Cheyenne Half Marathon

Monday, September 24, 2018

Half #22, State #17!  Elevation killed me!

This past weekend was my first true test to see if I could run 2 half marathons 2 weeks apart. My goal in 2019 is to run half marathons in back-to-back weekends in New England so I can cross two states off my list.

Sioux Falls was a great race for me two weeks ago. Cheyenne prove to be more a challenge. The biggest thing was E-L-E-V-A-T-I-O-N. Running at 6,200 feet is no easy task when you are not used to it. I knew I was in trouble in the first .15 mile when I struggled to breathe running up a tiny hill. I had to slow down to walk to control my breathing. This was not going to be my day. Thankfully I had 8 years to complete it. Ha! Well no, I actually had less than that because I had a plane to catch in Denver.

It was the inaugural year of this race so there were a few hiccups as you can imagine. But nothing major. The biggest thing was more water stops and maybe some sports drink for those that need it.

The course was ok. There some nice parts but quite a bit was on busy roads or next to busy roads like the long stretch along the interstate. Not so much fun.

The first three miles were tough on my breathing. Mile 4 I finally had a mile under 14. Woo hoo! So different from my last half. After that “spectacular” mile, I tried to keep as many of my miles under 15 as possible. I didn’t do so great at the goal.

During mile 6 the course wanted us to turn left. Well this woman in front of me (who drove me nuts the entire first 6 miles) didn’t turn. She went straight. At first, I was concerned for her that she got off course but what she really was doing was cutting the course. Seriously!  I saw her later and she was easily a mile ahead of me. We figured she cut about a mile. Argh so annoying.

We made our way around downtown Cheyenne. The silly capitol building was under scaffolding, so we couldn’t see it. :( The finish was at the cool old depot. But there wasn’t much fanfare. I got my medal, my banana and was on a bus back to our car.

It was an ok race. I’m not sure I would come back. I’m also glad to get another high elevation state out of the way. Idaho, Utah and Montana scare me. Hopefully I can find a race with a good time limit…I need it!

Finish time: 3:19:35. Only 35 seconds slower than I predicted. I’m getting pretty good at predicting my time. ;)











Kayaking Down the River

Thursday, September 20, 2018

We spent one of the few weekends that we were home to go kayaking. We have been wanting to go down the Blue Earth River all summer, but we didn’t have the 2-3 hours it required so finally we go out on the river. It was a very fun float. DJ joined us too. It was a pretty hot day so the cool water felt good. I spend the last half going along the shore line where there was shade because I could tell I was getting burned…even though I wore sunscreen!

It seemed like there were a lot more rapids this time. We had a lot of rain recently so I’m sure that is why. The last time we did this we had to avoid a lot of rocks, this time we just went over them. It was a lot more fun this time.

We saw some eagles and other random birds but the best was the blue heron that was just perched on rock looking at us and as we went past he took off. So amazing!

It took us just under 2:30 for the 9 mile run.


Sioux Falls Half Marathon

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Half #21, State #16

As I mentioned in the previous post the expo was very boring. They need to get more vendors. But it was quick in and out which some people prefer.

DJ came with us to the start. We started was inside the Danny Sanford Premier Center. That was a bit annoying because there is no way our running watch GPS could connect. Thankfully it was just short jaunt out the big door and on to the street.

Overall it was a very nice run. We went through some parks, include Falls Park. We ran past the Cathedral and the amazing old houses around it. We ran along the Big Sioux River. It was really a pleasant course.

Hills?  Well there was two big hills, but nothing like Dublin! The up hills were followed by really nice downhills. I got a little worried about the one down hill because I knew we had to run back up in during mile 10. But the course is slight different on the way back so we didn’t have to climb that entire downhill. Thank Goodness!

Byron and Rio caught to me around mile 7 or so and they ran/walked with me for a couple miles. It was nice having somebody to chat with. Byron said I was a lot more fun to run alongside than Eric. Eric doesn’t talk, I can’t stop. LOL! Byron left me at the bottom of the up hill.

I saw our friends, Kevin and Jana and their kids around mile 10. They even made us signs! How cute!  And of course DJ was there too. I think she like spectating more than participating. Ha!

The 3 hour pacer annoyed the heck out of me. I finally caught her around mile 5. I ran with her for bit but she stopped on the narrow bridge crossing the falls to take a picture. Really? I had to stop because I couldn’t get around her. I was a little irritated by that. I ran ahead of her but eventually she caught me and then I never saw her again. Eric said she finished 3 minutes early which is a means she is a really bad pacer!

I crossed the finish and was still feeling great. DJ and Kevin and company were there to cheer us on. The after food was good. The tri-tip sandwich was pretty good.

Overall my time was good for me. It was about what I expected. I had some great early miles but later in the race I was starting to get tired. I need to get back into marathon training shape!

Time: 3:07:24





Family, Friends, Soccer Games and a Half

Monday, September 10, 2018

We spend the beautiful weekend in Sioux Falls.  We meet up with some friends and family and of course ran a race.

We started our trip down to Sioux Falls after work on Friday. We picked up DJ on our way, getting into Byron’s house at around 9:30. Theo, the baby, was still up! It was his 7th month birthday.

Saturday morning, we meet Eric’s childhood friend, Kevin at his kid’s soccer game. Kevin is the coach, so we didn’t talk to him until after the game but we sat by his wife Jana and other son Isaac. Isaac was getting bored with the game, so Eric kicked the ball around with him. After the game we went to Fuddruckers for lunch and went to Isaac’s game afterwards. That was a hoot!  It was 4 on 4 on a very small field (5-6 year olds). There was a lot of hugging on the field. Little boys are so funny! Haha. Isaac has been watching too much World Cup because he tripped and fell and immediately got up and said “Come on, he pushed me” with his hands held out. Just like the pros. The thing is there is no refs on these games and no fouls. Haha! After he scored a goal he did the running slide on his knees…just like the pros. It was hilarious.

After that we went back to Byron’s and the entire family went to the Expo to pick up our packets for the race. It was a very sad expo. Hardly any exhibitors. :( We got our stuff and started to head out the door when we saw the 605 Running Company contest. You get your picture taken with a dry erase board with your estimated finish time. Whoever is closes wins a pair of shoes.  I wrote down 3:07:25. I had predicted a 3:07 finish anyways which is 10 minutes or faster than my other halves this year (except for my amazing first half at Grandma’s Marathon).  I will write a separate blog on the race, but my finish time was 3:07:24…I was one second off. I’m still waiting to see if I won. Fingers crossed nobody got right on the nose.

We went to Red Rossa pizza for dinner. I love traditional thin crust, wood oven Italian pizza. We did some grocery shopping for the race and spend the rest of the night hanging out at the house.

Sunday was another early morning. The race started at 7. DJ was nice enough to come with us. We started in the Denny Sanford Premier center. That was nice since it was kind of cold outside. The race was ok for me, not my best but hopefully I got the shoes mentioned above. Eric had a pretty good race, almost beat 2:30.

Kevin, Jana and the boys meet us at mile 9 and then saw us at the finish line. Adam was really interested in running and races now. He wants to go watch us at all our races. Haha.

We went to Perkins for a late breakfast…oddly enough, I was craving pancakes!

After breakfast we went back to Byron’s to watch the Vikings game and eat some nachos. It was good. We stuck around until 6pm because Eric’s brother Chris was driving through on his way home to Omaha. He and his daughter, Banyan were in Rapid City for the weekend.

It was a long ride home, we didn’t get in until after 10pm. I’m exhausted today! Ha!