Demar 1/2 Marathon Race Report

I figured I better get to writing my race report from our New Hampshire half since I'm sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to California.  We will be crossing California off our list of 50 states on Sunday morning.  Did I mention we completed New Hampshire back in September?  I'm clearly the queen of  procrastination these days!  Our friend, Marilyn, joined us for this half marathon.  We took advantage of the close proximity of New Hampshire to Massachusetts and flew into Boston.  Lucky for us, Marilyn lives in Massachusetts so we stayed with her the first two nights of our trip.  We went into Boston to sight see on Friday.  The weather wasn't the best but we still had a great time.

Saturday morning we did a little shopping and had lunch in Marblehead.  Once we were done in Marblehead we took to the car and made our way to New Hampshire.  We checked into our hotel, stopped by the expo to pick up our race packets, and had a lovely dinner and of course a few drinks.





Sunday morning we got ready and headed to the race start.

The weather forecast was HOT,HOT, HOT so we decided to walk the race for safety purposes.  Deb, Marilyn, Nikki and I stayed together until about the 12 mile mark at which point Deb and I went ahead a bit.  At the 12.5 mile mark, Deb asked me what my watch said.  I looked at my watch, and told her what it said.  She asked if I wanted to run the rest of the way and I said sure.  I can tell you we did not run the rest of the way however at the 13 mile mark Deb asked me what my watch said again and I told her.  She simply said "run" so I did.  We crossed the line and Deb asked me one last time what my watch said.  Our finish time was 3:49:50.  She said "oh good, I wanted to finish under 3:50".  Originally she was hoping for a 3:45 finish but with the heat and a longer than usual bathroom stop, it wasn't really in the cards. 

Marilyn and Nikki finished shortly after us and we all stopped for a picture and then headed back to the car.

We grabbed showers and a bite to eat and headed back to Massachusetts so Deb, Nikki, and I could catch our flights home.

Complete a half in all 50 states status: 19 states and D.C. completed

Completed states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.


Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!

Marshall University Half Marathon Race Report

Yes this half marathon was the first weekend in November and I am just now getting around to blogging about it.  I really need to do better!!

Friday

Nikki and I took to the car to head to Columbus for the night as Deb was flying into the Columbus airport from Chicago and we were her ride to the Columbus hotel as we decided to stay near the airport Friday night and then head to West Virginia on Saturday morning.  As Deb's flight wasn't due in until after 10:00 PM Nikki and I met up with our friend, Dave, at California Pizza Kitchen for some dinner and ice cream.  We did a little "window" shopping at the mall that we ate at and then headed to our hotel to check in and wait for Deb's arrival.  After we grabbed Deb from the airport we spent some time catching up and then it was time to grab some shut eye.

Saturday

We grabbed a quick continental breakfast at our hotel in Columbus and then got everything packed up and got on the road to West Virginia.  The drive was very pleasant and quite uneventful.  We stopped for a late lunch and then went straight to the race expo to grab our things for race day.  It was a very small expo but we didn't mind as we weren't really looking for anything in particular for race day.  Nikki did buy a jacket as the weather forecast had changed.

Nikki, Deb and I at the expo

Once we had finished at the expo we headed to check into our hotel which was about 30 minutes away from the race start.  We were able to secure a late check out and just relax for awhile before we headed out for some dinner at The Wine Valley.  After finishing dinner, we headed back to the hotel and called it a night relatively early.

The Wine Valley

Our wine samplings

Sunday

We were up bright and early for our 30 minute drive to the race start.  It was quite chilly but we knew it was supposed to warm up relatively quickly so we were quite happy about that.  While waiting for the race to start we were very cold though so we were wishing the race would have started sooner rather than later.

Trying to stay warm at the start line

The course was very nice and relatively flat.  I especially enjoyed running past the water. It was a very nice view.  Considering I was coming off my slowest marathon ever, my only goal for this race was to try and run an even pace for all 13 miles.  I am happy to say that I came pretty close to achieving that goal.

Miles 1-6:  9:43, 9:33, 9:33, 9:28, 9:37, 9:23

Miles 7-13.24:  9:26, 9:23, 9:32, 9:32, 9:16, 9:44, 9:53 and 2:04(8:46 pace) for the final .24

The finish line

Nikki's finish

Nikki waiting for Deb to finish

Deb's finish

After all three of us crossed the finish line we headed back to our hotel to clean up and get ready to head back home.  We stopped and had lunch at Fat Patty's before getting back on the road to drop Deb off in Columbus for her return flight home.

Nothing like a burger and a beer after a half marathon

We returned Deb to the airport much earlier than her scheduled flight so she tried to get her flight changed to arrive home early but that didn't work out for her.  Instead, she ended up getting a nice chair massage while she waited for her flight.  Nikki and I headed back to Cleveland and declared it a successful weekend.

Complete a half in all 50 states status: 18 states and D.C. completed

Completed states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.


Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!



Green Bay 1/2 Marathon Race Report

Friday
Nikki and I flew to Chicago on Friday evening as we would be staying with Deb and her family Friday night and then driving to Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon.  The airport was very uneventful and we were the only two people in the security line.  I was randomly assigned TSA pre-check but it really didn't benefit me much at the Cleveland airport.  Oh well!  Once we had been picked up from the airport we made a quick stop for ice cream and then made it to Deb's house.


Saturday
Deb's husband, Jeremy, was planning to run the 1/2 with us so he ran some errands for the trip while Deb, Nikki, and I headed out to breakfast.  After breakfast we went with Deb to watch Andrew (Deb's son) play in his soccer game. Andrew and Ellie (Deb's daughter) were both planning to stay behind in Chicago with friends but Ellie's plans fell through so Deb asked me to text Ellie and see if she wanted to run/walk the half with me.  In the end Andrew stayed behind and Ellie came with us.  Once we made it to Wisconsin we headed to the expo to register Ellie and pick up everyone else's packets.  We didn't stay at the expo to long as everyone was pretty hungry.  We enjoyed a nice dinner and a drink and then headed back to our hotel to get some rest.


Sunday
We met in the lobby at 6:00 AM and grabbed some food and then headed out to the race start to try and find parking.  We arrived and parked quite easily and then headed inside to use the restrooms before the race start.  We also took some pictures while we were waiting as the 1/2 marathon started an hour after the full marathon.

"The Girls"



"The Girls" and Jeremy

We eventually made our way to the start line and Ellie hugged her parents and we went to her corral.  She was definitely a bit nervous but I explained to her that we would take it at her pace and whenever she wanted to walk we would walk.  I actually had in my mind that we would probably run for 3 minutes and then walk for 1 minute based on the fact that Ellie is on the track team and I knew she could run for awhile.

Ellie takes good start line selfies

We started out slow and when my watch said it was time to walk, Ellie wasn't ready so we continued to run to the first mile marker and then we walked for a short while.  I did mention to her that my rule was that she had to walk for at least a minute each time we took a walk break.  For the most part we would walk at the start of the next mile and then we would run until the  next mile marker or the water stop (whichever came first).  Ellie really did an amazing job out there!  She listened to everything I told her to do and she did not complain once!  That says a lot for a 14 year old who had never run further than 3 miles that morning!  Ellie really enjoyed reading the signs and talking with the other runners.  There was even an older runner that was trying to get Ellie to race him but she was good and listened to me and didn't wear herself out (and yes she did beat him in the end).  As we entered the stadium, we saw Nikki coming back out to finish.  Ellie was smiling and seemed quite happy.  We crossed the finish line, side by side, in 2:41.  Upon our arrival, Deb and Jeremy were standing there waiting for us.  I was slightly confused as I thought "why didn't they say anything to us when they passed us on the course".  Deb then explained that Jeremy was struggling with his knee and some other issues so they ended up dropping out of the race around mile 5 and walking back to the stadium so they could see Ellie finish.  Since this race allowed us to cross Wisconsin off our list of 50 states, Deb will have to "make up" Wisconsin at a later date but Jeremy said he would do it with her!  Poor girl still has to "make up" Alabama as she was incredibly sick and couldn't make it.

Incredibly proud of this little lady!

We headed back to the hotel to shower so we could head back to Chicago as Nikki and I had a late evening flight.  We made a quick stop to grab some food for lunch and figured we would grab dinner in Chicago before we made our way back to the airport.  We made it back to Deb's house and we helped them move some furniture, as they are having work done on their house, and then Deb, Nikki, and I headed out to the cute Mexican restaurant down the street to grab some dinner.  The food was delicious as always (yes, I had been there before).  It was now time to head to the airport to catch our flight.  Let's just say the Chicago airport was much more eventful than Cleveland was.  Nikki was lucky enough to randomly get TSA pre-check.  I on the other hand had to stand in a very long security line.  Thankfully my gate was literally right outside of security but I was definitely cutting it close.  It didn't help that right as it was about to be my turn some very important looking airport people brought several people up and let them cut in front of me because "they were going to miss their flight".  Needless to say, I wasn't thrilled as I feared I was also going to miss my flight.  In the end, I did make it in time but it was slightly overwhelming!!

See our state status below!

Complete a half in all 50 states status: 17 states and D.C. completed

Completed states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.


While we were in Wisconsin we did discuss our next state.  We are definitely leaning toward Marshall University in West Virginia in November but we are hoping to possibly get another state in before then.


Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!

Run Like A Diva 1/2 Marathon Race Report

I am aware that Deb, Nikki, and I did this race back in September but I figure the report is better late then never, right??

Friday
Nikki and I took to the car to drive to Leesburg, Virginia while Deb grabbed a flight to DC and then rented a car to drive to meet us at our hotel.  Upon arriving at our hotel and freshening up, we headed to the race expo to grab our packets which even came with a pink tutu.  This was clearly a very "girly" race.  Once we took care of this stop we headed  out to find some dinner.  We stumbled upon the Wine Kitchen and of course there was a very long wait so we decided we would go across the street to Chimole and have a drink.  We quickly learned there wasn't a wait for a reason.  We had a drink and a small plate and were totally underwhelmed by everything at this restaurant.  We definitely wouldn't go back.  Eventually it was our turn to be seated at the Wine Kitchen and the food was so worth the wait.  Everything we had (including the wine tasting trays) was delicious!  The lobster risotto was absolutely define as well as their macaroni and cheese!  After eating way too much food as well as dessert we headed back to our hotel to get some sleep before the race on Saturday morning.

Saturday
We were up quite early to get to the race as we had reserved VIP parking so we wouldn't have to take the shuttle buses.  Definitely the right decision!  It was so easy to get there, park, and have plenty of time to use the restrooms before the race started.  After we used the facilities we took the required pre-race photo.

Virginia check

They played great music while we waited for the race to start and then it was time to get ready to run.  We wished each other luck and headed to the start line.  The race was incredibly crowded as we headed out a narrow roadway but eventually it thinned out and there was room to run.  Little did I know that Virginia was going to be hill after hill after hill.  It was rough but I just kept plugging along.  It was fun because you got to see other runners since some portions of the course were out and back.  I was able to see both Deb and Nikki which was great.  I was trying with everything in my power to finish under two hours but the hills were taking their toll on me.  At the 13 mile mark we were handed a feather boa and tiara for our finish line photos.  I crossed the line in "diva form" in 2:05:44.  I got my medal and my "champagne" toast and headed back to the course to wait for Deb and Nikki to finish.  Once everyone was finished we got some awesome photos with the fine gentlemen that placed our medals around our necks.

Deb

Nikki

Jodi

We took a few more photos after our "champagne" toast and then headed back to our hotel to freshen up and find some food as we were all starving!

"Champagne" toast

"Run Like A Diva"

 We ended up settling on Melt Gourmet Cheeseburgers for our post race meal.  The food was exceptional and the burgers were very large and filling!!

Once we couldn't eat another bite we decided to head to the outlet malls and do some shopping.  We all ended up getting some great deals and proceeded to head back to our hotel to relax a bit!  Later that evening we went to Bar Louie for a small bite to eat before getting ready to head back home the next morning.  It was another great girls trip with awesome friends!  Looking forward to the next state!!

Complete a half in all 50 states status: 16 states and D.C. completed

Completed states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!

Mercedes 1/2 Marathon Race Report

Friday
As I was getting ready to pack for Alabama, I received a call from Deb and she sadly informed me that she would not be joining Nikki and I for the weekend as she had been incredibly sick in January and the first half of February.  While we were very disappointed that Deb wouldn't be joining us, we completely agreed that her health needed to come first.  So, it looks like we will have to join Deb in Alabama another time so she can cross it off the list.

Saturday
Nikki and I headed to the airport at 5:30AM to make our 7:15AM flight.  We had a short layover in Chicago and then made it into Birmingham by 11:00AM.  Once we landed we headed out to find the shuttles to the hotel.  We were quite happy to walk out of the airport into nicer weather!

The only thing missing was Deb

After we got checked into our hotel, we headed to the expo to pick up our race packets.  The expo was relatively small but nice.  I was able to pick up Deb's packet for her so she will at least have the shirt and gloves that we were given by the race.  We did come across a medal hanger booth and really liked a 50 states medal hanger.  I took pictures of it and grabbed the information so we could order it online at a later date.  The nice thing is that the seller was willing to custom make the hanger.

We decided to head to see the 16th Street Baptist Church as both our 7th graders had read a book in school about the bombing that happened there.

Once we left the church we went and had a bite to eat and a beer and then headed back to our hotel to rest for a bit before heading out for dinner since we were both tired from the early flight.  We eventually headed out to find some dinner but what we didn't realize was that "The Book of Mormon" was in Birmingham so all of the restaurants we wanted to try had a minimum wait time of 2 hours.  Definitely wishing we had thought to make reservations ahead of time.  We ended up back at the same restaurant we  had eaten lunch at but in the end it was food so it worked!  After we ate dinner we headed back to our hotel to get things ready for the morning and tried to get to bed early to get some rest.

Sunday
The alarm went off and I managed to only press snooze one time.  After I got up, I made some coffee and ate my peanut butter and cheese crackers (not the best pre-race breakfast but it was what I had to work with so I just went with it).  Nikki and I headed to the race start and when we were almost at our destination I realized I had forgotten my Garmin.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to go back and get it but we ended up going back since it was raining and I didn't want to have to use my phone for timing purposes, especially because it was raining.  We stopped in the hotel lobby for a quick picture and we were on our way.

I didn't really have a plan for the race other than to get myself across the finish line.  I was thrilled with the weather even though it was raining.  50 degrees and rain is so much better than the negative temperatures and snow we were having at home.  As I was running along, I realized that Birmingham had a lot of rolling hills!  Who knew?!?!?!  Once I was within a mile of the finish I realized I was going to barely miss running a sub 2.  At that point, I pushed it as best I could but came up slightly short with 2:00:45.  Honestly I was more than happy with those results considering the course.  I collected my medal and finisher's beach towel and waited for Nikki to finish.

Pretty sweet medal

Bling, Finisher's Beach Towel, and Race Results

Once Nikki finished we headed inside to the post-race party where we were treated to a Pork BBQ.  It was definitely one of the best races for post- race food so far.  After we finished eating, we walked back to our hotel and got cleaned up.  We then decided to take a nap before heading to the airport later in the afternoon.  We headed to the airport around 2:00 and grabbed a bite to eat there while waiting for our flight to depart.  While it was a very quick trip and we missed Deb terribly, the race itself was very well organized and I would definitely run it again!

What state will we be running next?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Deb is supposed to be researching that for us!! 


Complete a half in all 50 states status: 15 states and D.C. completed

Completed states: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas.

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!

Garmin Wickedly Fast 1/2 Marathon Race Recap

After running our Florida 1/2 marathon in February Deb, Nikki, and I did some research to decide what would be next on our list of 50 states.  I mentioned that travel would work well for me this past weekend as I was on Spring Break and I wouldn't have to worry about getting time off.  Deb did some searching and she shared that the Garmin Wickedly Fast 1/2 Marathon was taking place during the time frame we were looking at.  I had seen that Kim was going to be running this race so I messaged her and let her know that we were considering it.  Deb did some more research and was able to find flights at a reasonable cost.  The cool thing was that Nikki and I would leave Cleveland and stop in Chicago and pick up Deb.  This was the first time since Deb moved to Chicago that we would be on the same flight which was really nice.  Once we figured this out we went ahead and registered for the race.  Fast forward to last Monday as I am watching the Boston Marathon.  After I am done screaming at my Ipad screen and watch Meb win I receive a text from Kim letting me know that Meb is the speaker at the pasta dinner and she and Elizabeth would be attending.  She was just checking to see if we would be interested in joining them.  I quickly texted Deb and Nikki and a few minutes later I purchased the tickets.  We flew into Missouri on Friday afternoon and picked up our rental car.  Nikki works for Ford so she decided to spend the afternoon at the Ford plant.  Deb and I opted to go shopping instead.  After shopping and a light snack, Deb and I headed to Kansas to check into our hotel and then headed out for the packet pickup.  The expo was in a hotel which also would be the location for the pasta dinner so that was great.  Kim and Elizabeth had found us seats at the dinner and after we got our packets we went upstairs and sat at the table so they could go downstairs and shop.  The expo was quite tiny so they were only gone for a few minutes.

MEB

When Meb was introduced and walked to the podium, he received a standing ovation.  It was great to hear his story.  I had no idea of his background and the challenges he faced.  It was an inspirational and emotion speech and I am so very thankful to Kim for suggesting that we attend!  After Meb spoke he was taking the time to sign bibs and shirts and pose for photo ops.  Kim and Elizabeth were done before we were so we made a plan to text when we got to the start line the next morning so we could take some pictures.  As we were waiting in line, Deb and I decided we were going to have Meb sign our shirts.  Nikki opted for her bib.

Deb, Nikki, and I with the 2014 Boston Marathon Winner

I shook his hand before he signed my shirt

After we met Meb, we stopped off at Target to get some things for race morning.  I slept well and everything went smoothly in the morning.  Kim was kind enough to text me to let me know that they had parked in the high school parking lot.  Great idea!  Another thank you to Kim!  We got to the high school with no problem and then headed toward the start line to meet up with Kim and Elizabeth.  I had turned on my Garmin right as I got out of the car because it usually takes a long time to find a satellite.  Well not this time, my satellite was there almost instantly.  I am guessing it was because we were at Garmin's Headquarters.  We found Kim and Elizabeth and posed for photos and talked about our plans for the run.  Earlier in the week Deb had asked me if I would be willing to run/walk the race with her as she was going through some things and wanted to have company during the 13.1 mile journey.  So when asked what the plan was, I hugged Deb and said I would be walk/running with her.

Elizabeth (Dorothy), Deb, Kim (Glinda), Me, and Nikki

There was very little fanfare.  The singing of the National Anthem took place and then we were off.  Things were going just fine and Deb and I were walking 10 minutes then running for 1 minute.  In full disclosure, there were a few times when I would get her to run for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes.  I think she may have been catching on and counting in her head though as sometimes durnig the run portion she would stop after a minute.  As we passed some police officers they said to get ready for the weather.  I thanked them and said that a little water wouldn't hurt.  Yeah, famous last words....about 20 minutes later the rain started coming.  Then the wind picked up and then wouldn't you know that it started hailing!  Kansas was living up to its "tornado alley" name and even gave us several strikes of lightning.  Eventually the rain went away but we were left to deal with the huge puddles that were on the trail portion of the race.

Just a "small" river

I believe I texted Kim to see how she had done right after "swimming through" this tunnel.  I was happy to hear that Elizabeth had paced her to a sub 2 hour finish.  Unfortunately we didn't get to see Kim and Elizabeth before they left but I am sure we will run into them in future states.  Shortly after this, Nikki sent me a text to let me know she had finished and she was going to wait in the car.  Deb and I just kept moving towards the finish.  After what seemed like an eternity, we could see the yellow brick road and knew the finish was in sight.  We finished in 3:37 and I'm pretty sure the rain really slowed us down in the second half but I loved spending 13.1 miles with my best friend and I wouldn't change it for the world, well maybe the weather but we can't control that.

Follow the yellow brick road

We collected our medals and headed back to the hotel for showers.

Once everyone was ready we enjoyed some great Kansas bbq.  We all tried burnt ends for the first time.  They were great!  After lunch we headed back to the hotel and took a nap, checked into our flight for Sunday morning and then went out and had a light dinner of drinks, salads, and dessert. 

Sunday morning we headed back to Missouri to catch our flight home.  We landed in Chicago and said our goodbyes to Deb and then Nikki and I grabbed some lunch during our layover before we headed back to Cleveland. 

Although the weather was less than pleasant, we had a great time.  It was also great seeing Kim again and getting to know Elizabeth.  Runners are the nicest people you will ever meet! 

Complete a half in all 50 states status: 14 states and D.C. completed

Completed states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas.

I am not sure what state will be next but I will keep you posted!  It will probably be sometime this fall.

Keep running, you're simple the best, and you inspire me!!


 

A1A Fort Lauderdale 1/2 Marathon Weekend Recap

I would say for about the last six months to a year myself and 3 friends had been talking about doing a girls weekend for our birthdays.  See, two of us are turning 40 soon and another one had turned 50 over the summer.  The fourth girl happened to be celebrating her 44th birthday the day we flew out.  When planning this trip, we decided we should try and coordinate it with one of our 1/2 marathons so we could cross another state off our list of 50.  All of us were really looking forward to the trip since the weather was predicted to be at least 100 times better than the crap that we have been dealing with for the past several months.  The plan was to fly into Fort Lauderdale on the Friday of President's Day Weekend and return home on Monday.  Nikki and I had a direct flight as did Deb from her airport.  Marilyn had booked her flight with a layover in Charlotte to leave first thing Friday morning.  Fast forward to Thursday evening that week and I get a text from Marilyn that her flight has been cancelled due to the weather in Charlotte.  The one time that Charlotte gets a snow storm and it has to put a major glitch in our girls weekend.  Poor Marilyn was on the phone for over an hour trying to find another flight.  She was even willing to drive to another airport but unfortunately there was just nothing available for a reasonable price.  Yes, there were one or two flights out but they would have cost her $1800-$2500 arriving a day later than planned.  Just so frustrating for everyone involved but of course incredibly frustrating and disappointing for Marilyn.  In the end, the Charlotte airport reopened early Friday morning and Marilyn's original connecting flight was delayed by two hours.  If they had just delayed her flight and not cancelled it, she would have made it.  Thankfully, she was refunded for her original flight but that still doesn't make up for what she missed.  Needless to say she told us that we are planning another trip in the fall to someplace tropical!  No objection from us!  Nikki and I were to be flying out Friday in the early afternoon.  Our plane did get delayed but fortunately the flight was not cancelled.  When we landed in Fort Lauderdale I turned on my phone and was greeted with this picture from Deb since her flight had arrived much earlier than ours and she had already been soaking up the sun!

Heaven

Friday
The weather was perfect as we walked out of the airport and grabbed a cab to our hotel where Deb was waiting for us.  Seeing how it was Valentine's Day, Deb had thought ahead and made early dinner reservations at Grille 401 which was a restaurant that wouldn't be all couples.  She figured worst case scenario we would just cancel the reservation if we didn't want to eat that early.  In the end we were all hungry and hadn't eaten since we left our respective airports so the 5:30 dinner reservation turned out to be perfect!  Marilyn had told us to send her pictures so she could see what she was missing.  We obliged and sent her a picture of us toasting to her.

Cheers!

The meal was wonderful and we were even treated to complimentary chocolate covered strawberries and champagne since it was Valentine's Day.  After finishing dinner, we did some window shopping and people watching.  Boy were there some interesting people in Fort Lauderdale.  Once we made it back to our hotel we decided to have another drink at the hotel bar and make plans for Saturday. 

Saturday
One of my high school friends had agreed to take us to breakfast and to the expo to pick up our packets.  We had a nice breakfast at O-B House and then made a quick trip to the expo to get our packets.  Once we were dropped off at the hotel we decided to spend some time on the beach.  It got a little chilly so we headed back upstairs to get ready for dinner.  My friend was kind enough to suggest a lot of good restaurants in Fort Lauderdale so while we were still in our hotel room, I went online to see what would work best based on the suggestions we had.  We decided on the Casablanca Café and ended up sharing a ride with another family who was going to the same area.  In the short trip we found out that they were from Columbus, Ohio and they were there celebrating their triplets 13th birthdays.  Upon arriving at the restaurant, we were told there would be a pretty significant wait so we headed into the bar to see if there were seats.  As luck would have it, things cleared out pretty quickly and we were able to sit at the bar.  We decided we would just order and eat at the bar at that point.  The food just kept getting better!  Steak and seafood seemed to be the theme of the weekend (for Deb and I at least as Nikki isn't a fan of seafood).  With dinner complete we headed back to our hotel to get ready for the 1/2 marathon on Sunday which started at the crazy hour of 6 AM!

Sunday
My alarm went off around 4:15 AM and I didn't feel rested at all.  For some unknown reason, I kept waking up Saturday night.  I don't know if I thought I was going to oversleep or what but it was quite annoying.  After hitting snooze I few times I got dressed and then had my pre-race breakfast.  We were out the door in plenty of time to walk the 1/2 mile to the finish line to catch the shuttle to take us to the starting line as this was a point to point race. 

State #13

Nikki headed off to find a restroom and Deb and I stepped into the starting corral.  I was a bit chilly so I went ahead and texted my friend requesting a t-shirt at the finish line in case I were to get chilled after I finished.  With minimal fanfare we were off.  My plan was to just run comfortably and hopefully finish under 2 hours as I am pretty comfortable running at that pace.  I didn't really look at my watch much at all for the entire race.  I did come across "Dr. Dribble" who was dribbling two basketballs while running.  I don't think I have the patience or coordination to do such a thing!  The weather was really idea for the run and I was glad we had started at 6 AM.  Towards the end of the race we were running by the water which made it very enjoyable.  I kicked it in a bit at the end and finished in 1:56.  Happy with my sub-2 finish and negative splits for the most part, I grabbed my medal and a water and then met up with my high school friend.

Google him as he has quite an interesting story!

When I first finished I was actually pretty warm but about 10 minutes later I was incredibly thankful for the t-shirt and hot coffee that were provided to me by my friend.  Per Nikki's request, I texted her when I had finished and shortly afterwards she had finished her race.  I was starting to worry about Deb and then I got the normal "mile 10" text from her but this time there was more to the text.  It also said "right foot not good".  I was worried about her and asked her if there was anything I could do to help.  At one point she texted "not sure I can finish".  Well, I know Deb and she is one tough, stubborn girl and I pretty much knew she would be at that finish line.  A short while later she texted and told us not to wait for her.  Yeah, like that was going to happen.  She mentioned she was just past mile 12 so I did what any best friend would do and handed off my things and ran out to get her.  By the time I got to her she mentioned that her foot had gone numb a little bit prior to mile 12 which was actually making it easier for her to finish.  I stayed by her side and crossed the finish line (for the second time that day) with her.  I was very proud of her for not giving up but also worried about the status of her foot.  We all walked back to the hotel to get ready for lunch.  The original plan to go to Tap42 was nixed when my friend was told the wait for a table was over two hours.  We went with a back up plan of 15th Street Fisheries and it did not disappoint at all!  The food and company was great as it has been all weekend so far.  We spent the rest of the day resting, hanging out by the pool, and packing for the inevitable return trip home.  The three of us decided that we would just go down to 3030 Ocean in our hotel as it was ranked something like 4th best restaurant in Fort Lauderdale.  I can't remember the exact number but I know it was pretty high.  The added bonus was that we didn't have to leave the building.  After a light dinner and a few drinks we headed upstairs and called it a night.


Monday
I decided to go for a short run on Monday morning to take advantage of the gorgeous weather one last time since we would be welcomed back home by snow.  For some reason I didn't take any water and I quickly realized I regretted that decision.  While it was only in the 60's when I got out there, it was a sunny day which made it feel much warmer.  I had originally plan to run 6 miles but cut it short at 3 miles and walked the final mile back to the hotel.  It was still quite enjoyable.  Once I got back to the room, we all got ready and headed out to grab a bit of brunch at a Mexican Restaurant just down the street from our hotel.  The food was great but there was just too much of it!!  We spent the rest of the morning/afternoon sitting outside enjoying the sun before our flights.  Deb had considered getting an earlier flight since Nikki and I were leaving earlier than her.  In the end she was glad she hadn't because the earlier flights ended up being cancelled due to weather in Chicago.  My high school friend took Nikki and I to the airport and we were able to get on our plane with no problems.  Of course once we boarded the plane we sat on the runway for what seemed like forever.  I have no idea what that was all about.  We arrived back in Cleveland within 5 minutes of our scheduled time.  I checked on Deb's flight at this point and it was already delayed 2.5 hours.  When I got home, Deb called and let me know the status of her flight.  In the end her flight was delayed over 3 hours and she had to take a cab home because her husband couldn't get the car out of the driveway.  Have I mentioned that all of us hate snow at this point?  Yeah, well we do and we are so over it!!  Nikki and I lucked out and both arrived home minutes before the snow started coming. 

Yuck!  Welcome back to reality!

We had a wonderful girls weekend but truly missed Marilyn.  It just wasn't the same without her!

Complete a half in all 50 states status: 13 states and D.C. completed

Completed states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas.

Up next: State #14---potentially in Kansas in April.....just waiting on confirmation from the 50 states girls!!

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!

Indy 500 Mini Marathon Race Report

This past weekend Deb, Nikki, and I crossed another state off our 1/2 marathon in 50 states list.  Friday morning I was at the ice rink with my daughter so she could take the next level of her figure skating moves test.  After she successfully passed the test, I headed back home to meet Nikki so we could get on the road for our drive to Indy.  Since Deb now lives in Chicago, we would just be meeting her at the hotel on Friday.  Amanda and her friend Becky would also be running the 1/2 on Saturday so the plan was to meet up with them as well.  I tried unsuccessfully to convince Nikki to take the turnpike so we spent quite a bit of time in road construction and traffic which resulted in us arriving a good 40 minutes later than planned.  The discussion of taking the turnpike on the way home came up and yes, we did in fact take the turnpike home and made excellent time.  Deb was also stuck in horrible traffic so we all finallly made it to the hotel a little after 7:00.  Shortly after checking in, we headed to the expo to get our packets.  We had an 8:00 reservation at St. Elmo's and Amanda and Becky were gracious enough to head over and check us in for dinner.  Both my husband and Deb's husband highly recommended we eat dinner at St. Elmo's so that is how we ended up there on Friday night.  My sorority sister, Ellen, was also running the 1/2 on Saturday so she joined us at dinner.  It was great to see her.  I was sitting next to Amanda and we got to talking.  See, I had originally offered to pace her to a sub 2 in Indy.  Missing my sub 1:50 goal in DC by 43 seconds has haunted me since I crossed that finish line.  I mentioned to Amanda that I really wanted to run fast and she said that was fine.  I was very appreciative of her understanding.  I know she is capable of that sub 2 half so I knew she would be fine.

Nikki, Ellen, me, Amanda, Becky, and Deb

After dinner we headed back to the hotel to prepare for the race and then headed to bed to try and get some sleep.  5:30 came quite early but it also came with no rain in sight.  The forecast had called for rain so this was a pleasant surprise.  We all got dressed and then drove downtown to the race start.  We ended up meeting Amanda and Becky in a hotel where we used the restrooms and sat for a little while before heading to our starting corrals.  Deb also went ahead and made dinner reservations for us for Saturday evening.  Multitasking at its very best!!  Off to the start line from here.

State #12

I exchanged hugs with Deb and Nikki and then stepped into my corral.  I had a lovely conversation with a couple that was using the 1/2 as a training run.  After this, there was a moment of silence for the Boston Tragedy and then the singing of the National Athem.  You could have heard a pin drop at that 40,000 people deep strarting line.  To be quite honest, I got choked up and had to hold back the tears.  Minutes later I crossed the starting line for my 13.1 mile journey.  I settled into my required pace early on which I was quite happy with especially with the crowd of people running next to me.  Around the 1/2 mile mark I saw Amanda.  The course was nice and flat until we got to the Speedway.  There was a good sized hill that you had to run up to enter the speedway and the track was definitey banked.  I had no idea what was about to happen to me about one mile after I entered this beauty.

I totally swiped this picture from Amanda's facebook!  Thanks Amanda!

I was progressing just fine and holding pace for the most part.  I did slow a little but I was still on pace for the most part.

See, 1:50:31 was my estimated finish time in the brickyard

And then it happened, my left calf locked up and literally stopped me in my tracks.  It was incredibly painful and I had no choice but to walk.  I was immediately relieved that I wasn't pacing Amanda because I would have felt awful and had to send her on her way while I worked out the pain.  Perhaps it was karma from the running Gods for not just running with her from the beginning.  Okay, karma, I get it!  Lesson learned!!  I tried taking in more electrolytes and water in the hopes that it would ease the pain.  Yeah, not so much.  I ran when I could and walked when needed.  I stopped at a medical tent just before mile 10 in the hopes they would have biofreeze.  No such luck so I stopped and stretched it some more and then called a friend to "cry".  I also tried to call Amanda as well as send her a text to see where she was.  She told me she was just having fun and she was at mile 9.5 and I shouldn't worry about her.  I replied letting her know that I was in quite a bit of pain and I was at mile 10 stretching.  A few minutes later Amanda appeared and I was so relieved to see a familar face.  We jogged the final 3.1 miles together.  I was very thankful that she was there.  We enjoyed chatting and reading some great signs.  We ended up crossing the finish line in 2:14.  I was just happy to finish it.  Definitely not the race I was expecting but that's the thing with running, you just never know what the day will have in store for you.  We headed to the post race party and met up with Becky and Nikki after they finished.  We were taking pictures and all of the sudden I had to jump off the ground and walk around because BOTH of my calves rolled and locked up.  Talk about painful!!

Amanda, Nikki, and I.  Yes, I am gritting my teeth in pain

We all chatted for a bit and then Amanda and Becky headed to their hotel as they were heading home Saturday afternoon.  Nikki and I hung out behind the wall of military personnel and waited for Deb.

Military personnel keeping the runners and spectators separated until out of the secure zone

I ended up getting a few more calf cramps during this time.  I did my best to walk them off.  Once Deb finished we headed to the car and then we headed to the cupcake store.  Don't judge...we earned those cupcakes!

State #12 Run and Done

We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a drive thru and then headed back to the hotel for a much needed shower and a glorious nap!  Saturday evening we headed out for some Mexican.  The food and company were great.  Oh, and the margarita was good too!  Once we made it back to our hotel and got settled in, I heard water running in the bathroom.  I thought maybe someone hadn't turned the knob all the way off.  Upon further investigation by Deb, we saw that there was a leak in the ceiling above our shower.  It was literally raining in our hotel bathroom which resulted in Deb calling the front desk and us moving to a new room at 10 PM.  Never a dull moment! 

Sunday morning we headed out for brunch and then we said our good-byes and started our drive home.  We made much better time on the way home thanks to the decision to take the turnpike!

I had a massage last night and come to find out my calf pain was directly related to an incredibly tight IT band!  Thankfully I am feeling much better today! 

Complete a half in all 50 states status: 12 states and D.C. completed

Completed states: Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas.

Up next: State #13----somewhere...lol....we need to figure that out!!  I might also be working toward a pretty lofty goal but I will save that post for another day!

Keep running, you're simply the best, and you inspire me!!