirts. We received finisher's hats as well. The medal is interesting in that it's part of a 4-part series, which is great if you run the race four years in a row because they fit together like a puzzle. I wish I  had more to add about the finish line! I can't believe I missed out on free beer!

A marathon in tights! Quite rare

Also, if you decide to run this marathon please be sure to visit the Indianapolis Museum of Art and the grounds. It's well worth it!

A lovely day with great friends

50 State Quest: Time for an update

So far this year I've managed to color in a couple of the "bigger" states, which makes my map look a tad more impressive. Having 15 more to go may sound achievable, but sometimes I wonder! Oh well, for now the quest is still fun, so onward we go!

I'm excited about running marathons in most of the remaining states. I have some pretty decent ones lined up for Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Indiana, Michigan, and South Dakota. I have some ideas on races that will be ok enough for Nebraska, Kentucky, Kansas, Idaho, Alaska and Mississippi. And of course Hawaii will be the last one, so it will be what it will be!

The only states remaining that give me pause are New Mexico and Wyoming. My primary issue of course is altitude, which I don't handle well. The Merit Race Series has introduced a new downhill point to point course in New Mexico, but it includes a net elevation loss of 4500 feet! So another thing I have issues with is extreme downhill, so pick your poison! As for Wyoming, the only grand plan I have is to spend a week in Fort Collins then drive to Cheyenne and do the marathon that week-end, hoping enough acclimatization has kicked in by then...

Jamie is still moving forward with 17 to go, and for now we are still on course for the grand finale in 2025. We know that "life" happens, so the calendar is marked in pencil, but hey, it just might happen!

Marathon #53: Missoula Marathon, June 2019

It always amazes me when a seemingly crazy plan becomes a reality. Quite some time ago George pulled up a map of the United States, pointed to the inner states and asked if there was a marathon that I needed to run (for my 50 state quest) within the region. He wanted to combine a marathon with a camping trip that would allow him to drive to the area with his camper in tow, stopping at other places of interest along the way. So I said, yes, I'd like to run the Missoula marathon in Montana, which is pretty close to Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. And I committed to camping as well...The plan was hatched. He would stop at Yellowstone on the way to Missoula, stop over in Missoula for the race, then we would all head north to Glacier National Park. The Saxtons decided to drive north with their camper van, bringing our camping gear in tow, and additionally two other couples signed up for the race/camping. Jamie, Jedonna, and Gigi (who I will refer to as the G-J girls), decided to glamp it at a nearby lodge.

In summary, the trip was truly epic, and Glacier National Park is just stunning. We had a blast with our group as usual, and a really hard time re-entering civilization back in Texas. As for the marathon itself, yes it was a good marathon, and that's why I'm here-to write about the marathon, which was in so many ways eclipsed by the rest of the trip! That's funny because usually it's the other way around! Here goes:

The Missoula marathon is a point to point race, starting in a tiny town called Frenchtown, just north of Missoula, and finishing in the heart of downtown Missoula, in Caras Park, along the Clark Fork river. It's a very early bus ride to catch the start at 6:00 AM!! But here's the thing, the sun is up at 6:00 AM! The shooting off of fireworks was pretty pointless in my opinion. Invested in the full marathon was me, Toby, the G-J girls, and Robert Haworth. We never saw him at the start and he would be the only one I had a shot at seeing along the course, as the others had crushed it during training. I haven't crushed anything in a very long time, ha ha. Robert has had to train in Florida, which makes Dallas seem cool, yikes! Mark, Amelie, Potter, and Lisa did the half marathon, which started further down the road.

That's what 5:30 ish looks like in Montana

We all positioned ourselves into the starting area accordingly. I found the 4:20 pacer and stayed close to him. The instant we started running I could tell that I was feeling the 3,000 ft altitude. It wasn't like running in Colorado, but enough to make me feel like I was working harder than normal. It kind of freaked me out at first, until I settled into a pace and said this is IT, whatever IT is, this is where you are at, so accept it and carry on, business as usual. Settling in was easier than when the half marathon starts with us, so that was nice, sorry half marathoners, but there's always at least twice as many of you and you always have way too much energy!

Our scenery started out as farmland, surrounded by hills on both sides, with full sun to our east, casting our shadows across the road. That's how high in the sky the sun was early on! But it was chilly, near perfect, around 50 degrees. I was both annoyed and distracted by the 4:20 group chatter, so I couldn't tell if I wanted to stick with them or leave them, as this stretch was pretty desolate. We didn't turn off this road until after 8 miles. Shortly after the turn I had to make a pit stop which took way too long. I came out to see the 4:20 pacer turning left in the distance. Right behind him were two guys with balloons which I could only assume were the 4:30 pacers. (Yes they were, but what I didn't know was Robert was with that group at that point). I would never see them again until mile 25 of the race!

The only hills of the course were from miles 13-17, with the first two being pretty steep. I walked those, taking in the beauty of the course during this stretch, as it had gone from farm land to pine forest. At this point I knew it was going to be a 4:30 day at best if all went OK from here on out. It just felt HARD and I really wondered, is it hard for just me, or it is hard for them too? I wanted to ask people, "is this hard for you too?", but thought the better of it.

I have no idea where this picture was taken because I never saw the photographer, but it totally captures the mood. I was trying to pay attention to my surroundings, but had to have my music on and focus more than I'd like to on trying to stay "in the game". Thank God for my music! It's funny what songs end up working for me and what songs get the FF. I have a lot of current music, like songs from Interpol, Vampire Weekend, and Mitski, but I throw in some old stuff from time to time. One such song was Devo's, "Beautiful World", and later, "Through Being Cool". Not sure why Devo worked, but hey. I didn't even care much for Devo back in the 80's, so go figure.

It's a beautiful world we live in...

Around mile 19 or so we started heading into the outskirts of Missoula, so finally, spectators and their antics! Everyone was out! There were all kinds of oddities of things presented to us, mostly in the form of alcoholic beverages! You name it they offered it! A Japanese runner (he was on his phone talking in Japanese while he was running, I'm not profiling) grabbed a cup of whiskey and I'm pretty sure he didn't know what it was! OMG, coughs and gags followed!! Yes, there were lots of turns heading into town, but oddly enough it seemed easier to handle than a long straight away, and like I said, it was pretty entertaining.

I found myself walking the water stops a bit, coming really close to 4:30, and sure enough at mile 25 out of nowhere were the 4:30 pacer balloon guys! No Robert, so we must have crossed paths and not seen each other. The mile 26 banner was sitting at the top of an overpass, and from there you could see and hear the finish line straight ahead. I stopped to walk at that point, saw a bunch of finishers standing on a bar patio, and when they saw me take off running again they started cheering like mad, telling me to go get it. Ha! So I did finish with a 4:30 and quickly rejoined the others, who, other than Toby the freak, said yes it was hard. But it was hard for them for various reasons, none of which appeared to be related to altitude. Whatever, as I ran the best I could, so I have to be at peace with it.

Again, missing Robert! 

I have no complaints about this race. Everything was well executed from beginning to end. No glitches, plenty of water stops, the finish area was great, and they had Big Sky beer! I highly recommend this marathon, but you must make your way to Glacier National Park as well.

Marathon #52: Skidaway Island Marathon, Savannah, GA, March 2019

I didn't think I was going to make it to this one. I pulled a hamstring about six weeks into training, which left me hobbling and rehabbing for another 5 weeks. My only goal was to get well, which is what a normal person's goal should be, but then I saw that damn Nike commercial with a message that spoke to me. "It's only crazy until you do it". I guess it was in the back of my mind that if  I could ramp back up and get a few long runs in I could actually run the thing,so when I saw the commercial I found myself saying, "f*ck yeah!!". Well, folks, it's only crazy until you do it...then it's just plain stupid....

Ok so onward to the race blog. In summary it wasn't the worst marathon experience ever, far from it, and I did manage to run an ok race in spite of myself, but I wouldn't recommend cramming for a marathon. Just don't do it. (you see what I did there?)

I've always wanted to travel to Savannah, so this marathon was one of my top choices for the state of Georgia. The marathon runs entirely on Skidaway Island, 20 minutes outside of town. In addition to a state park, there's a gated residential community with six golf courses, over 40 miles of trails and walking paths winding along the marshlands and lagoons of the island. Many of the streets are lined with mansions and moss covered trees. Other than the pine tree lined stretch in and out of the Ocean Science Center we would be doing a sort of clockwise loop along the island with the exception of a few out and backs here and there. The full marathon count was around 200, with twice that for the half marathon. We would all start together until the split at roughly 8 miles. There is only one hill on the entire course!

My only recruits for this trip were my trusty husband Toby and sister wife Jamie. Toby would run the half and spend the rest of his energy taking care of us, ha! We got into town with just enough time to eat a big (and late) lunch, head to Dick's Sporting Goods to get our "packets" (bib and cotton shirt only), load up on Gatorade and other "necessary items", and hit up DQ (some rituals never die) before retiring for the evening. 

don't ask

Long before sunrise we were up and  on our way to the 7:00 AM race start. We really lucked out with the weather. It was going to be a relatively cool day, with unseasonably DRY air, YES! The sun would come out in full force, but it would never get out of the 60's by race end. We were warned there wouldn't be many water stops on the course, so I carried my water bottle. As the sun began to rise we were off without a lot of fanfare down along the tree lined road.

Right away I could feel the "not quite fresh and rested" feeling in my legs. The pace I found myself settling into was slower than I had hoped. Sigh...So the initial goal was set; just try to finish under 4:30. At least now I had my answer as to what effect the lack of training would have on the race and accepted my fate.

After the tree lined road we entered "The Landings" and began our ever changing twists and turns from road to path to road again, along a residential street, out onto a wide open path with a lagoon view, back onto a residential street, onto a path along a golf course, this way, that way, on and on. I was trying to focus on the beauty of the course (It really was pretty and the houses were amazing), but was annoyed by some things. After 51 marathons you start getting picky. First of all, at what few water stops they had they were using PLASTIC cups. Noooooo!!! Why? Every stop had them. Additionally, they handed out plastic water bottles to runners, which of course littered the roads and trails along the course. If I lived at "The Landings" I would not be happy to see that. Also, restrooms...quite scarce! Occasionally I'd come across one porta potty, but they'd always have a group waiting, so I fended off stopping until I came across a somewhat hidden park restroom around mile 12 that was unoccupied. Standing in front of the mirror at the sink, messing around, I'm like "get out of here and run already"! I used to be so fast at these things!

I guess the thing that ate at me most was the lack of people once the half marathoners split off. Not only were there few runners, but there were few people AT ALL. I did see residents out walking their dogs, but other than that very few of them were outside cheering on the runners. Some of the turns were manned, and the people there were always nice, but a lot of times there would simply be an arrow. More than once I freaked out, thinking I had missed a turn because I'd find myself running quite awhile without seeing anyone else. I was very grateful to have my music with me!

Mile 16. Hey look a photographer!

I was SO happy to see Toby around mile 19! I was asking him a lot of questions about his race, how's Jamie doing, etc etc, taking every opportunity to pretend I wasn't in a race myself while I strolled beside him, until he finally prodded me to get moving again. I was still able to do math and determine I was cutting the 4:30 mark really close, so I didn't fight him on this.

There was an out and back from around miles 20-23 or so, which I welcomed. Finally, people! Right away I saw Jamie! She said she was having stomach "issues", and I knew what that meant. Ugh. She still looked strong though. Along this stretch I saw some of the "pacers" with their pace signs, and every single one of them were running alone! What's the point? Around mile 22 the 4:30 pacer flew past me at a pace I couldn't even think of matching, which really confused me and made me question my ability to add. In no time she became a speck in the horizon. At this point my spirits were good anyhow. I wasn't feeling the urge to walk at all and my music was really helping me. Especially a song I added to my playlist and doubted, "Road to Nowhere" by the Talking Heads. It ended up being so fitting!

I thought I would dread the return to the long straight tree lined road to the finish, but at this point I was sick of the paths and growing interactions with golf carts. Toby joined me near the end and asked if he could take my water bottle and I said "no, I may need it later", which made him laugh because I was literally less than a minute away from the finish line. He said it seemed like I was going to finish around 4:31, to which I argued that I had at least 5 more minutes to go.  The mind is a funny thing on mile 26...or during the .2...wherever I was...Indeed I finished at 4:31.

...just 5 more minutes to go...100 yards...

Jamie ran a 4:03 and got 4th in her age group (by 18 seconds)! Yes, that was at least one visit to the woods!!

Toby ran a 1:30 half and came in second in his age group!

I managed to get 3rd in my age group. We were awarded pins to place on the race lanyards, which was nice, and all marathon finishers got really nice towels.

There was not a lot going on at the finish line (ie no beer), so before too long we headed back to Savannah to enjoy the rest of the week-end! Savannah was a blast! So much to see and do! Would I recommend this marathon? If it had been a typically warm and humid day it would have been brutal. We haven't had time to acclimate to that kind of weather by March. Even so, the trip to Savannah was so worth it, so yes, knowing that it's a small race with very few water stops, I say yes. Just do it!

Yet another great race with these two!!