Buffalo, New York...Just for fun!!

May 27th 2018

Mile 19ish...painful reminder to live life!!

As I sit here ruminating over my many aching body parts and look at the upcoming calendar, I am feeling overwhelmed. It looks like I bit off  more than my aged body can withstand.  I have four more marathon jaunts to complete before I can fully heal...After repeatedly ignoring the "niggles" of tender tendons, achy joints, slight tears in muscle fibers and a very sore hip, my body's pain signals get louder and louder commanding attention. "I hear you now...body!" After the last marathon in Colorado, the body revolts demanding rest and better care and I have no choice but to listen.  All running miles cease...there is even time for a Taylor Swift concert with my daughter. (What a spectacular performance at  the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.) 

After three solid weeks without a run, I tip-toe to the start line of the Buffalo Marathon with trepidation!  We pick Buffalo as my husband's New York state and it becomes a

long training run for me in preparation for Kentucky ~state 43~ (The Hatfield and McCoy!)   Three weeks is a long time to go without any running. Two short run-walks are my only preparation for the Buffalo Marathon and I pay for it with a painful trek through the city streets! The week before the race my body lets me know that slow and steady is the only way to go! It's fun to run without any pressure or expectation of a time goal~just to finish! My husband even suggests I spectate instead to allow for more time to heal up...but I can't take the red-eye all the way to New York just to sit it out!!

We both get the job done with our differing struggles...mine excess weight gain from lack of exercise~and who am I kidding too much eating~the heat and humidity for my husband!  Boy, is it hot out there. It looks like some runners just climbed out of a swimming pool with drenched shorts. There is lots of suffering to go around on the course... 

Mile 9 to Mile 12 along the waterfront!

Heat is not a factor for me...my battle is carrying my extra poundage.  One lady in the later miles even said to me, "Look at you...not even sweating!" My husband, on the other hand, spends the entire course dumping water on his head, putting ice in his hat and running through every sprinkler.  The course support and all the amazing spectators help runners combat the heat with water hoses and encouragement.                             There are even vans on the course with 

the AC blasting. Runners can hop on sit down and cool off. The Buffalo Marathon is a first rate experience. As painful as the run is for me...I enjoy it. Red, White and Blue color themes are  everywhere for the patriotically focused race occurring annually on Memorial Day Weekend. It is a nice course with lots of spectators, plenty of aid and cheers! After enjoying a post race celebration inside the convention  center with endless beer and pizza we can't leave Buffalo without a stop at Niagara Falls. It is wondrous gorgeous sight to see...

We almost give up after spending an hour in search of a place to park. How can it be so crowded on such a beautiful warm day~You would think it's a holiday weekend or something! 

The boats are jam packed with a sea of people in red, yellow and blue slickers. Our short time in Buffalo, New York is rewarded with beautiful sights...and one of the easiest and fastest drives home from the airport on Memorial Day! Go figure...no traffic in Los Angeles at the end of a holiday WHAT!! Maybe they are still at Niagara Falls!!

Oh and TSA searched our backpack again... medals seem to get flagged as weapons!

State #5 Redo...2.0 Fort Collins, Colorado

May 6th 2018

Let's try this one...more...time!!!
As the end is drawing near...to finishing our run through the fifty states, there are a few states that give me pause.  Sometimes my lackluster running results  leave me with a feeling of unfinished business.  Just as a college student may repeat a class to raise a GPA, I feel the need to repeat a couple of states where my efforts and performance did not go well. Who says you can't go back and make something better. While many things in life are irrefutable, my finishing time in Colorado does not have to be...it is possible to try again and get a do-over.  The state of Colorado gets the good "old college try" again. Let's see if I can knock an hour or more off of my previous Colorado time.

A speedy drive to the airport Saturday morning has us in Denver by the afternoon. After a burdensome drive~lots of traffic~we make it to packet pick-up at the Fort Collins Hilton Hotel with plenty of spare time. We print the boarding passes, for our return trip in less than twenty-four hours, back to LAX as we walk back out of the hotel on the way to dinner.  

After a very healthy dinner~it for sure will not add any extra pounds to my middle section and thunder thighs~we soak in the hot tub.  After six full marathons, so far this year, my body is not too happy about the idea of running down a mountain...or running period.

"Pain is the bodies way of saying...something needs to change!" (quote from a running podcast) The throbbing pain radiating down my right side from hip to toe, let's me know something different needs to happen. I definitely need to strengthen my hips and gluts.  I have heard many times when you have a pain~go up~to find the source. At one o'clock in the morning, I find the pressure point near the hip flexor that is tender to touch and radiates pain down through the It-band and out through my foot.  Why oh why do I think repeating Colorado is such a good idea?

After an hour of applying pressure and massaging the tender spots, I sleep for another hour or so before the alarm goes off at 3:50 am.  The Colorado Marathon has a strict bus boarding policy.  Be on it between 4:15 to 5:00 am or get left behind.

We hurry to get to the bus and then regret that we get on one of the earlier buses. It means we will be waiting around in the cold for a long time before the marathon starts.  Luckily, the snow they had four days earlier is all gone and it is much warmer than expected.  In fact, after I have some hot chocolate and walk over to watch the river, the cold doesn't even bother me anymore.  I am too busy fretting about my leg. My hip joint is sore from all the work I did on it to release the tension and tightness to get my leg ready to run. Nothing left to do now...can't worry anymore, it's time to run. There is only one way back to town...26.2 miles straight down the mountain!

Look at the determination on those faces...

The good thing about the early bus is the short line for the potties. They even have volunteers guiding runners and directing to open stalls.  The time, which I thought would pass ever so slowly, passes quickly.  After dropping our bags at the UPS truck, I decide another pit stop may be necessary.  The line is staggeringly long now with all the runners here and off the buses, but ten minutes before race time it clears as runners make their way to the start. I am able to go again and get to the start line in plenty of time.  My husband takes a shortcut down a ravine and up a hill, my hip balks at that kind of pressure and I decide to take the long way around.  I figure he is off to his pace group, but he is at the front waiting for me. 

The river peacefully follows us all the way down the mountain...

We actually start a race together~miracle!  My plan is to start slow allowing my legs an opportunity to warm up and ease into the run. I follow my husband as the race begins and our watches beep together 9:06 only 25 more to go. Wow, labored heavy breathing in the first mile is not a good sign of things to come...

Free Pictures...but there aren't any of me, trust me, I smiled just like her

As the hip loosens up, I shed my jacket and tie it around my waist for the remaining miles.  The river is my companion as it peacefully meanders down, it keeps me entertained. Doubt and uncertainty run through my mind, but strength is also present in the knowledge I

hubby finds another pic...

have done it before...I can do it again! I am amazed at how strong our bodies are even when not in the best of shape. The four hour pacer haunts me during the run. After my first potty stop, the pacer and his runners rush by as I jump in for a short time. A motorcycle cop keeps yelling at the group to move over and stay inside the cones. It is a narrow stretch for runners. I push ahead to have more room and do not get passed again by the group until my second bathroom break just before the half-way point.  It takes me four miles to catch up to the pacer only to be left in the dust by them on the huge hill at mile 19.  Without gravity to assist, my pace slows during the last six miles of flat running. Definitely the year has plagued me with various ailments and injuries, but the  predominate theme is no matter what... 

The key...he tunes me out!

~the mind~is determined and somehow always pulls me through.  I can rely on my body~despite its weariness~to persevere even when I do not treat it as kindly as it deserves to be treated. My poor husband is truly the strongest creature of them all!! He "must listen" to me talk incessantly about all my ailments...and complaints of ailments...and he  must  pretend to care as my endless declarations never stop..."I really mean it...it is really bad, I don't think I can make it..."  Only to watch me pick up the pace and disappear out of sight.  The doubt and pain is truly there...but the will and the power of running envelops me taking away all my troubles each and every time! I don't know what it is or how it happens, but there is something magical about a marathon~that frees me from my darkest places. It must be why I keep chasing the crazy dream and passion, even when rational thought and logic says...Stop...Enough!! 

On our way to each destination and during the grueling treks home, I question my rationale and ask why we keep going...but as I run and as the miles accumulate under my feet, I feel the answer and understand... 

Found one photo at the finish. While I couldn't break the four hour mark, I push hard to pass number 304 with a little gas in the tank.  (When you cover your number with your jacket don't expect to get any free photos.)  I end up with a 4:03 and cut one hour and thirty-two minutes off my previous Colorado time. To be under four hours would have been the icing on my cake, but I will settle for just the cake~stole that line from someone's Facebook post~who was talking about life being the cake and exercise the frosting. My twist is that running a marathon is the cake and a good finish time is the frosting.

Not impressed...How long is this repeating states thing going to last!

Even the cat knows I'm off my rocker, and mainly she is not happy when she has to sleep outside when we are gone!