11:25pm – boarded my last red-eye flight ‘til August, when I travel to Kathmandu 🙂 Landed in Boston at 4:45am EDT, hour half later caught my connection to Washington-Dulles. Rental car pick-up, 30 minutes to Leesburg to see my Aunt Joyce – before the 2-hour trek south to Charlottesville, this weekend’s marathon destination.
IHOP breakfast, hot chocolate at Starbucks – think I talked out my dear Aunt. LOVE, LOVE time with family. 50 State Quest has been great for seeing family & friends in 2015 🙂
Late start to Charlottesville, compounded by heavy Good Friday traffic – lotta folks travelling home for Easter. Starting to feel sleep-deprived, channel surfed ‘til I locked on a local bluegrass station. Nothing spells Appalachia like bluegrass – FAAANNNTASTIC!
Bib pick-up in historic Court Square, 15 minutes further to today’s pre-race destination: Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello.
Thomas Jefferson has long been my favourite American President, expanding our shores from the Mississippi to the Pacific Ocean. Having always been enthralled with the American West, Jefferson best supports my present day life – commissioning the historic Lewis & Clark expedition, exploring modern day Colorado. Jefferson was a mega-mind, a thinker, an inventor, an agriculturist.
Entering iconic Monticello, one is immediately impressed with the dome architecture – first of its kind in Colonial America. Jefferson’s Grand Hall greeted visitors with exotic North American treasures – Native American art, buffalo hides, elk/bighorn/antelope/moose antlers, mastodon bones PLUS maps of all known continents (surveyed portions of Africa & the Americas).
Absolutely incredible all this existed in early America – before roads, before D.C. was built/created as our nation’s capitol. WOW!
Took the tour – Jefferson’s Book Room, his gardens, Parlor, Dining Room, bedchamber, wine cellar & Monticello Graveyard. What an amazing journey! Grounds closed at 7:30pm – yikes, time to go.
Quick shut eye, tomorrow will come soon enough. Marathon Day.
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- Look who I found in Virginia? My beautiful Aunt Joyce – LOVE time with family!
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- Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Charlottesville VA
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- horticulturist: Jefferson grew 330 varieties of some 99 species of vegetables & herbs
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- wine cellar & French-style kitchen under Monticello (where pics were allowed)
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- everyone remarks of Monticello’s flowers; my best shot in early Spring on a rainy, overcast day
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- penned USA Declaration of Independence & expanded our borders West
bluegrass road-trippin’
Luckily after a late nite of TV (NCAA March Madness stops for no one), enjoyed my latest marathon start to date – 9am. Scored off-street parking near the Start, then waited inside Cape May’s historic Congress Hall with a thousand new friends.
Lotta sunshine, check. Lotta wind, check. Cold day (27°F), check. All the makings for a new PR 🙂
Hats off for the National Anthem; then ran seaside down Cape May’s boardwalk, UP the short bridge past the US Coast Guard Training Center, another mile to Wildwood. Lotta runner traffic ‘til the 10-miler split off, followed by 2 more miles of boardwalk.
Posted a 1:48 Half – good pace. Maybe, possibly, sub-4 today?
Happy time: Saw my friend Stephen in Stone Harbor near mile 17. Super motivating. Many thanks!
Unfortunate: Miles 23-25 were a slog – lotta headwind & no spectators as we ran thru ‘new construction’ neighborhoods…wood-framed in-process homes, hammers, drills & work crews. Odd setting; lost focus.
Last mile, GORGEOUS – ran oceanside on Sea Isle City’s boardwalk. Seemed I could see the Finish for miles.
2nd sub-4 finish of 2015. Boo-yah! 3:55:10 – 11 seconds faster than my previous PR in Indianapolis last November. Great way to kick off my ‘7 week, 7 marathon, 7 state’ challenge. FAAANNNTASTIC!
Next weekend’s adventure? Charlottesville, Virginia – home of Thomas Jefferson.
Ocean Drive Marathon
Haga, K R 3:55:10 Louisville, CO, USA
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- Congress Hall, Cape May NJ (pre-race mylar wrap)
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- 2nd sub-4 finish of 2015 — FAAANNNTASTIC!
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- cold & windy: my kinda marathon, 23rd state finish & a new PR — I heart Jersey 🙂
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- dehydrated & cold — post-marathon relief in the medic tent
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- every young girl’s dream, being crowned “Polar Bear Queen”
12:50am flight departure to Philly – another crazy early start to save a buck. Snagged 3 hours of sleep, picked up my rental, then hung for an hour waiting on my friend Stephen to arrive from New Hampshire.
Spring is the season of weather extremes. Upper 70’s in Denver, 33 degrees this morning in Philadelphia. Forecast for tomorrow’s Ocean Drive Marathon – wind, temps hovering just below freezing (27-32°) & sunshine. Yep, all the elements for a new PR – LOL>
Philly Airport to Atlantic City Expressway to NJ’s Garden State Parkway – 2 ½ hours later, scenic Cape May, New Jersey. GORGEOUS…so THIS is why folks crowd the Jersey Shore. Bib pick-up in Wildwood, hotel check-in, then google-searched for lunch. Most businesses are seasonal on the Shore, many not opening ’til mid-April or May.
Cold temps & snow squalls meant no long walks along the ocean – but didn’t deter today’s pre-race destination: Cape May Lighthouse.
Cape May, Portland & Cape Hatteras (NC) are represented on most every ‘lighthouse’ calendar. So for me – being a HUGE fan [of lighthouses] – today’s experience was a “must see”. AND for a few bucks, Cape May allows you to actually climb its lighthouse. Crazy cold & windy at top – but well worth the trek UP its spiraling flight of stairs.
White caps, sand, sea gulls – and frigid cold temps – practically, paradise. Nothing slowing this runner tomorrow 🙂
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- bib pick-up & course details – all ocean all day, gonna be SPECTACULAR!
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- 199 steps UP the tower’s cast iron staircase
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- the Atlantic Ocean
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- crazy cold & windy at top – but well worth the trek UP its spiraling flight of stairs
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- today’s WOW shot – beautiful Cape May Lighthouse
