50 States quest update

My current count for states completed stands at 31. Not that I have fully committed just yet. I haven't joined the 50 States club, but I do follow them on Facebook. There are still 5 states that don't have any marathons that appeal to me, so I guess I'll just save them for last. At my rate I may never have to worry about those...FYI Hawaii will be the very last one if I can pull this off, and let's hope Jamie can line up her 50 state finish with mine! Time will tell.
PS: I accidentally colored in SDakota instead of NDakota.

Marathon #48: The Lost Dutchman, Apache Junction Arizona, Feb 2018

This is another marathon that's been on my "list" for years. Five years ago a group of us came to run it, but I got injured during training so only ran the first 14 miles. We had the car placed in a parking lot the night prior, so even though it was a DNF it was a planned DNF, which as I realized this week-end is a lot easier to handle then the ones you don't plan for...

I'd be traveling with Laura (LSP) and Ginna for this one, which would be great! We had a blast running Little Rock and Kansas City together.

The training went south for Ginna and I with about 3 weeks to go. Her calf was giving her trouble, and my hamstring started screaming louder and louder. Also, I got a kidney stone that wouldn't pass. When I told the urologist I was about to run a marathon in the desert he didn't even blink, so I figured it wouldn't be an issue. The stone was "only" 3mm in size and situated in my ureter. I named him Rocky. He liked my coffee, wine and wheat beer staples. He didn't hurt, but made me feel like I had to pee constantly. (I know, TMI)...

Ginna and I had a lot of conversations about being at peace with the possibility of having to drop out after we barely made it through a painful 6 mile run the week prior. I knew that I could finish if the hamstring didn't snap, and I think Ginna had the same thoughts on her calf. Still, we both reasoned that we had to at least start the race and run the first 7 miles through the Peralta trail, since this was the best part of the marathon.

There's not a whole lot to see and do in the area, so we flew in the day before the race and had just enough time to hit the expo, lunch, grocery store, check in, lay out our race gear, and go eat dinner. At dinner I started feeling sharp pain! Rocky was on the move! I thought it would subside after an hour like it had in the past, but that night I kept waking up every hour with the pain. Curled in a ball at 2:00 AM I thought this is it. I'm out. I'm not even going to be able to make it to the start! No way! I fell asleep and when the alarm went off I woke up to no more pain, just the same minor irritation as before. Whew!

We drove to the Rodeo grounds where they bused us up to the Peralta trailhead. There they had set up campfires and mats for us to wait for sunrise and the start.

Together again for yet another marathon adventure!

Luckily it wasn't raining and wasn't too cold. Last year they had pouring rain, which would have ruined the best part of this race! They had plenty of water, coffee, and porta potties for us. Quite enjoyable! I made one last pit stop with 20 minutes to go and in midstream there was a "blip", an object, and just like that Rocky was gone! After 3 weeks it came down to 20 minutes before the race!! I guess he didn't want to run a marathon! I could not believe it!! One less thing to worry about...

Beautiful backdrop as the sun came up!

There were about 300 of us assembled at the start, which was really nice. Really friendly and low key! They fired a shotgun and off we went. The first 6-7 miles were in the Peralta park on a dirt road with nothing but desert foliage around us and the backdrop of the canyon walls. Stunning scenery, but hard to enjoy as you had to watch your footing quite a bit. We were pretty close to each other in the beginning, and as I passed Ginna I asked about her calf and she was about as negative as I was about my hamstring, but we were still "in it".  For awhile we could see LSP ahead, which was comforting.

Around mile 8 I stepped off the asphalt funny and my hamstring twinged. I hobbled to the edge and thought "this is it" and that's when the whole DNF reality hit me. I was NOT at peace with it! Noooo! I could not accept it. I came all this way and passed a kidney stone for crying out loud! I'm doing this! So I soldiered on, ignoring the pain as much as I could, knowing that Ginna was behind me doing the exact same thing. It loosened up some, and as we wound through suburbs we had lots of distractions along the way. They had great water stops and friendly volunteers--just a really happy place to be.

Passing the parking lot I had dropped out at 5 years ago was surreal and unsettling at the same time. I wasn't injured back then, just under trained. Off I went into uncharted territory.

Around mile 17 I started feeling the burn in the quads to the point where I started giving in to walking. I hadn't even thought about the net downhill part of the first half of the race and the effect it would have on me, but strangely enough the quad pain took over to where the hamstring wasn't even an issue anymore. I welcomed it, even though I didn't like the idea of having to walk some. Still, I was far enough along to know that I would finish no matter what, so I was beyond happy.

Our only out and back was around 18.5 through 20.5, and it's there that I saw LSP! She was so happy to see me (and then Ginna) and know that we would finish! When I saw Ginna I told her a PW is better than a DNF, as I could tell I was getting really close to breaking my long standing PW of 4:29 (Boston 2003). Note: PW = personal worst. Ginna gave me a less than enthusiastic response, but then again responses at this point were an enormous effort.

Running continued to be more and more of a challenge. I would try all the tricks; run through this entire song, run to the stop sign, pass that person, only walk for 20 seconds...It's hard to describe how you can be in a really sucky place and yet there's nowhere else you'd rather be...the backdrop of the Superstition mountains was breathtaking. I eventually turned off my music and enjoyed the silence of the desert.

Don't get me wrong, I wanted it to end! It took all I had to run the entire stretch to the finish, but it was a glorious finish! LSP was there with hugs and then we waited for Ginna to finish! When she ran through all I could think of was BAD ASS.

Our finishing times:
LSP: 4:12
Me: 4:32 (a new PW!)
Ginna: 4:50 (PW for her too)

Strangely enough we came in 5th, 6th and 7th in our age group!
They had a great post race set up in a nice little park, but alas no beer, so before too long we made our way back to the hotel and then out for celebratory beers.

I highly recommend this marathon! Can't think of a thing to change except possibly have race apparel or souvenirs for sale at the expo. There were no glitches in any aspect of the race. Weather could be a factor. The temperature rose pretty quickly and there's zero shade on the course, but the lack of humidity helped! That whole dry heat thing...apparently it appealed to Rocky so in Arizona he remains!

Going it alone! Goodbye Rocky!

Marathon #47: St. Jude Memphis Marathon, December 2017

Fun at the start! Zelda ran part of the course!

When my corral (#4) moved to the starting line with one minute to go and they started playing AC/DC's Thunderstruck I knew it was going to be a great race. The level of energy in this race was unexpected. Memphis truly supports this race and for a good reason: St. Judes Children's Research Hospital. This marathon is their largest single-day fundraiser, since a lot of the runners committed to fund raising in addition to their entry fees. Even though there were only about 2300 full marathoners, we started with the half marathoners at over 10,000 in number! The wave starts of the corrals really helped with the initial congestion, but it was still CRAZY those first few miles through downtown with all the turns and streets lined with spectators and NOISE! You name it it was out there; bands, boom boxes (Eye of the Tiger heard twice), cow bells, including one giant Swiss bell, bagpipes, and even belly dancers moving to blaring Indian music!

Initially I had a hard time settling into a pace with all the chaos and distractions, including running down (actually up) Beale street, which was really cool, then down along the Mississippi river past the gigantic Bass Pro pyramid, and again, up and onto the St Jude Hospital grounds. Nothing could have prepared me for that experience. We ran through a gauntlet of cheering spectators, which included staff and patients of St Judes hospital. When I saw the children I started crying. They let us know that this is what this race is all about. So no matter my aggravations with the madness, this was worth it. The water stops were still crazy at mile 10 and I was growing tired of having so many people around me. When the half marathoners split off to the other side of the road I was suddenly all my myself! Running a steady pace got a whole lot easier after that. I put on the music and ran those "middle miles" on auto-pilot for awhile.

Some claim this course is hilly, but I didn't think the hills were that bad. We had a few short steep hills, but mostly long inclines here and there, which were usually followed by some nice down hills. We ran through some nice neighborhoods and the Memphis Zoo. I really enjoyed this part of the marathon. Even though we were in full sun we ran on some really nice tree lined roads for shade.

When I got to mile 20 I walked the water stop and boy did my legs feel tired. Mostly my quads. I'm not sure if this is because of the Cape Cod marathon 5 weeks ago (DUH), but it was not good. I knew things were going to go south, just wasn't sure when! So I told myself to get to mile 22 and walk the stop, which I did, then the plan was to get to mile 24 and walk that stop....at this point the course had returned to downtown and I have to say the last 5K is about as ugly and desolate as it gets. As we were approaching mile 24 runners were coming back at us on the other side of the road, but I couldn't see where they were coming from. I kept looking for a short out and back, but there wasn't one! This is where the mind went bonkers for me: "Where the hell are they coming from? Why am I turning right, away from them? Where the hell are we going? "It was the lowest point of the race for sure. That's when I found myself walking. I was getting warm (full sun no shade), but mostly my legs were pretty much done. It was a walk-run effort from there until the finish. I hate those kind of finishes, but in some way the misery shared as we all shuffled along in silence with one another was comforting.

Finally, after turns turns and more turns we entered AutoZone park to the finish line! Once inside the park they processed me really efficiently, and I managed to get a finish line photo with Elvis! I saw Toby up in the stands, so I made my way up the stairs somehow to find out he ran a freaking 3:10 marathon! AMAZING! He said we had to look for Mark to finish, which was a shock to me. I had seen him as he passed me near mile 8, so I had no idea he was behind me. He had a chest cold though, which made for a rough day for him, but he finished not too far behind me. Toby snuck Zelda into the marathon food and beer garden where we hung out for a bit before heading out to more adventures of Memphis.

Happy Finishers

In summary, a really well organized race! Even though the water stops were crazy they had enough for everyone and had more than enough total stops on the course. The wave start was great! The finish area set up, etc was great. Really, the only negative is the medal. Unfortunately they mistakenly placed the lanyard too far down the back of the medal, making it top heavy, so instead of lying flat it leans out, almost horizontal. To make matters worse the top is a round child's head, which when leaning out looks like a phallic symbol. OOPS.

Exposing my medal

Toby ended up being the 3rd Grandmasters finisher with his 3:10!
Mark ran a 4:17. I ran a 4:14, 7th in my age group. Ok enough.

We had a lot of fun in Memphis! We ventured down to Beale Street and watched a Christmas parade while enjoying a few beers, then over to the famous Peabody Hotel, then later had BBQ at Corky's, and on Sunday took a tour of Graceland before heading home. Highly recommend Graceland!

Marathon #46: Cape Cod Marathon, October, 2017

40th Anniversary!

The Cape Cod marathon has been on my list for years. Although its been rumored to be an extremely hilly course, its also stunning, with occasional shoreline stretches, one of which goes past the scenic Nobska lighthouse, inland scenery of farmlands and cranberry bogs along roads tree lined with colorful fall foliage. I've always wanted to travel to Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, and conveniently this marathon runs in the southernmost area of the Cape, Falmouth, the closest area to the ferries to Martha's Vineyard.

Our rather large group has traveled to various northeastern locations each fall, and this year we decided the Cape Cod marathon was to be our destination race. We had 16 people signed up for this trip! I managed to find a 3 story 9 bedroom, 6 bathroom house within walking distance to the race's start/finish and all the shops and restaurants along Main street of Falmouth. It was PERFECT for our group.

Originally built in late 1700's!

Up until now I was a big advocate for driving the marathon course prior to race day. Six of us out of the nine marathoners headed out to check out the course and returned to the house shell shocked. We knew the course was hilly, but we didn't know how big the hills really were. Mark had been sending us various elevation charts, one of which was the Tuesday morning hill run of 6 miles repeated 4 times. It was this chart that most closely resembled Cape Cod's elevation chart, which, as we found out, was pretty much spot on. I thought it best not to carry on to the other three marathoners about how hard it was going to be, but I couldn't hide my look of fear and sometimes dread on my face. To make matters worse, the lovely Nobska lighthouse was under renovation, hence completely covered up in plastic wrapping. Combined with the unseasonably warm and humid day it was going to be ugly, and I know ugly. I've done ugly.

The course would require some sort of survival strategy. #1, and emphasized to all, was the need to run the first 10 miles relatively flat miles EASY, saving as much as you could for the remaining 16 miles. #2 was to carry a water bottle, since the water stops were too few and too far apart, especially for the weather conditions. The hills would kick in around mile 10, and then grow steeper and longer when we entered the Sippewissett area, which we lovingly referred to as the "Shippishits". Our mantra was to survive the Shippishits. We would leave the wooden inland of hills to run along the coast a few times, grateful for the break from the hills, only to be pelted by 20-30 mph cross winds. The only saving grace was the final mile, which turned off the beach and headed back into downtown Falmouth with the wind at your back.

Of our group, 3 had ran the half marathon the day before, and again on a relay team with 4 others. (3 of them walked together for the first leg of the relay), so on marathon day we all had skin the game, which was great! Everyone was up and about that morning running around the house getting ready.

Half marathon finishers: Susan, Art, and Jedonna

The entire group ready to run on Sunday

We quickly lost each other at the start and with a loud cannon we were off! It didn't take long for the core of us who train together find each other and settle in. (Toby was gone right away of course). I was really really happy to see us all adhering to our survival strategy and staying pretty conservative during the first 10 miles. We sort of paired up and went back and forth, switching out pairs here and there. I started off with Kathy, then later Jean, who picked it up around mile 14 to join Kelly, ahead. I last spotted the two of them on a hill around mile 18, and that was the last I saw of anyone in the core group. My "strategy" was to get to mile 20 without resorting to walking (minus the stops to fill my bottle), and then take it from there. Once I got to 20 I walked a hill, and tried not to walk any more hills, but found myself doing it from time to time. I saw George at the last relay exchange, cheering and screaming so loudly people were laughing, which was welcome, and then again as he ran past. I didn't mind the relay runners as they ran past, mostly because it was a pretty rural and remote course.  Still, I enjoyed the quietness of it and never turned my music on.

I tried to take moments to look around and enjoy the scenery, but I have to say it's really hard when you're hurting! I laughed when I got to the golf course because I remembered our conversation in the car when we drove by the day prior. At that point we had seen so many hills we started making jokes about it all. We commented how here we would wish for someone to run us over with a golf cart or hit us in the head with a golf ball.  Well, no such "luck". Since I was drinking so much I got "burpy" and felt like I was going to get sick a few times, which lead to even more walk breaks. When we came out to the beach and the wind blast I noticed there were painted rocks placed along the sea wall! I was SO EXCITED to see these rocks, because they told us they'd be on the course and I had failed to see any until now. I took way too much time trying to pick out a small yet pretty rock, and then again on the second beach portion I swapped out that rock for a prettier one. Some people in our group never saw the rocks, which I found funny because at that point they were all over the place! Just another example of how hard those last miles really were...

Although physically my legs were getting less and less cooperative with running, mentally I was holding up ok and trying to just go with it and "enjoy" it as much as I could. I really wanted one of the others to come up from behind me to run with, but that didn't happen, even though it turns out we were all pretty close to each other in the end. Even when I turned on the last mile I had to walk a little. My legs were just DONE. Nearing the finish and hearing our group cheering for me was one of my favorite memories ever, even though I felt very wobbly and unsure of my footing.

An unsteady finish

Afterwards I was so dizzy I had to lie down for awhile, unable to make it to the beer tent, but my lovely husband brought the beer to me! That's true love! A few of us were in the same predicament at the finish, lying on the ground, but we all survived!!

Oh the carnage!

All together again at the finish!

My treasure

Later at the house, we celebrated and celebrated, first at the fire pit outside, and then later indoors with singing and dancing into the night until one by one we cried "uncle". As we slept hurricane force winds descended upon Falmouth, taking down trees, power lines, fences, etc. Had that happened just 24 hours earlier the race would NOT have happened!

Here is how our group fared:
(Note: PW = personal worst, or your slowest time recorded)

Toby : 3:17, 2nd place in age group, won $100! Freak!
Mark: 4:03
Kelly: 4:09
The Island of Misfit Runners: 4:09 (quite impressive)
Jean: 4:10
Laura Harvey: 4:13
Me: 4:24 (not quite a PW, but close)
Kathy 4:29
Laura SP: 4:30 (a PW! Congrats!)
Mike 4:31

In summary, this was, terrain-wise, the hardest marathon I've ever ran. We did train for hills, which helped! I'm just not sure what else one could do to prepare for this one, other than lower your expectations! Our group had a BLAST, even though we failed to make it to Martha's Vineyard, due to the high winds. Memories that I will cherish forever...

Always fun to do the day after a marathon...

The Van 2 Entity

My Van 2 teammates

We were driving to the hotel at Gold's beach to check in. A few hours prior we had crossed the finish line of the Wild Rogue Relay in Brookings Oregon, reunited with the other half of our team and the significant others that had flown in to join us, drank a few beers, ate some pizza, and shared stories of our 33 hour odyssey we had just experienced.

When I say "we" I am talking about "Van 2". We were an entity, Van 2, for we had been together for the entire 33 hours. Sure we saw our teammates (van 1) at the van exchanges when we handed off to each other to run, but for the most part it was just the 6 of us. It dawned on us that this drive to the hotel would be our last, for once we got there we would all go our separate ways with our significant others or other teammates and "van 2" would cease to exist, and to be honest it made us a bit sad. Laura, ever being the psychologist, asked us two questions; first, what was your favorite run and why (we each had ran 3 times for those that don't know how these things go), and second, what was your favorite van experience and why.

Choosing my favorite run would have seemed easy, since clearly my last run along the beach was nothing short of spectacular, especially since Laura chose to run it with me, but choosing this run over the other two runs as my favorite would totally overshadow the fact that I had broken my foot just 9 weeks prior and was lucky to be running at all! Prior to the relay I had put on a pretty good game face about the status of my foot, but the truth is I was quite nervous about being able to run all 3 of my legs. Up until the week before the relay I was pretty sure I'd have to have someone run my 2nd leg and I'd somehow hobble through the last one, but then the pain level dropped off significantly and I was miraculously able to run all of my legs with very little to no pain! I can't tell you how grateful I felt to run each one of those legs, even the creepy dark one!

What's funny is we all chose the same favorite van experience. We all decided our favorite moment was when we got kicked out of the campground. In our defense the relay handbook pointed out all the campgrounds that were along the relay route as we were making our way to the next van exchange to look for a place to crash. We had been running from about midnight until 6:00 am or so, so we pulled into one of the campground areas, drug out our sleeping bags, set our alarms for 10:00 AM and fell fast asleep. I had ear plugs in and an eye mask on because the sun was already well into the sky by then. About 2 hours into this dead-person sleep I hear this man roaring out to us from above, telling us that this was a public day camp facility for day use only and we were to pack up our stuff and leave immediately. I pulled up my eye mask, completely dazed, and said, "isn't this day time?" While he's still barking at us George realizes what's going on and quickly deescalates the situation. It's only then that I look around and realize there's a family camping about 200 yards away and we have pretty much invaded their picnic table area. So as we gathered up our stuff we started laughing at what I said, and then started saying things like "hey it's day and we used".  "I don't understand the problem sir, it's daytime", laughs laughs and more laughs, as we decided to drive down the road, pull over and get organized. We pulled into a scenic spot near a river, packed up our stuff, dumped the water out of the cooler, gathered up all the trash out of our van, brushed our teeth, washed our faces, and talked about going and getting coffee, ice,  and water somewhere down the road. At one point Doug said, "Hey I feel pretty good", and we all agreed. And this was after 2 hours of sleep! It's hard to explain how or why we were all like that, but that's how it went. We got our coffee and headed to the van exchange to meet up with the team and eventually run our last set of legs. Team energy is a very real thing!

Still funny

Marathon #32: First Light Marathon, Mobile Alabama, January 2012

This marathon was on my list because it benefited the local L'Arche Mobile, which offers community services for special needs people in Mobile, and because the course itself had good reviews on marathonguide.com. With a large, mostly looped course, it would provide a great tour of Mobile, starting off along streets lined with historic southern colonial homes with spanish moss hanging from the tree branches, then passing through the Univeristy of Southern Alabama campus and neighboring Azalea city golf course, and finally back into the downtown area to the finish in Bienville Square.

I am relaying on memory, because I never did a write up after running this one, so I don't have many details, but Toby, who was injured, followed Jamie and I along the course, so I do have a lot of photos to share. In summary we loved this marathon, although it was pretty hilly and on race day it was a bit warm and extremely humid, so it did have its challenges.

Our typical pre-race eeeeee!!

Command central, complete with mango Gatorade for us!

Early on the route

Jamie on the hills

Downhill aerial shot!

A very happy finish!

A classic, one of my favorite pics!

I did have an epiphany of sorts in this marathon that has carried me forward, and it has to do with aging and letting go of that rope...Right from the start I was trying to hold a 9:00 pace and it was a struggle. I felt myself getting angry about it and stubbornly pushing through it mile after mile until around mile 8 it hit me. If  I don't let it go, somewhere down the road things will get really ugly and I'll have a miserable experience. If I do let it go and accept whatever the clock says then I will enjoy the run as much as one can enjoy the marathon distance, through to the end. So I did it. I let go of the rope. From that moment the anger lifted and later in the race I had enough energy to power up some pretty big hills and I never resorted to walking any of the course, even though I was really feeling the effects of the weather and the hills near the end. At the finish line a special needs person from the L'Arche community put a handmade medal on my neck!

The handmade medals, priceless

Jamie loved this marathon too! She ran a 3:58 and I ran a 4:07. We both placed on our age groups, so our awards were canvas paintings from members of L'Arche Mobile!

I highly recommend this marathon, and would gladly go back to run the half if others want to go check it out!

Kudos to Toby, who knows how to take care of us!

Marathon #29: California International Marathon (Sacramento), December 2010

This marathon boasts, "The Fastest Course in the West" on their elevation map, which depicts a primarily downhill course, but the scale can be deceiving, because the total elevation loss is a mere 340 feet. That's not a screaming downhill course, as one would assume by looking at their chart. It can be a good PR course choice, but the trick is to run conservatively in the first half, where there is a lot more rolling terrain, and take advantage of the downhill on the second half, where the terrain is less rolling. Maybe this is why it seems like there's a love it or hate it feeling among runners I know who've ran it? As for me, I loved it, and it's still one of my favorite marathon experiences, but for many reasons, some of which are very subjective. I have to rely on my memory here, because apparently I never did a write up on this one, probably because it was one of those marathons where everything went right. Obviously those kind of marathons are rare, and as great as they are they don't leave me much to write about. Anyhow, here goes...

This marathon was on my list not because it's fast but because this area is one of my top considerations for retirement. It's a point to point course, starting out near Folsom Lake and finishing in downtown Sacramento just outside the state capitol. Along the way it runs through several small residences such as Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks, with farms in between. There are the occasional eucalyptus or pine trees, both of which I miss so much here in Texas.

Jamie liked my idea of heading to the Napa and Sonoma Wine Valleys after the marathon, as it's only about 45 minutes away. We would run the marathon and our guys would fly in that night and we'd hit the road the next morning.

We had near perfect race weather, 50's, no rain, although a little steamy (wet) at the start. Jamie and I separated right away and I didn't see her again until around mile 15. She was not enjoying the course as much as I was. We ran together for the awhile and we passed a band playing Ventures music. It's pre-Beach Boys surfer music and it ROCKS. Anyhow, that really got me all fired up, and I think it helped Jamie for awhile, but I lost her around mile 20 at a water stop. I found myself holding a decent pace on the last 10K. I could really feel the aid of the downhill all the way into downtown. The crowds grew along the streets as we came into Sacramento, and as we rounded the corner the capitol was in sight as we crossed the finish line. It was a great finish!

At this time I had already started slowing down in marathons, and hadn't broken 4 hours in the last 4, but was happy to run a 3:53 that day, so yes, in my opinion it was a fast course.
Jamie was not a happy camper and I think she would disagree with me about the fastness of the course, so there you go. At any rate, we had a blast afterwards!

Wine touring was sometimes painful!