New runDisney Race: The Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon

So, yesterday runDisney made the announcement that Disneyland would be hosting a new half marathon and 5K in November...The Avengers Super Heroes Half Marathon Weekend. This race weekend will be November 14-16, 2014 with the 5K being run on Saturday morning and the half marathon on Sunday morning. Rumors had been spreading over the last couple of months of an Avengers and a Star Wars race being announced. This took care of one of them and now the wait for the Star Wars race continues.



I, myself, had made a rule that I would do no more than two runDisney races a year but you wouldn't believe how fast I caved and decided to run the Avengers race as well this year. I had already done TinkerBell HM last month and am registered for the Dumbo Double Dare (Disneyland HM and 10K in one weekend) in August. Aside from the fact that this will be my third runDisney race in a year I am already scheduled to run the Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon on the same afternoon (Sunday, November 16). So, what do I the crazy slow turtle or sloth runner do?? I decide that I'm going to do a double half marathon in one DAY. Not one weekend, but one day! What am I thinking?!?

My plan for this craziness involves flying down to LAX on the Friday before the Avengers race so I can go to the expo and cheer at the 5K. Then I'll run the Avengers race at 5:30am finishing around 9am or earlier, hop on a flight to Vegas, check into a hotel and then head over to the start of the RnR Las Vegas race. I know other people have done similar things and I'm willing to give this a go. In fact, I'm really rather excited to be doing it...a new challenge. I've done double halves in one weekend, even doing doubles back to back three weekends a month. Heck, I've even done 5 races in 5 days in 5 states. Should be no big deal right? It's like doing a marathon in 2 steps. LOL!

So, do you think I've gone over the deep end now? Are you planning to run either the Avengers or RnR Las Vegas? Or both?

Race Recap: Wisconsin HM

The Not So Little Mermaid & I on race day.

Race Day -1
The daughter and I had traveled since Thursday morning to get first to my cousin's house near Scott AFB, Illinois and then drove the final 5-6 hours to Kenosha today (Friday). While the drive was long, it was pretty...when it wasn't a downpour of rain. There were actually periods of the drive in south/central Illinois where the rain was coming down in sheets that caused me to slow to 20 miles slower than the speed limit on the highway and that actually caused some people to pull over to the side of the freeway to await the rain's passing. Once we got to Kenosha I found the Best Western Harborside easily and picked up my packet as well as $50 worth of Bondi Bands for myself, the daughter and my cousin. After stopping briefly to take some pictures of the two lighthouses on the harbor, we headed over to Great Lakes Naval Training Station to check into lodging there. It took awhile to finally get registered to go on base but we finally got checked into our room and since it was already so late (about 4:30pm) we decided to put off a trip to Chicago until after the race. After a quick trip to the commissary for groceries and getting my gear ready for the next day, we settled in for the night with a dinner of whole wheat linguine and sauteed shrimp.

Race Day - 5/5/12
After driving a total of 1,210 miles to get to this race, I woke up to pouring rain and wind in the morning. As I drove from Great Lakes Naval Training Station,  I had the window wipers going at max speed just to try to be able to see the road in front of me for most of the 30+ minute drive. The rain was so bad at points that I almost decided not to run the race. Thankfully enough, I continued on and by the time I arrived in the area of the start to park the rain had slowed to a steady, even rain enough so that I still needed an umbrella plus a cheap rain poncho to keep myself warm. After I purchased and dumped my stuff in a couple of lockers (my race bag and mini cooler wouldn't fit in a single one) the rain had slowed to a light drizzle.

Marathon Maniac/Half Fanatic group pic...an nod to Dave Mari!

Sister Half Fanatic Brenda,
she went to the wrong museum for the pic.

Half Fanatic/Tinkerbell/Bling Ho sister, Run Kat with the Capt'n.

I headed over to the Civil War Museum for the Marathon Maniac/Half Fanatic picture and then proceeded to walk around looking for my TinkerBell sister, Run Kat, who I had planned to meet and run the race with. Funnily enough about 20 minutes or so before the race started we suddenly turned around and found ourselves facing each other just out of the blue. After a few squeals of delight, we moved to the All Cheese Corral at the front of the starting line (you had to be wearing something cheese related) and waited for the start. The wind was still blowing and since we were right on the edge of Lake Michigan it was a cold wind with the temperature somewhere around 48°F. At this point I still had my rain poncho on to keep warm.

Yes, she ran with this the whole 13.1 miles!

In the All Cheese Corral, you had to wear
something related to cheese to get in.

Once the race started we found ourselves running in and amongst a well established neighborhood to the south of downtown Kenosha with grand houses and no resemblance to the cookie cutter, tract homes of the modern day. The course brought us back down into downtown and along the harbor eventually running in a park alongside Lake Michigan. Even though the day was overcast and windy as all git out (especially when we were closer to the water) it was a beautiful sight for this landlocked gal to have the scenery of one of the great the inland oceans, lighthouses and greenery around us. While most of the course was relatively flat, there were some small to moderate hills in the park. Oddly enough, or perhaps because I've actually gotten experience running on hills now, these particular hills didn't seem to bother me as much as they would have in the past. Kat had begun having some trouble with her knees and I was beginning to experience gastrointestinal issues so I ran ahead so that I could get to a "real" restroom rather than a port-o-pot and just planned to meet her at the finish line. When I had finished what I needed to do, I began to run again believing that I was still ahead of Kat. In a short time I found that I had crossed paths with Dave Mari, a well known individual in the Facebook running community, and spent some time walking and talking with him before again taking off to finish the race.

I met Dave Mari, a bit of a celebrity in Facebook running circles.

As I finished the race, feeling rather good considering that I still had quite a cold/cough and low grade fever, I got into my lockers for my post race chocolate milk and a banana and put on my jacket/Mylar blanket to go in search of Kat. I looked for a bit around the finish area and then began to walk the route in reverse. After about a mile or so without locating Kat I turned around and headed back to the finish line to see if I could find her in the area. Unfortunately it wasn't until quite a while later that I discovered that she had in fact passed me at some point (I guess I was in the restroom longer than I thought!) and finished the race about 5 minutes before I had!! lol! After a few short text messages I packed up my gear and headed back to the base to prepare for a trip into Chicago for the afternoon.

All in all, even with the weather and being sick this was a very nice course. I haven't actually run a race with someone since TinkerBell in January and it does indeed help the time pass faster. While I do like running solo, the change in running and talking with someone is a nice break to the routine.

What I liked about this race: Nice course, scenic, not too strenuous. Good company during the race...Thanks Run Kat and Dave Mari! :)

What I didn't like about this race: Only the weather...I know that can't be controlled but 2-3­° warmer and less wind would have been nice!

Would I do this race again? Yes, most likely if I was in the area already rather than making the trip specifically for it. I'd love to do it in better weather! ;)

Welcome to My World

Sorry, I couldn't help it! ;)

OK. So it seems that tweaking my race schedule has become my favorite thing to do. Why can't I just leave well enough alone? Early this morning I thought that I had my total 2012-2014 schedule planned out. The way I put it when I posted it on one of my Facebook running groups was: "Races will only be canceled due to lack of $$/vehicle, gas over $6/gal, severe injury that can't be supported with tape/other eternal supports, severe illness/death. I'll sleep in my Explorer if I have to if I can't afford hotels or I'll tow our tiny travel trailer if gas isn't too expensive." Well, I got thrown a curve ball when a new "local" marathon/half marathon/5K was announced today. Plus I knew I needed to add a Ragnar Relay in but was focusing on my marathon planning instead. So now I have to make some adjustments.

I'm changing my double half of the Rock & Roll Denver Half Marathon and a planned half marathon in either Jackson Hole or Omaha. Instead I'm going to fly into Denver Friday, race on Saturday, fly back to Amarillo ($60 cheaper than flying into Lubbock) and drive to Lubbock to stay overnight and race on Sunday in the full marathon. I had been hoping to do the Goofy Challenge in Walt Disney World in January, but since I can't I may as well make my own challenge on this particular weekend.

As far as Ragnar goes...I'm thinking the Napa Ragnar Relay in September of this year or next. I don't know if 4 months will be enough time to plan the logistics for a 12 person team (each person runs 3-8 miles three times). We'd need to coordinate the team, wrangle two 15 passenger vans, get the snackage together, etc. Maybe 2013 would be a better choice...

I don't know. I'm a total lunatic about running now. It's an illness. I know...(as I start getting ready to clean and pack for the Oklahoma City Memorial Half Marathon...)

Race Recap: GO! St. Louis HM

4/15/12 - Race Day

Race day gear.

 For some reason I had a really good night's sleep! Woke up easily and even just slightly before my alarm at 3:30am. Did my getting ready necessaries (shower, eat, Facebook...not necessarily in that order) but luckily I didn't have to tape up since I had taped up fully the day before, all that was required was some trimming of lifted areas.

Driving into St. Louis from IL.

I was on the road by 5am and had planned for a 40 minute drive which in all actuality only took about 30 minutes. Parking was pretty simple, although I did have to hang around the Explorer and ask a couple of people if the meters were actually free on Sundays...come on St. Louis, put up some signage for us out of towners! I managed to park on the street just 2 blocks from the starting area...score! Once I was sure I had all the gear and my gear bag...yes, I was actually going to use gear check for the second time in my running career, I headed towards the venue. The weather was cooperating, no need for my garbage bag on this day. I wandered around for a bit before noticing that one or maybe both of the silicone toe sleeves on my right foot felt wrong. I use these, or try to use them, to protect from anymore black toenails. I stopped and adjusted them and put my sock and shoe back on. I wandered around while eating a banana trying to figure out where the gear check area was. I finally found a volunteer who directed me towards city hall...yay!! Once I dropped off my gear I headed for what I knew would likely be the last indoor restrooms available. The line was loooong! I had been waiting about 15 minutes with another 20 or so in line before me, to top it off it was nearly 6:30am already. They wanted us in our corrals by 6:40am or we risked having to start in the last corral. A few ladies came by and told us that there was another restroom on the other end of the building and I made a beeline over to it...the line was much shorter, but I still had about a 5 minute wait. After I visited Mother Nature I  headed at a light jog to my corral..."D" out of "E" corrals...yes, I was just about in the last starting block since I'm so slow!! lol! This race was huge...something like 15,000+ participants it was by far the biggest race I've participated in. Now, waiting in the corral is a great place to people watch. Because they were offering free beer I was looking for someone who looked like they were active duty to give my beer coupon to since I don't drink. No luck...anyone who fit the description was either too far from me to hear me over the din or I really can't pick out my active duty people anymore because guys are wearing their hair short again. Oh, and if they're females it's almost impossible to tell who's active duty when there out of uniform!

View from Corral D

As I people watched I realized that I still had my phone with me. Now I don't typically run with my phone anymore since I got my MotoACTV. I was a bit irritated that I had forgotten to stash it in my gear bag and that it was too big for the case for my camera that I wear on my hydration belt. Hey, if I'm not going to win the race I'll take pictures while I run the race! ;) I was wearing my running skort that has fairly large pockets so I stashed it in the one on my right leg and hoped for the best. I snapped a couple of pictures and then the national anthem started. I could barely hear the singer or the announcer since I was so far back in the crowd. I heard them start the race, but it took a full 8 minutes for me to actually get across the starting line...that's how big the race was.

Around mile 8, I think.

We started down towards the Anheuser-Busch brewery where there was...wait for it...hills! They also had one of the Clydesdales out there to cheer us on...why didn't I stop for a picture? Once down those hills we headed down closer to the river and before turning I noticed that the toe caps were bothering me again. I finally had to come to a full stop and sit on the sidewalk to check them. Since I had had the same problem in Indiana (but didn't notice until I got to the hotel) I just went ahead and took them off hoping for no problems. I joined the race again and kept to a pretty steady 4 min:1 min run walk interval. Did I mention that the fastest marathoners and half marathoners passed me when I had barely passed the 2 or 3 mile mark? Ugh. Anyway, I ran on dealing with some relatively low hills without much problem...actually running up most of each of them. There seemed to be quite a lot of flat areas in the downtown portion but it was also at this time that I saw a woman fall down for the first time during the race. The weather wasn't too hot, maybe in the high 60's but it was pretty humid at around 60% if I remember correctly. As I ran on I began seeing a few more people pulled off to the side being attended to by race monitors or EMS. At some point, later in the race, I saw the same woman fall again. I was feeling pretty good myself sipping on my G2 and using a Hammer Endurolyte capsule each hour that I was on the course. At around mile 8 I check the time on my watch versus my projected pace and found that I was actually 10 ahead of pace!! I was shooting for a 2:40 finish but I was running 10 minutes ahead of what I needed to be. Whoohoo!! Possible new PR!! Especially on a course with hills!! But my joy turned to irritation when I hit that dreaded wall again at 9 miles. Boy, that was some shortlived joy! lol! The hills started up again...walk up, jog down. Watched the new relay members join the race after the transfer looking all relaxed and stuff. Jerks!! lol, just kidding! :) We were heading back into downtown and I had thought we had finished with the hills, then I saw a downward slope leading to a decently sloped overpass. Damn! Made it over that obstacle and turned the corner...and there it was, probably the biggest hill in the race at around mile 11...NO FAIR!!! I struggled up that long hill and at the top all I heard was "You're almost there!" They weren't lying...the last 1.1 miles was ahead of me. I decided that I was so tired that I'd just walk so that I could at least run the last quarter of a mile or so to the finish line. Time didn't matter anymore. I crossed the line jogging and almost as soon as I got over the timing mechanism I slowed to a walk. I ended up finishing 13 minutes after my goal time. I got my medal (a nice one, my second favorite behind Tink!), took a finisher's photo and grabbed some snacks. I immediately headed back to city hall while munching a banana to grab my gear and my much needed chocolate milk.

I sat down on the marble steps and grabbed my "The Stick" (a massaging stick) and began using it on my legs. Ahhhhhhh! I'm going to have to remember to keep that in my bag every race. I drank my chocolate milk, had some beef jerky and another banana. A few more girls (in their 20's I think) sat nearby and we were soon talking about the race and our future goals. One was another nurse who had lost over 100 pounds and began to run, another was going to be joining Half Fanatics after this race as her qualifyer, I gave some of them the name to our Facebook Bling Whore group and we just enjoyed each others company for probably close to 30 minutes just commensurating about our aches and pains.

Finishers medal, new #2 fave.

One of the cheer squads on the course.
Love the signs!

As we slowly broke up the group I headed back to my car...very slowly. I looked up the nearest YMCA so that I could take a shower and luckily it was only less than a 5 minute drive away. I got there, filled in the guest use form (I'm a YMCA member at home) proceeded to the showers. While the shower felt great just to wash all the dried salt from my skin, it would've been nice for there to actually be some water pressure!! lol! I contemplated what I wanted to do in town as a tourist.  One of the girls, a local, recommended the old location of the World's Fair but I wasn't really in a mood to walk around. So, I figured I'd just go see the Gateway Arch and find a nice steak for lunch. I got to the parking lot for the arch and headed in. The visitor's center was actually underground and you have to purchase tickets to go to the top of the arch as well as for some of the movie presentations. I hung out since I only had to wait about 20 minutes and looked in the gift shop and having a soda before getting into line (they assign times for your tours). I have to say that it's not really all that exciting...you take the "train" (really some tiny pods) to the top where you look out of 16 tiny windows and you come down. The swaying of the arch was pretty pronounced since it was so windy that day. After taking a few pictures and noticing that there was a Cardinals game in progress I headed down after less than 10 minutes (translation my whole stay cost more than $1/minute). I headed back outside to take some exterior shots but felt so tired that I even took a few minutes to lay down on one of the stone benches for a quick few minutes (literally) of napping. Food then became the focus. I didn't have the energy to walk around downtown to find a steakhouse and parking on the street was rough so I decided to find a steakhouse close to my cousin's house and eat there.

Inside the visitor center.

The Gateway Arch and I.

I drove back to the town where my cousin lives and found the restaurant...but it was closed either permanently or for remodeling. I got back on my phone and Google maps and since there was no other steakhouse that sounded good I went to a Japanese restaurant that had good reviews and a moderately priced menu. Good choice! After having my fill of shrimp/veggie tempura, soup, 12 piece sashimi and a new type of roll I headed back to my cousin's. It seemed that everyone was either gone or in their rooms so I headed downstairs and watched TV for a few before heading to bed for a nap. I'm not sure how long I slept but when I woke up I still wasn't the least bit hungry so I just watched more TV and chatted with my cousin and bid an early goodbye to the family. I went to bed pretty early after packing as I wanted to be on the road around 5am.

Cardinal game in progress.

View to East of the Arch.

Boy that's tall!

4/16/12 - Race Day +1

I managed to wake up and get on the road as planned but realized that I should have filled up before leaving St. Louis. I had to fill up in Illinios (I probably could've made St. Louis but I didn't want to deal with Monday commute) at nearly $4/gallon. I got back on the road and once I reached Six Flags St. Louis I pulled off to have breakfast at Denny's. Now, the weather was cold and I was wearing shorts, a tank top and sandals. I was thankful that I had 2 race shirts and grabbed one to wear just to be a bit warmer. The drive was pretty routine, but as I got closer to Oklahoma City about 9 hours later I decided that it would be smarter for me to stop overnight and get a good night's rest before finishing the last 5 hours of driving. I managed to get a room on Tinker AFB then went to the BX/Commissary mall initially to buy a steak and fixins since I was in temporary family lodging and had a full kitchen at my disposal. I walked around the BX first and noticed that they had a Popeye's in the food court...the idea of cooking quickly went out of my head. I got the meal to go and headed back to the room kicking up my feet, playing on Facebook and eating. I then decided that since it was light out that I'd print up the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon/Half Marathon map and go drive the route. I drove to the memorial and followed the course as best I could. I'm okay with it, yes there are some hills but nothing huge (I actually think my perception is changing or at least becoming more accepting) and fairly pretty as well. It was dark by the time I got back on base so I just headed to the room and crashed out for the night thinking that maybe, just maybe I'd take a short 5K run on the running path that I had noticed on base in the morning.

4/17/12 - Race Day +2

View on the Greenway just before getting lost!

I woke up at around 5:30am and decided to indeed hit the trail. I got dressed and walked the few blocks to the lodging office to see if they had a map of the trail since the one that was supposed to be in my room was gone. I got the map and began on my run. Now, let me explain, this map was a full page but the print was minuscule and you had to have a magnifying glass to read it. I managed to go where I planned on the Urban Greenway (reclaimed land) but got lost so bad in base housing that my run ended up being over a mile longer and 20 minutes longer than planned. By the time I got back to the room it was nearly 9:30am and I still had to shower, eat and pack. I managed to get that all that done by 10:50am and headed out to the office to checkout. I got through the first half of the drive with relatively no problem but had to stop at the Texas Welcome Center in Gray County to wake up a bit. As I headed into Amarillo I decided that since I had to go right by the Big Texan (a restaurant known for it's 72 oz. steak challenge and featured on many food shows) I'd just stop and get that steak I've been craving since Saturday. Yep...a nice, thick, somewhat "mooing", 18 oz rib eye!! Yeeeeeha! After that big meal (bread, salad, steak, loaded baked potato) I walked around the gift shop to let nature do it's thing before heading back on the road. I think I got home around 6pm and almost immediately went to bed! I had survived my first lone, long distance road trip of over 2,000 miles for a run...

This is what where I live looks like...except FLAT!

Yep...Texas shaped BBQ grill! lol!

Nice welcome center at Gray County 60 miles east of Amarillo.
Free wifi but you have to be outside near that big white thing to the left.

Not an uncommon sign in this region...the rattlesnakes, not the climbing.

My 18oz rib eye at the Big Texan!

Race Recap: Southern Illinois Classic HM

4/14/12 - Race Day

Camo outfit for the day since the charity benefiting was
Rolling Thunder, Inc. A charity for veterans.

Mini bibs that I wore on my back.

Well, this is the day that it finally dawned on me that all those rolling hills I drove over in my travels from New Mexico to Indiana may prove to be an issue. Thankfully the weather had cooperated and the thunderstorm from the previous night had moved on. I woke up early at 3:45am and I think I got a fairly decent night's sleep of more than 4 hours. Hey, that's really good for me on the night before a race! ;) Almost instantly got showered and dressed before heading downstairs to toast up my normal whole wheat Bagel Thin since the hotel leaves its breakfast appliances out. As I ate I did my normal Facebook check then began the 20 minute or so taping process needed for when I do long runs...turf toe on both feet, ankle support both ankles and both knees. Wait, did I do my knees this time? I can't remember. I got my refrigerated post-race snacks together in my little cooler and headed out the door at about 5:30am.

Starting area.

Part of the Half Fanatics/Marathon Maniacs/50 States
group. See me trying to hide my garbage bag,
evidenced by the blue cord below my hips? lol!

Since the race venue was literally only 4 or 5 miles down the road I got there fairly early and was able to park within the first four rows of field parking. I meandered through what remained of the expo, drank some G2, had a Honey Stinger waffle and just basically wandered the venue. They had several animal rescue groups and a few dogs looking to be adopted...you know I had to visit them. I was wearing my now normal warm up of a big, black garbage bag as I walked towards the start then realizing that there were a group of people there taking pictures...then it dawned on me. It was the group from last night's dinner! We were to meet at 6:30am at the start for group photos!! Eeek! I quickly jumped in (it was about 6:40am) tore open the front of my garbage bag so I could look somewhat normal. After several pics, of which Michelle was kind enough to post on Facebook for me, we headed our separate ways.

As I walked down to my starting corral I met another Half Fanatic who was starting in the same area. We chatted a bit, did some light warm up stretching, I snapped a couple of starting line pics and just basically hung out. Soon the national anthem was being sung and I think I remember an opening prayer (what can I say...we're in the corn/Bible belt). Soon it was time to go across the start.

I think this was the beginning of the second hill.

Now, since I normally try to drive the courses that I run but wasn't able to do it with this one I was quite surprised to find in the first mile or two a couple of hills. I guess in all reality I shouldn't have been surprised! We exited the recreational area where the start was located into a lush residential area with huge yards and few fences. As we came out of the residential area we ran along lush green fields, past a couple of landscaping businesses that appeared to grow their own foilage for clients and past more open fields. Not a hint of brown on the ground that I can recall. Around mile 4 we were hit with just a little, light rain lasting less than 20 minutes...it's wasn't even enough to soak through my clothes. I think it was just after this point that the full marathoners broke away onto their own route. There seemed to be a multitude of low, rolling hills with some flats mixed in as we continued on.

Mini/Half keg mailbox.

My all time favorite cheer sign.

The volunteers were great, cheering, they had some great signs and just overall I felt like it was a beautiful, relaxing run (not for time). As we came closer to the turnaround point I was comforted to notice that while I was still toward the back of the pack that there were plenty of people behind me...yeah, most were walkers! lol! I don't remember feeling too much of the wall by the time we got back into the residential area at about mile 9 or 10. I do, however, remember feeling it at about mile 11 when we hit more hills! Ugh! Hills!! Double ugh! I did my normal walk up and run down (mostly) and was a bit perturbed to see that there was a final hill in mile 12...well, and the incline to the finish line. I made my way up the last hill running as much as I could...which wasn't much, and finally hit the other side jogging. The final left turn towards the entrance to the recreation area and up the drive and I was done! Not literally when used as a description of fatigue...yes, I was tired, but I still had energy. I walked around a bit after getting my finisher's medal (smaller than I had anticipated) and dropping it off to get engraved and got a nice stretch from one of the chiropractors at the massage tent...OMG, that felt sooooo good! Especially after how sore I was after the drive. I headed out to the car and got my snacks and again walked around a bit contemplating whether to partake of the free hot dogs and hamburgers, but I just wasn't in the mood. I finally headed back to the hotel after picking up my newly engraved medal and just sat in a cold bath for a few (no ice) before showering and loading up the car for my trip back to Illinois.

After I checked out I headed over to Red Robin for a nice, big, thick, juicy Big Melt Bacon Cheeseburger. I made sure to gas up again to avoid that extra 20 cents per gallon once I hit Illinois and headed out for the 3 hour drive to my cousins house. Again the ride was uneventful and I managed to stay mostly wide awake for the duration. 

I arrived at my cousin's house, not too far from Scott AFB, around dinner time. After unloading, saying our hellos (I haven't seen her since they transferred to Japan from the base we live by back in 1997 or 1998) her husband was kind enough to run out to...wait for it...Fazoli's to get some pasta for dinner. :)  My cousin and I sat around catching up, trying to figure out the password to their wifi network (their son set it up and she had to text him since he lives about 45 minutes away) before the food arrived. After dinner it was a pretty quick return for me to go to bed since I again had to get up at about 3:30am to get ready for the race in St. Louis the following day. 

Read the next post for my experience at my second double in a month...

My First Long, Lone Race Journey

4/12/12 - My first long distance road trip alone & for a double half marathon

Well, I guess this was the real start to my Half Fanatics adventure. It's the first real travel I'm doing for my quest of reaching the highest level in the club possible. Up to now the only real long distance road trip I've done was a 10 hour drive to Phoenix back in the early 2000's when I was taking classes with the University of Phoenix. I had driven 22 hours straight from home to the Bay Area for a trip to visit family and friends but the whole family was with me. This was going to be a solo venture for a total of 19 hours of driving to get to my first race.

I had planned to get on the road by 5am and actually managed to be ready to go by 4:30am. However, I needed to get some snack supplies and gas up prior to leaving. Before leaving the house I began looking for the gas card that I had intended to use for the trip and couldn't find it. I went out to the car to search there but had no luck. I'd eventually have to make a call to customer service to have a new card express mailed to my cousin's house in Illinois. I ended up making a WalMart run and for some reason that took longer than expected. While in the parking lot I made the call to the gas card company and arranged the delivery. After about 20 minutes on the phone I was off to gas up before getting on the road. By the time I did get started on the drive it was after 6:30am. The sun was just starting to show itself in a nice, orange/pink glow on the eastern horizon...a far cry from the darkness I had expected to be driving in for the first hour or so of my trip.

The first five hours of the trip were relatively familiar as I had done the drive to Amarillo, TX many times plus a drive to Shamrock, TX for a dog rescue transport a few years earlier. As I traveled into McClean, TX on I-40 there was a gaggle of state troopers, local sheriff vehicles and ambulance on the eastbound side of the freeway. There had been a bad rollover of a minivan and with the number of ambulances and the appearance of the minivan I don't think the outcome was very good. Oddly enough I can't find any kind of report on the accident. I'm fairly sure it wasn't a tired imagination at work.

As I traveled further on through Shamrock there were no other occurrences of note. Once again I crossed the border into Oklahoma and once again the terrain seemed to change for the better. Although not as green and lush as in the more southern area of the state that I had visited a couple of weeks prior it was still much more green than what I am accustomed to at home. By the time I hit Oklahoma City it was lunch time and time to get my pasta feed on. I located the nearest Fazoli's which was conveniently on my route and changed the GPS to get me to the location. I knew there would be toll roads on the way but I wasn't sure of exactly they would be and I had mistakenly assumed that there would be people manning the toll stations and having done so I hadn't prepared by bringing coinage with me. I was surprised to find that the firs toll station I came to was completely unmanned and had a toll of $1.15. As I rifled through my change collection cup (thank goodness I hadn't emptied it like I planned to) I managed to find just enough silver to make the toll. As I drove on I took the exit towards Fazoli's only to find another unmanned toll station with a 35 cent toll. Again, I was lucky enough to find just enough change to meet that toll. At Fazoli's I ordered spaghetti with meat sauce and treated myself to a sweet tea just to get a little caffeine in me. I decided that before I got back on the road I'd need to get a boat load of change so I went over to the WalMart just behind the restaurant to try to buy some coins at the bank inside only to find that they didn't have any extra rolls of coinage. Then I had to go over the freeway/toll road to the BofA and had to wait in line for 20-30 minutes just to get the change that would hopefully be enough to get me through all of the remaining tolls for the trip.

I finally got back on the road after about an hour and a half total, landing myself a firm 3 hours or so behind my original schedule of arriving at my cousin's house between 7-9pm Central time. I continued on towards Joplin, MO finally paying a final toll of $4 just outside of Miami, OK. The drive through Missouri was also uneventful although for some reason the rolling hills and lush greenery, very reminiscent of my trip to Ardmore, OK, didn't register to me as being a view of my runs in the region. I'm not sure of where I had stopped to gas up in Missouri around 5pm but I realized that I wouldn't be arriving at my cousin's before 11pm or midnight so I called and told her that I'd just check into a hotel or the lodging at the Air Force base nearby so as to not disturb the family. I ended up driving through St. Louis around 10:30pm and made it to Scott AFB shortly after 11pm and was lucky enough for find that they has some space available rooms open. I checked in, got settled and layed down for a fairly good sleep on a rather hard mattress...the rooms are not the best that I've been in when using military lodging, but at $39/night I can't complain. This was evidently an older building which hadn't undergone much recent renovation and had older, squeaking floors and furniture.

Since the drive to the race venue and hotel in Evansville, Indiana was only about 3-4 hours away I decided to sleep in as much as possible and head out after checking out at around 10am and after heading back into St. Louis to pick up my race packet for Sunday's race. I woke up early, which typically happens after I lose that hour in the time change...you'd think I'd sleep late, and I drove over to the base shoppette to grab some breakfast food and was shocked to see that gas prices on base were $3.97!! Until that point the most expensive gas I had seen on the trip was $3.75. I was thankful that I didn't have to gas up at that time and returned to my room to eat. I packed up and checked out right on time and hit the road back to St. Louis.

As I was on the road, the heavens opened up and the downpour began. Now, keep in mind that I had planned for the reported warm weather in the 70-80°F range with a 30-40% chance of rain. My bad. In my part of the world a 30-40% chance of rain means that it isn't going to happen...apparently in this part of the U.S. it means that it will. I had no jacket, no full shoes (other than my running shoes which only get worn for...well...running) and no umbrella. All I had to wear were floor length maxi dresses and a pair of sandals. Doh! As I found a parking space just across the street from the stadium where packet pickup was occurring I hiked up my dress to knee length, took a deep breath, stepped directly into a puddle and began the "long" wet walk to the venue. By the time i got to the stadium, the Brooks Running people were trying to bring what they could of their outdoor display into the stadium. I entered the building dripping wet and waited in line for the expo to open. While waiting I managed to win a t-shirt from the Brooks crew which I decided I'd wear on the drive home with the shorts I had driven into Illinois wearing. By the time the expo opened (about a 30 minute wait) I was mostly dry and able to enjoy a short, quick jaunt around the expo buying only a few running based stickers and picking up my race packet. I was on the road to Evansville by 12:30pm. I filled up with gas before hitting the Illinois border...with a 20 cent price difference (less) before getting on the freeway.

Again the drive towards Evansville was full of rolling hills and lush greenery. And still it didn't sink into my brain that the course I was to run the next day would probably be much of the same. By the time I hit town my left side was aching/stiff from the two days of driving and I decided that I needed to find a massage therapist if at all possible. It was about 3:30pm when I hit town and after checking into the hotel I headed out in search of a massage therapist with an open appointment preferably later in the evening since I had a free pasta dinner to attend at 6pm after picking up my race packet at the expo. I thought I'd have plenty of time to find a massage therapist but everywhere I went they were either closed permanently or all appointments were full. It was shortly after 5pm when I gave up and decided to head to packet pickup.  Of course as I drove there the heavens once again opened up...the storm had followed me from St. Louis...and again I found myself totally drenched, parked too far away from the expo and since it was an outdoor expo in tents there was running water and puddles to contend with. Bye the time I got my packet and got through the small expo it was past 6pm...I was late for the dinner. I decided to go ahead and go and see if it was too late (in all actuality I was being cheap...I could have just bought my own dinner). I arrived in my soaking wet state again and happily found that they had just gotten midway through the salad.

The dinner was held at Biaggi's and I was seated with one relatively new Marathon Maniac, a soon to be Marathon Maniac, and a couple of 50 state marathoners. We chatted about the best races, running injuries and whatnot...normal running conversation. I met a female Marathon Maniac who was running the same double as I was, but doing the full marathons rather than the halfs like me. Boy...I don't know if I could do that. After a great tossed salad (3 servings), a large serving of spaghetti and a huge meatball, a large serving of fetuccini with Alfredo sauce, around 6 bread sticks and dessert (can't remember what it was, but it was good) I excused myself around 8pm and headed back to the hotel for a hot soak in the tub and some sleep after setting up my gear for the race the next day. Of course, the rain had stopped by the time I left the restaurant...so at least I was dry. :)