Fun in Fargo

Well, that was short (that's what she said!).

My flight schedule from Cleveland to Denver to Fargo was unbelievably lucky. Normally, I find United frustrating, but everything worked out perfectly THIS TIME. I was originally supposed to have a 2.5 hour layover in Denver, which would be ok since they have a New Belgium Brewery bar/restaurant near my gate. I could kick back, have a Shift beer, relax....on second thought, probably not the best thing to do the night before a race. My plane from Cleveland arrived a little early and the earlier flight from Denver to Fargo (which my sister-in-law was on) was delayed. With Kim's help delaying the gate attendant and my clumsy run from B33 to B89, I was able to make the earlier connection and be the last person boarding the plane!

Let me tell you, Fargo is a sleepy little town. It's experiencing massive growth due to the natural gas and oil industries, but at 8:00 p.m. no one was to be found. Fortunately, we found an Old Chicago Pizza place near our hotel, had a pretty darn good pizza, a really good pint and relaxed before checking in.

Race Morning. Kim is the perfect race partner. Totally relaxed, loves a good breakfast, and doesn't get stressed out about races. Heck, she hadn't made up her mind whether she was running the half marathon or the 10k until the start line! She went with the 10k, as did I, and with her help I was able to shave almost 30 seconds off my previous 10k and earn a PR at 1:02:38 according to the official results! Woohoo! I have to admit that I wished I was better shape because I really believe I could have hit the one hour mark if I had more than one training run each week. But I'm happy with the effort I had.

The race itself was terribly boring and uneventful. It was advertised as going through some of Fargo's newer neighborhoods and I was a bit excited about seeing more of Fargo. I was thinking like Tremont, Ohio City, Gordon Arts like we have here. Nope, NEWER neighborhoods meant NEW HOMES not yet finished. We literally snaked in and out of new developments on a concrete trail.

The finish line was funny because they passed out bottled water and beef sticks. Beef sticks! You can imagine the smell at the finish line! I love a good beef jerky so I held on to mine and shared it with Jameson (my black lab) when I got home. We finished inside the Scheels Hockey Arena, which was cool. In the vendor area, they served peanuts with candy corn in cups, hot chicken noodle soup, oatmeal cookies, apples and bananas. Pretty nice finish treats.

We stopped at the Smiling Moose for a great little brunch, dashed back to the hotel to quickly pack and clean up, then off to the airport to head home.

Thanks, Kim, for your motivating during the race and for helping me check off our 46th state!

Fargo, Here I Come!

Last week, Fargo was hit by an early snow storm bringing 4 inches of snow! I'm scheduled to run a 10k race in Fargo with my sister-in-law, Kim, and I'm hoping it doesn't look like the picture above!

So, in the meantime, I'll leave you with some fun facts about my 46th state!

1. The town of Rugby is the geographical center of North America. A rock obelisk about 15 feet tall, flanked by poles flying the United States and Canadian flags marks the location.

2. Milk is the official state beverage. I think I might have to have a glass before I leave!

3. This name Roughrider State originated in a state-supported tourism promotion of the 1960s and 70s. It refers to the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry that Theodore Roosevelt organized to fight in the Spanish-American War.

4. North Dakota grows more sunflowers than any other state.

5. Lawrence Welk left his home in Strasburg on his birthday in 1924 to pursue his musical career. On July 2, 1955, he made his debut on national television. The Lawrence Welk Show was produced for 26 years and today reruns of the popular program air weekly throughout the United States and foreign countries.

6. Kenmare is the Goose Capital of North Dakota. Kenmare is the hunting haven of the north with an annual snow goose count being over 400,000 birds.

7. Flickertail refers to the Richardson ground squirrels which are abundant in North Dakota. The animal flicks or jerks its tail in a characteristic manner while running or just before entering its burrow.

I'll only be in Fargo for 24 hours and tackling a 10k. A short trip for a short race!

Scioto Miles: First 10k of the Year

When I signed up for the Scioto Miles two-race package, I originally selected the 5k as Race #1 and 10k as Race #2 since there would be 4 weeks between the two races. In my advance-planning-mind, I figured 4 weeks was PLENTY of time to ratchet up the mileage from being 5k-race-ready to 10k-race-ready. Where did the time fly?! I don't know who was more surprised - me or Megan - regarding my finish time! I figured the 6.2 miles would take me 70 minutes due to only completing 3-4 miles runs the past couple of months. Surprised myself when I finished in 1:05 and still felt fresh. It has to be the cycling that gave me the legs to finish this 10k. Thank you 30 days of biking! I have to say, I really enjoyed the course provided by the Scioto Miles Challenge. Runners are offered the option of 5k, 10k or 15k distance on a 5k course starting and stopping at COSI. The course has a nice mix of rolling hills, straight sections, and plenty to see along the Scioto River and downtown. I would recommend the series and, best of all, I snagged a wonderfully bright, and highly useful, Brooks windbreaker jacket, which I've used for both cycling and running this season so far. Looking forward to more races this summer!

Travel and Races

As I told the Mr. yesterday, I have the "itch" to travel for a race. I don't know if it's the combination of not checking off any states for the past couple of months or the fact that I can't stand how high the airfares have become, but I have the itch to run elsewhere. So as a happy compromise, I registered for two Columbus races.

I know, that's not REALLY traveling. But with a 5-year-old, oh yes it is traveling! Anything over 30 minutes constitutes a trip!

And off we shall go next week for a race that starts and finishes at COSI. I'm excited because I get in a race (a short one), and I can take the girls somewhere fun. Best of all, it's ok to wear my running clothes because I will have just completed a race. And who doesn't love not having to shower and get cleaned up to go somewhere?! Bonus!

Oh, did I mention that when you sign up for the two races - a 5k and a 10k - you get a Brooks Running Jacket and a tech tee. Awesome! And, there's more. Jeni's Ice Cream is one of the sponsors so I'm pretty darn excited to try out their stuff, which I've heard so many good things about!

Can't wait!

Dirty Love 10k Trail Run

Brrrr! When I arrived at the race site, I initially sat in my car contemplating taking a DNS. I thought about running inside the shelter, picking up my race bib and mug, dashing back to my warm car, and driving back to my warm house! But when I went inside the shelter, saw all the runners hanging out, smiling and chatting, I knew I couldn't leave. Time to suck it up! Afterall, it was 18 degrees and the wind wasn't THAT bad...yet!

We lined up for a cross country-style start. As we listened to the race director say that runners will be crossing a creek during the first mile, I glanced over to my warm car. Hmmm...I could just slide out of the crowd unnoticed and drive away in my warm, DRY car. But alas, I reminded myself I do not DNS (except the one time when I had rotovirus. Today I was healthy so no excuse.) A couple more announcements and we were off trampling through the fluffy snow. This might actually be fun. Could that be?

The creek crossing at a quarter-mile in caused an 8-minute log jam for everyone to cross. No biggie because this wasn't a "race" to me, but rather was a great excuse to run 6.2 miles with company. After about 20 minutes in, I was over-the-top happy. All body parts felt good and I wasn't going to die of frostbite. Good fun! The volunteers were great at water stops at 2.5 miles and 4 miles. Loved the ups and downs of the trail and enjoyed the beautiful view afforded to all of us on this snowy morning.

I crossed the finish line with a huge smile and gave out many thank you's to all the kidnd volunteers. We are lucky to have such an active running community here in Northern Ohio.

Post-race, I grabbed coffee and hot cocoa for my girls and we had great fun playing Country Dance on the Wii. What a great start to Sunday!

Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas All on a Saturday

Night Before Oklahoma Race
Talk about a whirlwind of a trip! We landed Friday in Dallas, just in time for lunch at Sonic for our beloved tots! Greg changed our reservations and instead of a chain hotel, we stayed at Tanglewood on Lake Texoma, near the border of Texas and Oklahoma. Great choice! Bridget was immediately thrilled when she saw a large playground and pool! Us Girls had spa time, while Greg made a quick trip to pick up a 6-pack of Shiner Family Reunion (an amazing sampler pack of my favorite texas beer).


While at the spa, we learned that Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton actually live on the other side of the lake. Meg wanted to stalk, but there was no time for that (plus, why give them more material for a country song!). Dinner at hotel, which was awesome because we dined outside while Bridget played on the playground. As cheesy as it sounds, we all went back to the room to relax and veg with TV - Bridget watched her movie on her portable DVD player, Meg watched the Kardashians in the living room and Greg and I watched back to back episodes of Pawn Stars. Yep, the glamorous life!

Oklahoma Race
This race is why I love small town running events. I actually finished third in my age group. And yes, there were more than three ladies!

Madill, Oklahoma is a little town north of Texoma Lake, but it sure is big on hospitality. For a $17 race fee, I had the great experience of spending my morning running a challenging 10k through the little town of Madill, which also served as a championship race for Oklahoma cross country. I also scored a fantastic long-sleeve t-shirt of Alice in Runner-land, a pancake breakfast free to all runners and just $3 for guests, a trophy, Texoma Peanut Inn peanuts, and the standard H20 and banana (love me some fruit!). For such a small race, organizers had a photographer on hand capturing finish line shots and immediately uploading them. About 10 yards away and for only $4, you could purchase your picture and have it printed on the spot. What a great service - and priced right. Another cool feature: finishing times were posted within minutes of finishing on an adjacent corkboard.


The course was challenging. We had long inclines to tackle with the sun and humidity teasing us. Then came the strong headwinds. People were losing their hats and headbands (kind of funny, actually). Since I was in prairie land with wide open spaces and no buildings to be found on the course, my body absorbed the whole wind force. I had been maintaining steady 9:40-9:42 miles, then whack! I found myself struggling for 11s! In spite of this, I was treated to some beautiful scenery and great volunteers.

Funny story at the start line. I had asked the guy next to me why his bib was pink - which race was he running. He responded, "the long one." Uhmm, okay. He then said it was the half marathon. I kind of giggled to myself because even though I was running what he thought was the short race, I would be running a half marathon the following morning. I wished him luck anyway. He tapped my shoulder a couple minutes later and told me to cover my ears because the race was about to start. They actually had a pistol to fire to start the race. Gave new meaning to gun time!

While I was running, my family dined at Hobo Joe's I only got to hear their stories and see the outside of this place to know that I missed out on a helluva good greasy spoon. But that's ok because I was fortunate to have my own Madill experience.


And now State 35 is done! Best of all, we woke up Saturday morning in Texas, drove across the border to Madill, Oklahoma for a 9:00am race, then checked in at the expo in Wichita, Kansas by 3:30pm. All in the same Saturday. Funny side story: Meg carried her styrofoam to-go container of leftover pizza through these 3 states. We laughed that her to-go container needed patches like a backpack to show where it had traveled!

Race Report: Delaware Trail Triple Crown Race

Loved Newark, Delaware. All four of us loved the town and we were surprised by that as we didn't really think Delaware (the state) would be that interesting. I love it when we're wrong! The University of Delaware campus reminded us of an upscale Athens. Meg and I stopped in at the Flip Flop Shop and each bought a great little pair of flip flops - Reef for her and Sanuk for me (footbed made with yoga mats!). I'll break our little weekend and our 22nd state (my 12th half marathon!) down into three parts: the drive (it was 7 hrs each way), the town, and the race.

The Drive. I let google route us - very interesting route! Highlights included the scenic drive along the Susquetana River, hearing Modern English's Melt with You so many times it became our trip's theme song, and Bridget's "I have to potty!" urgent announcements (oh the joy of a recently potty-trained 3 year old).

The Town. Newark was fantastic. We dined Friday at the Iron Hill Brewery and we all four enjoyed our meals (even Bridget). Their Ironbound Pale Ale was a treat as well! We even checked out the Brewhaha for a good cup of Joe. I love hitting up independent coffee stores whenever I can. While I was running Saturday morning, Meg, Greg and Bridget knocked around the town and checked out a cool record store. They shared the story with me afterwards that Bridget went straight back to the store clerk and asked "Where's the girls section?" Too damn funny. Just think about it, in Bridget's teen years, she will not know about cassette tapes (ah, is there any better gift than a mix tape? Seriously!), LPs, 45s, or even CDs. Post-race we hit up Pita Pit for lunch where our devoured my pita like a ravenous pit bull and then off to the Flip Flop Shop for our unusual treat.

The Race. Mixed feelings here. I guess I'm spoiled by the trail racing events here in Northeastern Ohio. The trail markings are spot on, but were lacking at the Delaware race. A group of us came to this intersection lesstha. 3 miles into the race which had no pie plates or chalk/flour and we had to make a decision. Luckily, a fisherman pointed us in the right direction toward "the other runners who scared my fish away!" I also noticed the 10k lacked some key markings when a marathoner and I were confused about which direction to take. I also would have liked chips or D-tags because after I finished the half marathon, any transition time I took actually counted toward my total race time. Rats. The course itself was beautiful and very challenging. It was everything the website said and more - roots, rocks, trees, branches, flora, downed trees, huge creek crossing ranging from ankle to knee deep icy water, hills, rollers - everything you could imagine. I was exhausted (plum tuckered out, to be honest) after the half marathon distance, but decided to complete the 10k in spite of screaming calf muscles (and they were screaming profanity to me I'm sure). I did learn an important lesson about nutrition. Don't deviate from what works! Which I did and paid dearly for it with cramps and stomach discomfort. I won't make that mistake again. Overall, I enjoyed the 19.3 miles completed and had an absolutely wonderful time with my family - potty breaks and all!

16th State Was One of My Favorite Races!

I missed a 10k PR by 40 seconds but I was more than happy with my time of 1:05:02. I ran the ZOOMA 10k in Annapolis this past Sunday. The morning was iffy since it was raining buckets and lightning at 6:00 am. Megan was a course marshal volunteer working at the 10k turnaround. I have to say it was pretty cool hearing her voice as I approached the turn/half marathon split. Rating the course, organization, town and post race food and festivities, I would have to give high marks. Packet pick up on Saturday was simple and I did enjoy walking around the Naval Academy stadium and seeing GO NAVY in the bleachers. We strolled around the town and had lunch at this great little gem called Chick and Ruth's "delly" - I highly recommend this place. Race morning was not initially ideal, but what can you do when Mother Nature deals you a bad hand! Surprisingly, the temps stayed in the high 50s to low 60s which was nice regardless of the rain. Wouldn't you know it stopped raining about a mile before the finish. The course was scenic and challenging - a great combination. The finish line was spacious and food was spot on. All finishers received a special necklace made by women in Guatemala - a nice touch. I had the option of riding the shuttle back to the Naval stadium or walking a mile back. The walk back was an ideal choice. The After Party was exactly as promised. I was greeted by a volunteer handing out chocolates, next I had a yummy sample size cupcake from Nostalgia Cupcakes, a box lunch with hummus, carrot/celery sticks & apple, and a cold complimentary glass of Pinot Grigio from Barefoot Wines. Although I didn't sign up for a free massage, I was impressed with how organized the service was. I even treated myself to a new pink shirt that read, "one tasty cupcake = 3.1 miles" - love it! Best of all, I got to share this race experience with my daughter, who was a great volunteer. I would recommend this as a destination race since the town is a must-see and the race is challenging, well run and truly enjoyable.