Distance Dreamers

Bonus Blog

Do you run with other people - who, where, when and why (or why not)?

Yes. I would say that 90% of my runs are done with someone else. My sister and I own a house together and we both run, so we do it together. During the week we run together at the gym, and on the weekends we do our long runs together. Usually the only day we DON'T run together is Friday. She runs at lunch, and I leave early and get a run in on my way home. We race together... but since she is much faster, I usually end up running alone :D

I have been running a few years longer than she has, but I think having her company has helped to motivate me to do MORE. I don't necessarily need the motivation to get out and exercise (be it running or something else), it's been a part of my daily routine for over six years now. But having a "schedule" has helped take my running to the next level.

Monday. Already.

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down...
Treadmill - Hill Program (Monday, August 16)

Blah. Already? Seriously? Shortest weekend ever, followed by the longest day ever at work. Still sore from the race on Saturday, mostly my right calf. I've been wearing sleeves pretty much non-stop and a bit of Icy Hot seems to have helped.

Either way, wasn't really looking forward to the hill program. The hills on the last race totally kicked my ass, even WITH the hill program I've been doing once a week. So. Suck less, work hills more. My usual program caps out at 3.0... So I did this random one instead:

Are you freaking kidding me??? All the easy stuff in the first 40-45 minutes, and then hello plateau of 5.0 for over 10 minutes right at the end when I already want to die. Awesome. Bathroom break around 20 minutes. The beginning part of the program? Actually not that bad. I spent the whole first part dreading the end. I somehow managed to keep pace and struggled through the plateau. Must mean I'm awesome :D

Had some time before I needed to pick up A, so I did another 15 minutes. And it seemed EASY after the hill program:

Other random items:
1. I actually won a giveaway!!! Thank you so much Stephanie!!
2. I love love LOVE my Zensah leg sleeves. I think I must have them in every color. (Although I still would love for someone to come out with some compression socks in rainbow or argyle or something...)
3. Still looking for donations for Greece! If you have a spare buck, please donate, certainly is appreciated. http://www.active.com/donate/athensmarathon/RWALKER539
4. I have never really done "speed work" so I'm researching a program suggested by crazy sister and think I'll try it out on Wednesday instead of my regular "long run" on the treadmill.

Half Marathon #5 - Georgetown to Idaho Springs - Idaho Springs, CO (Saturday, August 14)

It's all downhill from here...

Originally when we started the plan of 50 half marathons in 50 states, we were going to leave Colorado for last. Then W (crazy sister who is doing Ironman Wisconsin in September) added the Georgetown to Idaho Springs half marathon to her training schedule, so we decided to join her.

We live less than an hour from where the race was taking place, but it's one of those races that you get shuttled to the start line. So, even though the race did not start until 8:00, we had to get up at the un-godly hour of 4:32 am (I don't like my alarm to go off in 5 minute increments, don't ask why) to have enough time to get ready and out the door by 5:00. Which, by the way, we managed to do... out one minute early! Amazing how fast I can move (even at that hour) when I don't have a small child to get ready. I was pretty tired, I have not been sleeping well. I really don't get "nervous" before a race, but even when I try to go to bed early, I just find myself tossing and turning. I probably got 2 hours of quality sleep. At best.

The plan was to meet W and her friend Liz in Golden and then carpool the 20 or so miles to the start line. It's still pretty dark at 5:20 am.

Liz had to park in a different lot, the one we were supposed to meet up in was full, but we met up with no problems - still running on our schedule. The shuttle busses to the start line were to be running from 5:30 to 6:30 and we still had plenty of time. We got to Idaho Springs and we were able to get a pretty close spot to the shuttle busses. Still dark.

The shuttle busses were right around the corner and there were some port-o-potties with not much of a line so we decided to stop and use those before getting on the bus. I was glad to have brought my sweatshirt, even though it was supposedly low 60s, it was pretty chilly (what a change from last week!) The bus took about 15 minutes to get to the start line, and when we got dropped it was about 6:45 - more than an hour to start.

Lake Georgetown

There was a tent with free coffee so I got a cup and then we huddled in a small building to try and stay warm. About 7:00 we decided to get back in line for the bathroom. Took about 20 minutes to cycle through so we decided we might as well jump right back in line (I'm glad I don't have to explain this process further to other runners, haha). The line was already much longer and we were thinking we might not have enough time to get through again before the race was going to start so we did our pre-race pictures while waiting.

Me and L

It's hard to get a good self-portrait through the iPhone without cutting someone out so we got the guy behind us to get the full team Bee Rad (with excellent backdrop of the port-o-potties)

W, L, Me

We barely made it through the line before start time. I managed to lose both my sisters but headed up to what I thought was the middle of the pack. There were no pacers and no corrals, so everyone was just lining up willy nilly without any regard to pace or finishing time. I somehow managed to run into W in the pack (which is pretty irrelevent since I knew she would be off within a few seconds) but never did see L again before the race started.

The course was a loop through the town of Georgetown with the 2 mile marker being roughly at the start line before starting the descent to Idaho Springs. What a ridiculous first mile or so. I say "or so" because none of the odd numbered miles were marked - by the time I looked down at my watch it was already almost a tenth of a mile over. Anyway, since there was no organization to the start, I spent much of the first mile weaving in and out of super slow joggers or walkers - a lot of the time 2 or 3 people across. That just drives me NUTS!! If you know you are walking - get to the back of the pack! You have NO business being so close to the front! Anyway, it was as pretty chilly first couple of miles, but I knew that would mean it would be pretty close to ideal running conditions once we got out of the shade of the canyon. Water/Powerade stations were at every even numbered mile, so I stopped at mile 2, got a quick drink and within another half mile we were out of the canyon and into the real course.

Mile 2.5

Sun coming up - mile 2.5

There wasn't much shade on the course and not a cloud in the sky. I could tell that it was going to be warmer than I anticipated. The course is supposedly all downhill, so I was trying to pace myself even though it felt like I could literally fall down the mountain.

Mile 4

A woman offered to take my picture - I should have let her. I was keeping pretty good pace and for a fleeting mile or two thought I might actually have a shot of coming close to a PR. I finished the first 10K in under an hour... and it was all downhill from there. The course did not FEEL how I imagined it should. The downhill was REALLY downhill, on the "flat" parts of the course, the road was slanted and there were some pretty brutal uphills. I took my gel right before mile 6 and when I realized how dejected I was that the water station was placed a quarter of a mile further because I was THAT thirsty, I knew that a PR was out of reach. But, I still had a goal in mind of beating last week's time (duh, that shouldn't even be an issue) or beating my second best time - Deadwood. Miles 7 and 8 took us off the nice, paved street and onto some trail. THAT was tough. It was downhill and I spent most of the time looking at my feet to make sure that I wasn't going to twist my ankle by stepping on a loose rock or in a hole/crack. My pace FELT slow, and looking down... it was.

Mile 10.5

By about mile 10, my legs were SHOT. My quads were burning from the downhill and the uphills were sudden and steep and the switch in muscles I was using was tough. I was regretting the long(ish) run I had done the day before and my legs were just tired. Don't get me wrong, it was a thousand times better than last week - I never once considered dying on the side of the road :D

 

The aid station at mile 12 was actually a quarter mile early, and I needed it. Bad. I took a powerade AND water and then headed into the home stretch of the race. Based on my time, I still had a shot of getting my second best time, if I could just keep moving. I knew the final half mile or so of the race was through "downtown" Idaho Springs, so I had mixed emotions about the ridiculous hill going into town. Even though it so near the end, I walked up it, and then moved as fast as I could - still managing to sprint the last .1 to the finish. No official times have been posted but according to the Garmin, I finished in 2:11:08 - which makes my second best time, beating Deadwood by less than a minute.

It was a decently long walk to the finish line extravaganza, but L found me almost immediately and we found my dad and my daughter - who had driven up to watch us finish. We got this nice post-race picture:

L, A, Me, W

Nice re-useable bag with some freebies in it:

And a HIDEOUS race shirt:

Picking up my drop bag was a total nightmare. I had to climb up some stadium seating and got a major charlie horse in my right calf. Knocked me (literally) on my ass. My muscles were super tight from the race and I sure felt it. The bag drop was totally disorganized. They had provided white plastic bags and they were just in a huge pile with no rhyme or reason to the bib numbers. Took me a good ten minutes to find my bag, considering most of the 3500 runners had left one. Blah.

With five half marathons complete, I'm now 10% done with my goal. The next two weekends are "fun" races, my next half will be in three weeks in Kaua'i!

Of note:

1. The wristband under my watch seems to have done the trick. I did not have any trouble with it at all. We will see if it still works in Kaua'i with all the humidty.

2. L actually beat W across the line, but without official results, we have no idea by how much, OR if she met her goal of finishing in under 2 hours.

3. I'm never doing this race again :D

It's a Sunshine Day

Outdoor Run - West Big Dry Creek Trail - Friday... the 13th (of August)

So... today was the day that I planned on trying wearing compression socks for the first time. All the other cool kids are doing it. Plus, I have another half marathon to run in the morning and I wanted my legs to be rested. My outfit? As a lady in my building said "Don't you look summery?"

Even though it was only 81 went I went to lunch, it was much hotter by the time I headed out:

It. Was. Hot. Blazing hot.

My initial goal was to take it slow and easy. So imagine my surprise when I looked down after about 10 minutes and I was going sub 10 minute mile pace. Huh. Weird. I was testing out my new "race belt" today and I had forgotten my water bottle (!!!) so I was carrying a wide mouth vitamin water bottle. Only about 1/3 full. I stupidly thought that would be enough water. It wasn't. I was so freaking hot!! The good news is that the belt was awesome. I had to keep checking to be sure my phone was still in the pouch because I didn't feel the weight of it at all.

I did pretty good on the way out, finishing the 5K+ in just over a half hour. But the way back was rough. I was hot, out of water, and trying to NOT over-exert myself while still trying to get back to the car in a reasonable time to pick up A. The curious/gross part of the run was the sighting of new animals... mice. I saw two, about a mile apart. Both dead. Hope that doesn't mean we are due for a new outbreak of plague or something. ::shudder::

Ewww.

I also tested out the wrist band under the Garmin and it seemed to work fine. No problems with the watch at all. Though usually it seems to wait until race days to give me trouble anyway. 6.5 miles done.

Running Skirts are HOT!!!

Treadmill - Wednesday, August 11

Bonus picture for my outfit Tuesday. It was an off day for running, I was just at the gym to do a BodyPump class and 20 minutes on the elliptical. Could you believe that I did NOT buy this outfit together? Every piece was actually purchased separately... over the course of probably a year. Could it BE more obnoxious? LOL

With awesome sweaty band:

Anyway, back to my treadmill run. I was wearing my newest running skirt. There had been a problem with my order and I somehow had ordered a different style... the ones that came ran smaller so I had to exchange. Anyway. I was a bit worried because all my running skirts have the little compression shorts in them. These? Just briefs. I felt like a cheerleader in them... but I LOOKED HOT.

I am absolutely in love with this one!!! Looking adorable naturally put me in a good mood, and maybe THAT is all that needs to happen to have a good treadmill run? It really was a pretty good run overall, and I kept a decent pace.

Other random items...

1. I got a shout out!! Check it out here.
2. I cannot say enough good things about my Zensah leg sleeves. I just LOVE them. I wear them every night after I run and I have not felt the soreness/tired feeling in my legs. Maybe it's all in my head, but I think they are fabulous.
3. The Newtons feel GREAT. I love them too. And they are so fun!!
4. I remembered to buy some wrist bands so I will test them out during my race on Saturday to see if that fixes the problem I seem to have with the Bezel and start/stop & lap buttons not working on my Garmin.
5. I picked up one of these so I don't have to keep poking holes in my shirts. My phone IS big enough to fit in the pouch but I'm concerned it will be too heavy. I'll test it out during my easy Friday run. Anyone have this? Do you wear it around your chest or waist?
6. I pick up A from daycare at the gym last night and the lady at the desk says "Why are you losing so much weight?" Um. I'm not. Seriously. I promise. My weight has been within one pound for the last... month at least. But, that must mean I'm toning up or something. I love a complement!! Made my night.
7. Still raising money for Greece... I'm in my last month of fundraising. How did THAT happen? That means the race is getting close... Anyway, the money I am raising is for the AHEPA - and I will be representing them when I run in October. All donations are tax deductible. I'm less than 5% from my goal. Anything at all helps :D Here is my donation link: http://www.active.com/donate/athensmarathon/RWALKER539

Distance Dreamers Wednesday

Bonus Blog!

Thanks to Abbi we have this cool group of people that are all in training for their first marathon. As some of you know, my first marathon was supposed to be in Kaua'i (in less than a month!). But after seeing the elevation chart (d'oh, I should have looked at that FIRST) and signing up for a full in Greece, I changed my "training" and opted to make Greece my first. Greece is coming up... October 31 is right around the corner!

Anyway, the weekly questions posted by Abbi:

What is your best running memory/experience?
If we are simply talking about running in general, wow, that's hard to pinpoint. I definitely remember the first time I ever ran a mile without stopping. I ran it on the treadmill, and as soon as I was done I got off and called my family and friends to brag. Even when I was a gymnast I never had the stamina to run a full mile. It was a big day for me! As far as racing? Well, so many! My first BolderBoulder 10K that I ran with my sister... that's what pretty much set the everything in motion for my running as it is today. I LOVE RACING. Best race in general? Well, so far I'd put that as my Foot Traffic Flat half marathon in Oregon. I had pretty much the fastest racing pace (of any distance) and set a PR. What more can you ask for?

What is your worst running memory/experience?
BolderBoulder 2009 was one for sure! I had my first experience with chafing AND it was the first race I ever ran with both my sisters and I did NOT like that they beat me by so much :D Since then I have come to terms with being slower ;) Also, the race I ran last week, the River City Ramble in Red Wing, MN was pretty miserable too. I have of course had my share of awful treadmill runs, runs where I got hailed on, or forgot water. Races are easier to remember though.

Monday Madness

Treadmill - Monday, August 9

Curse my insane and busy life that does not allow for me to take the day off after running that horrible half marathon. Hill programs wait for no one. I had received my shipment of running skirts in the mail. PSYCHED! Then I realized I order the running skirts (brief) vs. the athletic skirts (shorts) and they don't freaking fit. Too small. Some of the ones I ordered aren't available in the athletic style in my size so I'm totally bummed.

Threw on my orange flowery skirt (no pic today, I forgot) and we headed out to the gym. Hot, crowded, etc.

Back to my Aerobic program #6 - seemed the least heinous option for post-race training:

Actually wasn't totally horrible until I was getting close to the end. But, finished, and with (in my opinion) pretty decent pace (all things considered).

Had some time so did another 15 minute jog. After a hill program jogging with no incline seems like cheating it's so easy.

Random "fitness" related... Remember that a lot of what makes my gym time better is fun, bright things? Here something I picked up years ago that I get to use every day. Cute, awesome AND practical :)

Half Marathon #4 - River City Ramble - Red Wing, MN (Sunday, August 8)

Runnin' Down a Dream and Being Prepared

It had been five weeks since my last half marathon, and in that time I had only logged one double digit training run. It felt like FOREVER since my last race, but I was ready for half marathon #4 - the River City Ramble Half Marathon in Red Wing, MN! We had an early afternoon flight out of Denver, and everything went very smoothly. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the flight was only 83 minutes long. Awesome! I haven't been to MSP since I was a kid, but it was certainly nicer and less crowded than I remember. A week or so ago I had been chatting with a fellow 50-stater (I'll call her Jo-Z) and she had expressed interest in joining us and asked if she could share our rental car. Our only real problem was meeting up with her... we didn't know there was more than one terminal (DUH). Welcome to Minneapolis!

We got the rental car with no problems at all and headed out of the city to Red Wing, MN. The drive out took us over the river on the Wisconsin side. About an hour later we are in the lovely city of Red Wing and found the YMCA with no trouble. The volunteers at packet pick-up were very friendly, and I was pretty impressed with the non-ugly race shirt.

We learned that there were going to be pacers in this race... wow! I have never run with a pacer before, it sounded like a pretty good idea at the time. They even had bracelets with the pace times on them. I boldly grabbed one for the 2:00 and 2:05 finishes, and after a few pictures with the pacer, we headed out. There was a "grocery" store across the street and we tried to go over there to get some food for breakfast but we didn't find anything of use, so we gave up. Jo-Z was not able to get a room at the hotel we were booked at, so we drove her to her hotel (only a few miles away) and she checked in, then we decided to all go out and get some dinner. We were walking around the downtown area... boots everywhere. Red Wing is the location of the manufacturing of Red Wing shoes - there was a museum housing the "World's Biggest Boot" but we didn't have time to go see it.

It was getting late and we were getting hungry so we decided to stop at a restaurant right down the street. Took some patio seating and waited. And waited. GUH!!! 20 minutes (probably not much of an exaggeration) before we saw our server, ordered everything all at once. Including a $6.75 "side salad" for me and my sister to share that we asked to be brought out first. Not even kidding that it took probably 30 minutes to get the salad (which, by the way, was nothing more than some lettuce, shredded carrots, 1/8 of a tomato, a slice of cucumber, and 2 onions... for $6.75?!?!) and almost an HOUR for our pasta. About 45 minutes after ordering Jo-Z asked if our food was almost ready and the server says "I don't know I'll have to ask." Um. You do that... and then Jo-Z says, "It's been 45 minutes, that's a really long time for pasta!" They honestly weren't even that busy, it was almost 8:00! Server says "Do you want the check?" We stare at her blankly. "Well, do you still want it?" Oy. Worst server ever. The food was... ok. I got some penne pasta with italian sausage and roasted red pepper sauce:

And of course my pre-race beer:

After dinner we decided to do a quick drive by the start line to make sure we knew where we were going in the morning. The volunteer at pick-up had said there were about 400 pre-registered for the half, a few hundred for the 5K and seemed to think the hour we wanted to allow was plenty of time. There was a festival going on at the park/marina so we couldn't get too close, but we were confident we knew where we were going so we dropped Jo-Z off at her hotel and then headed to ours on the other side of town.... where we find a Target and Wal-Mart. Score!! We try again at the W to get some breakfast food... but ultimate fail there too. Bah. Maybe since the race was starting so late we would be able to grab something from the hotel before heading out. Checked in at the hotel and... RAD!! Best place I've picked in ages. We each had our own King size beds... so comfortable! Lights out around 10 and I actually had a good night sleep - not even waking up until the alarm went off. Got dressed, and yes, I had decided to wear my new Newtons. I felt fine after the training run I did on Friday, and I figured, what's the worst that could happen? Then I confidently put on the 2:00 pace bracelet, grabbed my Blueberry Luna Protein bar and we headed out to pick up Jo-Z. Psyched that even though the hotel said breakfast wasn't until 7, it was already out so I grabbed a bagel and some peanut butter. Phew!

We got to the start a little over an hour before gun time, and we were able to park literally just a block or two away. Another positive for a small town race! Easy to get to everything! Everyone was super friendly and nice, and seemed flabbergasted at why we had picked THIS race as our Minnesota race. Well... I don't even remember, I booked back in March, but it must have just fit with my schedule. Port-o-potty lines were so short, we were able to cycle through twice before heading to the start line. It was starting to feel REALLY hot already, and checking my phone I knew it was going to get miserable pretty fast...

94% humidity???

Big TeePee right behind the finish line

We decided to line up with the 2:00 pacer:

At the start line... just a few minutes to go!

Wearing my new Sweaty Band!!!!

The gun went off, and off we went... within a few minutes I was already regretting my decision to start out so fast, but since one of the girls we lined up with claimed the course was "flat and fast" I figured I'd hang out with the fast people for a bit and start to pull back when I couldn't handle it anymore. The first water station was less than a mile out, but I didn't stop, it seemed too early. All the runners started to break up and it wasn't nearly as crowded. I was never able to run next to L, there were too many people staying right with the pacer, but I got this shot:

We had these shirts made for our team in our first half marathon and wear them to almost every race

The course was more hilly than I had anticipated. And it was FREAKING HOT AND HUMID. I started feeling light headed a bit and even though most people from my pace group did not stop at the water station, I did. I grabbed a gatorade and a water (the cups were SUPER tiny), walked a bit, and spent about a half mile "chasing" the pacer. I looked down and noticed my heart rate was hovering in the mid 180s... uh oh. I had to slow down and walk a bit. I was working way too hard, way too early. Shortly after hitting the 5K mark, I heard the 2:05 pacer (who we had talked with at pick-up) yelling "You can do it Becka!!" - But... I really couldn't. I was really really REALLY struggling and having a hard time. Physically, as in getting my legs to move, I felt ok. But the heat and humidity were really getting to me and I was mentally crashing pretty hard. I had to take my first unscheduled walk break about 4 miles in and took this shot:

My damn Garmin wasn't working again. It's keeping time, but the bezel doesn't work at all, and the start/stop and lap buttons don't work either. I don't know if it's because of moisture, but my solution (hopefully) will to be wearing a wristband under the watch to keep the back from getting wet? That better work or Garmin is gonna hear a piece of my mind.

The sun was beating down. I was sweating so much and it was so humid I couldn't even wear my sunglasses because they were fogging up too badly. I was feeling dehydrated and totally drained. Somewhere between the five and six mile marker I took my GU (I was really glad I had brought that, there were no gels on the course). I literally was ready to cry by the time we hit the halfway point - there were a lot of people there because there was also a half marathon relay option. I got another gatorade and water and then started the second half. I was shortly passed by the 2:10 pacer... Luckily I had already mentally changed that part of my strategy, and my two new goals were 1. To not be as slow as my Canyonlands time (roughly 2:21) and 2. Just to cross the damn finish line.  The second half (thankfully) was way more shaded:

It was a beautiful course but I really could not enjoy it. I was struggling so much with the heat and humidity. The miles 7-8 seemed mostly downhill, which helped a bit. I was chasing half naked man and he was struggling just as much as I was. He would run for a minute and then have to walk, then he would pass me... and so on. For miles. He finally said to me "Don't worry, I'm not chasing you, I just can't pace for shit!!" I know what you mean, half naked man. By about the 9 mile marker I was seriously ready to give up. I was seriously wondering what would happen if I fainted (good thing I was wearing my Road ID) or fainted, or threw up... or just gave up and sat on the side of the trail. There were bicyclists patrolling the course and I was tempted to yell at them to send someone to come get me because I was so thirsty and so exhausted from the heat.

I have no idea how I kept going. I really don't. Maybe it was because I kept telling myself... "I don't want to do this again" and "I came all the way out here, just freaking finish." Water station around mile 9, took 2 waters again. Struggled all the way to what I knew was the second to last water station with around 10.75 miles. I took a gatorade and water AND grabbed a full bottle of water. That full bottle was gone in less than a mile, even WITH trying to ration. I still felt dehydrated but that definitely helped to keep going. I actually started to pass a few people (how??? I don't even know how my legs were still working, and my brain had pretty much shut down). Get to the last water station (less than a mile to go!!!) and I realized that somehow I was actually going to finish. I heard a guy yell "Way to go Becka! Nice jogging pace!" - EFF YOU!!! I'm working my ass off here. Jogging pace??? GRRRRR!!! Somehow, I don't know how, I managed to keep going that last mile without walking. I have never in my life been so happy to see a finish line. I clicked the Garmin at the 13 mile marker and sprinted... passing 2 or 3 people in the chute. (haha :D ) Crossed the mat, got my medal (boy, did I earn this one!) and grabbed a water - slammed it. Grabbed a Powerade and took a few swigs. Finally I was done. This was by far the hardest race I've ever done, and overall, probably the worst RUN ever. I have no idea how people train to run in humidIty, but between starting out too fast, and not having enough fluid, I completely failed at this.

Things I learned from this:
1. Even though I would LOVE to break the 2:00 mark, even under IDEAL conditions, I simply cannot start out at that pace. It is too fast, and I'm working WAY too hard. **NEVER EVER EVER RUN WITH A PACER, RUN MY OWN RACE**
2. I have got to start wearing my belt. I train wearing it anyway. Having a 20-40 oz of water on me probably would have helped a lot - both physically and mentally.
3. I need to continue to bring my own GU - just in case.

Of note:
1. The sweaty band was awesome! It did not move at all - even with all the sweat (I could actually wring out my clothes when I was done, and my paper bib was starting to dissolve it was so wet). The sweaty band does NOT actually keep sweat off my face, so I will continue to wear a visor in the future. Worth the money though.
2. My Newton shoes are freaking awesome. My feet/calves/legs did not hurt at all. Score!!
3. I will bring my leg sleeves again - I wore them all day after the race, and even though I had tons of people staring at me - my legs feel great a day later.

Apparently the timing chips failed (HUH??), so all official times are gun time. I was about 15 seconds "faster" but I'll take it. There was also a LOT more elevation gain than I realized (I was so miserable with that heat I honestly never really noticed). If nothing else, this is all good training for Hawaii!

We met up with Jo-Z, checked our results, and headed to the car. She wasn't able to get a flight out of MSP until Monday, and we had to shower to and head out to catch a 2:30 flight. She met another 50 stater who offered to take her to the airport. Here is all of us leaving the race:

L, Jo-Z, 50 stater guy (I'm sorry, didn't catch your name), Me

I may have suffered through the race, but I had a great trip to Minnesota, met an awesome (crazy) runner friend that I will hopefully see at other races. Most importantly, I think I learned a few things ;)