August 16, 2015, Leading Ladies Half Marathon, State #23, SD.

I awoke before the alarm went off, which in a way is good because then it didn't wake up my sleeping family, but it also meant even less sleep for me, which is the bad part. I was bleary eyed at 3:09 am, but I began my morning pre-race routine nonetheless. I kept most of my doings outside in the hallway to avoid making too much noise in the room. So there I was, doing sun salutations, stretching, rolling my legs with my stick roller, drinking coffee and prepping my breakfast to take along on the bus ride. My stomach just wasn't ready for food that early, and since the race didn't step off until 6 am, I'd also be starving at gun time if I ate too early. 

The Leading Ladies Marathon & Half Marathon is an all women's event hosted in Spearfish, SD. It features a downhill course in the beautiful Spearfish Canyon there. The race director, Elaine Doll-Dunn lives and runs in the area and wanted to share her beautiful country with other women. She is an accomplished runner and cancer survivor. Not to mention very fashionable. I caught a glimpse of her at 4:30 am at the second bus stop and she was all decked out in rhinestone cowgirl attire. She totally rocks!

Pre-race photo in the dark at the drop off point on the canyon.

I left the hotel around 4 am to walk across the street to the host hotel where buses were loading to bring runners to the start of their respective races. Marathoners started atop Spearfish Canyon, while half-marathoners started 13 or so miles downhill from there. It was dark when we boarded the buses. I sat near the front in a seat by myself trying to prepare my mind for the race. I spied Fiona getting on the bus and called her name. She ended up sitting with me, and we had a great chat on the ride out. We couldn't believe how early this race started (the earliest one to date for both of us). Since the course was on a main road and was remaining open to traffic, we figured that the race directors wanted us on the road (and off of it) before the busiest traffic hours started up. We exited the bus at a small pull off on the side of the canyon road. About a dozen porta-potties greeted us, and maybe a couple of hundred runners, all women. It was a small but hearty group. 

Fiona and I fell in to conversation with some other women. One was from South Dakota where the largest corn palace was located; the other was from Nebraska. We all traded stories about our racing travels. It was interesting to find out that in the Dakota area, very few races are available. I guess they are just hard to come by because of the lack of larger cities and towns and running organizations. I was really surprised by this, as in this region there are large numbers of walking/hiking/biking trails and outdoor activities. In fact, my husband and I noticed the lack of overweight people around. Most of those who were overweight were clearly tourists.

View from the starting line with the first light of day on the canyon.

As we all chatted away, the sun began to appear and awaken the canyon with a gorgeous glow. It reminded me of my canyon race in Utah. Stunningly beautiful. The race stepped off on time, and the downhill nature of it was lovely. The hill wasn't so steeply angled as to make for difficult footfalls, but rather it made for a nice lively pace. The views were gorgeous, and after the first few miles, I began to count the (presumably) Indian caves in the canyons. It was like playing I-Spy all along the way. 

Cars courteously gave us shoulder space, and some cars spent time following their runners. One large black pick-up truck was among that group, and unfortunately it belched out nauseating exhaust all along the route as it passed by and sat idling at various pull-off spots along the way. Yuck! But really, that was the worst of my troubles. I was keeping a nice steady pace, but I wasn't killing myself. After all, I had another half marathon to run in 6 days! 

This was the first all women's half marathon I'd run, and it really was lovely. Although the participant stream was sparse along the way, everyone who either passed me or who I passed gave each other words of encouragement. As I neared the end of the canyon and began the last couple of flat miles, I had counted 11 caves, and carried a big smile in my heart as I approached the end where my family would be waiting for me.

Just past the bridge and on to the finish!

Getting closer... 

Waving to my peeps!

The last little bit of the race entered a public park and campground. We approached the finish line along a paved walking path that wound through the camping area, over a bridge and on to the finish line. I saw my husband and girls from a distance and started waving to them as I got closer. Some fine young fellows staffed the finish line area where I received my medal, a red rose and a lovely chilled, lemon scented damp facecloth. How fancy! After crossing through the finish area and catching my breath a bit, I learned that I finished 4th in my age group and 23rd overall, just missing a trophy by one place. But that was ok, as my official time was 1:47:19, my fifth-fastest time ever for me. Not bad for not killing myself. 

Finally finished.

Finisher's spoils: red rose, cool face cloth and blinking medal. Say what??!!

I met up with my family after I took a few moments to catch my breath and cool down. We walked over to the playground where they spent the morning waiting for me. It was cute and had plenty of things for them to climb, hang on, bounce from and walk on. We snapped a couple of photos there and then meandered along the paved walking trail behind it that ran along the river. It was a pretty park and a nice spot to host the end of the race. Before long, we went on our way back to the hotel so I could shower up. I grabbed a more substantial breakfast back at the hotel and then we jumped in the car and headed for the badlands. 

My stomach was giving me some grief post race which is never a good sign. As one of my running friends once told me, the GU makes you poo. Sometimes that is true, and this seemed like one of those times. My patient husband made some pit stops along our way for me to take care of business, but it was looking like our idea of hiking the badlands might not work out too well.

My wonderful cheering squad.

Family silliness at the playground.

We arrived at the Badlands National Park and couldn't believe how amazingly beautiful it was. I always thought the badlands were some kind of big desert; really they are like mini-Grand Canyons all around, with more muted colors. It was otherworldly to look out on the scenery. It felt like we were looking out on the landscape of the moon or something. Its beauty is incredible. We stopped at the first overlook and took some photos and then continued along the road that winds through the park. 

The first views of the badlands we encountered.

Desolate beauty.

Yikes!

Family shot.

Next we stopped at the visitor's center, where I spent some quality time in the loo. My husband and girls did some exploring and rock climbing in my absence. I was sad to miss out, but I had to take care of my stomach which took awhile. When I finally got to a better place physically, we hopped back in the car to continue our drive through the expansive park. It was just spectacular everywhere we looked. The landscape changes from moment to moment in the badlands. It is hard to explain. We spied pronghorn, prairie dogs and bison along the way. We sure were a LONG way from home! We were all just so enthralled with the landscape in South Dakota. It was far beyond our expectations. 

Off to rock climb!

Another gorgeous view.

Pronghorn.

Views along the drive.

Bison herd.

We took our time winding along the roads in the national park, enjoying moment after moment of the extreme beauty all around us and getting out from time to time to get a closer look at things and take photos. We concluded our drive through Badlands National Park and headed back to our hotel so the kids could swim for a little while in the pool which featured a curvy waterslide. That was fun! That night for dinner we found a great local pizza shop called Dough Trader in Spearfish. My stomach was finally back to normal by then, and the pizza tasted wonderful. It was a great end to a great day. 

Thank you, Spearfish and Leading Ladies for a fabulous race! Thank you South Dakota for some amazing scenery. We never would have visited this area if it weren't for running. 

Race number, shirt, medal & rose. Cowgirl up!

South Dakota, Part 1

We left for South Dakota on Friday morning (8/14) and landed in Rapid City. Our first hotel was about an hour from there in Spearfish where my race was to take place on Saturday, August 16th. Spearfish is located in the Black Hills region of South Dakota, and there are several nearby points of interest. We arrived pretty late on Friday night, so we pretty much just hit the sack so we could start fresh on Saturday. 

We decided to go check out Mount Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument on Saturday morning before I picked up my race number. We headed though the beautiful Black Hills out to the Mount Rushmore monument, passing through quaint touristy “wild west” towns along the way. We traveled along the windy road that leads up to Rushmore, and suddenly, we caught a glimpse of the presidents! As we got closer, we realized the magnificence of the monument.

First glimpse of Rushmore from the car!

Getting closer...

It is really so strange to see Mount Rushmore in person after seeing it in books and photographs for your entire life. It seems surreal and unbelievable, but there it is. We parked and walked up to the entrance of the park, and I have to say, it is really impressive. A large stone gate marks the entrance and once inside, a gallery of pillars flanked by all of the flags of the states lines the walkway. On each pillar the name of the state and its date of statehood is listed, as well as its numerical order of entry in to the union. 

It was a very warm, beautiful day with picture perfect skies, and the white of the granite statues contrasted beautifully. What an amazing work of art for Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln, to have envisioned and created. The park is circled with a boardwalk trail that winds around the area providing many wonderful viewing angles. We loved soaking it all in. It is really cool to see how the perspective of the statues changes as you move around. 

Majestic view from the main balcony.

Future great Presidents?

Nostril view angle.

Rushmore selfie.

Silly fun in front of Mt. Rushmore.

Also of note, when you put your back toward Mount Rushmore and look out in the opposite direction, you have a gorgeous view of the South Dakota landscape, and wow, is that spectacular, too!

Our next stop was for lunch in Keystone, a wild west themed town. We ate at the Ruby House which is an old time saloon-feeling restaurant. It was filled with old west artifacts and artwork, and was certainly part of the experience of being in this part of the country. We walked around the town a little bit and shopped for a few souvenirs before hitting the road to Crazy Horse.

Keystone billboard.

The Crazy Horse monument is also impressive, although you can’t really get up close to it like you can at Mount Rushmore. Because it is an active construction site, you aren’t allowed to walk out to it from the parking lot. We got a great view of the monument in progress from the parking lot. A lovely welcome center and Indian Museum of North America are on site, and we spent some time there admiring the beautiful creations of the Native Americans.

Although Crazy Horse is still a work in progress, it was interesting to see. I thought it was cool that my little ones were able to see it under construction, as someday they may be able to come back with their families and visit it when it is complete. 

Crazy Horse Memorial.

After we left the Crazy Horse site, we headed back to our hotel. The hotel across the street from ours was the host site of the running expo and packet pick up. I went in and got my number, swag bag and nailed down a few last minute details like where the finish line was for my husband and kids to pick me up. It only took a few minutes, and then we were off again. 

We found a local mom and pop type restaurant for dinner in Spearfish called the Bayleaf Cafe. The restaurant boasted a slight Middle Eastern influence, but they also had several American and local cuisine dishes on their menu as well. We chose this restaurant for its fresh, made to order cooking and non-chain affiliation. It was a great meal. The girls and I all ordered spaghetti and meatballs. Perfect for pre-racing. 

As we dined, two women entered the restaurant and sat at the table next to us. I overheard them telling their waitress that  they were running the race the next day, so before we left I stopped to talk to them. One of the women, Liz (from Ohio) was running the full marathon in her quest of marathons in all 50 states. The other woman, Fiona (from South Dakota) was running the half. We chatted for a few minutes about our goals and wished each other well. It was back to the hotel to get ready for the morning and bed.
I had a feeling sleep wouldn't come easily for me, as I had some nervousness about having to get up at 3:30 am to catch the 4:15 am shuttle bus to the start of the race. Ugh! But to make matters even worse, just as we were all trying to fall asleep, my oldest daughter's tooth fell out! Now I had to worry about the tooth fairy coming after we all fell asleep! OH GOODNESS! And to top it all off, our tooth fairy has a creative side and likes to origami her dollar bills, which I'm sure takes some research and preparation. Wonderful. Goodbye early to bed. By the time I finally fell asleep it was past midnight, and I awoke a few times for bathroom breaks, too. Not much rest, but so be it.

A Running Vacation

My family is awesome. They allow me to indulge my crazy running habit, and as a result, they experience the lucky side effect of sometimes traveling to the various states with me. Last year, we took our summer vacation to Washington and Oregon. I ran in both states, and we visited with friends and family while we were out there. It was a great trip for all of us. 

This year, summer vacation again included races for me. I love having my family at the finish line of my half marathons, cheering me on, but these “running vacations” are not without their difficulties. First, there is the responsibility of packing for an entire family for the trip. I need to make sure everyone has their clothes, shoes, bathing suits, hair necessities, creature comforts, books, art supplies, coats, socks, etc. It isn’t just making sure I pack my GU and Rock Tape and running gear (which is hard enough on its own). 

Next, there is the issue of getting a good night's sleep prior to the race. I hardly ever sleep well the night before a race, but with the whole family in the room, it is even more difficult. I worry about waking them up early in the morning as I leave, I get hyper-sensitive to everyone’s breathing/snoring (although my ear plugs help with that), I tiptoe through my trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night hoping no one hears me and wakes up, and as much as I adore snuggling with my little ones, a tiny little body smushed up against me for the night isn’t exactly conducive to a sound sleep. 

Family vacations, of course, involve all kinds of activities…swimming, sight-seeing, walking, hiking and lots of eating out. All of that stuff is loads of fun, but sometimes it is really tiring (when two races bookend the trip) and all the good restaurant food makes me feel heavy, not exactly the best way to feel before a race. 

But the family running vacations come with great benefits, too. Having my spouse and kids there with me rids me of loneliness unlike when I am on my own for a race. They are silly and happy and cuddly and energetic which is all really good for mental fortitude. They get to experience the same cool places that I do, and we make fabulous memories. We laugh and relive our favorite moments “on the road.” It is pretty terrific to have a gang to do that with. Most of all, it is so lovely at the end of the day to have a hug and an “I love you.” It is like being at home even when you are far away from home. Bring on the running vacation!

The Fan Club (in my mind)

This morning while I was out for my run, my friend Maureen drove by and gave me a wave. I love when I see folks I know while I’m out running around town. I have several different regular routes that I run, so on any given day I see the same people around. For those who give me a wave, I’ve come to affectionately think of them as my fan club.

Now, of course, there is my actual fan club at home, my husband and my kids who always cheer me on and often attend the races I run to meet me at the finish line. There are family and friends who have come to my races to cheer me on or who have met up with me on a race location just to hang out. (I love that!) There’s my weight watchers group who clap for me each time I report back to them that I’ve finished another race and the Losing with Lucy ww forum I visit on Facebook who cheer me on. There are my extended family and friends who send me all kinds of support, good vibes and cheers when I post my results to Facebook. But then there are the people who are there on my daily runs giving me a cheerful wave or a beep of their car horns. The list grows larger all the time, and I don’t always even know who everyone is, but I am so grateful for their small gestures, as they help so much to give me a smile as I run each mile.

My favorite fan club members enjoying lunch with me after my race in Olympia, WA.

In no particular order (and certainly not an exhaustive list), I wish to call out and thank the farmer at the tree farm I run by, Jack the fire chief in my district, my neighbors Ashley and Jamie and Carolyn and Shirley and Karen and Dave and Julie and Mike, my co-worker Kristen who beeps from her cute little red car (and other colleagues who occasionally spy me), Charlie at the funeral home who yells for me to “pick up the pace," Carl and Bobby and Mark and Ed from  the public works department, Tommy and Julie who I ran in to a couple of weeks ago, Fr. Melnick, Mrs. Mongillo and Ms. Surapine and some of the parents from my daughter’s school, Mrs. Hoginski who yelled to me one day, Mr. Art Potter who drives a huge dump truck sometimes, my brother, my mom who likes to yell “run, Forrest, run,” the firefighters from the Hazardville Department, my running buddy Scott, my pal Pat, Rachel who recognized me from my blog at a recent 5k, families from my girls’ gymnastics school, the Yarums, the ladies who walk their dogs in my neighborhood, Penny the farmer around the corner from my house, Mrs. Kosa, the Magic Carpet bus driver(s), and all the random drivers who give me a wave when I wave to them for giving me a wide berth on the side of the road as they pass by. 

Additionally, I also thank all the folks who read this blog. I consider you fans to some degree as well. I most especially love to look at the "stats" page of Blogger which tells me where you are viewing me. Here's a virtual high five to the readers in the UK, Spain, France, Ukraine, Australia, Ireland and sometimes Russia and Asia. It is fun to realize that the world really is a little place. I'd love to hear of your running adventures, too. Feel free to comment & share or tell me your blog address so I can become a member of your fan club. 

So thank you to all my fans, near and far, friends and strangers alike. You are tremendously appreciated! Your kindnesses help put a little extra lift in my step when I’m out hitting the pavement. 

Hi-ho, hi-ho, off to Idaho

I left early Thursday morning, June 11th for Idaho Falls, Idaho. Yup, Idaho. My cousin Andrew joined me for this trip, and we met up at the teeny-tiny Idaho Falls airport. He was already there as I was landing, and he texted me while I was still in flight to let me know he was enjoying some local Idaho potato french fries at the airport while he waited for me. I was instantly jealous. Because, of course, Idaho is all about the potato.

I found him quickly, as the airport is smaller than my local grocery store, and we headed off to get our rental car. We decided we would skip checking in to our hotel at first to instead pick up our race packets a few towns away in Rexburg, where the official race took place. That would leave us all day Friday to do what we wanted.

Thanks to the wonders of GPS, we easily found the Rexburg City Hall and retrieved our numbers, t-shirts and other goodies. The set-up was well-organized, and the volunteers were very helpful with our questions. My main question related to the elevation of the course. Seeing as the race was dubbed the Teton Dam Half Marathon, my concern was that we’d be tackling some kind of foothills of the Teton Mountain Range. I prefer knowing what to expect when it comes to hills, and the race website only profiled the elevation for the full marathon, not the half. The man I spoke to let me know that there was one major hill that started at mile 5 and ended at mile 8. A three. mile. hill. But, here’s the fun part…as one of the awards of this race, they take special timing marks at the start of the hill and end of the hill. The male and female racers who run up the hill the fastest are dubbed the king and queen of the hill and each win a cash prize. Now that’s incentive to keep moving! He said after that big hill the course was “rolling” hills until about mile 10 where it was all downhill to the finish. Ok, I guess I could deal with that. It sounded better to me than the sadistically placed humongo hills that show up notoriously at mile 11 in half marathons. Tackling hills when you are fresh is certainly preferable, and at least I had a downhill finish to look forward to.

We left packet pick up and went to our hotel to check in. We stayed about a half hour away from Rexburg in Idaho Falls. 

View of Snake River, river walk and temple from our hotel room.

Our hotel overlooked the Snake River and the lovely riverwalk that runs along it. It was a beautiful view, and we had a small balcony we could sit on to enjoy it. We were both pretty tired from our long day of travel, so we decided to just have dinner at the hotel that first night. We opted to sit on the patio off of the restaurant/lounge area, and luckily we had it all to ourselves. We shared some wine along with dinner and had a great time catching up with each other, as we hadn’t seen each other in quite awhile…I think not since November of last year! It was early to bed for both of us after that.

Friday morning I awoke from a sound, solid and wonderful night of sleep. I love it when that happens on a trip. I woke up earlier than Andrew and got myself together. I snuck out of the room to give him time to sleep in and just relaxed in the lobby area of the hotel enjoying coffee and the newspaper. Andrew joined me an hour or so later, and we had breakfast. Then it was off to explore Idaho Falls. First we just drove around a little to see what was nearby. There was a fair amount of retail along with some residential areas. We then drove to the Museum of Idaho to take in the exhibits. 

Museum of Idaho

The museum was hosting the “Real Pirates” traveling exhibit which chronicled the history and eventual demise of the Whydah pirate ship, the wreck of which was discovered off the coast of Cape Cod. It was a pretty cool exhibit to see, as it featured many artifacts found in the wreck including coins & pieces of eight, utensils, plates, buckles, buttons, weapons and other items. The museum also featured some history of the local area including some connections to the explorations by Lewis & Clark, the significance of the nuclear industry in the local area, and a replica of a 1800’s era “downtown main street” back when the town was originally named Eagle Rock. It was a fun way to spend our morning. We were glad to have visited.

For lunch we found a cute little cafe nearby called the Snakebite Cafe. I ordered shrimp tacos with Idaho fries (yay!) and Andrew ordered a veggie burger with fries. I also tried a local microbrew which was very tasty. The cafe was cozy with indoor and outdoor seating. Local art hung on the walls and was available for purchase. I love when places do that. We had a swell lunch and then decided to take a drive following the signs that indicated the “green belt” district.

We headed out of town and in just a couple of miles, we were surrounded by farmland as far as the eye could see. It seemed that some farms grew potatoes while others grew wheat or some other kind of grassy crop. 

Farmland views.

Big sprinkler.

Wild terrain in farm area.

Farm crops.

The huge sprinkler systems on wheels were everywhere. There was a real kind of desolate farm beauty to it all. It was very green, indeed. We pulled off the road to take a few photos before heading back to the hotel to relax a bit. 

We chilled out for a little while and then took a walk along the Snake River walk behind our hotel. Literally steps away from our hotel were the falls of Idaho Falls. 

The falls of Idaho Falls.

It was a pretty sight. We walked along the path a bit longer, admiring some of the artistic benches that lined the way. It was a popular area for walkers, runners, bikers, skateboarders, and kids on scooters. And geese. 

Riverwalk views. 

Geese!

Snake bench on the Snake River.

Our next adventure brought us out to the site of the Teton Dam for which our race was named. In 1976, shortly after the dam was completed, it was breeched, destroying several towns in its wake. Eleven lives were lost in the tragedy, and the dam was never rebuilt. You can learn more of the history here. 

Remains of Teton Dam. 

Eerie desolation.

Looking downstream at Snake River beyond dam site.

Dam selfie.

The dam site was so desolate and quite eerie. The Snake River runs through the area, and a large land mass sits in the middle of the section where the dam once existed. You can see the evidence of the two man-made sides of it on either side of the river valley. I couldn’t help but feel the magnitude of the history that happened here. There is a strong sense of ghostliness there. Along with that, there is graffiti in a few spots, most likely marking the proof that some partying takes place there among the young crowd. We didn’t stay long, as we had to get to the pre-race potato dinner, but we were glad to have visited this historic site.

It was back to Rexburg for the dinner, and after a minor snafu regarding which school the dinner was being held at, we found our place. We arrived just in time to hear the race director provide all his last minute announcements. One bit of information that came out of the Q & A portion of his talk was that the half marathon only had a total of 192 runners registered. 192. Total. That means it would be the smallest half marathon I’ve ever run in. Right away my nerves started freaking out. What if I came in last because everyone in Idaho practices running in the mountains and is faster than me? What if I run so slowly that I lose sight of anyone in front of me and can’t figure out which way to go. What if...

Potato bake dinner.

The pre-race dinner featured baked Idaho potatoes (so cute!)  along with some toppings. I was so looking forward to this part of the weekend, as I thought it was genius to have potatoes to “carb up” rather than pasta. When in Idaho… However, I ended up being a little disappointed with the offerings available. I guess I am just too used to how I doctor up a potato at home. I usually use lots of fresh veggies, some healthy caramelized onions, salsa, black beans, low fat dressing or sour cream, jalapeños, etc. I was looking forward to some creative and delicious toppings. I made the best of what was available, which for me was some beef & bean chili to top my potato along with a fairly bland side salad with ranch dressing. Other toppings available were broccoli & cheese sauce, some kind of creamy/meaty dressing (not sure what it was), sour cream & butter. Not exactly the “toppings bar” of my dreams. I didn’t want any of the creamy stuff, as I don’t usually eat that way, and I didn’t want to make my stomach get all crazy before the race. Plus, my stomach was already a little gassy from the beer and french fries from lunch (also stuff I don’t usually eat…). I was getting worried that this might be a disastrous G.I. trouble situation. So I did my best at the potato dinner to keep it straight up. I didn’t even partake in the brownies for dessert. 

Back at the hotel, we prepared our gear for the morning and turned in somewhat early. Andrew was earlier to bed than I. I turned the lights out at 9:30 pm, but had a restless and fitful sleep.  Partly because of the gassy stomach and partly because of the 192 runners info. I hate when that happens the night before a race!