M.  Michaela, May and…marathon.

Black Friday sale on Southwest last November – my score?  Quick in-n-out airfare to celebrate Michaela’s Happy 26^th in Connecticut.  Kiddo’s got her own digs now, whole lotta happenings since holiday season last.  SUPER excited to see M’s Coventry home.  Country treed & seasonal GREEN.

Post-work flight to Hartford, hotel arrival midnite+, Friday a.m. alarm.  Crazy quick turnaround.  Shower, change of clothes, bib pick-up in Goodwin Park.  the New England Challenge: 6 days, 6 marathons, all 6 NE states.  For me, dropped in just for Connecticut Day, the Nutmeg State.  6am start, 5-hour finish goal.  Over-n-done, re-showered, Michaela’s by noon.  M’s also for Multi-tasking 😊

Two-marathon weekend:  CT on Friday, Denver’s Colfax Marathon Sunday morn.  Good practice.  Registered for my first QUADZILLA over Independence Day break.  4 marathons in 4 days.  Sauvie Island, Tigard, Vancouver & Beaverton — coastal communities ’round Portland (Oregon).  July summer marathoning, gonna be a challenge.  Today however…weather, runner perfect.  Forecast’d rain would hold off ‘til 1.  Pizza & wing-feasting early afternoon (pie from UConn’s Husky Pizza).

Lap course.  Half-mile trail.  Handsome city lake, perfect time of year.  Leafy tree cover, water birds, wetlands.  Path butts up against a golf course.  Sunrise, last-minute race instructions.

One hill.  Not horrible, I ran UP while others walked (Day FIVE of their challenge).  But one hill, TWELVE times.  Downhill trail, leafy green stretch, wetlands, golf course, HILL.  And repeat 12x.

Birthday party motivated, I kept at it.  Finished with a smile.  Think I dig running laps.  Enjoy the camaraderie of other runners.  Feel less isolated, less ‘in my head’, better manages the crazies.

Check, done.  12 laps plus a short loop, that’s 26.2 in the Nutmeg State.

Shower, pizza & Bloody Marys – let the games begin.  May is Michaela month.  Whoop, whoop!  Celebration!

New England Challenge: Nutmeg State Marathon
Goodwin Park & Golf Course in Hartford, Connecticut United States
Friday, May 17, 2019 6:04:27 AM

 

Place  Bib#  Name
13  126  K R Haga  M  04:52:50.36

Nutmeg State Marathon