Next up, Montana.  We had never been to Yellowstone, so we used the opportunity of the half marathon to take a week vacation and explore the park.  Chris found a perfect cabin just steps from both the start and finish of the race.  We arrived several days before the race, so we had plenty of time to explore.

Lots of animal sightings

Lots of geysers and hotsprings and fumaroles and mudpots

My favorite part of the trip might have been our hike up to Bunsen peak, a climb of 1,300 ft over a 4 mile hike.  It was a tough hike and I was so proud of the kids.  The view at the top was a definite pay-off though.

The race was put on by Vacation Races just outside the park in West Yellowstone, Montana.  This is the second race I’ve done with Vacation Races (the first was Yosemite) and I really love the vibe of their races.  It’s fairly low-key but very well run with a clear message that it’s not the destination but the adventure along the way that matters.  Great race shirts which a choice of 4 different colors and a really nice bib.

The race itself was mainly on trails, some of which were just ruts in the grass made by vehicles.  The course was very tough, but gorgeous.  When I decided that this was not a race to be run for time, I decided to turn off my watch.  That’s when I really started to appreciate the trails and the challenge of the course.

Definitely earned the medal – so proud to be able to get through a race like this.  And, the medal was amazing!

A great family vacation.  So glad that the race was held in Yellowstone to give us a chance to explore a truly exceptional National Park.

5 down, 45 to go!

Well, this one was a little anti climatic.  I happened to have the day off work on the day of the Albuquerque 1/2 – a race I’ve run several times in the past and that ends about a mile from my house.  So, although it was nice to cross another state off, it was a less-than-exciting race.  Chris drove me to the start and cheered as we started and then headed home to run a bunch of errands (including a screening of his film at the Guild).  This course is quite pretty and nice and flat, snaking through the North Valley and ending at Alvarado Elementary School.  It was a cold and rainy morning, so I crossed the finish line and then just kept on going and walked straight home.  The kids were still hanging out in their pajamas when I got home.  As I walked through the door, they both asked where I had gone – funny.  Well, not many pictures.  Hopefully the next race is a little more exciting!

Four down, 46 to go!

Yippee, state number 3!  Chris and I took a solo trip to Seattle to celebrate Valentine’s Day.  And what better way to celebrate than run a half marathon together.  We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked in to a very cool hotel, Hotel Max, that served free craft brew every evening.  Perfect way to start the weekend – free beer and jenga.

Sunday morning, February 14th was race day.  Unfortunately, not the best weather, although I guess that’s to be expected in February in Seattle.

The Better Half offers a 5K, 10K, and half marathon at Seward Park.  It’s a fun, little race.  You can register as Lovers, Bromance, Besties or Lonely Hearts – really cute.  The race “shirts” were 3/4 zip running jackets – very nice.  The half marathon consisted of 5 loops around the very scenic park.  I was worried that the multiple loops would get boring, but by the time it got boring, the race was almost over.  The valentine’s theme continued throughout the race with a “tunnel of love” complete with fog machine and candy hearts.

 

My favorite part was that the metals were two halves of a heart that connected with magnets!

Best part was that by 10am, we were done and could enjoy the rest of our weekend away.  Amazing breakfast at the Wayward Vegan Cafe.  BEST cinnamon roll ever – vegan or not.  Then we toured around Capitol hill – did a little shopping and checked out the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room which was super cool.  Valentine’s Dinner at Cafe Flora was amazing.

So, great weekend away with Chris – fun race, cool city and amazing vegan food.

3 down, 47 to go!

It’s been close to two years since my last full marathon and that marathon was a bit of a disappointment.  But, I started getting the bug to give the marathon distance another try over the summer.  Training in the fall and early winter is perfect in Albuquerque since you avoid the hot summer days and our early winter is typically quite mild.  That left me looking for a new state to tackle in January.  The marathon choices are a little limited in the winter, but I stumbled across the Carlsbad Marathon in Carlsbad, CA.  A win on three fronts:  1. Right time of year, 2. Majority of the run is along the coast, 3. Legoland – a favorite spot of my kids.

I went to the expo the day before to pick up my packet.  The expo was easy and well run.  All marathoners get, in addition to a long sleeve tech-T, a really nice finishers jacket.  Definitely a bonus!  The saturday before the race, they hold a kids one mile run at Legoland.  The race fee gets the kid into the park for free and up to two adults in for 1/2 price.  Such a great deal that we made our 12 year old do the race even though running isn’t really her thing.

After the race, we spent the day at Legoland.  The kids loved it and I appreciated that it’s not a huge park and there were plenty of places to sit and rest while the kids went on rides – I did have a marathon to run the next day.

The marathon start was at 6:15 am.  Half marathon start was 7:45.  The majority of runners were completing the half with just over 1000 runners finishing the full marathon this year.  Because of the relatively small number of marathon runners, the morning was easy with no corrals and a quick and easy walk to the starting line from the heated tents.  It’s an out an back course with the majority along the coast and a short out and back run inland.  The views of crashing waves were beautiful.  Lots of volunteers, some spectators (many more when we rejoined the half marathon course).  The course was not crowded until around the 20 mile mark when the marathon rejoins the half course.  Unfortunately, because of the timing of the starts, that left those of us that were running a 4 hour marathon with the half marathoners who would finish at about 2 hrs 45 minutes which meant quite a bit of weaving in order to keep up the pace.

All told, I had a great race.  A 13 minute PR and a great family weekend in California.  We were all exhausted though by the afternoon.  Quick naps and then to the airport to get back to work on Monday.

2 states down, 48 to go.

I’ve used several different training plans to train for both full and half marathons (Hal Higdon, Runner’s World, Sage Roundtree).  This time around, I decided to use the Hanson Method.

I have to admit, I was mostly enticed to use the Hanson plan because I heard the long runs peak at 16 miles.  I absolutely HATE the 20+ mile training runs.  In fact, those long runs are probably the biggest reason I haven’t run a marathon in close to 2 years.  With a intense job and two kids, it was really hard to put aside 4 hours to run (never mind how long it took to recover).

Just a quick read of the book, though, made it clear that this would not be an easy plan to follow.  Despite having run 6 marathons and over a dozen half marathons, I decided to follow the beginner plan since that called for more weekly mileage than I had ever run.  With only one rest day and midweek runs that got at high as 12 miles, I was slightly intimidated.  Because I was so nervous about never doing a long run over 16 miles, I followed the plan religiously, only deviating once or twice when I just didn’t have the time to fit in the full workout.  I actually really enjoyed the workouts.  There was one speed workout, one tempo workout and one long run each week.  The rest of the runs were easy runs to get in the miles and get my body ready for the marathon distance.  The easy runs were quite enjoyable and the more difficult runs were challenging but helped break up the weeks.  During the peak weeks, when I was running 50+ miles (more than I had ever run in a week), I was tired but never injured.

As race day approached, I was anxious that I hadn’t done any 20-milers but I was also confident because I’ve never felt in this good of shape. I felt strong in all my difficult workouts and although I was tired, I felt like I was recovering well.  But, the real test is how did I feel on marathon day.  For that you’ll have to wait for the marathon recap, but I’ll give you a hint by telling you that I had a 13 minute PR.

 

First stop on the 50 state adventure is Texas.  Chris and I ran the BCS Half Marathon in College Station Texas on December 13, 2015.

We chose this race because Chris’s brother and his fiance live in College Station, so we were able to combine a race and visiting family.

We spent the day before the race visiting and touring the Texas A&M campus.

Nate and Maggie both fell in love with all their animals.

As you can see from the race photo, it was a rainy weekend in Texas.

I have to admit that as I lay awake, listening to the rain at 4am, I was hoping that we would get an email letting us know that they decided to cancel (not the most positive thinking for my first run of the 50 state adventure).  Checked my email in the morning and there was a message saying the race was on, so Chris and I reluctantly headed down to the starting line.  Despite the rain, folks were in a great mood for the race.  Lots of people using garbage bags in an unsuccessful attempt to stay dry.  Once we got to the start, my attitude changed and we decided to make the most of it.  Within the first 1/2 mile, we were soaked but having a great time.  Super fun race, lots of amazing volunteers standing out in the rain.  The course was relatively flat with just a few small hills.  Fairly scenic – ran through some beautiful neighborhoods and around the campus.  It was well organized with a big food spread at the end (not many vegan options, but oh well).   Overall, we had a fantastic time despite the rain.

One down, 49 to go.