60 days ago I challenged myself to get marathon ready again.
Despite our abnormal sub-zero temps in Boulder, stayed focused & on-track all week.
December 2
5am Monday morning swim class is kinda hard to stomach after the holidays — up to 1.7 miles (longest swim to date). Positive news — even after Thanksgiving dinner, told to up my daily calorie count to 2400. 4 more training days (2 swim, 2 run days), then off to Tucson.
December 3
12 mile training run today. Probably my last day outdoors before Tucson. Arctic blast settles in later this afternoon. Single digit highs, lows below zero thru Saturday. YIKES! That said – sunny & 45 this morning; it was a mighty good run.
December 4
7 degrees & snowing — surprised to have the pool all to my myself until 630 this morning. Slackers!
December 5
Woke this morning to -8 degrees, wind chill of -31F. BRRRRRR! Shipped Ro off to Camp Bow Wow for an all-day indoor play date. 6 miles on the treadmill at a quick 8.0 pace — last run before Marathon weekend.
Good news? Our Colorado sunshine is back! Bright & sunny – life is FAAANNNNTASTIC 🙂
December 8 – RACE DAY
Woke early, checked out of my hotel & drove to the local high school for bus pickup (hauling runners to the Start from 440am-520am – yep, mighty early). Super cold morning to be wearing shorts. Luckily our line of buses were blocked in by a large tour bus near the drop-off stage. Lucky? Yea, we got to stay on the bus & keep warm.
20 minutes before race time — lined up in the dark with 3,000 other runners & shivered in Tucson’s first snow in years. Just flurries but jeez, snow? & only an hour from Mexico?
Ran strong for 19 miles – great pace, felt really good.
Mile 21 – HIT THE WALL. A mile further than Alaska but same feeling of concrete blocks tied to my quads & calves. Frustrating but no shooting pain. Gutted out those last 5.2 miles. Walk, jogged, ran – whatever it took.
Half mile left & stopped again. An older runner comes up from behind & says ‘Come on, you’re almost there.’ Runner angel? Maybe. Started jogging, then running ‘til I crossed the finish at just over 4 hours.
Shaking from hypothermia, off to the medic tent after the orange lady repeatedly insisted I go. Embarrassing, sure but 15-20 minutes under blankets felt mighty good. Who knew it’d be windy, overcast & 30 in Tucson?
Each marathon is a learning experience – 2 down, 48 states to go. Next month – Louisiana.
Place Bib Athlete Name City State Finish Time
422 321 K R Haga Louisville CO 4:05:39
Way to go!!!! 🙂 love the goal of a marathon in each state! 🙂
Would take me a good 5-6 years to cover all 50 states. Only approx 3300 people have run marathons in all 50 states. Would be an amazing challenge — would help expand my adventures to a lotta interesting places! Next month hope to kayak with gators in Louisiana 🙂
Well…you can make anything happen when you put your mind to it!! 🙂
Super positive words my friends. Thanks!