Battle of the Dakotas... South kicks the North's butt

The past 2 weekends in a row I've had the pleasure of touring the Dakota's to knock state #43 (south)  and #44 (north) off my list. Kim was with me for both weekends, and we generally try to 'experience' the city we're in, even if its just for a small period of time. Not ever having visited either, you would think they would both be similar, however what we found that South Dakota was HANDS down better than North Dakota as there was much more to look at and experience.

Highlights from the 'non racing' part of both states:

South Dakota
Naturally when you think of South Dakota, first thing that should pop in your mind is Mt. Rushmore. We originally were going to go into the park and see it, but instead, we just pulled off to the side of the road and had a stranger capture this gem. Sure beats the $11 parking to get the same photo op!

En route to Mt. Rushmore we had seen a billboard for the Naked Winery. Kim had sampled their wine the week before at the taste of Oregon (they have a branch in Bend, OR), so we decided it would be worthwhile and funny to see what the winery itself had to offer. How random that not only had Kim been introduced to them just the week prior, but out of their 3 locations, one of them happens to be near our destination in Custer, SD... its a sign we HAVE to drink there.

They have a 6 glass wine sample for $3- what a steal! I loved how all the names of the wine were naughty- perfect for a girl's night out. Despite it being 1 in the afternoon, there was a bachelorette party celebrating here with all the puns and witty names. I took a few photos with me and a shirt that says Climax, unfortunately my face is not appropriate for public view, so instead, enjoy these signs below... 

Although we didn't see any bears, we were promised it was Bear Country... and here I thought that was Alaska.... 

Despite lack of bear sighting,  I DID happen to see and go inside a teepee outside the Tatonka reservation. 

Apparently Kevin Costner owns this Bison attraction  that teaches you all about the difference between bison and buffalo, along with some sculptures of the animals as well. When we first stumbled upon this attraction, we were headed to expo and didn't have a lot of time, so we never ventured back to see what all the fuss was about. 

Before heading back to the airport after the race, Kim surprised me with a trip to the Berlin Wall. Sioux City, SD is a sister city to one of the German cities, therefore they were sent 2 pieces of the wall along with a lot of different signs to read about this historical point in time.  For those who aren't aware, I grew up military and was in Germany when the wall fell. I've always had a love for the country, so this was a real treat to further my knowledge. It's crazy to re-live history from a totally different perspective and at an older age who can now better comprehend what was going on. 

North Dakota 

When I think of Fargo, I immediately think of the 1996 film with their thick accents

My cousin lived in Fargo the past 4 years for school and SWEARS up and down its exciting, however Kim and I managed to mostly see strip malls and food chains. Unlike SD which has the Black Hills, gorgeous greenery and hills, ND is pancake flat with not a lot of vegetation. I was informed yesterday that due to the flatness of  the area + extreme conditions in winter, the winds get so high they blow down trees, move grills across patios, and make it difficult to be outside. Suspicions of never wanting to live here confirmed.

Immediately leaving the packet pickup we headed to Scheels (similar to Bass Pro Shop) and we found bronze statues of Abe Lincoln, Ronald Regan, George Washington, and one more who I can remember but that is who Kim took a photo with.  I went for my tallest option, honest Abe. It's really sad when you get excited by statues, but I'm pretty sure Kim is starting to share in my fascination. 

 Inside of Scheels there was a ferris wheel that you had to be a certain height to ride, if I bent down, I'm almost there.

 After race we were searching for something to do so we figured we should head to the downtown area- I saw this bison from the car so I made Kim pull over (Bison is North Dakota State University's mascot) So I've learned they are popular in SD AND ND.

The colorful bison was on top of the hill, and when we looked down we saw a huge art fair going on, so we decided to stop by.  I know I said there isn't a lot of vegetation in ND, which is why I took this photo- it was the exception to the general rule.

 Despite the ridiculous heat, I had fun and even picked out my own letters to spell out travel. They framed and mounted it for me and I have big plans for choosing favorite photos from certain races to make a memory wall.

The other major score was finding these flavored mixes that you either add 1 bottle of white wine or 1.5 cups of vodka to, add to a giant plastic bag, freeze for a few hours and voila, adult fun slushie. I bought 2 at the art fair and happened to find another vendor when I went to MN state fair few days ago that had some flavors you add red wine too. Looks like I'm in for some fun times ahead! 

Sadly that was about the extent of the fun had in ND. I dropped Kim off at the Fargo airport so I could make a headway on the long drive to Buffalo, MN to stay with my bestie, so I was only in the city for a grand total of 19 hours... I guess when you look at it that way we did have some fun. 

Someday I'd like to go back and explore the Black Hills in SD some more, however I'm pretty confident there is no need to ever go back to ND. 

Go Far Woman 1/2- Fargo, ND State #44

The Race:

Go Far Woman 1/2

State #44

Lifetime 1/2: 54

13 in 13 Progress: 12/13

Official time: 2:06:30 

Pre Race:

Ever wonder what happens when you realize WHILE you're in the security line at the airport that you don't have your license?!?! Well let me tell you- you break down in tears thinking you're not going to get on your flight, beg the security guard that your work badge and credit cards are enough proof you are who you are, and then get escorted to the front of the line by a TSA agent saying you're "high security risk and to move out of the way", capped off by a cavity search and all your bags riffled through. This set the tone for the weekend....  (to avoid this when I head back home this upcoming saturday, I had my roommate overnight my passport to my friends place where I am staying) 

Originally Kim was going to fly into Fargo and kill time while I fly into Minneapolis (got a r/t for $230, HUGE savings) and drive a rental to meet her. Thank the lord she had changed her mind to fly into Minneapolis to keep me company, and out of Fargo on way back. I was able to switch rental to her name since I was sans license- crisis averted.

The 4 hour drive from Minneapolis to Fargo is anything less than exciting, especially when due to large amount of traffic getting out of the city turned the trip into 5 hours.  

Packet pickup was held at the mall (also where the race start would be) and it was open till 9pm... I'm pretty sure this is the latest packet pickup I've been to and we needed the extra time as we got in shortly after 8pm. Quick trip to Scheels to see if they had compression shorts (one more thing I forgot- its always something) and then we're at our hotel which is within walking distance to race start in morning. 

Race:

Go Far Woman 5k and half marathon is the first annual race and I was thoroughly impressed with the turn out for it's first year. There were ridiculously good looking firemen at the start who would be handing our medals out at the end (2nd week in a row we get our awards from cute men,  Kim has been on the ball and scored a photo op twice, next week I'll work up the nerve to ask a hunk to pose with me so I can be cool like her...) 

State #44 for me and #25 for Kim... she had it backwards and it reads 52

You know you're far up north when you have to sing the Canadian National Anthem in addition to The U.S anthem... I have to say that this was a race first for me, especially because it was sung by an all female "mature" capella group.
 

The race itself started and finished in the local mall parking lot right out of Sears (out and back) No fancy corrals or designated pace groups, just a "on your mark, get so go" and all the ladies took off, or in my case, took it easy.

I'm dead center in the blue socks and shirt going crazy fast... 

From the get go this race was proving to be a challenge. Since June I have run 3 half marathons and all 3 I have been miserable with debilitating calf / shin / achilles pain (mostly in left leg) and then normally around mile 8ish or so it goes away. I haven't been running that much (i.e. anywhere from 0-15 miles / week), so self-diagnosis / confirmation from roommate is that I"m trying to go out at speeds that I was once running when I was putting in the miles and my body just can't go from stationary (i.e. no warmup) to race speed like it once could.  Since the temps were pretty balmy and I could care less the outcome of this race, I decided to see if starting out slower right from the beginning would allow time for my muscles to 'warm up' and be pain free. 

I'm normally not great with sticking to plans, but with the temps in the mid 70s with high humidity at the start, it made taking it slow that much easier to adhere to, and although no pain ever set in, there was no desire to go any faster because I kind of like running pain free and I didn't want to push it. 

 Since the course was an out and back, there were only 3 aide stations along the way- The Average Joes, Firemen, and body builders, very clever.  I almost always skip the first water station, however today I needed every ounce of fluid I could get. By the time we ran back and the first station was now the last, all the men (the body builders) had taken their shirts off--- if they're hot handing out water, imagine how we felt! 

The course was a mixture between park paved trails and neighborhoods, both pancake flat. There was zero shade, only a slight breeze every few miles, but THERE WAS sprinklers. I made it a point to run through every one ( I counted 8)

Don't let this photo fool you, I don't recall any shade ;)

 My favorite part in the race was around mile 5.5 / 7.5; there was a sprinkler and a guy spraying runners with a hose. What I assume was his dog was running back and forth through the water and alongside runners... with a tutu around it's neck. This was so stinking adorable and luckily I spotted him / her on the out and again going back back... somehow Kim missed this? (we decided that we ran different races as she also didn't see all the gu they were handing out, or the giant male genitalia that was drawn with chalk on the sidewalk) 

Although I live in Nashville and I'm used to heat and humidity, I do try to avoid running in it by choosing earlier or later running times- despite being 'acclimated', it was still pretty hot. The sunglasses I normally run in were not with me on this trip, so I felt that it made it that much more hotter by having to squint the entire time (or I could just be making that up). I was absolutely DRENCHED and I was having a very difficult time keeping the sweat from my eyes.

 Early on I had told myself I would run for 4-5 min, then walk (about 30 sec to 1 min), so during those little breaks I kept lifting my shirt to wipe myself off- it was pointless. In conditions like these I would normally take my shirt off and use it as my sweat rag, however as mentioned above, I haven't been running or working out, but I HAVE been enjoying my beer, so my stomach is not something I want to be showing off right now while running. 

Regardless of how a race is going, I generally try to put forth a valiant effort for the last 2 miles and pick it up- today it never happened. The speed was potentially there, however running 11 miles at a 9:20ish pace then with walk breaks built in made it difficult for the body to even try to pick it up at that point, so I just kept chucking along. I told myself not to walk during the last mile, but alas I took 4 walk breaks. (I hate when I stop caring because it makes the task of finishing that much more anti-climatic) Eventually I did finish, and it was the first time in a LONG time I didn't have a kick.

Although I was miserable from heat / sweat/ going slow and constantly getting passed, I was ECSTATIC about the no pain and not a single amount of chaffing. (body glide has become my best friend now after proving itself in swampy conditions)

  I understand that I can't fairly judge the race itself based on the weather, because the conditions today were not indicative of normal weather in Fargo, so that aside, I'll list the cons and pros. 

Cons:

• Not very scenic. When I think of ND, I think of nature. I got the feeling this race was just mapped out on where they could fit a 6.5 out and back and decided to make it a race. I could have been in any state with the views I saw. 
• Wasn't a fan of having to start and end in a mall parking lot- not a deal breaker, just blah
• Finish line refreshments were okay, but I always LOVE to have some type of fruit afterward and unfortunately the only thing to quench thirst was a smaller than normal size water bottle, orange juice, and a freeze pop. 
• There was a relay option where the exchange was at the turnaround point. I thought for sure there would have been an aide station. There was not so that meant we had to go back to the "last station" before getting fuel again... from mile 5 to mile 8 were unsupported
• Medal was nice, but it didn't say city or state on it... must be a Dakota thing since that happened last week too?

Pros:

• Didn't really feel like a first year race since there was no major snafus that were apparent
• Really liked all the sprinklers and even a misting tent you could run through, made the heat that much more bearable. 
• Markers every mile and for once my garmin was pretty in sync with theirs... so rare these days I thought it deserved a mention. 
• Firemen handing out the medals at finish line- enough said. 
• Logistics of this race- host hotel was across the street, and the hotel Kim and i stayed at was a quick 10 min walk away. 
• Although course support wasn't huge, it is a smaller race (305 finishers for the half) and it WAS its first year, so the amount of people that were out, was pretty significant.
• EXPO open till 9 (consistent with mall hours), if it hadn't been open that late, we would have just defaulted to packet  pickup in morning. 

Soaked to the bone (sweat and sprinkler water) but happy to be finished.

State #44 - North Dakota- complete. 

Next up is this weekend, Women Rock! in Minneapolis MN. (another all women's race...)