Wisconsin Half Marathon 2012

You've gotta love an event that designs its finisher award to contain a bottle opener. After all, it IS about the bling.

So Friday we drove up to Wisconsin for a race. It was a half and a full marathon. Many months ago, Paula and I had a conversation something like this:

"Hey I wanna do this race to check WI off the list. You interested?"
"Sure, do they have a shorter option?"
"Ummm let me check...oops, no, just the half and full."
"Oh what the hell, sign me up for the half."

That was MONTHS ago, so it had been purged from the memory banks. Since then we've done several races where I did the half and Paula did a 5k or 10K, so we both figured that was the plan. Wednesday I go to check the registration, and find we are both doing the half. She took it well.

While it was gawdawful hot and humid here in Indy for the Mini, up in Kenosha it was in the 50's, damp, and blowing. Temps were great for running, but the wind got tiresome, and I'm sure it was a bit chilly for walking, and the volunteers must have been miserable standing around in it. Most of the course was along the shores of Lake Michigan, so the wind never abated. We were both happy it wasn't raining, just spitting water occasionally.

The course itself was an elongated loop up and down the lakeshore area. Part of it went through a very nice old neighborhood with beautiful old homes and large, well-kept yards. After that we went through the old "downtown" area, through a park, along the waterfront, and back.

I saw Paula once after the first turnaround; she was at mile 6-ish and I was around mile 9. I asked how she was doing and she just said (very adamantly), "This sucks!" She was only slightly mollified when I told her the wind was better on the way back. She never slowed down and continued trudging onward.

Paula did far better than she had any right to, a very respectable 3:25:05. I did my typical 2:17:37 and was happy with that. Anything under 3:30 and 2:20, respectively, is a good time. We were both pleased with our day, despite Paula's frequent exclamations of suckage.

We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the weekend, visiting several dear friends from my Chicago days forever ago. The friends we stayed with were wonderful enough to have Thai food delivered. Yummy! The next day we had a wonderful brunch at another friend's house (complete with mimosas), watched the storm come through, then drove home. It was a very full, very satisfying weekend. Not only a good race, but even better company and more shared memories to add to the (somewhat faulty) memory bank.

Ultra #2: A 30-mile trail run

The Planet Adventure Winona Lake Trail Ultra is a 10, 30, and 50 mile trail run. The course is a 10-mile loop that is repeated as desired. I signed up for the 30 mile, and knew that attempting a 50-miler was tempting certain injury since I really hadn't even trained for 30. Oh well, wouldn't be the first time I've winged a long race.

I worked at registration that morning, checking runners in. Working with me was a volunteer, Jayne. Jayne's weekend plans had fallen through, so she had called Planet Adventure to ask if she could volunteer. She was planning to do the 10 miler, but had it in the back of her mind that she'd really like to try for 30. She's only been running a couple of years, and her longest run to date was a half-marathon. She had already done a triathlon as well. I encouraged her to go ahead and try. If she hated it after two laps and wanted to quit, she could collect the 10-mile medal and still would have extended her maximum distance. If she felt good she could continue and more than double her longest effort. What could it hurt?

There were about 40 of us signed up for the 30, and we all gathered at the start line. The trail was single-track, so there was an initial slowdown as everyone entered the woods on the narrow trail. Jayne and I ended up bringing up the rear. I was taking my time, as usual, and Jayne asked me what my pace would be. Hmmm I really hadn't thought much about it, I just wanted to finish with minimum suckage. Finish in seven hours? Sound good? Eight if the hills are really bad and I'm suffering? That worked for her, too, so we decided to stick together. I told her first thing was to walk up the hills and save the legs. She was content to let me pace her, and I was content to do so.

We ended up running together the entire way, chatting the whole time.  Before either of us knew it, we were back at the start/finish, and ten miles were on the board. We both took about ten minutes to eat, rest, drink, and she changed her shoes before we took off again.

The second 10 miles were harder, and we were both very happy we only had one more loop, but both agreed it wasn't sucking. We got tired, both had some niggling aches and pains, but nothing that was seriously detracting from enjoying the view. The course was very hilly, with lots of smaller switchbacks. The downs were often just a little too steep for us lesser-experienced trail runners to easily trot down, and we both had to apply the brakes fairly often. The "straightaways" were not very long, not very straight, and not very level, but were a good chance to do an easy jog. We never went too fast to talk, and enjoyed admiring the faster runners that passed us on a regular basis. It didn't start to rain until we were at mile 15, and it was a nice steady cooling rain that didn't produce immediate mud-pits, so we were content.

We weren't quite as chipper as we crossed the finish line for the second time, but both were still smiling and feeling pretty good. We took another ten minutes to grab some chocolate milk, fig newtons, whatever; Jayne changed shoes again and I changed socks. We compared our time to the first loop, and we were pretty much on target, even if we included the ten minutes or so break-time. Great! Off we went for loop #3.

The last 10 miles were difficult. We were both finally feeling really tired, both of us had tender toes (hers more so than mine as she stubbed them a few times on tree roots), both were getting hungry enough to want a burger, and both were exceedingly glad this was the last pass of the trail. The rain quit at mile 25. We stopped to high-five at the 26-mile point, figuring that was close enough to marathon distance to celebrate her first marathon, then got slogging along again...which is what we were doing by this point, slogging. However, we both agreed that it still wasn't a full-on suck just yet.

As usual, I had forgotten the Garmin, and she deliberately hadn't worn hers, but she had a phone with the time on it. We both felt like we were holding our pace pretty well; she checked the time, and if we pushed a bit, we could come in just under seven hours. However, we would have to do the last three miles in a little over 30 minutes. I really didn't think I had it in me, but the bug was planted. I know Jayne was thinking the same thing. Neither of us said anything, but I started pushing harder, taking shorter walk breaks, trudging up more inclines, and farther up them, before taking a walk break. Jayne stayed right on my heels.

We made it a little past mile 28 before I finally said, "OK, this sucks now!" Jayne agreed. We were both hurting. Our knees, ankles, hip extensors, feet, and toes were very unhappy and screaming at us to stop. But neither of us dared suggest looking at the time or slowing down. We both took a deep breath and kept moving.

 

Finally, 6 hours 58 minutes and 43 seconds after starting, we crossed the finish line together. Jayne won her age group on her first ultra and collected her award. We were both very happy to be done, and thrilled not to be doing the 50-miler. Those people are CRAZY!

1st loop: 2:15
2nd loop: 2:19 (includes break time)
3rd loop: 2:24:42 (includes break time)

A tale of two runners

It was a beautiful Saturday morning like many others. Today was a 15K trail run in the city's nicest park, and the weather was glorious. #585, a 54-year-old experienced trail runner, got up, followed his usual race morning routine, and arrived at the race site. He checked in, picked up his bib, pinned it to his shirt, and milled around with the rest of the runners until the race start.

The event was a casual one, the first of the season's series, and it was a relaxed air. There was a 5K and a 15K, which brought out a wide variety of participants. Runners of all ages and abilities loitered, some standing in the long porta-john lines, others enjoying the hot chocolate that was offered. It was still brisk enough to be a little uncomfortable if you weren't moving around, so some runners, like #599, sat in their cars to stay a little warmer.

Like #585, #599 was feeling good, enjoying the atmosphere, and ready to have a nice run in the woods. These two runners didn't know each other, but shared a passion. #599 was a 50-year-old woman who was thrilled to be able to contemplate a 9-mile trail run with the complacency of a nice afternoon walk, without stress, knowing she would feel terrific at the end.

Finally it was time to start, and the herd of approximately 230 runners took off in a giant pack. #585 was closer to the front; #599 closer to the back. Both were on pace to have a good day, relaxing for the first of three loops, letting the herd spread out a bit. The first mile was fairly slow, as runners had to slow down for a couple of obstacles. The lesser-experienced came to a full stop, which caused a backup. Because it was a casual, relaxed day, no one really seemed to mind, and everyone knew that it would spread out soon and there likely would be no more bottlenecks. The "serious" runners had already taken off like jackrabbits, anyway, and were far ahead of any potential slowdowns.

#599 took in the still-bare trees, the layer of multiple-shades-of-brown leaves on the ground, and the quiet sound of feet hitting dirt and occasionally crumpling some dry leaves. The runners rounded a bend, and there was a splendid view of blue water, with early-morning sun reflecting off of it. What a wonderful way to start a weekend! Both runners rejoiced in the divine feeling of physical activity, the connectedness with nature, the capacity to live.

After conquering the mud pit near the finish for the third time, #585 cruised in for a finish time of 1:23:51, at a pace of 8:59/mile, something #599 would envy. He enjoyed his finish, then sat down. #599 came in over 15 minutes later with a finish time of 1:39:01, a pace of 10:37/mile. She was quite content with that, as she had maintained a very steady pace for the three loops, and had actually done the third one a wee bit faster than the first two. She headed for the food line and settled in for the wait.

After a while, an ambulance arrived. Who are they picking up? What's going on? #599 watched as they loaded #585 onto the ambulance. He was a nice looking man, with a very tidy white beard and trim physique, and he was looking around, taking in what was happening to him. As the ambulance doors were closing, the race announcer told everyone that he had felt some chest pains, so they were taking him to get checked out. #599 and some other runners in line whispered their concern, and optimistically concluded that he likely would get checked out in the ER and sent home sometime later that day or the next, at home before the weekend was over.

#599 went home, content, and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of her weekend.

#585 never went home. His heart stopped when they loaded him onto the ambulance, and it never started again.

He didn't get in his car and drive it home, walk in the front door, and hug his wife. Didn't scratch the dog, say hello to the kitties, enjoy a hot shower. His weekend was over, far too early.

But he thoroughly enjoyed his last act on this planet: a trail run on a gloriously beautiful early spring day.

RIP #585.

How much fat are you REALLY burning?

Sometimes it's fun to geek out over data, but you have to have some data over which to geek out. So, today I did a test to try to nail down how much fat I burn during exercise vs. how much sugar. It's interesting information, and proves that endurance performance is all about efficiency.

Amy the trainer put me on a treadmill with a mask capturing my exhalations, measuring oxygen and CO2. Warmed up a couple of minutes at 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 mph. Finally got to 5.0 mph, then steadily increased the incline. The goal was to reach anaerobic threshold, then only stay there long enough to get three more measurements (less than a minute). Then cool down.

My heart rate (HR) was 60 while I was standing on the treadmill waiting to start. It took a 10% incline at 5.0 mph to reach threshold, and HR peaked at 141 then settled at 138. The HR dropped 15 beats in the first minute of cooldown, then another 9 in the second minute, which means I'm recovering quickly. So it looks like I need to spend more time training in lower zones w/some intervals thrown in, and try to raise VO2 (my peak HR/fat burning threshold) as much as I can. There is a genetic limit to how much this can change, but I can certainly try to become more efficient. Don't need to worry about the ticker; it's working just fine, and better than most.

The graph shows that my body burns fat at a fairly steady level with only a small decline until I hit peak. This is good. Goal is to raise that steady level to more than the current 40-50% of calories to 50-60%. Then I could probably go even longer with less perceived difficulty.

Bike workouts are definitely helping. Last night was half hour warmup followed by 8 intervals of 3 minutes in zone 5 (harder than "comfortably hard") with 3 minutes rest in between. Felt it but it didn't suck. Would have been incredibly painful a month ago, but last night I actually had something left in the tank when we were done.

I was surprised at the low heart rate today. I knew it would be lower to start, but didn't expect it to stay so low while exerting myself. Used to be up around 163 when I was running hard. And 65-70 if I was walking around. It's nice to see positive results from training. Tomorrow: a 15K trail run!

Volunteering at Super Bowl Village

The Super Bowl Village is a free outdoor event that started last Friday. Indianapolis is unique in that this started so early, allowing the locals to go down and enjoy it before the huge crowds arrive from out of town. Usually the festivities don't start until just a few days before the game. We worked Friday and Sunday nights, and last night was our last "official" shift. We may work additional shifts as needed, but our commitment is now done. The Village covers several blocks and is right in the middle of downtown.

In some of the photos you'll see a lot of Indy cars. These are retired cars that have been painted in all the teams' colors and themes. For a couple of days, they were all parked right in front of the Monument, which is the literal center of town. They are now scattered all over the city, so I'm glad I got to see them all in one place before they were moved.

There are two free stages in the Village, and there's usually someone playing at one or the other. Last night the Village People played, which was amusing. And yes, it was the original band. They were all old farts, like us.

For our last shift, we worked at the zipline, taking harnesses off of people after their ride. It was really fun to see their huge smiles! As much as we could, we'd ask if they had a camera and wanted a picture of themselves in the gear. Most of the time they were very happy to have their picture taken. I think the family with Grandma was the best - Grandma was maybe 4 feet tall and was holding a pinwheel (like the pig in the Geico commercial).

As volunteers, we got an added unexpected bonus: a free ride after all the paying customers were done at 10pm! This is a huge benefit; online tickets have been sold out for days, and if you want to buy a ticket for the same day, you have to be there several hours before the ticket office opens. Even then, you will still have about a 2-hour wait to ride, if you are lucky enough to get a ticket. We were able to just go right in, climb straight up, and hop off.

The zipline is done off an 80' temporary structure that they built just for this, and it goes down Capitol Ave for two blocks, right over a lot of the activities. People on the ground cheer and whoop as people go zipping by overhead. It's lots of fun to just watch the entire scene. One woman (who was definitely heavy enough to get all the way across) managed to get herself stuck about 50 yards from the end, and some poor guy had to hand-over-hand go fetch her and pull her the rest of the way. The way she was carrying on, you'd have thought she'd been stabbed or something. It was humorous to watch the crowd standing right under her taking pictures. I think she was secretly enjoying the attention.

More photos are posted at the links below!

General pics of the Super Bowl Village

Ziplining pics

Bike floggings and FTP

I am not a cyclist. I survive the bike portion of triathlons, but I am not a cyclist. I am actually quite pitiful on the bike, but less pitiful than I used to be. At least now I can survive tough workouts like the one below.

[Workouts are done at a small fitness studio with seven Computrainers set up in a row. There are a couple of large flat-screen monitors on the wall that display the outputs of all seven trainers. You can watch your output, or get depressed by looking at the output of some of the other cyclists who really are cyclists. It would be painfully boring, if not impossible, for me to do this alone in my living room. In addition, the equipment is expensive and I don't want to pay for it.]

-- Warmup --
5 min zone 1
15 min zone 2
2 min zone 1
5 min FTP
3 min zone 1

--- Repeat 5x ---
3 min 110-115% of FTP
2 min zone 1
2 min 110-115% of FTP
2 min zone 1
1 min 110-115% of FTP
2 min zone 1

FTP means "Functional Threshold Power", or how hard can you go for a particular period of time. This is measured using a power meter - in our case, a Computrainer. A Computrainer is a power meter that is built in to a typical bike trainer, and sends data to a computer where you can see your output in real time.

FTP is calculated by doing a time trial, usually for 20 minutes, while hooked up to a power meter. You go as hard as you can for 20 minutes, with as steady an effort as possible. 95% of your average power output is your FTP.

So why care about FTP? Because this gives you a measurable number for planning a workout. The best way to improve is to train using intervals of varying degrees of effort, not pushing hard all the time. For improvement on the bike, you want to work out using different percentages of this number, both above and below. For example, my current FTP is 141 (low because I'm just not that strong on the bike, yet). This means that my zone 1 (easy/resting, <57% of my FTP), is anything with a power output of 79 or less. This zone is where I go to rest and recover from harder efforts. Zone 2 is slightly harder, and is good for warming up. And so on.

The workout above is a great example of a steady 30-minute warm-up before the hard effort begins. Start easy, increase the effort a little, do one short burst to wake the body up, then rest a bit. The real work begins with the first 3 minutes of hard effort, and continues for the next hour. Three minutes may not sound like much, but it is, especially the 5th time around, after 48 minutes of interval work.

On a side note, training with a group is the only way to go for me. Even if it means occasionally overhearing things that make me wince. For example:

Outrageously fit/strong 50+ male cyclist #1: What do you weigh now that the holidays are over?
Outrageously fit/strong 50+ male cyclist #2: Around 150. Trying to get it down a little. What about you?
Cyclist #1: Oh I'm at 144 right now.
Me, thinking: Dear god, that's what I weigh. Are you kidding me?

Sigh.

Many thanks to Whitney and Chad at The Fitness Lab for the guided floggings.

Happy New Year!

Wow, what a weekend! Where to begin? With the crazy ride back to Indianapolis (home)? With all the runners I met from all over? With the two very different races? I'll just jump in and go.

So I get an email some time in December about a pair of races on the same weekend, one in Mississippi and one in Alabama. They’re being promoted as a two-fer: two races, two states, two days. The 50 States Marathon and 50 States Half Marathon clubs love these things. The organizers are offering 20% off registration to those who do both, and a special plaque or something in addition to the medals all finishers receive. Hmmm, sounds intriguing. I’ve done many races a week apart, but have never done back-to-back races of these distances in the same weekend. Wonder how I’d hold up?

I signed up for the Mississippi Blues Marathon on Saturday, in Jackson MS, and the First Light Half Marathon on Sunday, in Mobile AL. I think this was 3 weeks before race weekend, some time after Thanksgiving. I’m well into my holiday binging, and only running maybe 3-4 miles at a time a few times a week. Oh well. I’ll wing it. We'll see what this experiment yields.

The Races

I don’t really do any reconnoitering on either course, beyond finding lodging and procuring the last semi-affordable rental car left in Mississippi. The Jackson race sold out at around 2500 people, with 750 or so doing the full and the rest doing the half. I lucked out and got a room within walking distance of the start/finish line, and had fun chatting with other runners from all over the country, many of whom are also doing the back-to-back. We laugh at our craziness (or stupidity, or whatever it is), and look forward to the weekend.

This race benefits aging blues musicians, who never really made any money at their trade and are now struggling in old age. It also was a wonderful tribute to the area known as the birthplace of the blues, even including a harmonica (a real one, not some cheap piece of garbage) and a CD of blues in our swag bag. Definitely the coolest swag I’ve ever gotten!

The marathon course turned out to be extremely hilly, on par with the Seattle marathon. Oboy. However, the weather is glorious, starting at a very humid 54 and warming/drying to the high 60’s. Hotter than many of us are used to in January, but very survivable and not really an issue. I wasn’t sure what kind of time I would do, since I was concerned about not blowing up my legs before doing the half on Sunday, so I just went with what I felt. There were no clocks on the course, and I (in typical fashion) walked out and left my Garmin in the room. That worked out fine, as it forced me to go with my gut and not try to adhere to any subconscious desires to go at any particular pace.

The marathon was difficult, but it didn’t suck, at least not enough to wonder why I was doing this to myself. Water stops were every 1.5 miles, and no matter how hard it felt at times, I was still surprised at every stop. Had I really gone another mile and a half? There were timing mats every 5 miles (but of course no clocks), so each timing mat was a major accomplishment. The hills were unrelenting, and my strategy was to walk up and jog down. After about mile 20 I had to look around and chuckle, because I’m sure we all looked like the Bataan death march to the volunteers. Lots and lots of walking. It was actually kind of nice to be in a race where no one really cared about lofty time goals; we were more focused on enjoying the experience.

I trudged up the last hill to a respectable finish of 5:13. I typically do a marathon around 5 hours, so was pleased to be that close to my norm, especially given the hills. A wonderful volunteer handed me an enormous and truly awesome medal, I listened to a few minutes of some good blues, and back I trudged to the hotel for a shower and food.

On the way to the hotel, I met a nice couple from NY who were flying back home that afternoon, and they told me about a runner they met who was looking for a ride to Mobile. He had found one, but that person had to work and couldn’t leave until very late at night. They wouldn’t arrive in Mobile until some gawdawful time like 3am or so. Unacceptable. We exchanged phone numbers and invites to check in when in each other’s city, and he contacted the hitchhiking runner. Turned out the guy had found a better ride, so I didn’t have a traveling companion. But it was good to meet Keith and Andrea, and I’m sure we’ll be staying in touch.

Showered and packed, on the way to Mobile, and I 'm ready to gnaw my arm off when I finally see a Sonic (there weren't many quick eating options). Those burgers are a little bit of heaven after a marathon. Not quite a Whataburger with jalapenos, but they do in a pinch.

Got to Mobile, found the packet pickup, ate my free spaghetti dinner, then was ready to find my hotel . Turned out there was some college bowl game that weekend in Mobile, with a Mardi Gras-type parade just as I was trying to leave packet pickup. I was far too tired to stay and watch, and was trapped. I got a very nice police officer’s attention by driving the wrong way down the only clear street, and he led me out of the mess. Turned out he was working the race Sunday, so he understood why I was so desperate to get out of there and get to bed.

Sunday morning comes, and I have no idea if I will even be able to run; feet were still a little tender and would have been happier propped up on an ottoman, and my quads were definitely feeling the marathon from Saturday. Overall, however, I felt quite good and ready to go. Figured I'd just do what I could do, as this entire weekend was one big experiment anyway.

Saturday's race was to benefit aging blues musicians; this one benefited a local facility for special needs adults, L'Arche Mobile. The medals were each handmade by the residents, so each one was special. Those of us that did the back-to-back also got a handmade "plaque" with a bio of the person who made it on the back. This was a very nice touch and I think everyone appreciated it.

The race was blessedly flat. It was the first no-chip half marathon I’ve ever done – they noted times at the finish and tore the strip off the bottom of our bibs and strung them in order, to piece together later. No clocks on this course either, but this time I remembered the Garmin. I had to laugh when I got there about 45 minutes before the start and they were just taping the street to mark the start line. The obligatory Southern Belles were there in full drag, keeping things in perspective. The gear check was somebody's SUV. Considerably more relaxed than the norm!

As it happened, I was able to manage a respectable trudge with occasional walk breaks. Like the marathon, water stops were about 1.5 miles apart, and I was able to trudge most of the way between them, until the last three miles. At that point I had to take more walking breaks, simply because the legs were tired. It hurt as much to walk as to jog, so I tried to jog as much as I could. Of course, when I say "hurt", I'm not talking about agonizing pain or anything; the quads wanted a break and I had a few hot spots on my feet, but nothing severe. However, I was extremely grateful to only be doing a half instead of another full. I am nowhere near ready to attempt two marathons in a weekend. I bow down to all the folks that are.

Finished in a satisfactory 2:28:something, only about 10-15 minutes off my typical half-marathon pace – not bad for the first attempt. Received my medal from one of the residents of L'Arche Mobile and considered the day a success. It doesn't get any more special than that! (No, that's not me in the photo.)

The People

Never met so many 50-staters (and Marathon Maniacs) in my life. These are people who do a marathon in every state, some of them multiple times. There's also the Half-Fanatics (like me) who want to do at least a half in every state. These people have scoped out all the opportunities to knock out at least two states in a weekend, and it's fascinating to listen to them talk. When I got to the packet pickup in Mobile Saturday afternoon, those of us doing the back-to-back were either wearing the very cool tech shirt from the Mississippi race, or wearing the medal, so we were easy to spot. I shared a table at the complementary pasta dinner with a couple of guys who had raced that morning, and one of them was also from Indiana, about 45 minutes south of Indianapolis. He knew of two other people who were there from Carmel. Unbeknownst to me, he pointed me out to one of the other Carmel residents, but I had left before she came to sit down. Sunday morning she found me at the race start and introduced herself. It turned out that she lives very close to me, and her son is a pilot with Republic, and we were both flying standby on family passes. Small world!

There are not a lot of flights out of Mobile, so many of us had time to kill at the airport Sunday. The race was originally scheduled to begin at 7am, which would have allowed many of us to get to the airport just barely in time for the morning flight out. Unfortunately the start time was moved back to 7:30, and that 30 minutes was just enough to cause many of us to miss that morning flight. The next flights weren't until 5, 6, and 7pm, so the airport quickly filled with runners. I think we all actually had a wonderful time meeting each other, comparing experiences, and finding out who was certifiable (the people who did a double, like me) and who still had their wits about them. I met a law-student with a full-time job from Columbus, OH, a very fun woman from CA who wants to do the Mississippi race again (we exchanged info), an older gentleman from Syracuse, NY who was a master at finding back-to-back races, and a cancer survivor from south Texas who was running just to say "eff you" to her cancer. The hours passed quickly, and finally it was time to leave. Elaine (my new friend from Carmel) and I easily got seats out of Mobile.

Got to Charlotte, and of course our connection was at the farthest point possible from our gate. We hoofed it over there, and it was...oversold. Nice. And there was no hope of getting on the first flight out the next day either, or several others for that matter. Great.

Ok, what about Cincinnati? There's a flight leaving in 20 minutes. Nope, it's full too.

Hmmmm, Louisville? Any seats on Louisville? Yes, there is! But of course, the gate is back where we started from, and it's leaving in 15 minutes or less. Yikes. We both run the entire way back, and find the gate agent literally seconds from closing the door. Between gasps for air, we explain the situation. Well, there's one seat in coach and one seat in first class. Score! The wonderful ticket agent back in Mobile had given me a first class upgrade just 'cuz. We're on! (Oh, and that run to the gate? Damned near killed me and my aching feet.) Elaine's son thankfully wasn't flying Monday, so he very kindly drove down to get us. Since we both live in the same area, she gave me a ride home. At last I was standing outside my apartment door at 3am, very happy to be there.

Summary

Both races were very enjoyable, and I would do both of them again. I'd like to do the Blues half, and this time stick around for the Blues Crawl Saturday night. It went to several different venues to hear good local artists, and I was sorry to have to miss it.

The entire weekend had a very relaxed feel, as the vast majority of people were simply there to have a good time. The 50-States people are not hot for fast times; they're enjoying seeing a new place, meeting new people, catching up with other 50-Staters, and experiencing the locale. I saw quite a few runners pull off to take pictures now and then, and no one was stressing about PRs or other esoteric goals. The main goal seemed to be to have a good time and leave it at that. It was a very refreshing and rejuvenating atmosphere. I highly recommend it!