Done, state #21.

I took an early flight from Chicago and arrived in Seattle around 10:30am.  There was no hotel shuttle and a cab was too expensive, so I took the light rail. I bought an all day pass for $5.75.  Score!

I booked my hotel, The Roosevelt, through Southwest.  I loved it!  It was a block and a half from the light rail/monorail to get to the expo AND the start line. Plus, it was close to Pike Place Market and many other stores and restaurants and I thought the price was reasonable.

The expo was cool!  I bought watermelon flavored Nuun tablets and three Sparkly Soul headbands. Unfortunately, I lost one (red, blue, white) that I was planning to wear with my new ProCompression socks in a 4th of July race.  I also purchased monorail tickets to the start line (Space Needle) and back to the hotel. I met Mel from Tall Mom on the Run.  She is really nice and we chatted for a little bit.

That evening I had pad thai from Wild Ginger.  I went to bed at 8 pm because my body was still on Central Time plus my alarm was set for 5:25 am.

Race day came and I got ready.  I walked to the monorail to get to the start line.  I had to use the bathroom and found one inside a building.  Then I proceeded to follow the crowd to the start line.  I realized I had to go again to the bathroom and left my corral to use the port-a-potty.  They smelled horrible! But when you have to go, you have to go.  I got in line again and had trouble with my Garmin.  No satellite.  Ugh, I got out and saw Mel again.  I realized afterwards that I did not take one picture with her.

Finally it was time to go.  I encountered my first hill after mile 1.  I thought it was never going to end. Of course there is always a downhill which was nice. I liked the view and felt really good at this time. At mile 6 we ran next to Lake Washington.  It was just beautiful!!  Plus, it felt good to be in the shade. I stopped to admire the view and also to see pictures of soldiers that died during the war. That made me really sad.

At mile 8 there was another uphill and I refused to run.  I was tired.  It was after the mile marker that we ran in a tunnel.  I did not like that AT ALL.  It was hot, dark, loud, and long.  I swear it was about a mile long!  There was a band playing close to the end of the tunnel which made no sense.  I ran as fast as I could because I just wanted to get out of there.  We then ran in the highway/expressway and it was mostly downhill.  We passed Safeco Field and CenturyLink Field.

I always find the last 3.1 miles of a half marathon to be the MOST difficult part of the race.  That is where I struggle the most.  I need to remind myself that it is only a 5K and not difficult at all.  Mile 11 is when the first marathon runner passed me up.  He was fast!  Right before mile 12 we ran in another tunnel.  Not happy about it again.  The last mile was mostly uphill.  Ugh!  Two more marathon runners passed me up.  A little before the finish line a runner had collapsed and that freaked me out.  I had no energy to run/sprint to the finish line.  My legs were not cooperating at all.

Here are my splits:
Miles 1 through 4 – 9:37, 9:45, 11:24, 10:02
Miles 5 through 8 – 10:58, 10:55, 11:43, 11:47
Miles 9 through 12 – 12:37, 11:48, 11:45, 12:44
Mile 13 – 10:32

My finish time is 2:30:39 and according to my Garmin ran 13.42 miles.  Am I happy with it?  No.  I really struggled in this race.  It was HOT and HILLY.

I got three medals at this race!

Done, state #20.

I arrived in San Diego late Friday night because my flight was delayed.  I went straight up to my room and met my roommate, Rebecca from Run Like a Girl, and Mean It!  She is a sweet person!  We talked for a little bit and then went to sleep.

The next morning I met another runner, Kim, and Rebecca’s mom and aunt.  I also ran 2.2 miles for this challenge.  It was such a beautiful morning in San Diego.

After my run I went to the expo.  Again, RNR expos do not disappoint.  I bought two pairs of Pro Compression Socks and two running shirts.  Plus, I made a video for Team Refuel.  I’ll find out July 5th if my video was selected for one of the top 10 and then voting begins to be selected to be on the team.

Race day I was up at 4am.  Yes, ridiculously early.  We got ready and went downstairs for the shuttle bus to take us to the start line.  It wasn’t a bus but a limo bus.

Once we arrived we had plenty of time to find the gear drop off area, start line, and go to the bathroom.  I was the only one that went to the bathroom. Before we knew it more people had arrived and the bathroom lines were getting longer.  Rebecca was the only one running the full marathon (6:15 am start time) and Kim and I were running the half marathon (6:45 am).  We got in line to go to the bathroom one more time and I am not kidding but we waited about 30 minutes.  Whew, definitely felt better afterwards.

Kim and I got in our corral and we were ready to tackle the race!

It was humid!  I was sweating within the first mile.  Here are my splits:

Miles 1 through 4 – 9:22, 10:44, 10:24, 11:23
Miles 5 through 8 – 10:30, 11:07, 10:53, 10:41
Miles 9 through 12 – 11:33, 11:01, 11:34, 9:35
Mile 13 – 11:13

The course had its ups and down.  There were so many turns.  I got annoyed and did not like them at all and had to take a few walking breaks.  We did run through some nice neighborhoods and there were so many people cheering for us.  My favorite part was mile 12 because it was mostly downhill. Actually, it was about a half mile going downhill and it felt really good.

My finish time is 2:22:06.  According to my Garmin I ran 13.26 miles in 2:22:08.  Doesn’t really make sense right? The winner of the half marathon was Bernard Koech from Kenya with a finish time of 58:41.  That is a 4:29 pace per mile!!!

Done, state #18.

I arrived in Portland on Saturday morning and my friend, Julia, picked me up.  Julia and I went to high school together and I had not seen her since graduation.  We went to lunch and then to the expo.  For some reason this was smaller than previous RnR expos.  Plus, it seemed like it was missing a few other vendors.  Oh well, no big deal.  I only bought two pairs of socks and that’s only because it was “buy one and the other is 1/2 off”.  I also signed up for StrideBox which is a monthly subscription that delivers an assortment of products to runners.

It rained Saturday so I was worried it would also rain on Sunday.  The gods must have heard me complain throughout the race in Nashville that they decided to be nice to me.  No rain on race day!!

I made a STUPID rookie mistake.  Remember how I mentioned that I bought a new Garmin watch? Well, I turned it on but I forgot to press the button to locate the satellite.  So as I crossed the start line I pressed the button and it began to locate the satellite while I was running.  Of course that did not work so I had to stop for a couple of seconds and then took off.  I was mad at myself!  How could I have made that mistake?!?!?!

The course was blah.  The nicest part was running through the residential areas.  So pretty!  I remember at some point we went through warehouses and it smelled horrible!!  There was so much crowd support.  I loved it!

As I crossed the finish line I had no idea of my time.  I did not think it was a PR but one can only hope right?  I got two medals at this race.  One for finishing the race and another one for completing five races in the series. I’m a Rock Star!

Later that evening I found out my finish time was 2:23:43.  Yes, I am pleased with it.

Done, state #17.

I got in Nashville after 4pm.  I wasn’t sure whether to call for a shuttle or take a cab to the hotel but my new friend Laura told me that a friend of a friend (Jeff) was at the airport with a car and could give me a ride to the hotel.  Sweet!  Perfect timing too!

He was going first to the expo so I went with him.  I did not wait long for my bib which was nice. Check out the cool bracelet I received!

I love Rock ‘n’ Roll expos but I’ve been to a few of them and didn’t need/want anything.  We walked around and saw Frank Shorter.  I had to take a picture with him.

Later that night Laura and I went out for dinner.  We stopped at The Old Spaghetti Factory but the wait was 45 minutes.  We left our name on the wait list but left to check out other restaurants and possibly get a beer.  We ended up at Rock Bottom Brewery and ate dinner there and drank beer.

Wake up time on race day was 5:15 am.  The hotel was nice enough to offer race participants a ride to the start line.  We went down a little after 6 and waited in line for about an hour.  I was a little annoyed because I don’t like waiting but was glad I did because at least I waited indoors and not at the start line since it was raining.

The rain damped my mood.  It rained all through the race.  I wore shorts, short sleeve shirt, light jacket, and a plastic bag.  I made a mental note that I had to purchase a water resistant jacket (I bought one on Sunday).  I chafed in many places and was in pain when I took a shower.

My goal was to finish in less than 2:30.  Finish time was 2:29:39!!!  And yes another hilly course. Obviously if it hadn’t rain that much then the race experience would have been so much better!

My mile splits were:
Miles 1 through 4-10:12, 10:39, 12:10, 12:39
Miles 5 through 8-11:43, 10:24, 10:48, 12:16
Miles 9 through 12-11:18, 10:41, 11:28, 11:18
Mile 13-12:38

The best part of this race/trip was meeting Laura.  She is such a sweet and amazing person!  She ran the full marathon and finished in 3:55:26.