NORTH DAKOTA!!! MY FIRST ALL FEMALE RACE, NUMBER 19!

…And, finally back to racing!!! It has been 7 weeks since my last race and I have to admit, I’ve been chomping at the bit! Brian and I got up early on 08/22/2014 and left home by 6:06am, we were in Fargo, ND at 4:00. We have learned to pack most of our food and this way we only stop for potty breaks and fuel. It was an easy drive. We were about 25% through the 3rd Outlander book, Voyager, and it moved along with lots of excitement and good stuff in the story, making our 10 hour journey seem like 3! I picked up my race packet at the Scheel Center and went to the hotel and drove around a little bit, trying to get hungry. We finally settled on Quaker Steak and Lube. I had been to one in Philly a couple of years ago with my sister, Peggy and it was good. We ate well; we had a beer with our meal and then drove around looking for decorations for the upcoming wedding in Spring of next year. We were in bed by 10:15, but I couldn’t sleep. I finally fell asleep around midnight and was awakened by some butthead who let their hotel room door slam 3 times in a row on our floor and then proceeded to go outside, in the front of the hotel and have a full on, loud as crap, conversation, just below our window. Really? I called the hotel front desk and complained and they shut em down, but I never did get much sleep after that. I woke up at 5am, got showered and ready and we headed over early. It’s a good thing we did for it was an incredibly busy race and we managed to get a good parking spot. The 5K went off just a few minutes after 7am and the 10K, half marathon and half marathon (2 person) relay went off on time at 7:15am. I was tripping over a bunch of people for the first mile but managed to carve out a spot and settle into my pace. I never did feel very energetic, likely because I had, maybe 3 hours of sleep. It was a flat course but so humid that it felt like I was running under water. I had a gel just at 5 miles and tried a couple of gummies at 8 miles. I think I’m done with gummies; they are too hard to chew when you are breathing hard and I always feel like I’m going to choke on them. I’ll have to look into some other possibilities. I’ll get on the Hammer website and see what they have to offer. I saw all the mile markers except 4 and 11; I hate that, I never really zoned out like I usually do. Before long, I could see the end and made it across the finish line 01:53:58, 6th out of 29 in my age group, 47th out of 240. It was fun!!! The highlight of the race was going to the Fargo/Moorhead Visitors Center and having my medal picture taken in front of the actual wood chipper, used in the movie, Fargo. It was hilarious!!! As always, Brian and I had a great time, another state done, that’s number 19, S. Dakota in 2 weeks and one day!!!