after state 31

Well, Michigan was an interesting run.  Tons of people thought the course was a lot tougher than they expected.  I hung out with the 5:30 pace group for awhile and met a woman who was 47 years old and her goal was to run a marathon before she turned 50!  It was her first one so I hung out with her for the first 13 miles and learned about her and her family - they were all from Michigan, she currently lived there and was a Spartan in college (we were in Ann Arbor so that was where the Wolverines were).  Her husband and kids were going to the Tigers game later that day while she was running.  It was great to get to meet someone new and hopefully encourage them along.  She was very nice and highly educated as well as a fellow believer.  It was a pleasant 13 miles... I always wish I could see every one through to the finish and be there to cheer them on! 

The course was a lot of out and backs and Michigan has a lot more trees than I thought... though of course my only previous Michigan experience had been the streets and factories of Detroit... haha.  That was back when I was going to all the baseball stadiums... before I was doing marathons in every state.  So I suppose it was not the fullest Michigan experience.  With all the out and backs, I think I ended up cheering for every single person who ran the inaugural Ann Arbor marathon... haha.

I sped up a little at the halfway point and started catching people and hopefully encouraged them also.  I came across another girl who was not happy about the hills in Ann Arbor around mile 15 or 16 (there were a ton of turn arounds) and was not shy about voicing how much she disliked marathons and that she would not do another one.  I ran along side  her for awhile and tried to also encourage her.  We were on and off jogging/walking for a few miles together before she fell behind only to catch back up at mile 19-20.  At mile 20 I started running a little faster.  I had done the first 13.1 in 2:56:49 and finished the last 10k in 73 minutes.  Running around the mall was definitely not the most fun thing I have done in the world and I was still getting tired.  The humidity at least was getting better by the time I hit the mall since it was spitting a little and eventually sprinkled during the last 2 miles I was running.

We ran past the University of Michigan's football field and down ... and back on Main street and ended on a field on campus I believe.  Wow, there were TONS of out and backs.  I prefer straight runs or a big circle (not the 2 loops or what not) so that I can't always see everyone who's in front of me... hehe. (Though it was pretty fun cheering for people!).

Overall I finished pretty strong though the humidity had overheated me a bit in the beginning, the cooler rain... and the thought that if lightening started they may cancel the run sped me up quite a bit!  I was the last to cross the starting line and I finished in just under 5:40 at 5:39:58.  I sometimes wonder what my times would be like if I trained... or cared in the beginning and paced instead of hung out with people and talked... but that's not nearly as fun as getting to know people! :)

Now I'm back in Knoxville, TN... life is moving quickly and we just got a dog on Sunday (we named him Blitz) so I need to get back home and walk him.  Tonight I'll run a lap or two with him to tire him out before bed.

Time to get training.  I know I've said that before, but this is it.  I only have 11 months and 8 days before I turn 30 and I want to qualify for Boston before that!  God, please help me and give me the drive and determination to get back in shape and glorify You through my running.  Thank you for keeping me safe through the past 33 long distance runs in 31 states + DC.

-run for life

here we go again

Here we go again. This time I'm in Michigan for my 31st state and have been searching online for other back to back marathons I could do in states I haven't done and are not signed up for. I want to also visit friends while I'm traveling so hopefully I can do that as well. I don't see a point in doing it all unless I have fun too!


So here's to accountability. I'm going to start to run at least a mile a day 5+ days per week starting on Tuesday after I get back from Michigan. Hopefully it will be more than that, but that's the minimum. I need more steps for my health miles pedometer program anyway, so that will be good for me.

I am hoping to have less than 10 states left by the time I'm 30... Maybe less! We will see. I want to do as many as I can before we have kids and also start doing more quality runs instead of quantity. I will be able to do more local runs and meet more local runners soon which I'm excited about. I like meeting runners from all over too, but I do appreciate a good running buddy near by and someone to drive to races with... And hopefully I can actually race soon!

Praying tomorrow's weather will be dandy for the marathon and for my flight home. Praying for a safe, on-time flight back to see my loving and supportive husband who has been holding down the fort back at home without me!
When looking at marathons for the rest of the year... I think I want to do Kansas, Rhode Island and Connecticut this year and have 13 left and plan out next year's schedule at the end of the year. I have to do at least one of them since the new wellness initiative came out after June 1 at work.

Here's to a good run! Thanks God for giving me mobility and the ability to do this. You have blessed me more than I can say. Love you!

-run for life

day two

Well we made it. My rommates and I all finished. Of course I was rooming with ladies who had finished the 50 states 1x, 2x and were titanium manics long before everyone else started joining. I don't feel like I did two, but more like I did one. I walked again the first 13.1 with some of my roommates and then they told me to run on ahead. I obliged and trotted off up and down the small hills, but today the elevation was getting to me. We had started early. The first male runner passed me at mile 15.2 and looked super strong. He wasn't even breathing heavily, he made it look easy.

I kept on trucking along, finding half marathoners to encourage along and cheered on the marathoners who didn't do an early start. Toward the last 6 or so miles it was hot again, the sun blazing down on my already burnt skin from the day before. I'm toasty and can feel the burn right now. I'm definitely going to peel. :( I don't remember the last time I was sunburnt, but I feel like it was probably also from a marathon where I sweat my sunscreen off...

At the end I took a few more pictures and got some food before walking back down a mile or so to cheer everyone along who was still running. I saw my roomates I had started with early and jog/walked along side them to the finish and cheered them along. I hurried to get back to the hotel to get the car keys so I could pick them up and on my way back they were half way there already so I picked them up and we all took showers... well tried since it was quite disgusting and there was no more warm/hot water half way through my shower so the other two had no hot water. Sad times.

Before we left Garden City we stopped at the last gas station and all got raspberry milkshakes. Wow they were good, but SWEET! I had to eat mine super slow since I don't normally have stuff that sweet. (I like things like ice cream and make it myself... but wow, I don't put that much sugar in... just enough to taste, not to overpower.) I did however suck it up and finish it all. :) Haha. So much for lactose intolerance. It was quite a flatulent night... hehe!

All in all, Subway is by far the best, most consistent on the road, quick food to get (well, healthier option). We stayed at a hotel 5 minutes from the airport... this hotel was cheaper than the other one that was grosser at Bear Lake, fancy that? More food from Denny's and sleep were required before sleep and getting onto the airport shuttle.

Overall lessons learned: I need to run more regularly, or at least do cross training rather than sitting on my butt on planes and being lazy. I should train myself to get up early to run before work again. Staying up late isn't good for me anyway. Well, I've run 2 days this week so that's good. I put it into my calendar to run and get steps so I should be able to do it and check it off each day. We'll see how this works. Like I mentioned before this started... this is my kick in the pants get back in shape weekend. It definitely kicked me in the pants and reminded me I need to get back in shape. Here's to qualifying for Boston before I'm 30, wish me luck! They just changed the time cut offs too, now it's harder. I have to run sub 3:35 (before it was sub 3:40). 20 more states to go. Next weekend I won't be in shape yet when I do Michigan, but perhaps in the fall when I do Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and maybe Conneticut and Rhode Island. I doubt I'll be BQ by then, but hopefully have at least built up a good base to work on speed.

Here we go! -run for life

day one

I survived day one. I ended up walking the first 13.1 with one of my roommates since her knee hurt and hit the half way point at 3:31 minutes. It was beautiful! I loved Bear Lake always peeking through the trees. I took a ton of pictures and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I did pick it up the second half, but I didn’t want to push it too hard since I am running tomorrow too. I was able to talk to everyone I was passing and hang out for a bit with almost everyone. It was quite lovely!

I met some great people, and some race walkers also. One of them walked back a bit with me and cheered people on as they were still coming in. We got on the bus and headed back to the hotel… the sad excuse for a hotel. (Bear Lake Motor Lodge… has got to be the worst hotel in Garden City, Utah with the worst management. I would post the pictures I took of the room’s cracking paint, disgusting tub and go into more detail, but that would take away from the running experience which is what I’m here to write about. Let’s just say it was definitely NOT worth the $100/night we paid, no wonder they make you pay up front and sign papers.)

I took a shower first so the water wasn’t too bad, but for some of the other ladies the water ran cold. We had dinner (I ate veggie pizza, my usual post run tradition) and hung out for a bit before picking up our packets and heading to bed.

what did I sign up for?

I just spoke with some of the ladies I will be hanging out with, rooming with and running with this weekend... and thought to myself... "what did I sign up for?" I am almost desperately attempting to get my bottom in shape here by running back-to-back marathons... but then I thought... what the heck? Who runs marathons without training... much less runs TWO in a row? Yeah, I must be crazy.

These will be staets 29 and 30 so I will be closer to my goal and this summer's goal is to get back in shape and run a BQ time. I'm sure there are thousands of people who used to run in high school or college or both and have gotten out of shape over time... perhaps I can help inspire them to get back to training or if not necessarily training, but remain healthy - for life. I hope so! This weekend is dedicated to all of those who used to run or race "back in the day" when we were younger and everything was much easier and we had time in our busy schedules to practice after school or between classes in college, etc. I'm running these for you. If I can do this... you can too. I don't expect to ever run as fast as I did in high school or college, but simply qualifying to run in the Boston Marathon to have that as my Massachusetts marathon is part of my 50 states goal. They changed the time cut off this past year so it's a little harder, but even if I run half as fast as I did in school or what I did on long leisure runs... I'd qualify. Now it's just getting that motivation and drive to get up and run early before it gets humid and sticky out here in the south! We can do it!

run for life... one step at a time.