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!

5K Fever!

Yesterday my daughter and I ran a 5K in our town at a local elementary school. 'Tis the season when 5Ks are sprouting up like grass...they are everywhere and are a terrific way to have fun, get some fitness and support worthy causes. Yesterday's race, the HMS (Hazardville Memorial School) 5K caught my attention because the race director, Scott, is a running buddy of mine here in town. He was on hand to support the race my daughter's school held last year, so it was the least we could do to support his efforts at his kids' school. 
Scott did a fantastic job as race director. Everything was well publicized and organized. We decided to walk to the starting line of the race from our house (only about a mile from where we live) so we wouldn't have to deal with parking. It was a perfect morning, overcast and pleasant without too much heat. We arrived at HMS and picked up our numbers and goody bags. We were pretty early, so we just relaxed in the back yard of the school near the playground area. My daughter was more than happy to have a new playground to try out. There were plenty of volunteers around to help out with everyone's questions. After a couple of quick bathroom stops for us, we were ready to run! 
One fun thing that occurred prior to the start of the race was that I got "recognized" by someone who recently read my blog! That was really cool. So I made a new friend in Rachel (Hi Rachel!), and we chatted a bit about how fun running is. She had a friend in tow who was running her first 5K. We had a lovely pre-race visit, and Rachel was kind enough to snap a photo of my daughter and I prior to the start of the race. 

Pre-race photo of us taken by Rachel.

Finally, it was time to begin, and all the 5Kers were directed to the starting line. I had to laugh that my little 7 year old was front and center, adamant that she toe the line. My little competitor! On the starting command, she took off like a shot and was the frontrunner of the race until we exited the school's driveway and turned on to our first sidewalk. So awesome! She was doing great and running strong. I knew we wouldn't keep up her fast pace for too long, but I knew we'd likely best our previous 5K time that we ran a year and a half prior. 

Toeing the line.

The race route took a couple of turns through area neighborhoods and returned back to the school parking lot where there was a water stop, then we were out for a second loop before finishing. My little buddy and I ran most of the time, but we took walk breaks whenever she needed to catch her breath. Many of the other runners provided us with encouragement along the way. One person even told my daughter that she was a "rock star" for her running ability. That comment went a long way in keeping her motivated to the finish. Thanks to all the runners who gave us some kind words along the way.

My little runner looking strong on the route.

When we got to the driveway of the school, all we had to do was run through the parking lot and then back in to the back area of the school where the finish line was. I encouraged my daughter to pick up the pace to finish strong, and she did! As we came across the finish line, everyone was cheering for her and even shouting her name. How they knew her name, I have no clue, but it was a kick that she had such a terrific fan base. As we crossed the finish line, I checked our time on my Strava app, and we finished in 34 minutes! We crushed our previous 5K time of 49 minutes, improving it by 15 minutes! A new PR for my little runner! I was so proud of her!
We walked to the recovery area for cold waters and some fruit snacks for her. We had a great race and now could bask in the glory of finishing. We chatted with some of our running friends who were at the race as we waited for the results. The first male and female finishers were recognized and then the participation medals were handed out. It was a great morning. On our way out of the school, we stopped to chat with a few 169 runners. These are folks who work on running races in each of Connecticut's 169 towns. I thought it was awesome that this little school race attracted them. Kudos again to the race director for all the publicity. We had a nice leisurely walk home, which was a perfect way to cool down. 

Rosy-cheeked 5K finisher!

On our walk home we talked about how fun the race was for us. We also decided for sure we'll be back for it again next year. I can't wait.

Sweet, sweet spring running

Newly budding tree

The sweetness of spring running is one of the loveliest, most uplifting feelings a runner can experience. I have been enjoying the terrific spring running weather here in Connecticut lately. Spring was late to come, but now that it is here, it is just perfect. Things are budding and bursting out all over. We’ve had a couple of steamy days lately, but mostly the temperatures have been moderate and the skies filled with sunshine and happy clouds. I had the extreme pleasure a few weeks ago of trying out a new running route. It was the first weekend of May and the local kayak/canoe race was taking place that day. I opted to run near the river route to check out the goings-on. Not much was happening as I passed by because I was running early and the finishers hadn’t come down the river to the finish line yet. The terrific thing though was that the road was shut down to traffic, leaving a lovely, winding country road all to me. This road is hilly and cars tend to fly down it and around the swerving corners, so it can be treacherous for runners, walkers and bikers. But not this morning. It was all mine, and it was spectacular! I almost didn’t even mind the major hill leading up to the Collins Creamery. Almost. 

"Flocked" front yard along the way

I continued along the route and decided that the day was too gorgeous to ignore. I took out my cell phone so I could document the beauty around me. Trees were blooming, flowers were sprouting up everywhere, and I couldn’t help but smile with every footfall. I don’t normally hold my cell phone while running, let alone take photos, but I decided to break that rule for this day. Included in this post are the photos I took along the way that day. Much of the area is a residential neighborhood, but some farms still exist, too. The views were just lovely all around. 

Farm vista

I encountered some other runners as I got to a paved walking/biking path in my town. It was great to see other folks out getting their daily dose of sunshine and fresh air. Flowers were sprouting along the path as well as one of my favorite signs of spring in this neck of the woods: skunk cabbage! The paved running path features a large downhill followed by the requisite large uphill. Again I didn't mind. I just kept plugging, bounding along on my merry way.

Daffodils on the paved path.

Even the dandelions looked cheerful!

Substantial downhill portion of path.

Followed by uphill...reduce speed, indeed!

Farm tractor along the way.

Skunk cabbage.

Next, I passed by our local middle school where a huge line of traffic was backed up. I yelled hello to a friend as I ran past the stopped cars. It was fun to know that I was going faster on foot than on four wheels! As i finished up the last bit of my run, I encountered a house that was being renovated by a local charity group. What a perfect day to be volunteering on a house project. Happy emotions were everywhere! 

Flowering tree in front of middle school.

Home improvement in progress.

Tobacco barns and happy clouds near my house on the homestretch.

Spectacular forsythia hedge!

As I think about my other springtime runs recently, I think about the luscious scent of the lilacs I pass in the tree farm I run by. I think about the high school athletes on the track, baseball and softball fields I pass. I think about the gorgeous horse farms and distant hills I see on one of my routes. I think about how lucky I am to have all this beauty and and expansiveness around me. I try not to think about the headless doll that was on the sidewalk where I was running the other day. Yikes!

Creepy headless doll on the sidewalk. 

Spring is special. I’m convinced it is the best time of year to run. Soak it in! I sure am. 

Happy running shadow selfie!

April 18, 2015, Garmin Half Marathon in the Land of Oz, State #21. KS

I left for Kansas City on Friday, April 17th pretty early in the morning. My husband was still on a business trip in Las Vegas, so my mom helped out by getting the kids through their morning routine and off to school. Thanks, mom! My flight left BDL at about 8 am and traveled without incident, delivering me in Kansas City, MO by early afternoon. 

After a longer than necessary snafu at the airport Starbucks, I was on the bus to the rental car facility, and from there, on my way to Olathe, KS. I chuckled to myself as I set up the Garmin GPS in the rental car, as the main sponsor of the half marathon in the Land of Oz was Garmin. 

Sweet note from my daughter. I packed it in my suitcase to bring along.

The ride from the airport in Missouri to Olathe, KS was easy, and I crossed over the natural border of the two states, the Missouri River. The scenery around was largely suburban, featuring many shopping plazas along the way. When I arrived at my hotel in Olathe, more of the same surrounded me. As far as the eye could see there were retail stores and restaurants. I wasn’t really expecting Kansas to look like that, but at least I had plenty of options around for food and necessary supplies. 

Welcome witch!

The hotel I stayed in was also the host hotel for the marathon expo, so I was able to pick up my number as soon as I arrived before checking in. The expo was very small and took up the lobby area of the hotel. Cardboard cutouts of the Wizard of Oz characters were displayed, and the mood was festive. I got my number and t-shirt, which is one of the cutest race shirts ever! It shows a silhouette of Dorothy running away as she is chased by a flying monkey. The same design that was used on the half marathon medal I saw on line earlier in the week. Cool.

Dorothy and Toto

Lion, Tinman and Scarecrow

For dinner that night, I carbed up at a nearby Italian restaurant called Zio’s. I had my usual pre-race meal of spaghetti and meatballs, and it was terrific. I ended up staying up later than I should’ve, watching the Weather Channel in my hotel room. They were reporting on extreme thunderstorms in Texas that were causing all kinds of issues including severe lightning strikes, hail and tornado conditions. And they were heading to Kansas. Lovely. Now, I know race organizers like their race themes to be cohesive, but an actual tornado on Wizard of Oz marathon day was probably not what they were hoping for. I didn’t sleep so well that night. 

I was up at 4:30 am to begin my pre-race routine and catch the shuttle bus to the start of the race. Fortunately, it wasn’t raining yet, and the morning weather forecast indicated that the rain would likely hold off until midday. On the ride to the race, the bus driver told us that some of the roads we would be running on were actually part of the wagon trails that once brought settlers to the west. He explained that Olathe had been a major post for trading of goods and resting horses for the wagon trains. I thought that was a pretty neat connection with history. I couldn’t help thinking that Olathe is still a post for goods with all of its retail. 

View of starting line. Note the incoming clouds.

The race stepped off on-time at 6:45 am from the Garmin headquarters. I lined up with the 1:50 pace group, thinking that since my last two weeks of running hadn’t been all that strong, I’d not push it too much and try for a faster time. We took off, and I felt great to start, so I actually ended up aligning myself with the 1:45s and did my best to stay with them. 

Starting line selfie

Pacing group signs

The race was largely residential. We ran on some fairly major roads, but then turned in to some quiet, really pretty neighborhoods. The houses were mostly modest, but all of them were kept very nicely. A sprinkling of spectators were along the route, but largely things were quiet. I was able to continue my pace with the 1:45 group until about mile 7 or 8 at which point they pulled away. My starting goal was to finish with the 1:50s, so I didn’t mind or put any pressure on myself. 

We ran past a really pretty cemetery and up the largest hill at about mile 5. We passed some industrial areas and crossed over a bridge that spanned the train tracks where a coal train was passing along beneath me. I have never seen that while running before. At one point we passed a small street sign along one of the main roads we were running on that indicated it was the intersection where the Santa Fe, Oregon and California trails met. A bit later in the race, we passed a monument to the wagon train settlers.

The course featured more hills than I thought it would, but they weren’t huge, although I could feel myself losing some steam in the later miles of the race. With a few miles left to go, the route entered Indian Creek Park for a stint through a wooded area on a paved biking/running trail. The scenery here was lovely and helped keep my mind off of my fatigue. This was the nicest section of the race. I was also starting to feel blisters on my right heel. Maybe running without socks wasn’t such a great idea after all. 

I fell in to stride with a woman the last few miles of the course, and we chatted a bit about our various races and fitness interests. She was a triathlete and hoped to complete an Ironman sometime in the future. Talking to her was fun and helped to pass the time. With just about a mile to go, we ended up parting ways, as the final aid station slowed her down. At this point in the race, it was just starting to sprinkle ever so lightly. I pushed on to the finish and crossed the line just ahead of the 1:50 group. Success! As I made my way through the finishing chute and in to the food tent, the rain and wind began to pick up. I grabbed some food and water, hit the porta potty and made my way to the shuttle bus. Just after I got on the bus, the rain and wind really started to pick up. Boy was I glad to be done! 

When I checked my official results later in the day, my official time was 1:49:37, and I finished 8th in my age group (out of 215). Not bad! I was also the 62nd female finisher out of 1159 and 252nd overall out of 1886. One interesting statistic from this race is that there were 1159 women runners out of a total of 1886 runners. I think it is wonderful to see so many women out there participating. Not so long ago women weren't even allowed to run marathons!

Finish line photo with my huge medal.

I got back to my hotel and stretched out in my room. When I took my running shoes off, I discovered a huge broken skin blister on my right heel and some blood on my middle toe on my right foot. Yikes! I definitely should’ve had a sock on that foot! My left foot was mostly ok, but I did have a blister on my instep. Oh well. So it goes. Could’ve been much worse. 

Race battle scars. Clearly I will never be a foot model.

As I finished my stretching, I heard the first rumble of thunder and saw the first flash of lightning. I was super happy to be done with the race, but I was feeling sorry for all the full marathoners who were still out in that. Hopefully those tornadoes would’t show up! 

I showered and headed out to grab some souvenirs for the kids and some lunch. I decided after lunch to treat myself to a movie. Since it was raining, I figured it would be a good way to spend the afternoon. I opted to see McFarland, the running story of the kids in California who became state champion cross-country runners. It was the perfect way to spend a post-race afternoon. 

After that, I checked out the local brew pub, Granite City, and tasted a couple of their beers. I had nice chat with two local guys about the brewery. Like the new one in my hometown (Powder Hollow Brewing), Granite City featured growlers to go. It would have been cool to bring one home to my husband, but the whole no liquids at the airport thing made that impossible.

Beer taps at Granite City

Irish red beer at Granite City

I went back to the hotel to relax a bit before having dinner later on in the hotel restaurant. It was an Italian/Steakhouse restaurant. The restaurant was quite full with reservations. It was prom night in the area, so several young prom couples were there as well as other parties. I opted to sit in the bar area for dinner. 

I struck up a conversation with a family who were having fun at the bar sharing some drinks. Kevin and his wife (or girlfriend, I’m not sure) and her adult daughter were fun to chat with. I always enjoy hearing local perspectives. They gave me some recommendations for other restaurants in the area, and we generally just chatted and had fun conversation.They were absolutely amazed that I was running half marathons in all 50 states and wanted to hear more about that. I told them that it wasn’t a unique idea and that many other people are working on achieving similar goals. Still, they couldn’t believe it. We had fun laughing and joking about life in general, too.  

A little while later, and older gentleman, Larry, arrived and sat next to me on my opposite side and asked me for recommendations on the wine list. We struck up a conversation as well. He was a retired judge from the area who told me all about his daughter and her family who live in Brooklyn, NY. I chatted back and forth with both Kevin and his family and Larry throughout dinner. 

When Kevin and his family left, I gave them all hugs and thanked them for a fun evening of conversation on my visit to Kansas. We wished each other well. Larry and I chatted a while longer, and then finally it was time to get some rest for me. When I asked the bartender (Joe) for my bill to settle up, he told me that it was already covered! Kevin and his family had paid for my dinner! I was absolutely flabbergasted. I couldn’t believe that they did that. Kansas is one of the friendliest and most polite places I’ve visited. The people I met were just lovely. 

I got a good night’s rest that night, and the next morning squeezed in a short 3 mile run on the hotel’s treadmill before getting my things together for the airport. The return to the airport was easy. My flight to Charlotte was very turbulent, as we had to pass through those same crazy thunderstorms from Texas as they moved east. My flight from Charlotte to Hartford was delayed a bit, but not majorly, so I arrived home later than expected but not too far off the mark. 

Race number, t-shirt and medal. 

My husband let the kids stay up extra late to see me (9:30 pm!) since it was the start of school vacation week. It was awesome to come home to hugs and happy faces. Kansas was a wonderful experience. The race was excellent, and the people were delightful. I think the race t-shirt and medal are the nicest ones to date. I loved it all! But of course, there’s no place like home!