Leading Ladies 1/2 (South Dakota)

The Race:

Leading Ladies 1/2 

State #43 - South Dakota

Lifetime 1/2: 53

13 in 13 Progress 11/13

Official time 1:47:52

Practically twins....

Last  year this race fit nicely by having a double header in North Dakota the day prior- I tried to convince Kim to do it as SD and ND are not cheap to get to, however she already had racing plans that weekend in VA and promised we'd do it for 2013. We stalked and stalked this weekend waiting for dates to be announced, but sadly, the ND 1/2 might have been disbanned as there was never any updates for 2013. 

We decided to do this one and ND solo and the main clencher... downhill hill course (a first for both of us)

Kim had big goals for this race, and I originally had the brilliant idea to do a full. When that didn't pan out I decided it would be my shot to break 1:40-- laziness, hectic work schedule, travels, and injuries has kept my weekly mileage under 20 miles for the last month, so most of my ambitions were just lost. 

As suggested by the name, this was an all ladies race. I'm going to be honest here, all that 'girl power' and 'empowerment' annoys me and I try to avoid them.... what's ironic is this race followed by ND and MN the following consecutive weekends are all female races as well...

Pre- Race

We decided to skip the hotel shuttles to the race start and instead drive our rental to the finish and catch those shuttles up the canyon- best idea ever considering we left shortly after race, stopped for coffee / food, AND sat in hotel hot tub before the shuttle even brought back the first round of ladies. 

A wrong turn on the bus drivers part once we got to the top of the canyon yielded us to spot hidden port o potties before we were dropped off at our location... We were the only ones apparently who saw these as most just waiting in long lines at the start. . 

We stayed up by the lodge till the sun came out and mildy stretched and talked to kill the hour before our 6am start time. I kept trying to get into Pandora (since I lost my ipod this is how i've been listening to music the past 3 months)- unfortunately no internet on top of Spearfish Canyon = no music 

The lodge

The race

We all kind of half-hazardly line up for the start and my lack of motivation is kicking in as I have no idea what I could do. My make-shift plan was to just go out easy / fast and just see how it feels. I have a rule of thumb that my first mile will make or break my race- from there I would then decide how the rest of the 12 miles were going to go. 

I could be making this up, however I felt like the first mile was the steepest or largest amount of loss, thus resulting in an almost effort-less 7:15 pace. I say almost effort less because even though my breathing was fine, my shins and calves were already hurting. The calf pain I can mildly deal with, but shin pain really bothers me because I have no idea what is going on. From a stamina standpoint, I felt like I could continue with this pace for a bit, however from the "I have 4 more half marathons in the next month" stand point, I really can't afford to push too much. A decision was made to just go easy and have 'no goal'. Man is that hard for me to do. I guess I had a mini goal- since I had no music and this is my first half without it, I could hear myself breathing--- goal was to not sound like a fat kid in need of an inhaler. I guess it worked because one of (the many) ladies who passed me halfway had said good job and when I responded with a "thank you you look great," she shouted back, "you sound like you're not working very hard" to which I replied "ya, no goal for this race" - she is only 1 or 2 people that I ended up passing back the ENTIRE race.

I took my time at the aid stations which were spaced out about every 2 miles. They had an assortment of goodies, so I tried peanut m&ms... I am not great at multi-tasking and trying to eat these while running was miserable. I managed to eat 2 and then threw the rest of my handful off the side of road. Although I love chocolate, it does not bode well while running. 

Although the scenery was gorgeous, it was really hard to keep my mind occupied because it all looked the same

I kept reminding myself how breath taking the hills and rock formations were, but then negative nancy reared her ugly head and starting vomitting about how I didn't care, I'm sick of running half marathons, can't wait to be done, I hurt, this sucks blah blah blah. This was not one of my best mental race days and I just felt like I was going through the motions and was checked out.

Although the course is downhill, its a LOT of winding as you can see from the photo- this took a toll on ankles making those sharp turns, but also from going back and forth between the main road and on the left of white line. The main traffic on the road was actually spectators in the cars driving up and down cheering on the runners, so I didn't mind too much getting over for them. Call me crazy, but prior to this race, I thought that running a downhill course meant:

• I would be able to go faster (nope, robot pace up until mile 11)
• I would feel it in hips, quads, calves (although quads and calves are sore NOW, they were fine while running)

FINALLY at mile 8 everything stopped hurting. Since I already committed to not pushing it, I remained at robot place (8-8:15) until I happen to notice at mile 11 I had internet so I turned on m Skrillex pandora and was rejuvenated. I'm the classic case of pavlov's dogs- I hear music and I immediately go faster. Since my headphones were actually around Kim's Ifitness belt I borrow (thanks Kim!) I had to just hold my phone in my hand while running to hear the music. I found it funny as I was catching up "you look great" girl that Skrillex was blaring from my phone, if I were her I would have been annoyed. When I finally passed her I apologized about my music blaring and she laughed and said it was okay. I ended up beating said girl by 3-4 min so she must have really died down after I passed her. 

Once I passed my 'friend', the rest of the race was pretty uneventful other than I finally picked up my pace so I could just be done already. It wasn't that I was hurting, it was more mental than anything. Looking back conditions were perfect- zero uphill with mostly downhills / flats, overcast, low 60s with a slight breeze, no humidity, no large crowds to bop around, perfectly placed aide stations- yet I was just not into the race. 

The last 1/2 mile was on a path that led to the park where we finished. There was an annoucer shouting everyone's name as they turned the corner for the last 100 m  and she got really excited when she read where I was traveling from (mostly a local race). Upon finishing I received my medal and rose from a ridiculously good-looking minor in a fake tuxedo shirt.

I grabbed a fruit pizza and a can of coke and went back to cheer Kim. We took a few photos, checked our results (got 5th in my age group), and then headed for some caffeine, food, and quality time in our hot tub. 

hard to tell, but there are roses in our mouth 

Despite what Kim says, I actually like my gray and purple shirt 

Medal was quite large yet it didn't say anything about South Dakota on it, which I find strange. 

Despite my lackluster attitude during the race, I would recommend it to cross off South Dakota. Although it wasn't fun getting up at 3:30, it WAS nice being finished by 8am so you have the rest of the day to yourself. The scenery is gorgeous, the temperatures were perfect, and it was extremely easy with logistics to get in and out of the state and race- as an added bonus I'm pretty sure I paid less than $50 for registration. 

State #43 complete- next up this weekend, #44 with Kim again in the 'other Dakota'

Friday Favorites

Although life has been very busy and running has equated to 1-2x / week, lots of fun things happening.

1. Ragnar! (TN)
Tennessee Ragnar is approaching and since our company is the corporate sponsor, I had the privilege of working alongside race direct, Jesse, on having him come out for an information session and to go over logistics. He gave out a bunch of free swag which I ALWAYS welcome with open arms.

Our team is S L O W L Y getting together, but I'm super pumped that after 2 years in van 2, I'll finally get to be in van 1 so it will be a whole new relay for me!

2. Ragnar (CA)
Originally I was hoping to join Elizabeth for the Nuun Adirondacks Ragnar team, however due to timing with deadlines at work it was a no go. As divine intervention would have it, yesterday my trusty relay buddy Scott asked if I wanted to join their Ragnar Trail Vail Lake team Nov 15/16 in CA--- naturally I immediately looked at my race schedule to make sure it didn't conflict with Oklahoma's Route 66 (state FREAKIN 49!) , whew week after, and said yes. I've never done the trail series (8 people vs. 12 and no vans) so I'm excited for something new!

3. Now that summer is winding down, our 6 week Thursday night free concert series, Live on the Green, has kicked off in Nashville.

There are always 2 openers and a headliner. Last week was the ever energetic and entertaining Matt and Kim (LOVED them) If you have the opportunity to see them, and you like to dance and have a good time, you will not be disappointed. Last night was Matt Nathanson... he was hilarious, but his music was okay. My highlight was having fried chicken and waffles for the first time

\

and hanging out with two of my highly entertaining friends- I haven't laughed that much in a long time. (apparently I don't clap on cue and they were secretly taking videos of my non rhythm. 

4. My calf has been going back and forth in the pain and tightness department... hence the barely double digit weeks over the last month. Luckily, my roommate is a PT and she is willing to do what she can to make me run again. This is the 2nd time she has done dry needle therapy on me (first time was back and June), and this time the results were MUCH more positive. My foot started tingling and going numb, my whole lower leg was achy,  and I had difficulty walking... thats how its working doncha know? No really, the next day my leg felt SO MUCH better. I've only ran on it once since then, but I have confidence it will be fine this weekend... 

5. Tomorrow I leave to meet up with Kim for state # 43, South Dakota. This is the first week of 5 in a row where I knock out some states. Originally I had secretly planned to do the full for this race because it starts at 6,000 ft and ends at 3,000- thought this would be a BQ friendly course. Then training slacked off and I realized it wouldn't be pretty, so I decided to remain just running the half. Its still downhill starting at 5,000 and ending at 2,000, so now I'm torn if I want to shoot for sub 1:40 if my leg will cooperate. Kim's been taking names and kicking ass with her training plan... mine has been non existent as running has taken a backseat the last month or so.

6.

 A few weeks ago, I was informed B wasn't able to  make Maple Leaf 1/2  which is in Manchester, Vermont with me. I was a little concerned because most of the other VT races conflicted with my schedule, and I AM finishing in January so I NEED to do VT this fall. Finally I just said screw it and I would do a quick in and out solo on this one. As I was getting ready to book my flight I thought maybe mom would want to come for another mini mom/daughter vacation? I'm pretty sure she hasn't been to VT and it will be gorgeous beginning of september. She agreed and so now it will be 2 days in VT vs. just the race. I think she may do the 5k option as well... I swear if her medal is bigger than mine AGAIN, I will be disappointed.
I think they are both the same glass with maple leaf imprint, but 5k and half marathon are different colors?

Anyone out there run a trail ragnar or trail relay race?

This will be my first trail anything race!

Any recommendations on what to see in or around Manchester, VT? (its southern part of state) 

Exploring in Alaska

Last week of July was spent exploring and crossing #42 of my list in Juneau, Alaska.
I'll be honest, I had WAY more fun than I anticipated and I learned a lot. I don't want to do several posts, so you just get one giant recap.  Below are my highlights:

incase you ever wondered where Juneau is on a map

Random facts I learned about Juneau. Alaska
1. It's landlocked thus the water keeps it mild- in the winter it never gets below 20 degrees.
2. Since its extremely south, it isn't that whole 6 months of light 6 months of dark, however its still much different from we're all used to. While there it was 16 hours of daylight (4:30am-9:30pm) and in the winter they get about 2 hours of daylight (although not pitch dark, more dusky when sun goes down)
3. Population of Juneau is about 30,000... the state of Alaska, 700,000.
4. Surface area of Alaska is larger than the distance from west coast to east coast
5. There are NO moose in Juneau. There was one spotted a few years ago, and it was the first sighting in over 100 years.
6. You won't find brown bears (grizzlies) in the city- there is an island called Admiralty Island that has 1600 grizzlies and only 500 people- I would NOT want to live there. Grizzlies will harm and eat humans, whereas black bears stick to salmon and berries.
7. We bought Alaska from Russian for just over $7 million back in 1860s
8. Kids (at least in Juneau) are in school from 7:30am - 6:30pm... after school activities are built into curriculum to make kids want to stay in AK after graduation.

Whale Watching

Mom and I had a whale watching tour scheduled first thing on day 1. I went whale watching this past October in San Diego, it was windy, rainy, and I got really sick. We only saw 1 whale, and a plethora of dolphins... kind of a bust. The waters in Juneau were extremely calm and there were a TON of whales out to view.  

• Juneau Alaska is apparently the only place in the world where humpback whales bubble feed. In short, a bunch of whales get together, blow some bubbles to catch the krill they eat, bubbles float to top, whales all come up and eat them. It was a sight to see and we were lucky enough to witness 8 of them doing this. Below is a video of them just passing through RIGHT next to my boat.  Our guides said they've never been that close in all their years, so I guess there is no need for me to ever go whale watching again!

Alaskan Brewery (for all my beer lovers) 

• Only brewery in Juneau, opened in 1986. It's one of the top 10 companies in US to work for.
• Every employee has the opportunity if they choose to try and create a beer- they get 1-2 months off their work duties and that is what they focus on. 2 of the current beers they sell were made by employees and not the brewmaster. If yours gets selected, you get to name it and design the logo.
• One of, if not, the greenest brewery in US. They patented a technology to take all the excess grain, filter it, and reuse it again for energy to continue brewing- nothing is wasted. Several other breweries have purchased this process to install as well. They also figured out how to re-use the CO2 emitted- don't remember that process, but their in works of patenting this as well. 

• Below is the small tasting room- throughout the building the walls are lined with unique beers that are no longer in production, and of course some that you can still purchase in the store. 

Mendenhall Glacier

• Glacier is behind us (obviously) The red and yellow lights from the sun are reflected off the ice, however the blue is absorbed, so when you're staring at the glacier it looks blue, however it is infact clear. Found out on the last day there are certain mountains behind the glacier you can hike up and actually walk on the glacier... next time. 
• Next to the glacier is Nugget Falls- the glacier is receding about 150 ft per year, so 4 years ago these falls were not here. 

• The lowest rainbow I have ever seen- simply gorgeous. 
• My attempt at testing out a panoramic app on phone to show falls and glacier  by merging two photos together that weren't necessarily lined up to do a panoramic. App is called Panorama. (and water is from the glacier, so it is FREEZING) 

Mt Roberts

• We took a tram up 1800 feet to Mt. Roberts- restaurant, nature center, gift shop at the 'base' and from there were trails you could climb to top

• Still some snow that hasn't yet melted (they had some snowfall in May) 

• TONS of other hikers out there- was envious of the men who were shirtless, it got so hot out and jeans were a bad choice 

• Mom and I in front of Father Brown's cross, overlooking the Gastineau Channel 

Glacier Gardens

• Gorgeous gardens at the base of a rainforest- took 4 years from the time of purchase, till the time it was opened to public 

• Inside the gift shop

• On the last day of the owner using an  excavator, something got jammed up causing it to jam.  Owner was so mad he used the excavator to pick up a tree and threw it--- it landed upside down and he has the imagination to see how it would make beautiful holders for hanging plants- thus idea was born. 

• Mom and I under one of the upside down trees

• Gorgeous waterfall, rocks, flowers--- truly sensory overload and photos just don't do it justice

Black Bear sighting

I always thought it would be cool to take an Alaskan cruise (and I'm sure it would be), however I learned that you only dock in a city for 8 hours then leave. I like how everything for my  mom was laid back and how we were truly able to explore lots of different aspects of Juneau. If I ever find myself back there, the only left to do would be to hike the other mountains and of course go dog sledding on the top of some of the said mountains. I'm so glad we chose Juneau as our Alaska trip and maybe some day I'll travel to another city within the Frontier state. 

I ran in Alaska! Douglas Island 1/2 Recap

Douglas Island 1/2 Marathon

State #42 - Juneau, AK

Lifetime 1/2: 52

13 in 13 progress- 10/13

Finish time: 1:52:51

Prior to this trip the only thing I knew about planning to race in Alaska is I wanted it to be in the summer and all the hype was around Anchorage.  Based on other races / obligations, I had to run Alaska in July, and the Douglas Island 1/2 fit best into my schedule / had great logistics- I traded in Anchorage for Juneau and I couldn't have made a better decision. 

Location:

Douglas Island is located in Juneau, Ak- across the Gastineau Channel from downtown Juneau.  All 4 races (marathon, half marathon, deci (2.6 mile) and 1/2 deci (1.3 mile) started and ended in Robert Savikko Park. 

Mom and I scoped out the beach the day before to make sure we wouldn't get lost, and also get some photos of the scenery- very naturesque. 

Temps: 

We really lucked out- originally forecast called for rain. What actually happened was overcast, slighty chilly at the start (high 50s) and low 60s by the end.  Although  this weather is ideal, I still sweated quite a bit; story of my life. 

Mom was running the deci, 2.6 mile run, so it was neat for her to be to join in the pre race fun as well:

My race started at 9 (oh my god I could NOT imagine that starting time in the South), and mom's race started shortly after at 9:15.  It's nice having a spectator around to take photos for me hehe

The Course: All 4 races were an out and back outside the park and along the main road in Douglas Island. Silly me thought that since it was advertised as at sea level (which it was) that it would be flat- FLAT it was not. Lots of long gradual hills. All the photos I took were 'blah' because the gorgeous hills and water were on the opposite side of the road we were running on. I also think that since we did a lot of sight seeing on Thurs and Fri prior to the race, I was a little de-sensitized to the scenery as well. 

The Good: 

• Small field size- 143 participated in the half marathon
• The marathon started 2 hours before the half ( 7am), so it was neat to pass some of the marathoners as they were heading back to the finish. 
• Aide stations every 2 miles- perfectly spread out
• Cliff gels out on the table for the taking so  you could choose your own flavor 
• Weather- not too hot, NO humidity, slight breeze
• First half was filled with mostly uphills, which meant the 2nd half had mostly downhills (although there was a slight mix both ways) Downhill / flatish finish

(I think its really cruel to have the finish line be on uneven grass!) 

• Huge BBQ at the finish- although I wasn't that hungry, I did enjoy all the fruit, chocolate milk, and chips. (meat immediately after done running doesn't appeal to me) 
• It was a family affair- the deci and the 1/2 deci were more kids runs... mom was one of the the few 'masters' running it, so much so, that she got a standing ovation when she crossed the finish line--- run / walk 2.6 in 32 min ain't bad (wish I could have seen her cross the finish line) 

The Bad:

• Within the first minute of the race my shins were really sore--- this has actually never happened to me and I think it changed my stride because within a mile my calve started acting up REAL bad. 
• By mile 3 my calves were so tight, it started causing my feet to tingle and my left foot went numb- stopping to stretch didn't help, but i resorted to a run walk for the first half of the race anyway. RANDOMLY as soon as I hit the turnaround all pain stopped and I was able to actually stride out and have a negative split 2nd half. 
• Water station at mile 8.5 / 9sih ran out of cups, so had to skip it. I felt bad for the marathon folks who would come to it on their way back, thank goodness it wasn't hot out. 
• Not necessarily bad, but no spectators on the course
• Originally they said they were going to start awards at 11. Times were posted and I deduced I got 4th, but so many times I get 4th I miscount and realize I really got 3rd. We waited around till noon and they STILL hadn't started awards so we left. 
• The half marathon medal was TINY- mom's deci medal was twice the size of mine (i think because it was a kids race haha)- in all actuality, I believe this is the first year they had medals, so small medals are better than no medals.

Overall the race was a no frills small town race. This year was the largest year of participation  with over 200 participants for all 4 races. I do like how the kids were able to get involved so it can truly be a morning for the family. 

Two marathon maniacs were staying in the room next to us at our hotel- one of them ran this race a few years back and said its his favorite race in Alaska (he's done a few elsewhere) He pointed out that Anchorage is just like a normal city and you have to drive to get to the heart of nature, whereas Juneau is so small, everything is right there if you just turn around. (TONS of pics to come in my follow up Alaska post) 

They are both in their 50s- so impressive

Based on everything I've heard, and all that I saw while in Alaska for a week- I would recommend this race knowing that its cheap ($20 for the 1/2), its easy to get around, and although the race itself isn't anything special, everything that you will see in Juneau will make up for it. 

State #42 done. SD is coming up in a handful of weeks...

The REAL Alaska post will be up next, aka a plethora of photos. 

July Recap

July is my favorite month of the year, naturally because its my birthday, 4th of July, and just 100% completely summer. This year's July did not disappoint (except in the running department)


Total Mileage:  Lowest mileage since January- 67. I attribute the combination of heat, obscene amounts of rain, work getting crazy, and vacations to my low mileage .... oh and laziness, that too ;)

Highest Mileage week: 20... ya I know, I know

Races Planned / Completed: 1/1

Recap still to come but I crossed #42 ALASKA off my list. Race itself was a let down with lack of scenery and my calf reared its ugly head AGAIN, but I had an AMAZING week hanging out with nature and my mom!

New to Me: (goal going forward is to have some type of new experience each month)

• Tried a different workout class twice-- Barre Fusion, mix of pilates and barre class.
• White water rafting / cabin for a weekend- amazing

• After 3 years saw Nashville fireworks

• Went to Alaska (lot of firsts there- hiked a mountain, got to see mushing dogs, saw a wild black bear etc... another post)

Accomplishments for July: 

• Promotion at work
• Survived another year- turned 29

Current Book: Just finished Defending Jacob- gist of story is Main character is a prosecutor and in the current murder he is investigating his son becomes the prime suspect and he is taken off case and is now trying to defend him. EXCELLENTLY written and a HUGE twist at the end. Good news is I see that Warner Brothers bought the  movie rights so  it will be on the big screen!

Current Excitements/ Obsessions:

• 3 halfs this upcoming month all in consecutive weekends- SD, ND, MN (with a mini vacay built in MN in between ND and MN)
• Although my training can't even be called training, I still plan on PR'ing the crap out of the downhill course in SD.
• New role at work and my primary responsibility is to turn around their entire incentive structure / process.After 1.5 weeks I received an email from the account stating they're already seeing progress and their excited to meet me and the other account manager on our visit with them in a few weeks!
• Getting to meet the race director for TN Ragnar when he comes into work on Tuesday for our information session since we're the title sponsor. 

Current Songs: 

• What's sad is the only music I've been listening to is my skrillex station in Pandora- defintely gets me pumped. 

Current Treat

• Anything and everything chocolate

Current Goal (s):  

• Sub 1:40 in SD 
• Try a Les Mills class
• Putting together a TN Ragnar team  
• Finding balance between work, running, and blogging (always a goal to keep) 

July Major takeaway:  I'l be honest, running was not a priority this month, having fun and enjoying life was. Call me crazy but getting closer to 30 kind of changed my outlook on a few things. This month I tried to 'experience' as much as I could and just enjoy life and those people who are a part of it. If I didn't feel like running, I simply didn't. I'm not training for anything specific, so there was no point in getting bent out of shape if I missed a run (or many) 

How was your July?

July was probably the most fun month of 2013. I made a lot of great memories with friends and trips- wish every month could be like this! 

Any Major takeaways?

Despite enjoying myself, running and blogging seriously suffered. I really do need to find a better balance of all 3 and quickly before work really picks up