Olympic Marathon Trials and the Houston Half Marathon and Marathon

    Well the Guard team provided us with another awesome opportunity yet again!  We were lucky enough to travel down to Houston, Texas and watch the Olympic Marathon Trials and then we ran our race the next day.  They were kind enough to put us in a hotel right next to the Houston Galleria (squeal). That mall is pretty much everything I could ask for.Anyway...on to our journey.
    We started our journey on Thursday night and of course there was a snowstorm in Chicago where our connecting flight was. Luckily we only had a short delay and made it to our hotel around 1am Friday morning.
 I was super excited to see that our hotel had a pair of swans living in it! Kind of odd but it was super cute to see them everyday.

On Friday, the coordinator of the Guard team asked Dan to accompany him to a meeting with a bunch of race officials to help brief the team of  their duties.  They got to escort the elite athletes and help form a finish cute to separate the female and male runners...what a cool experience! We went to the expo and for an awesome oyster happy hour date at Danton's. The had raw oysters for 75 cents and they were huge!!!! Afterward we headed to the hotel happy hour and chatted it up with the other members of the team. We all hit the hay early because they had to report down to the race early in the morning. I amused myself until the start of the race by waiting in a super long Starbucks line.  Then it was time for the fun! Please pardon the awful pictures.  There was so many people it was hard to not have faces or heads in my shots.

Here are the guys starting to line up. Michael Wardian (in white hat) World Champ Silver Medalist 100k

 Michael ran the trials on Saturday and ran the regular Marathon on Sunday with two amazing times!

all lined up!

and they are off!

they came around again after a 2.2 mile loop

<3

here come the ladies!

our friend and fellow Guard Team member Emily qualified for the trials at the Marine Corp Marathon

 She is awesome and we were happy to be able to cheer her on!! The race started with the men, then the women started 15 minutes later. There was a 2.2 mile lap then three 8 mile laps so you got to see the runner many times which was great. It was really exhilarating to be there. Ok I'm sure you all do not want to see a million blurry pictures from the runners other laps sooo here is the end lol.  I missed Meb but I did catch Dan's bf Ryan Hall coming in second place!

Ryan Hall

shortly after that Emily came through and had 1 more lap to go

After that I changed my position because I knew Dan would be standing somewhere along the finish route.   I found him and was super excited (like he was winning the race or something lol)

he actually looked thrilled most of the time

here you can kinda see what their purpose was

he cheered for every runner that came passed!

I actually came across a picture of Dan on another blog I read. We had to be standing 20 feet away from each other. you can catch his better side over at Marathon Sweetheart haha

Kara Goucher coming in for third place

Team Picture

all done :)- Dan sacrificed part of his nip for a PR!

Myself and Dan with Josh Cox- American Record Holder 50k

the medals were very cool- I especially liked Dan's

 All in all we had a great time down in Houston.  Dan came out of the race with a @:52:50- a new PR for him.  He hopes to get into the 2:40s when we return to the Lincoln Marathon in May (where he must qualify yearly for the Guard Team). As for my race...it was weird. It just kind of happened. I didn't feel good, I didn't feel bad, I just was there..on the upside I was pretty pleased with my race outfit ha! That night we went out and seriously gorged ourselves at Truluck's. Everything was so delicious but I guess Dan's stomach couldn't handle all that rich food after the marathon because around 10pm he started puking until about 5am, so that was a blast.  This meant I had to listen to him puke all night since we were in a hotel room.  Luckily he felt better enough to catch our flight the next day (and run 4 miles- weirdo!)

A week later its back to reality and snow boooo. We do not have any exciting races coming up though I will be running a 15 mile race in a few weeks with Dan and Emily (different Emily than above). This will be the farthest Emily and I have ever ran so that is kind of a milestone! I have also convinced Emily to do Marine Corps Marathon with me in the fall. This will be our first full marathon!!!  Lets hope we get in! Anyone doing any races in the near future or want to do Marine Corps?


I am on a break from Grad School right now and I have been cooking and baking up a storm so I will actually have posts for you all to enjoy more frequently :)   I made this for dinner tonight and it was pretty amazeballs.  Hope everyone had a good weekend!

The Hawaiian Recap Part 1

There really are not words to describe our wonderful experience!  Even the flight wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  We stayed at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and it was the best hotel/ resort we have ever been to.  Ok lets start this long overdue recap!
Day One: We arrived and the airport caught me off guard.  It was mostly open air except for the gates!  You did not get lei'd at the airport unless you bought one but I was pumped because we got lei'd at the hotel.  I just love flowers so thats why I was so excited I guess ha. I look like balls from being on a plane for 7 hours ha but I think you can sense my excitement.

We then had a delish meal at the hotel and I was so lame I passed out about 6pm.

Day Two: I woke up about  super early the next day. We went grocery shopping and waited for Dan (and the rest of the runners) to go to a meeting the the Team's director.  We decided that since it was kinda rainy we would go do a bunch of non beach stuff with another couple.   First we drove almost across the island to get to the island's only winery.  They make mead which is honey wine and they says its the world's oldest drink! It was pretty good and we brought two bottles home.

Nani Moon Meadery

They were bottling that day and had quite a system!

After that we stopped at a local shopping plaza trying to find some souvenirs and lunch and we accomplished both tasks.  We then headed to a rum tasting which was also on a bed and breakfast type place with some shops and things. The rum wasn't anything spectacular but it was fun to do!

 Then we stopped at the Kauai Coffee Company and they had many free samples and a walking tour of some of the plants they used so that was cool!

coffee beans!

That night we had a dinner at our hotel provided by the Kauai Marathon Committee and it was amazing and delish but someoneeee may have had too much wine and forgot to take pictures..whoopsie!

Day Three:
We woke up early and drove to the canyon in the middle of the island with the PA team.  It was a seriously winding road...pretty much everyone felt car sick but by the views were worth it!

the first stop on the winding road

the lovely PA team

the second stop was on the ocean side :)

After we got back from this jaunt we decided to check out the beach and much to my delight a seal had beached itself!!!!

it was soooo cute

since it was so cute i was calling it "the puppy of the sea"

After some beach time we went to a luau at the Sheraton which was the race's host hotel.  Bart Yasso and Dean Karnazas were there to pump us up and we had a front row seat.  I also got picked to do some hula which as I was in front of tons of people dancing poorly I realized it would have been way better if I had a drink or two lol.

Bart Yasso!

Dean!

our lovely entertainment for the evening

the fire dancer was our favorite part!

one thing kenyans are not good at- hula

Stay tuned for Part Two which includes our race recap and an 8 hour adventure!

Montana, Missoula Marathon, and Our Next Race

    So our first stop in Montana was one of my best friend's Pap's house. He lives about an hour out of Missoula at Seely Lake. We pulled up and deer were sitting in his yard, not phased that we pulled up.  They were however frightened by his 15 pound dog ha.

He has a stream running through his back yard and I have to say it has to be wonderful to wake up to that in the morning.  We ate lunch and chit chatted with him before we went on our way to Missoula.  We had a few hours to spare before we met up with the team so we stopped at a winery..duh!

 Afterward we met up with the team for a few drinks and then we went back to our hotel room and settled in for the night.  The next day we got up and decided we would go for a drive to a ghost town.  Now it seemed pretty close but what we didn't know is that when we got to the turn off we had an 11 mile drive up a steep, narrow, dirt road.   These guys got in the way for a bit too. And yes I totally had to pee which was awesome ha.  

We finally got to the ghost town (sidenote: I am not a fan of going to the bathroom where you can feel a breeze) and took a short hike down to the town.

It was a mining town that was semi destroyed by fire.  Overall it was effing creepy! All the old newspaper or wallpaper peeling off the walls, random old shoes and stuff. I just got bad vibes or something it just really freaked me out.  So we left there and Dan went to work at the marathon expo booth. I was left to fend for myself shopping the mean streets of Missoula.  I found some discontinued Fiestaware pieces that made me squeal, got some huckleberry froyo, and some yarn for my gay husbands. I got my bffs some presents from Jim Beam earlier in the trip because thats just the kinda girls we are ha.  The next day was race day!

   This was totally one of my favorite courses (do I say that about every race? I dont know lol) the scenery for the first 3 miles of the half was amazing, the weather was near perfect, and the course was relatively flat. People that ran the marathon said the scenery was amazing until mile 16. They had TONS of water stations and it was very well organized.  The only thing some people may not like is that it is a point to point race rather than out and back.  We did have to take a shuttle to the starting line but it was was very well organized and we did not have to wait.  The only thing I didn't like about the race was that I couldnt seem to find regular water after the race..they just had vitamin water.  It was an OK race for Dan and I.  I had an awful heartburn flare up around mile 8 so I pretty much couldn't breathe but I felt like my legs had so much more to give! They were barely sore the next day so I was pretty upset with myself.  Dan said his legs did not feel like moving that day but he was pumped on the inside.  Womp Womp..not every race is perfect! The medal is one of our nicest medals to date!

National Guard Team members- they are hard to miss!

The Guard Team did pretty well.  Dan came in 36th with a 1:24:34 and the girl from PA won the women's half marathon with a 1:21:27 and she set a new course record! Emily was nice enough to share her victory bottle of wine she won with us :)  A few of the other guys on the team got age group awards too! The Missoula race was SO supportive of The Team and gave some great shout outs.

   After the race I figured I was already sweaty and there was this big white"M" beckoning me on the side of the mountain for the last few days so Dan, Emily and I decided to climb it. Very slowly.  I'm glad they didn't make fun of me for having to make stops.  I am nowhere near as athletic as them ha.

us and part of someone's finger sitting on the M

a view of part of the city

Go Griz!

 Anyway, I hope we are able to come back to Montana next year and hopefully we both will be able to redeem ourselves.  It really is a perfect course for a PR.

I am excited but nervous for our next race.  After my heartburn flare up I am worried it will happen again and I have been told that our next race's weather will be far from perfect.  But I am pretty sure none of that will matter because we will be in HAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!  Thats right!  The Team got enough funding this year that pretty much everyone on the team is going to be able to do the Kauai Marathon.  I will be doing the half, of course, and Dan will be doing the full.  They say the course is hilly and it is normally pretty hot so to add 15 minutes to a half an hour on your regular time.  I am totally not running for a PR here, just running to enjoy the sights!  So Labor day weekend, watch out for us Kauai!!!