Post RNR Seattle Marathon

The RNR Seattle Marathon was beautiful and challenging. The most scenic RNR marathon by far. I'll post a race report when pictures come back. I took another disposable camera with me and need to develop them. Note to self...purchase a small digital camera.

The slideshow below is of our time after the marathon. We drove up to Mt. Rainier Sunday, hiked several trails, ate lunch and saw some amazing views. We were there all day in awe of her beauty. Monday we headed to the ocean and saw two bald eagles. This is in addition to the one we saw on the marathon course.

There are captions for all of the photos, just place your cursor on the photo and it will pop up. Enjoy!

No Wonder...

I'm exhausted...
Still haven't unpacked from West Virgina.
We've been back 10 days.
In those 10 days, I've been on the craziest ride.
Back from WV.
Off to NY.
Back from NY.
On my way to WA Friday.
My time in NY was probably the most stressful time I've encountered in my life.
Although it did yield some fun adventures.
And now it's time to start packing again for our trip to Seattle.
We leave Friday morning.

I'm melting...
The weather is hot and humid with an average heat index of 105-110.
As soon as you step outside, you're a wet mop.
Even while running at 6:30 in the morning.

I feel like a sloth...
I fell off the training wagon.
I know people make excuses for not working out.
But I did take a well deserved two days off after the Hatfield and McCoy Marathon.
Then my crazy trip to NY did not allow me to even think about working out.
Well...I thought about it, but just in passing, especially with our hotel right across the street from Central Park.
All I wanted was to go for a run.
Even just a short one.
But when you're only getting 2 hours of sleep, running didn't fit in.
It is not an excuse.
It was not possible.
So I went 5 days without working out.
I'm still physically and mentally drained.
My eating habits are crap.
I'm forgetting to eat breakfast.
Then next thing you know it's 3:30 and I haven't eaten lunch.
This doesn't work so well when you're trying to maintain some sort of energy.
I have been working out the last several days.
But they have been short, half assed workouts.
Until today when I had a great bike.
It was nice to get some energy back and have a great training day.

I'm smiling from ear to ear...
We've just booked, yet, another trip.
This one is several months down the road.
But I'm already ecstatic.
Doug and I talked about this destination over the last two years.
But he was coaching at the time and it did not fit with our schedule.
At last we are booked.
And I'm ready to go...NOW!
Where, you ask?
BERMUDA!
In January!
That in itself has relaxed me just a bit.
We've signed up for the Bermuda Triangle Challenge.
A one mile run on Friday.
A 10K Saturday.
And the marathon Sunday.

I'm looking forward to things settling down...
The weather can break this heatwave.
We can settle from so much traveling.
I can get my nutrition back on track.
Ready for life to get back to the nice, quiet Kansas life I'm accustomed to.
Just picked blackberries in the yard.
Now it's time to start packing, take a breath and relax.

Hatfield and McCoy Marathon Race Report

As some of you may know, earlier this week I was whisked off to New York alongside my mother for a national (and international) breaking news story. So I haven't had much time to sit and think about writing a race report for the Hatfield and McCoy Marathon, as wonderful as it was. I've decided to 'steal' Doug's race report and make a few comments at the end.

Sometime soon I'll post about the whirlwind turn of events that occurred in New York. Everything needs to settle before I'm willing to comment on anything. Life is finally getting back to normal (thank God!) and now I need to focus on ensuring my mother is fairing okay and getting ready for our marathon we leave for later in the week to Seattle.

Doug's Race Report
This is a wonderful race. It starts in Kentucky and finishes in West Virginia, crossing back and forth between the states several times. We hit the expo where we picked up our race packet, had a nice prerace meal , and saw a presentation on the Hatfield-McCoy feud....each runner was assigned a side...I was a Hatfield and Kim was a McCoy......

The Hatfield

The McCoy

Race morning was not that warm but it was extremely muggy. There had been a lot of flooding in the area over the last few weeks and the air was saturated. I decided before the race that it was going to be a "fartin' around" marathon. We brought a disposable camera and just covered the distance.....
Only one section of the course was muddy and it reminded me a lot of the tank trail in Anchorage.

...lots of "squalor in the hollar" along the course.

...lots of rivers and bridges along the course.
.....a bridge on the course connecting two sides of a golf course, one side in Kentucky and one side in West Virginia.

No caption really needed....

Our medals and overall finisher trophies...notice that mine is for 183rd and Kim's is for 184th....someone started some McCoy trash talking about a 100 yards from the finish line and got smoked.....also notice that we got a fly swatter in the our packet.

Kim's Comments

This was a fantastic race. The RD was amazing, the support on the course was fabulous, there was a water stop every mile, if not closer, which was needed due to the extreme humidity. The course was beautiful and we had a great time snapping photos and enjoying ourselves. I would certainly say this was one of the most fun marathons I've run. I recommend everyone put it on their 'to do' list.

Spectating IMKS

We interrupt this regularly scheduled post of the Hatfield and McCoy Marathon Race Report to bring you the Spectating Ironman Kansas Program.

First, a little backtracking to Saturday morning.
Up and at 'em at 3 am.
Run marathon.
Shower, eat and then on the road.
Thirteen hours in the car, roadtrippin back.
Arrive home at 2:30 am Sunday morning.
We sneak in the house as to not wake Nikemom and McRib who are staying at our house.
Doug and I sleep on our couch til 4:30 am when Nikemom and McRib are IMKS bound.
We head upstairs for 3 hours to catch some shut eye and then roll outta bed to go cheer on Nikemom.

We park and hitch a ride on the short bus to the start.
This was Molly's first school bus ride.
As we settle in close to the bike to run transition, the leaders have already come in from the bike and are on their run.
There is so much going on.
Bikes coming in, runners headed down the same road as the bikes...in both directions as well as spectators lining the road.
Too much going on that there ended up being 3 bad wrecks in the time we were there.
One biker flipping over his handlebars so he didn't hit another biker dismounting.
One spectator crossing the road, turning back to talk to someone as a bike comes up on her and creams her.
One where a runner was in the bike lane and a bike hit him.
One too close mishap where an 8 year old boy crossed the road and ended up running right into the back tire of a biker.
Two out of these 4 bikers didn't make it to the run and were carried off on stretchers.
It was horrible. I very easily could have had a heart attack.
They have to get that under control.

As people are coming and going, we try to spot Nikemom to see if she had come in on the bike. We see someone walking their bike in and think it's her. It was. The poor girl broke her chain! I'll leave the rest of the details for you to read on her blog. We find McRib shortly after and hang with him to cheer Stephanie on.

We spot her heading out for the run and she seems to be in great spirits despite having to walk her bike in. Once on the run, she ran down everyone on the last leg of the race. She was strong and finished like a champion at a time I would die for! And this is after the girl had walked in her bike for close to 45 minutes. Congrats Stephanie, you are amazing!

We also cheered on several other friends racing: Jen and Gordon, Trish, April and Jen. Great job guys!

Just two more short months and I'll be out there!

Take Me Home Country Roads

We're on our way back from West Virginia.

We had an amazing time.
Marathon 22...hog tied.
Marathon 23 in 2 weeks.
The Hatfield and McCoy Marathon was top notch and one I would recommend to everyone.
The RD...the best.
The pasta party...a hoot.
The course...beautiful.

Let's start with the pasta party:
We pray before dinner.
The RD runs down the list of how many people were from each state and everyone stood up or hoot and hollered when their state was called.
We were the only 2 from Kansas.
Throughout the rest of the evening and all day during the marathon we were known as "Kansas". It was fun to have people come up to you and say, "hey Kansas, how are things going?"

The RD was in the midst of spouting out some things when he looked up and saw someone he recognized. He remembered the guys name and called it out. This particular guy had run this marathon back in 2003. How in the heck did he remember his name? And the year it ran it?
The RD was fantastic!

We sat across from a lady who was recognized for running all 10 of the Hatfield and McCoy marathons. I then asked her how many marathons she had run. In a very humble voice she says 275 marathons. I then prodded her, that is in a 12 year span! She's done twenty 100 milers! She said she is most proud of the two 100 milers she ran that were 1 week apart! WOW!! I wanted to bow at her feet. Not just because she is a running goddess, but to see how many toenails she still had left!

During dinner (which was free) two actors portrayed the story of the Hatfield and McCoy Feud. Very informative and funny. We actually ran by many of the famous landmarks of the feud.
After dinner, they even drew numbers for all kinds of party prizes.
It was a great night.

Everyone should put this on their schedule for next year.
This is a GOTTA DO marathon.

Hillbilly Land...Here We Come

It's that time again.
Doug and I are marathon bound.

Hatfield and McCoy Marathon.

We zoom out of town tomorrow.

Race is Saturday.

On the half ironman training front...

Things are going great. Biking...it's been raining cats and dogs here lately, so I've been searching for time in between raindrops to ride.

Not a lot of biking this week.

Next week will be a strong bike week since

I'll be recovering from a marathon.

And prepping for another one in two weeks.

Swimming is going...well...swimmingly.

My body has been feeling tired.

And strong.

At the same time.

Is that possible?

I'm not sure I'm fueling my body like I should.

Honestly, I don't think I'm eating enough calories.

The scale is certainly showing the deficit.

I am finding muscles I didn't even know I had.

I like that.

A lot.

Stay tuned for some beautiful pictures.

Hillbilly speak.

And a race report.

Soon.

A Short Sad Start to Sunday Morning

What does a girl have to do to get in a workout?
Sunday morning.
Cloudy and cool.
A perfect morning for a hilly bike ride.
Doug and I part ways with a smooch, Doug to run, me to hit the park to ride.
I get to the park.
The gates...locked.
I head to the main entrance where signs are posted, reading KCCC-Kansas City Corporate Challenge.
Damn.
It's starting to sprinkle, so I'm okay with it.
I'll run to the Y for a swim.
Get to the Y.
Not a car in the parking lot.
The Y...closed.
Damn.
So now...I'm home.
Sad has turned to glad.
Sipping some great coffee.
Watching Sunday Morning, one of my favorite shows.
Will meet RuntoFinish for a walk later this morning.
Tomorrow...a long brick to incorporate a mile swim and an 18 mile bike.

Fun at the Pool

Did I say at the pool? Like laying out, soaking up the sun 'at' the pool. Oh...well that's not really the case, at least today. Today I was 'in' the pool lapping up the miles. Okay...not really miles, but a mile.

Yesterday I got a nasty kink in my neck. The one where you can't turn your head or lift up your arm and anytime you want to see something you have turn your whole dang body in that direction to see it. So with a little hot pad action, a wonderful back/neck massage from my honey and some major cracking of the back and neck, it felt better this morning. Doug suggested I go for a swim to see if that would loosen it up any, and it did. I feel much, much better.

So...I rocked out a mile! My first mile swim in 3 years. At first, it was very slow going, trying to work out the soreness from my neck/back/shoulder area, but once I warmed up, all systems were go. A slow go. But a go nonetheless.

I am a master at losing track of my laps so I brought pennies today to count laps. Starting with one pile of pennies, as I completed each lap, one penny came from this pile and went to that pile. It was a joy not having to remember which lap I was on. I can never keep track and all that is running through my mind is 4...4...4..4...4...4...then...5...5...5...5...5...5...6...6...6...6..6...6...6... then 'crap...am I on 6 or is 6 coming up?' So the pennies worked wonders for me. I didn't have to remember my lap number and could actually focus on my swimming.

With a mile swim under my belt, I needed to fuel back up, so for lunch I picked up my bestest chocolate eating buddy, Stephanie, and we headed to Christoper Elbow's for the premiere of his fantabulous artisanal ice cream. All I can say is Venezuelan Spice Chocolate Ice Cream...to die for!

Tomorrow...a 13.1 run with my bestest friend, Karen!

Oh...and my Gilmore Girls friends...I totally goofed. I thought they were bringing it back, but I guess they are just going to show season 7 (for the first time on ABC Family). Sorry to get you excited. Dang.

To those racing this weekend, good luck and have fun. Have a great weekend.

Oink! Oink!

Since last December, I've been toying with the idea of another Half Ironman. I thought it might be a bit much to toss it in this year with running 12 marathons by December, but with having a few extra hours in the day, being job free, and loving every minute of it (oh...I already mentioned that once before?), I decided to throw it into the mix. There's been a lot of fiddling around with which one, but I've finally decided on...(signal trumpets)...

PIGMAN!

It's August 16th in Palo, IA.

Pigman didn't even cross my mind until Doug mentioned it this past Saturday. Before deciding on Pigman, I pondered Ironman Kansas 70.3 or Redman. I opted against IMKS, even though it is in my backyard, for several reasons. One, the training weather. It's in June, so you don't have the opportunity to get in many open water swims (if any) and then most of my bike rides would have been in the basement on the trainer. Yes, I'm a fair weather bike rider. Uggg...And the trainer is nothing like being out on the road hitting hills and having the wind whip you around. It would have just been too much inside training for me, so it's been ruled out for quite some time now.

Once IMKS was out, I penciled Redman in on the brain and the training schedule. Just a couple weeks ago, I finally committed and actually was getting in some 'warm up' training before 'real' training was to kick in. Then Doug brought up Pigman in passing. Why hadn't I thought of it? It was a great race 3 years ago when I completed it, in spite of sitting roadside for 45 minutes with a flat tire and it being a bit on the hot side, I really loved every minute of it. So now my money's on Pigman!

There is just a slight adjustment to the schedule. Ohhh...just bumping my training UP 4 weeks, as Redman is September 19th and Pigman is August 16th. No biggie! Ha! What am I thinking??? Good thing I was doing some 'warm up' training for Redman. I feel I have a solid base, so it shouldn't take too much to dial it up a notch to get on schedule. I am already stronger than I was 3 years ago when I finished my 1st Pigman, so I'm off to a great start. Let the training begin!

Oink! Oink!