Welcome to the Prairie Series.  Welcome to My-a-mah — the other Miami… Oklahoma.

Rotary Centennial Park

Storms across the Prairie all week.  Tornados, Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday.  Shared fears with Mom, added my name to the prayer circle & Thursday nite… off to Tulsa. Eventually.  Plane delayed, hours late.  Rental SUV not available.  Prepaid-in-advance… control what you can control.  Two-hour drive thru Indian Nation.  Tomorrow my next series begins — Oklahoma to North Dakota… just hours from the Canadian border.

Hotel check-in, no time to unpack — would pull run clothes & shoes in the morning.  No pre-series bib retrieval.  No pre-series Kroger provisions.  No pasta dinner.  But… I’m here.  On the road again, next 8 days 🚗   New series, new folks, new stories.  Folks here for a long weekend.  And a couple regulars.  That’s me now: #50K every day

Day 1.  Course diverted.  Normal route 20 FEET under water.

Lotta curves, whole lotta laps.  Ran first couple miles, then joined Chey/Guinness Mom for 10 of her 13.1 miles — first day, just couldn’t keep up.  Landscape warm, sleep started to catch me, stomach unsettled.  Walked it out friends.  Great company, great plan.

No win, not the caboose.  Collected my state medal, got it done.

Longest drive of the series ahead.  Rural road & open PRAIRIE.  Spotted a National Park sign in Fort Scott.  Park rangers, safe place.  I’d pull over, just a 20 minute nap.  Quarter-to-6, I’m the only car there.  Argh!

3 hours further: Hiawatha, Kansas.  2-nite stay never sounded so good.

Welcome to Prairie Series

Strangely full of energy last 2 days of a long series.  Felt the same day during Appalachia.  Body’s succumbed to its daily fate & mentally — whew! — you’re thinking about HOME.  For me, that’s the snowy peaks of the Front Range.  For me, it’s coming home to my best bud, Ro ❤️

Day 6 in the ‘Show Me State’.  Course 5-minute drive from my hotel in Cape Girardeau.  Still riding high from yesterday’s run.  Mostly flat bike-path today in Missouri.  #50K every day

Broken-record mantra: LUSH GREEN tropical.  6 days in, guessing that’s just the way the mighty Mississipp’ states are in Spring.  Trees don’t leaf-out ’til Mother’s Day in Colorado — but then, it’s an intense catch-up, all within a 2-week burst.  Winter, summer.  Our ‘fringe’ seasons are short.

Ran a half, jogged a couple miles, finished up quick.  2nd fastest of the series, another 50K win (not lotta ultra folks).  Packed/repacked the rental.  Tomorrow’s Day 7 — then after, an overnight visit with Sis.  Lives only 2 ½ hours from course. That’s just a short Mainly commute.  LOL>

Vienna, Illinois.  Place where I finished my first 50 miler.  Tunnel Hill.  Probably the flattest fastest 50-mile course out there (but it counts 😊)  This day, warned not to run thru the tunnel or will have overshot my turnaround by 6 miles.  HAHA!  Didn’t sleep night-before, walked the early DARK miles. Guinness Mom-Chey (also eager to get home) made quick time of her Half.  Thanks friend!

Happy pedestrian after; chatted-up miles with Tom from New Jersey.  He’s all but talked me into his favourite local 6-day event next May at the NJ Fairgrounds.  Said goodbyes @ Mile 24.  Ran hard late, 4 miles to catch my buddies Angela & Ed.  Wanted to finish out the series together.  And we did.

7 days, 7 states, 7 50Ks.  Notta record — that was last series.  But doing the math, still 350K & a whole lotta places I’d never seen.  One final river bridge-crossing into St. Louis, then fell off the wagon fast.  Large blizzard w/ Reese’s at the local Sonic near Sis.

Life’s meant to be lived & what’s life without ice cream.

Vienna IL

Q #29 – Do you have an elevation chart?

 

A – Absolutely! As you will see below, there are no elevation changes: 1012 feet above sea level the entire race!

 

Start–1-2–3–4–5–6–7–8–9–10–11–12–13–14 –15–16–17–18-19–20–21–22–23–24–25–26–Finish

*1012 feet —–.–.–.-.–.–.–.–.–.-.—.—.—.—.—-.—.—.—-.—.—.—.—.—.—-.—.—.—-.–.—– 1012 feet*

Marathoning in January – in Minnesota – my first INDOOR marathon.

Easy inexpensive flight to Minneapolis; 45 minutes south to St. Olaf’s College in Northfield.  Zoom! Yah! Yah!  Folks: this one’s been on my calendar for almost a year.  Limited to 58 participants.  Race site promises a constant 62 degrees & completely flat.  Hard to beat those kinda stats in January.  LOL>

4am alarm.  Shower, hotel check-out.  Tostrud Center in-the-dark scavenger hunt (why are all college campus maps so confusing).  Bib pick-up, registration… meet-n-greet?  Yep.  EVERY runner’s assigned a lap counter.  Come on, I can certainly count my own laps – you do it in tens; not crazy difficult [‘til lap 93 & marathon-brain sets in].  Zoë from Lakewood CO, my counter.  Like a younger version of Ash 😊

Pre-race announcements.  Quick check that everyone has a travel buddy.  Zoom! Yah! Yah! away we go.

Short indoor lap – hard to break the pack mentality.  Went out way too fast… like I always do.

One.  Five.  Ten laps.  Sub-9 minute mile.  7:20/mile.  Sprint, sprint.  Stayed close to a runner, who’d ultimately finish second female.  Crazy fast for this back-of-the-pack runner.  LOL>

Bell.  Every 30 minutes.  Finish the lap you’re running, then change direction.  Aside from breaking up the monotony, suppose to help with balance.  Lap, lap, lap.  I arrived thinking how would I mentally manage 100 loops… only to find I had glossed that section.  One hundred FIFTY laps today.  Yikes!

2:05 Half.  15 miles, walking.  So are the 2 college elites.  One would drop, the other finish 5^th.

Bell.  Switch directions.  Zoë!  What lap?  93.  I ask again.  Lap 105.  Lap 110.  Nerves settle.  Panic subsides.  Consistent walk/jog pace.  It’s a lotta laps – and I went out crazy fast.  40 to go.  Upbeat again.  Runners cheering other runners.  Bell ring.  Switch direction.

BIG CHEERS echo Tostrud Field House as marathoners start finishing.  AWESOME to hear our lap counters chant folks’ names.

4 hours & 100+ laps together, you build a kinship/familiarity.  Gal with pigtails, ripped Ironman, Minnesota Gopher tee.  Lady in pink, Reggae-hair white guy.  And then, FINALLY… it’s your turn.  LOVE LOVED the college atmosphere.  HIGHLY recommended!

[Mark your calendar though, sells out quick 😊]

Zoom Yah Yah Results

1/5/2020

 

Keenan Haga  4:50:51  Louisville, CO

Zoom! Yah! Yah! Indoor Marathon