Rock & Roll Arizona Marathon

State 17 was possibly my most proud marathon. I ran the Rock & Roll Arizona Marathon as a St. Jude Hero and raised close to $2000 for St. Jude Research Hospital. Running for kids with cancer made running feel even more important.

This race fell on MLK weekend so it worked out perfectly for a quick weekend trip. We escaped the "Icepocaplypse" happening (or not happening) in KC and spent the weekend in sunny (or not so sunny) Scottsdale.

We arrived on Friday and spent the day familiarizing ourselves with Old Town Scottsdale... which means we ate. all. the. things. We decided we really like Scottsdale. That evening we drove out to Carefree to have dinner with my aunt and uncle. 

Saturday morning had us out in search of carbs. We received so many recommendations for where to eat in Scottsdale, but my favorite by far was the Daily Dose Diner. The breakfast was amazing and I had what was seriously the best pancake of my life. Every pancake I have will try to live up to that pancake and probably fail. Sorry pancakes.

Off to the expo:

Let's rock this!

This was my first R&R marathon. I've heard mixed reviews but they are supposed to be well-planned and very efficient when it comes to the expo, start, finish... yada yada. It was fine. I didn't have any complaints, but it wasn't as flashy as I thought it would be. It was pretty similar to other bigger races I've done. 

After the expo we headed to Tempe to check out the ASU campus and find a spot to watch the KSU basketball game. ASU has a fun bar-district right off campus where we made ourselves at home. The best part was climbing "A" Mountain! It's a tiny little hike but such a cool thing to find right in the middle of civilization. My favorite part of visiting different states is seeing all of the unique parts of each city/town/state. An on-campus mountain seems pretty crazy when you come from Kansas.

Everyday an adventure.

Race Day: Let's do this.

Racing was not actually in the plan for this race. Checking off a state and getting in a good long training run was. I'm training for my first ultra-marathon and this race fit perfectly into my training schedule. 

Drew dropped me off at the start an hour early so I could warm up and get in a few extra miles before the actual race started. It sounds a little crazy, but doing a 30 mile training run is so much easier if you have a crowd and aid stations for 26 of it!

The race started in downtown Pheonix and ran through Scottsdale and then ended in Tempe. The weather could not have been more perfect. It was cool and overcast and excellent for running. 

Run Run Run.

The views made this race. Everywhere we ran, we were running toward mountains. Even though we never left the city, we were surrounded by the beauty of nature. I felt such a sense of calm just gazing at those mountains as I ran. 

My goal was to stick with the 3:45 pace group, but I started to feel a bit claustrophobic in the crowd. I pulled ahead and seriously enjoyed running my own race. I was in the zone.

The only mishap came around mile 8 when I started to feel some serious chaffing in my left underarm. I've never experienced this but I guess it came from wearing a tank top in the middle of January. My armpits were not ready for it! I pulled into an aid station where they saved me with copious amounts of vaseline and I was off on my merry way.

Around mile 16 I stopped for a potty break. When I returned to running I could feel my pace slow. I wasn't upset about it though. I just kept moving forward, enjoying every moment of the run. We hit an out-and-back portion and it was fun to pass others in their St. Jude shirts. We shared cheers and high-fives.

Feeling amazing!

The final miles flew by, even at my slower pace. Around mile 24 I realized the race was almost over and I literally became sad about it. I have never in all of my marathons felt like I didn't want the race to end! I was having such a great time and even though my body was ridiculously tired, I wanted it to keep going! 

I finished strong and happy. I felt accomplished, and most importantly I felt like my body was capable of more! 

I collected my medal and my banana and then picked up my sweet finishers jacket! It was by far the best perk of the race. Drew waited paitiently while I had my legs massaged and then found me an almond-milk latte to warm me up. Have I mentioned what a great support he is???

30 miles total! Earned that medal!!!

After a quick shower and re-fueling, Drew and I set off to experience more of the famous in-town hiking. Driving 10 minutes to a mountain seems like a dream. We Kansans are easily impressed!  We arrived at Piestewa Peak late in the afternoon. We chose a relatively easy hike that didn't seem too populated. The climbing felt so good as it stretched my legs!

Feeling on top of the world.

Monday morning had us up early to make the most of our last morning in Arizona. We had one goal: Camelback Mountain. After pulling into the parking lot on one side of the mountain and reading multiple signs warning us of the difficulty of this climb and the need for mountain-climbing experience, we made the decision to drive to the other side of the mountain. Good idea.

We beat the crowds and had a really great time climbing up the mountain. The hike was a great workout, but we felt safe and only slightly out of our element. The views were spectacular and the weather was perfect.

This guy...

My motto for the year has been "Be Brave". I've been trying to override my initial "no" response to things that are out of my comfort zone. As we ascended the mountain I realized it was much higher than I first thought. We kept getting higher and higher and I kept trying to turn off my fear of heights. Once we came to a spot where the trail stopped and rock climbing began we took a time-out to evaluate. We had to catch our plane and continuing the rest of the way up the mountain would put us in a realy time-crunch. Plus I was really f-ing scared of going and further.

I'd like to think if we'd had more time I would have made it to the top, but who can say? We took some pics and then headed back down the mountain. I hope that someday I can make it back to Camelback and get all the way to the top. For now, these views were the best part of this trip for me.

Always reppin' KC.

Trips like these are the reason I set a goal of running a marathon in every state. Exploring this country and experiencing all that each state has to offer (especially with Drew!) is the best part of this journey. 

Now we just have to figure out where to go for state 18...

I ♥ Chicago

How have I not told you about Chicago?!?  I mean, I know I told you about the race, but I definitely did not tell you about how much I love Chicago! 

 

I'm a nervous flyer anyway, but the marathon coupled with the fact that I left my phone at home had me in an unusual state of panic.  The only option was to break my month of sobriety and get good and drunk before our flight.

 

Worked like a charm.

We stayed at the Congress Hotel on Michigan Avenue, right across from the race start.  The Congress is over 100 years old and said to be haunted.  I don't much believe in that sort of thing, but ghosts or no ghosts, it was a peculiar place to stay, to say the least.

The Congress!

Since I didn't have my phone, I seem to have lost all the photos from the day before the race.  So we'll start with the night after the race.  We walked down Michigan Avenue in pursuit of the Hancock building.

Scott & Britt.

The Gibsons.

Yeah, we ran that.

Sewing machines!

We waited patiently to get up to the 96th floor of the Hancock Building.  Britt & I immediately headed to the women's restroom, said to have the best view in the whole place.

Sorry boys!

Ladies' room views.

Romantic, right?

Blurry, but scenic.

Monday brought lots of walking too.  We were all over Chicago.

We LOVE Chicago!

The Bean.

That's us.  In the bean.

Have you noticed we like to take silly pics?

We got seriously lost on our way to Navy Pier.

Which way?

Found it!

From the pier.

And that my friends, is what I've got from Chicago.  Sorry it took so long.  And sorry this recap sucks.  But I felt it was better to post pics with little explanation than nothing at all.  Oh, and in case you forgot... this happened in October.  I am lazy.

Hilton head

We recently traveled to Hilton Head, South Carolina to attend our friend Blake's wedding.  It was my first time and I was super impressed!  We had a very nice little weekend get-away.  Here's what our trip looked like, in 10 pictures of course.

1.  Hilton Head Diner.

We arrived at 1AM on Friday so we slept in crazy-late and then headed out for some island breakfast.  I love lazy mornings!

Coffee!

2.  The beach!

Our hotel was right on the beach.  This meant lots of time in the sun!

Beach!

3.  Beach Shenanigans.

We met up with Blake and his family who had been staying there all week.  How fun is that?  We decided Hilton Head needed a little Wildcat spirit.

K-S-U!  Wildcats!

4.  Ocean.

I got in it.  I'm a dork.

Hello, Atlantic.

5.  Rehearsal.

Blake, Steph, and their families were staying in a huge beach house right off the water.  The backyard was on a canal and this is where they held the rehearsal dinner and the reception.

Backyard Banquet.

6.  Dress.

Steph's rehearsal dress rocked.  She looked amazing.  I was obsessed.

Obsessed.

7.  Run.

I had to run 20 miles on Saturday morning.  I found a trail that went around the island.  Unfortunately it didn't have any water or bathrooms near it.  And then it turned into this.

Lovely Trail Huge death-hill on the side of the highway.

8.  More Beach.

I love Drew.  And the ocean.  And the little old ladies who took our picture.

Love!

9.  Limo.

We got to ride in the limo to the reception with the newly weds.  Yea!

Love. :)

10.  Dancing.

We returned to the Beach House for dinner and dancing.  I have to say, this was one of the nicest receptions I've ever been to.  They really did it right! 

First dance!

We had such a nice time and we're so happy for the newly weds!

Oh, you noticed there weren't any pictures from the ceremony?  Well, aren't you observant.  That's a story for another time.  And not one that needs to be put in writing.

Adventures in Europe; Day 6

 Running, Randomness, and Wine

Day six was a little bit random.  We were fully exhausted from the the previous day of hiking, so I let Drew sleep in while I went for a little run.

 

 

Holy Cloudiness.

It was the cloudiest day ever.  The clouds were so low that they covered the mountains.  They looked more like large hills than mountains.  But it was still beautiful.

 

 

Cloudy, beautiful Switzerland.

I arrived back at our B&B and quickly showered so we could hit the breakfast buffet.  Both Drew & I were so in love with our bed & breakfast.  We talked to the owner every morning and every evening.  She even blessed me before we went skydiving.  My favorite part was the breakfast buffet though!  She said it was a traditional Swiss breakfast.  It was lots of cheese and bread.  So... yeah, I was happy.

The buffet.

The buffet also had some fruit and meats, so Drew was able to eat too.


Things Drew Ate.

I stuck with the bread & cheese.  Seriously, I ate a lot of cheese that weekend.  Also, Nutella packets?  Do we have those in the states?!?  Seriously genius.

Happiness right there.

The best part of breakfast was the coffee.  It was the absolute best coffee either of us ever had.  The owner would grind the beans right before she brewed the coffee.  She'd bring it out in a little tiny pot with another little tiny pot of steamed milk for me.  We couldn't get over how good it was.

Best Coffee Ever!

The rest of the day was spent exploring the town of Interlaken.  I studied abroad in a little Spanish town called Ronda, and Interlaken reminded me so much of that town!  We be-bopped around town doing a little shopping, exploring all things Swiss, and tasting all the chocolate we I could.

So cloudy... Where's our mountain?!?

I wasn't really excited about the whole Swiss Army Knife thing, until I saw the ridiculous selection available.  Why wouldn't I want portable silverware?!?

Fantastic Invention.

We thought it was really fun to go into McDonald's on our trip and see what was offered in the different countries.  Switzerland had Toblerone McFlurries!  How do we get those?!?

Bagel Burgers?

It was a pretty uneventful day.  But we had fun.  Don't we always?

I love Switzerland.

If you're wondering, yes I am wearing the same outfit as the day before.  Thank you for noticing.

We ended our last day in Switzerland with two (!) bottles of wine and more chocolate.  We had a very early train to Paris the next morning, so that second bottle of wine probably wasn't a good idea.  But it led to some pretty funny conversations between the two of us.  Have I mentioned how much I love Drew?  He's the best.

My main man... with too much wine.

Saying goodbye to our view.  Too bad we can't actually see the mountains through the rain and clouds.

We love you Switzerland!

 

Lessons Learned:

1. Swiss breakfast is good breakfast.

2. McFlurries are loved the world over.

3. One bottle of wine is probably enough... especially if you have an early train.