Grandma's Marathon

Oh wow.  Marathon number 10! 

Grandma's Marathon is one of the oldest and most famous marathons in the country.  It's run in Duluth Minnesota where the weather makes it perfect for June.

Britt and I set out on the 8 hour drive on Friday.  Since we had so much fun breaking into the LSU stadium back in Baton Rouge we decided this should be our new tradition.  Luckily, Ames Iowa was right off the highway on our way to Duluth.

Iowa State!

Unfortunately there wasn't an unlocked gate at the Iowa State stadium.  So we had to get a little crafty.  Getting in required us to sneak in through an office building and use a pen to keep us from getting locked into the stadium.  Eventually we made it... snapped a photo and ran for our lives.



Nothing stops us!

The second item on our agenda was to find a delightful roadside diner.  I wanted grilled cheese.

This will do.

There has never been a cuter diner in the history of the world.  Seriously.  It was adorable and the people were ridiculously nice and the grilled cheese was amazing. 

We love B&B!!!

As we approached Duluth the temperature dropped about 15 degrees.  It was crazy.  And chilly.

Hooray Duluth!

We picked up our packets and then found a delightful pizza joint for dinner.  When we got back to the hotel we went through the pre-race rituals of attaching our bibs, setting out our breakfast, and reading through motivational junk.  Then Britt showed me the sign she planned to wear on her back while we ran.

 

Oh my goodness.

And then it was race day!  Grandma's is an out-and-back course so we had to take a bus to the starting line.  I haven't ever had much luck with race shuttles, but this one was very timely.  Since it was so cold, Britt and I were wearing matching Good Will throw-away shirts and 4XL men's sweatpants.  Hot, right?

Twinsies.

The start was busy!  We stood in line forever to go potty and we were so thankful for our warm clothes!  There were weather alert flags warning of hypothermia.  Crazy for June!

She's so embarrassing.

The race was awesome!  It was chilly, which made for great running.  The course ran along Lake Superior, but due to the fog we couldn't really see it!  We ran through some tiny little towns where the people were all out cheering on the runners.  It was awesome!  So much energy!

As far as running went, I was feeling pretty great most of the way.  After about mile 18 I started going back and forth between running euphoria and "the bad place".  I found the lake to be a really great source of positive energy though.  Any time I started to get a bit negative I would focus on the lake and it helped to bring me back.

Towards the end we were really flying.  Britt was having a great race and she took off at the end.  Both of us finished strong!  I crossed the finish line right behind her at 3:28:13... another PR!!!

I'm not going to lie...  I was done.  I felt like falling over and throwing up after finishing.  Dying. 

Number 10 in the books!

Originally I'd imagined the weather to be warmer and we thought it would be a great idea to soak our legs in the lake after the race.  It didn't sound quite as appealing as we were shivering in our mylar blankets.  Britt thought differently.

But first we had a little photo shoot by the lake.

Posing.  They gave us carnations!

Dorks.

We're both so proud.

Crazy madness later and Britt took her shoes off and climbed in the lake.  Her and like 2 other runners.  I took pictures.

Bitch is cray.

This is how I feel about getting in the lake.

She seriously stood in there for 5 minutes.

After hopping out of the lake we did a quick change in the most awkward naked-girl tent in the universe and picked up our free beer.  Please remember back to January in Baton Rouge when we spent the entire day outside drinking at the after-party.  It took everything in me to down one beer in June in Duluth.  Seriously I was so cold.  So cold.

So we went back to our hotel, cleaned up, and spent the rest of the trip eating our way through Duluth.

Only a small portion of the food.  So much food.

 

Okay, I have to tell you how much I loved Duluth!  I had no expectations about the city but it was wonderful!  I have never met more incredibly nice people... all of them.  They were all so nice!  There were amazing restaurants, an adorable bar district, and the lake was nothing less than amazing.  I would love to go back again to eat and see the lake when it isn't so dang foggy. 

NYC; Part Dos

Ummm... where were we?  Oh yeah, part two of our fantastic (albeit long ago) trip to the city that doesn't sleep. 

Monday morning started out in line for tickets to the late show.  Hooray for David Letterman!  Too bad Jimmy was in Orlando.  I will not forgive him.

Late show!

After standing in line, filling out applications, and being interviewed by some classy interns we were told that they would call us if we made the cut. 

So we hopped on the bus and headed south to Greenwich Village for some people watching and marketing.  I love a good market.

The Flat Iron Building is officially my fave NYC building.

We hopped off in the village and did some strolling up toward the Chelsea Market. 

Oh how I love a good market!

Under the market clock.

Wall Art.

While we were at the market the gal from Letterman called and told us we were IN!  Hooray!  We were given specific instructions to tell them we were on "Lisa's Gold List" when we showed up.

Lisa's Gold List

When we showed up we went through the line, told them we were on the list, and they asked us a few questions.  Then we were walked to a special section away from the other fools.  An intern explained to us that we (along with another couple) had really impressed the interview folks and we were being selected as "audience leaders". 

So excited to be audience leaders!

Being audience leaders meant that we got to sit in the front row and were expected to be really super enthusiastic and keep the energy up in the room.  I think they chose us because while we were waiting in line to be interviewed I was singing and dancing to the "tight pants" song... the Jimmy Fallon song.  Whatev.

We love Jimmy Dave!

There were no cameras or phones allowed in the taping.  But it was so much fun!  Susan Surandon was the guest and her dog accompanied her.  We sat right up front and we cheered our asses off.  Before the show we watched a video from Alec Baldwin that instructed us to clap and laugh and not think at all.  Drew and I were excellent.

Laughter & Enthusiasm... we got it.

The markings that mean we're on the special list.

After the show, we headed out for some NY eats.  If you go to New York please download the app "Menu Pages".  It was most helpful in finding places to eat.  You can find restaurants by food type and neighborhood and it will find all kinds of great eateries. 

We talk Thai.

I absolutely blame this tofu curry for what has been a two-month obsession with Thai food.  I cannot get enough.  And this stuff was good.

Oh curry, I love you so.

What do you think we did after dinner?  Duh, we got on the bus for the night tour.

Fancy Schmancy.

The night tour took us through Brooklyn and downtown New York.  Our tour guide was a life-long New Yorker and she was so amazing and fantastic.  She had tons of stories and was clearly so proud of her city.

Concrete Jungle where dreams are made of...

To get to Brooklyn we had to cross the Manhattan Bridge.  Our guide warned us that if we were afraid of heights we might have some issues.  I didn't believe her.  It was the most horrifying experience of my life.  I'm rethinking ever running the NY Marathon because you have to run over the bridges.  I was terrified. 

So very bad.

The tour was amazing.  When it was over, we decided we finally had to check out the little hole-in-the-wall bar next to our hotel.  It was called Characters and it was definitely full of them.  It also had a bumpin' juke box.  This might have been my favorite thing we did the whole trip.



A couple of Characters.

 

What a great trip!  This solidified NYC as one of my favorite destinations.  So much to do!  So much energy!  So much to eat!  Love love love!  Now... back to our year of not traveling.