State #38, MIssissippi Blues Half Marathon, Jackson, MS, 1/27/18, Part 1

I arrived in Jackson really late on Thursday night and wanted nothing more than to absolutely crash in to my hotel bed. Which I did, and thankfully I had an amazing night of sleep.
Friday morning, I felt refreshed and after a nice breakfast of cheesy grits, poached eggs, sausage and fruit, I was ready to take on the city of Jackson.
At first glance, Jackson looks like a city that has gone through some hard times. There were quite a few boarded up storefronts/buildings near my hotel, bit it also looked like a city trying to make a comeback. The hotel I stayed in was a grand old hotel formerly known as the King Edward Hotel. It is now a Hilton Garden Inn, but the building has been restored to its former beauty. It is certainly a cornerstone in the city that is helping to revive that part of the area. Located not far behind the hotel is a new convention center which is located next to the art museum, making a really nice area to explore. The Jackson State University campus is also nearby with various university buildings peppered throughout the downtown area, so it is a nice mix of usefulness. A few restaurants were nearby as well, and they looked really good.
I made my way down West Capitol to the Marriott Hotel where the marathon expo was located. I easily found my number and collected my goody bag. A woman overheard me talking to the people at the bib number pick-up and asked where in Connecticut I was from. She and her husband previously lived in South Windsor. He works for Pratt and now works out of home down in Mississippi. She was a runner in the 50 States Half Marathon club and encouraged me to join them for dinner. As I had already made myself a reservation, I declined but thanked her. We had a nice chat recommending races to one another. I'm sure our paths will cross again. Thanks for the chat, Jennifer!

Historical Blues placard at race expo.

Blues backdrop at expo.

Blues musicians jamming out at the expo.

On I went through the expo, but I didn't really need to buy any supplies. I made it out with just a Blues Marathon sticker and a few freebies for my kids. In the hallway outside the expo, some Blues musicians were jamming out, getting the runners all jazzed up. It was fun, but I didn't stick around long. I was heading to the newly opened Civil Rights Museum in Jackson.
As I headed up Capitol Street,  I passed by some pretty interesting sights. First, I found the Governor's Mansion which was a beautiful building near the Old Capitol Building. Across the street from the Governor's Mansion was a really cool building with a clock tower on it. I'm not sure what it was, but I bet it had some kind of interesting history behind it.

Governor's mansion.

The end of Capitol Street intersects with State Street, and at the intersection was the Old Capitol Building. I wasn't originally planning on stopping there, but I had enough time, and I figured I'd give it a go.

Clock tower across from Governor's mansion.

Old Capitol Building

The building has been completely restored since it fell in to serious disrepair prior to the Civil War, and the results inside are beautiful. There were various rooms that gave the history of the building and its importance in the city. Some rooms showed exhibits such as the living quarters of "keeper of the capitol" (who was also the state librarian) and the former office of the governor. In the upper levels, I was able to visit the former Senate and House of Representatives chambers as well as the State Supreme Court chambers. All of these functions are now housed in the new capitol building, but it was interesting to view the old facilities. The House chambers were especially large and impressive and are now used to house a gallery of portraits of famous Mississippians.

Description of the Keeper of the Keys.

View inside dome.

Senate chambers. 

House chambers.

State Librarian job description.

Original state library.

On the third floor was the former State Library collection area along with some history of the first female state librarian. Women exclusively held the position after 1872. That was pretty cool to read.

WWI monument next to Old Capitol Building

After I finished my self-tour of the Old State Capitol, I walked a couple of blocks to the new Mississippi History/Civil Rights Museum. This museum just opened last month, so it is the newest place to check out. The two museums are connected, but each has separate exhibits. I bought my ticket and headed to the Civil Rights side of the museum, which was the side I was most interested in. 

Mississippi History and Civil Rights Museum.

The Civil Rights museum is set up in somewhat of a circular manner with curving spokes that are arranged chronologically around a central rotunda. The first spoke began with slavery; its history, horror and eventual repeal. The museum continued with different areas focusing on the Civil War, Reconstruction, White Supremacy, the fight for Civil Rights throughout the 50's, 60's and 70's. The exhibits included the stories of all the major freedom fighters and all the most significant events of the eras. So many times I was overwhelmed by the amazing struggle that has been fought in this country by people of color. So many parts of the museum were so poignant. One section had floor to ceiling panels, double sided, at least 5 in number listing the names and dates of death of all the people who had been lynched. Another area showed a movie about the senseless killing of Emmett Till, and his mother's decision to show his body in an open casket at his wake to show what his killers had done to him. All because he supposedly (no proof) whistled at a white woman in a store. He was 14 years old.  I learned about the freedom riders, the sit-ins, read-ins and wade-ins. Brown vs. Board of Ed was represented as were the Little Rock Nine. All the heroes and victims of the Civil Rights era were included. 
The culminating part of the museum was when I reached the rotunda. Throughout my tour of the exhibits, I could hear various songs coming from the rotunda, slave songs, protest songs, gospel songs, etc. It was background music to the exhibits and certainly helped set the scene. But as I entered the rotunda itself, I was blown away. A soft sculpture hangs from the ceiling, looking almost like a swirling ribbon. It pulses with light, changing colors and brightnesses along with the music. As I entered, a gospel choir's version of This Little Light of Mine was playing. The amazing thing about the area is that as more people enter the rotunda, the louder and more intense the music and lighting become. As I stood there and others came in, the music swelled, as if to symbolize the greater the numbers, the more powerful the movement. Surrounding the walls of the upper rotunda were the names and images of all the Civil Rights pioneers who lost their lives fighting for the cause. Wow. Just wow. 
I was so overwhelmed with emotion, I had to walk away to keep from crying. It was such an impressive and powerful experience. I wish everyone in this country could visit this museum. It is such an important piece of American history that, I think, now more than ever, needs revisiting. I was truly moved by all of it. If you are ever in the Jackson area, it is a must see. 

Mural on my walk back to the hotel.

As I walked back to the hotel, I realized that so many of the events I read about in the museum took place right in that area. In fact, the location of the Woothworth's lunch counter sit-in was only a few blocks from my hotel. So incredible. 
I walked back to the hotel by way of the race starting line. I was glad to find it was right behind my hotel by a few blocks, and I caught a glimpse of the city hall building, too. 

Jackson, MS City Hall.

I got back to the hotel and decided to head to the grocery store to get a few necessities before heading to dinner. I booked an early dinner reservation at a restaurant called the Parlor Market which was just a few doors down from my hotel. I headed there after my jaunt to the store and took a solo seat at the bar. I had a chat with the bartender about how amazing the museum had been. He asked if I was in town for the race, and I told him I was. At that point, two other women who were also sitting solo at the bar struck up a conversation with me, as they were also both running.

Placard recognizing the former location of Ace Records. Right next to my hotel.

One woman was from Atlanta (Laurie) and the other was from Durham, NC (Kate). The three of us traded stories of races. Kate, who actually grew up in Jackson, had run the Blues Half ten times! Laurie and I eagerly listened to her recount the race course so we knew what we had in store; however Laurie was running the full marathon, so she would have much more ground to cover. She was trying to finish 50 fulls by 50. So we connected on that, which was cool. I had a good meal of my traditional spaghetti and meatballs, and at the end of the meal, Kate and I walked back to the hotel together, as she was also staying there. 
I was thrilled to walk with her, as it was like having my own personal tour guide to the area. She grew up there and was able to tell me about the area around the hotel. The neighborhood is definitely in transition, but seemingly it looks like it is on an upswing. She pointed out various restaurants or former restaurants, a place where her grandfather had an office and the area where many black businesses were back during the 60's. I loved hearing all about it. 
We parted ways at the elevator, hoping we'd see each other in the morning. Off to bed for me after getting all my gear ready for the morning. Forecast was for rain in the morning, but I was hoping for it to hold off...

Absentee blogger

Gosh, I’ve really been away from the blog for some time. It is the end of January 2018, and I haven’t even posted my last November race yet! Life has been busy, but really that’s no excuse. I should’ve made time to write about running. 

As I write, I’m on a flight to Charlotte, NC and ultimately to Jackson, MS for the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon this weekend. I’m pretty excited for this run, as it has been on my “to do” list since the start of my 50x50. When I read about the Blues race, way back when, I knew it was one I wanted to do for sure. The race celebrates the tradition of Mississippi Blues music with a portion of the funding going back to that community. Very cool indeed. From what I understand, there is Blues music along the route and various events after the race that are music related. Regrettably, I’m flying home right after the race, so I won’t be able to attend any concerts, but I hope to at least soak up whatever Blues I can while I’m there. Plus, they always have really cool guitar shaped medals, so there's that, too.

Since I haven’t posted in such a long time, I should backtrack a little. Before I publish this post, I will undoubtedly post my final write up from the Halfsy in Lincoln, NE. You can read that one just prior to this post if you want. Since that race, I’ve just been doing my regular mileage, surviving the holiday season the best I could. When it was all said and done, 2017 ended up really well. I surpassed my 100 miles a month goal, which was so fantastic, considering I missed it a bit the last couple of years due to being sick around the holidays. My total mileage for 2018 was 1348.03 mi.

I also managed to map out the beginning of 2018 race-wise. Mississippi in January, Georgia in March and Indiana in June. Only two more for the second half of 2018, most likely being Minnesota and either New Orleans, California or Tennessee. The end is coming quickly. Only 13 to go as I sit here typing today, and at the end of 2018 it will be only 8 states to go.

Another really cool thing that happened just after the holidays was that I heard from Jacquelene, who was my seat mate flying home from my Nebraska race. She sent me a lovely New Years email saying that she and her niece were planning on heading to Hawaii for my 50th race and for a nice vacation, of course. What an amazing bit of news to hear! Here is a virtual stranger, who became a friend over the course of a flight, who now plans on helping me celebrate my final state race. I’m overjoyed at this news, and I can’t wait to see her again! She’s from Australia, so this is a huge commitment on her part. Thank you, Jacqueline! I can’t wait to see you in Maui in 2021!

What a wonderful journey this 50x50 has been. So many of the interesting people I’ve met are in my head and in my heart. I can’t wait to see what the next 13 states have to offer. Who will I meet? What sights will I see? What will the races be like? Only time will tell, of course, but I can’t wait to find out!

State #37, The Good Life Halfsy, Lincoln, NE, 10/29/17, Part 2

I stayed at the host hotel for the Halfsy, the Embassy Suites in Lincoln, which was a perk because shuttle buses were there bright and early race morning to bring us out to the starting line of the race. This is always key in a point-to-point race. However, if you’ve ever stayed at the Embassy Suites before, you know that their architecture features rooms that surround an indoor courtyard that spans the height of the building. The night before the race, apparently the Nebraska Cornhusker football game was on the big screen down in said courtyard, so falling asleep was difficult as I tried to drown out the screaming fans below. Didn’t these footballers know that the hotel was full of runners who had to get up at a ridiculous hour to run 13.1 miles??!! Sheesh!

After a less than wonderful sleep, I woke to my alarm at 5:30 am and took my time getting up. I warmed up my coffee and got dressed, the usual routine, but I noticed my stomach was a bit out of sorts. I figured I just needed a good egress (as this Runner’s World article calls it) and hoped it would happen before gun time.

I gathered all my gear, ate a quick oatmeal and raspberries breakfast, tossed back a second coffee, stretched and headed to the bus. I caught the 7:00 am bus without any trouble, and about 20 minutes later, or so, we were at the starting area. 

The weather was cold. Just above freezing with a light wind, so I stood behind one of the tents where they were handing out bib numbers to latecomers to help shield me from the wind. I was really happy that I had my winter running cap and gloves and a garbage bag to wear. I ended up chatting with a woman from Missouri who drove a couple of hours with her family to do this race. She more often was a full marathon runner, and we traded some stories of races we had done. Her husband and son were there with her, but they were trying to figure out how to get back to downtown Lincoln, as they had hopped on the bus with her and were now stuck at the starting line! Yikes! Not great planning.

Here I am not enjoying the freezing cold weather.

We chatted until about 8:00 am, and then thinking it a smart idea to visit the porta potty one last time, we wished each other well. Thankfully, my egress finally arrived, and I was feeling better about the thirteen miles ahead of me. I lined up around the 9 minute mile pace sign and shivered for the last fifteen or so minutes before starting. Dang, was it cold! I should be ready for this, but the weather in CT has been so unusually warm this fall, I’m just not seasoned for it yet. 

After the National Anthem played, we were off. The first part of the race was fairly quiet spectator-wise. We started out near East High School (I think) and ran some loopy streets in that area. I can’t really recall what was out there, probably because the cold air was making my eyes water, but I think it was mostly retail and commercial type streets in the neighborhood. I stopped once to use the bathroom because I could feel my bladder becoming a bother. I HATE having to stop, but as I ran by the early porta potties, I spied an open one and jumped in. It cost me a couple of minutes on my time, but I knew I'd be uncomfortable if I didn't stop.
Around miles 4-5 we came to a park where there were some bigger crowds spectating along with a dj. One cool thing at this point was that we ran alongside a pond and off in the distance I could see the state capitol building. That was pretty much where I had to run to...at least it was in sight. 
I felt pretty good for miles 5-8. The route ran through some neighborhoods and some retail areas. The road we were on was a pretty major road, and cars were still allowed on it, with one lane closed off for runners. The two-hour pacing group hadn't passed me yet (to my knowledge), which meant I was still good with my 2 hour or less finish goal. 
The next section of the run entered a corridor park of sorts. It ran along a small small brook with nice sculpted gardens and hardscapes along it. It was a pleasant area, and things were going well until suddenly I felt my running bra come unhooked! Oh no! How is it that this phenomenon is a new talent of mine??!!! Just about the time that this happened, a water station appeared, so I veered off the path and ducked behind a tall tree to try to fix my situation. My bra was a front closure, so I tried my best to reach up my shirt and re-hook it. Fortunately, the water station that I stopped at was staffed by all women (presumably from the university), so I wasn't too worried about anyone seeing me. One woman at the water table saw me ducked behind the tree and asked me if I was alright. I yelled to her that I was fine and that my bra had come unhooked. The whole table heard me, of course, and started laughing. Oh well. It could've been worse. At least I didn't poop myself.
I lost a few more minutes with the bra incident, and unfortunately, I also lost my rhythm. The next couple of miles felt slow, but I pressed on and tried to keep to my 2 hour time goal. We got to the end of the corridor park and crossed over the water and up the other side, under a bridge and on to the final bit of running. 
We ran through a small, dense neighborhood between miles 11-12 that gave way to the footbridge over to the university stadium. As I came around the corner to head up to the footbridge, an older woman (older than me) grabbed me by the arm and yelled to me "Us old ladies need to stay together!" I said back to her, "We're not old!" Geez, how old did she think I was? I had a hat on, so my grey hair wasn't even showing. Guess I was looking kinda rough at this point in the race. 
Once on the footbridge, I could see the finish line area. It was just down the ramp to the chute. I crossed the finish line to 2:01 on the finish clock, but my net time turned out to be 1:59. Just squeaked in under my 2 hour time goal! Hooray! I collected my medal and pretty much headed back to the hotel. I didn't have loads of time to hang around, as I had a rather early afternoon flight home. I will say though that the race organizers had a fantastic finish line party atmosphere going. 

Halfway finisher's medal 2017.

I got to the airport without any issues and had some time to kill before boarding. I tried to nap a little, but I didn't really work out. The flight out of Lincoln was short and my stopover was Chicago. While waiting for my next flight, I met a woman named Jacquelene in the lineup to board. She had been traveling for more than 24 hours from Australia and was enroute to Connecticut to visit her daughter, son-in-law and grandson. We chatted about Australia and about the bad weather that Connecticut was getting. I expressed my concerns about getting in to Hartford on time. The flight before ours to LaGuardia had been canceled, but luckily, our flight was still on. 
We boarded our plane and by some stoke of luck Jacquelene and I were seat mates. It was great to be able to continue our nice conversation.
When we finally got to Hartford, we said our goodbyes. A short time later as I was waiting for my luggage, Jacquelene came back to tell me that her daughter's car had broken down on route 95. The weather was vicious, with driving rain and gusting winds. What a night to have your car break down! We discussed her options of getting a cab (expensive) or Uber. She was going to try for whichever one she could get. I offered to take her to the train station in Hartford (although on a Sunday night at 9 pm I wasn't sure if any were even running...). I asked if she was sure she would be ok. She said she was. I grabbed my bag and made my way to the parking garage. 
As I got to the upstairs level in the airport, my conscience just didn't feel right about leaving this lovely woman stranded at Bradley airport. I called my husband (the traveling guru) and asked him how I might best advise her. He suggested Uber over a cab, but he also suggested that she might just want to get a hotel room. I made my way back down to the lower level to offer her this idea. I could easily drop her off at a local hotel where she'd be safe for the night without paying a fortune. I found her and gave her the new information. She had tried for Uber, but no cars were available, so she had decided to go via cab. Her daughter gave her the address they were at in Milford, CT! (Ouch!). She just wanted to get there, regardless of the cost. A very nice cab driver helped her, and she was on her way. At least I knew she would be safe and with her family after such a long day of travel. She was grateful for my concern, but really, if it had been one of my relatives stranded in another country, I'd want someone to stay with them, too.
I made my way to the parking garage and arrived home after a slow drive through the crazy rain. I ended up getting home later than I expected, but I was glad to have helped Jacquelene. It was a relief to be home and hanging out with my husband. Thank you, Nebraska, for the Halfsy experience!

Nebraska card.

As a bonus (sort of), school was canceled the next day in our town due to the wind damage and loss of power at some schools, so I didn't have to work after all. Extra day of rest for me! Woo hoo!