DreamBig 2014 - #34 New Jersey

State #34 - Trenton, New Jersey
Trenton Double Cross Half Marathon
Finishers: 1,439

November 6, 2014
I had been counting down for this race for some time now because I got to spend a whole 4 days with Kali! Kali, if we don't remember, is my good friend who I met while working in New York in 2012 who also ran half #8 in Wisconsin and #15 in her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska. She tries to run at least one a year with me, and so far so good! Kali and her new fiance, Ryan, recently moved to New York City where Ryan took a job at one of the hospitals and Kali transferred to Deloitte New York... but is working in Chicago...I just won't begin to explain what we do. REGARDLESS - I flew up to NYC late Thursday night and Kali picked me up at LGA and quickly alerted me that Ryan had been drinking at a work happy hour and this was her first time driving in the city. If you know Kali, this is where you pause to say a little prayer to the Holy Spirit that he guards you for safe passage. I was in for a ride. We safely made it to their humble abode in Astoria and settled in for the night where we caught up on things while painting our nails before going to bed.

November 7, 2014
Since the race was only a 40 minute train ride away in Trenton, NJ, we were in no rush to get anywhere and stuck around NYC so Kali could work and I could visit some friends. I ventured out on the subway to meet up with my friend Anthony who worked at Deloitte and I had met a few months back at our training facility (Deloitte University) and stayed in contact with since then. I met him in Midtown and we ventured off to find breakfast sandwiches and explore. We ended up buying shopping and buying some Rangers gear since I was going to my first hockey game Sunday! We grabbed lunch at The Smith and then went to explore the HighLine while Kali finished up work.

Ash and Anthony exploring the HighLine

We met Kali back at the apartment in Astoria and then made him hang out with us while we packed for the race and our train ride later that night. Before we jumped on our train, we stopped for a few slices of pizza at New York Pizza Supreme and then caught our New Jersey Transit ride to Trenton. It was a short ride and once we got to Trenton, we realized it was very late and we were not very safe. We somehow got an Uber from the train station and the driver told us a few of his friends had gotten shot in Trenton and we weren't very safe. Very reassuring. We were staying at the Wyndam Hotel which is where the race expo had been. Of course, me being me, I had made arrangements with the race director to have our race packets delivered to the front desk so we didn't have to get to Trenton too early or wake up early to get them before the race. We set out our stuff, locked the doors and called it a night.

November 8, 2014
I woke up ready to Rock N Roll and despite the cold we were both excited to be running together again. We bought random breakfast at the train station the night before and enjoyed our meals before catching the shuttle to the start from the hotel.

Morning Shuttle to the Race

It was a bit chilly but we just got ready jumping around to the prerace music. Kali's rubber band in her hair snapped before the race...of course....so we had to do some rearranging and accommodating to make sure both our hair looked good. The race started and I was chatty as a child. The weather was brisk enough to be comfortable to run in and I was just happy to have my best friend with me! The first couple of miles were along highways and over a bridge into Pennsylvania (don't tell anyone...this was a little bit in PA). I was sprinting up the hills, as always, and then I would settle my pace and let Kali catch up. I was getting a little worried because it didn't seem like she could get her breathing to normalize. I made sure to keep the conversation (one sided) going to attempt to distract her but I could tell she was in a lot of pain. Before Mile 7 there was a big hill and we had decided to take our gel packs at Mile 9 for the extra boost, but Kali decided she needed hers now. We looped around a park that had pretty fall leaves and then at Mile 9 at the water station I took my gel pack and was entertained by a giggle as one of the volunteers was saying "Water, Gatorade, Phone Number!". I thought it was hilarious. This was my first time trying the Montana Huckleberry Hammer Gels and I was in love with the flavor. I have read mixed reviews but maybe because I spent a little time in Wyoming and Idaho this year, the Huckleberry taste had grown on me. I put it back in my pocket when I was done to remember the flavor to order later...

Huckleberry - yummmmmyyy!!! 

I was still feeling pretty good at Mile 10 but Kali said her legs felt like bricks and kept telling me to leave her - to which I would respond, Kali - I came here to run with you, I don't care about my time. I just want to stay with you. Brick legs is the absolute worst though - your legs literally won't move. They just mildly cramp up and don't let go so you feel like you are running with wooden stumps as legs. I wouldn't let her walk because I know if I was her I would never start again but at Mile 11 she pretty much demanded I leave her. After someone asks me like 20 times to do something, I assume they mean it so I told her I would meet her at the finish line and took off. I was FLYING - again...I don't wear a watch but I swear I had some extreme negative splits. The race finished by running around the outfield track of Arm & Hammer Park where the Trenton Thunder play, and then right across home plate. I literally did a jump across the finish line crossing  in just over 2 hours.

I wish I could track down the full version of the far left picture - but really...jumped across the finish line

I grabbed my medal and then ran to the entry of the park to see if I could spot Kali coming into the stadium. I was on the phone watching people run in one by one and all of a sudden Kali comes up behind me with her medal. She told me just just had to stop for a few minutes and stretch before other runners started cheering her on to finish the last 2 miles. We took a few pictures and got a soft pretzel and then did our long walk back to the hotel through downtown Trenton. We got holla'ed at a few times by passing cars, my favorite line being "Hey girl - I think you left yo booty at the finish line". Freaking HILarious. But we made it safe, grabbed a quick shower and then got a free shuttle to the train station where I got some Eagles coffee from Dunkin and got our train back to 

Half # 5 for Kali and #34 for me!

Finish Line in the Background

Just in case you forgot what state this is....

Official Race #34 Photo - New Jersey complete!

But we made it safe to the hotel, grabbed a quick shower and then got a free shuttle to the train station where I got some Eagles coffee from Dunkin and got our train back to NYC! Kali passed out while I worked on responding to some emails for the JMac Gives Back logo contest.We arrived back to Penn Station and Kali went to go take a nap and I met Anthony to head to Tavern on 3rd to watch the Auburn Game and was thrilled to run into one of my favorite Auburn friends ever, Miss Felicity Wood. It was just destiny that we were in the same place at the same time in NYC. After the game and a few brews, Anthony and I head down the street to meet Kali and Ryan for Mexican before heading to Keats to do karaoke (Yes, Whitney Houston made an appearance). After a very long day Kali and I head back to Astoria for a much needed night of sleep.

Night Night, Kali

November 9-10, 2014
Just so I don't forget the rest of the weekend fun, I wanted to bullet out some of the other fun things we did:

• Sunday
• Mass on Sunday followed by brunch, Whispering Wall at Grand Central, shopping for Rangers shirts, and eventually made it to another bar where I did my first Irish Car Bomb (ew.)
• My FIRST NHL Game at Madison Square Garden followed by continued drinking and taking the subway home way later than anticipated -- at one point Anthony was doing squats with me across his back waiting for the train to come (normal?)

First NHL Game at the Garden! #twinning

Outside Madison Square Garden

• Monday
• Kali and I took a train to Philly from Penn Station and met a friend of hers, Rosie, at Geno's for Philly Cheese steaks before heading to the Monday Night Eagles game at Lincoln Financial where we tricked a stranger named Jeff into buying two out of towners beers -- whoops, he never asked!
• Heading home to the hotel at 11PM, got a call from Erin, Jeremy's girlfriend, to meet them at Chickie and Pete's for food where I got to meet Cody Parkey (Auburn Alum and the Eagles new kicker)

Great Seats for the Game!

I was a little too excited to meet Cody Parkey - and Jeremy embarrassed me like a true friend

So happy we got to not only see an Eagles win but got to see this guy (and Erin!!)

Overall, it was an awesome race weekend! I absolutely loved getting to see Kali, Ryan, Anthony, Erin, and Jeremy (and Cody)!

34 states down - 16 more to go!
#DREAMBIG

DreamBig 2014 - #33 Maryland

State #33 - Baltimore, Maryland
Under Armour Baltimore Running Festival Half Marathon
Finishers: 8,646

October 17, 2014
This was weekend was special because it was a daddy-daughter weekend! Dad had not been to a race since 2011 when I ran race #4 in Nashville, Tennessee - where have you been, Dad? Kidding - I never invited him. Regardless, I was excited to explore Baltimore and the area with my pops. I flew in from Atlanta and he flew in from West Palm Beach and we met at BWI. After waiting in a car rental line the length of a Disney theme park, we finally got into town and found our hotel downtown. After we got settled, we went to the race expo at the conference center and since this is one of the larger races, dad was surprised by the amount of people all over the place. We went back to the hotel bar and dad had a beer while we thought about what to do for dinner. We decided on Phillips Seafood which was down by the harbor so that we could people watch and get a little taste of the town before my race in the morning. Of course, dinner was followed by me getting icecream because I have zero clue how to appropriately fuel before a race. Honestly, the worse I eat usually the better I run. We watched some street performers for a while and then walked back to the hotel so I could plot out where dad could watch me for the race and get to bed early.

October 18, 2014
The race had an oddly late start because the marathon started first, and then the half kicked off. When I say late start, I mean like 9:45AM. So I was able to sleep in but still had my nervous antics going on and when I was just about ready to beat dad up for asking me basic questions, I decided it was probably time for me to leave the hotel and just walk it off (girl has issues). It was supposed to be super cold for the race but as luck may have it, it actually wasn't too bad. I was actually concerned I would be too warm. The half marathon started between a loop that the marathon looped around - I was fine getting across into the corral because I am the world's earliest arriver but some people had to run across the marathon course to get in to the corral. It was encouraging getting to cheer on all the marathoners though. Waiting for the gun to go off, I was eavesdropping on some ladies talking about their college kids and one mentioned touring Auburn so OF COURSE I inappropriately interjected and told them that I was an out of state Auburn Alum and how much I loved my time there and had no issues making friends even though I only knew one person at the entire university. They awkwardly thanked my for my input and off we went.

Panorama of before the start

The first couple of miles we ran through some not so good neighborhoods and around a big park and then through some more not so good neighborhoods. I didn't see dad in any of the spots he had told me, but as history serves, he typically gets distracted by coffee and bagels and misses a few of the first stops. I can't blame him - he told me after the race that when he started walking to a few of the stops he was asked by a police officer if he knew where he was going and later learned he was basically walking through the penitentiary and should rethink his route. That made up his mind and he headed to the finish to just wait it out. So, I'm out on the course and although the neighborhood wasn't that great, the amount of potentially homeless people out on the course cheering with their dogs was incredible. It was honestly some of the most excited spectators I have ever experienced. Around Mile 3 leaves were falling off the tree so I entertained myself by trying to catch one before they hit the ground. I ended up catching a few, but only held on to one for the rest of the race. Coach Finnerty, my high school cross country coach, used to tell us to run like we are holding a potato chip to keep your hands relaxed. Potato Chip...Leaf....same thing. I held on to my leaf until at least Mile 9 and then I lost it (see realization in video). We got to Mile 7 and it looped around a big park which is sometimes hard because you can see how much more you have to run and in reality its only like 1.5 miles of the 13 miles total. I wasn't feeling too bad just knew I wasn't running an awesome race, so I tried my best to enjoy it.

May not feel good - but can't miss a photo opp!

The last few miles were fun because they ran through John's Hopkins and a lot of students had little tables set up on the street some of which had little cups of beer. I had seen this before on other courses but I had never stopped because I guess at the time I was feeling too good about my race. This time I said "YOLO" (Mom, this stands for 'You Only Live Once') and got a cup and made sure to snapchat it for some of my lucky friends to see. And this is when I realized I lost that leaf I mentioned from Mile 3.

In case the video doesn't work, here is the proof of the Mile 9 beer break. #YOLO

The last few miles not only was I feeling a little buzz from the beer (big surprise - I am even more of a lightweight when I am running a half marathon) but it was slightly downhill and I knew where I was going and knew I was on the home stretch. Finally at around Mile 12.5 I heard the typical, "War Eagle!" and saw dad on the side of the road. I thought he would just meet me at the finish line but Mile 12.5 works too. The last little stretch of the race ran through grounds of Camden Yards where the Orioles play which was pretty cool to see and then finished in a big parking lot.

Kickin through Camden Yards to the finish

I called dad but he went back to the hotel instead of dealing with the zoo at the finish line. I tried to hunt down Jenn Johnson who I knew from the Camp War Eagle staff back at Auburn but the finish zone was such a mad house I finally gave up and head down to the pier to get my picture. With no dad around, I asked a random girl if she could take my picture (she ended up being a Ravens Cheerleader and I think at first thought I wanted my picture WITH her -- sorry sweetheart).

Official Race Photo - Maryland State #33 - 17 more to go!

I ran back to the hotel -- so all in all I probably ran like a 16 mile half marathon (for the love of pictures). After a quick shower, dad and I hopped in the car and drove down to the Boat Show in Annapolis where we got some awesome chowder and then got some coffee and wandered the city before stopping at the Naval Academy campus where we stumbled upon a Navy/Stanford Women's Lacrosse game that we sat and watched for a while. I used to play lacrosse in high school so it was a lot of fun to for me to watch and reminisce. Once it got cold we walked over to O'Learys Seafood for dinner and then I got super sleepy and we drove back to the Baltimore area to get some rest before our Sunday adventure.

October 19, 2014
Dad and I woke up early and decided to make a day trip to Washington D.C. for the day. It was chilly so we opted to do a little walking and explore the museums. I had just been to DC with Gregg about a month ago so I was able to give dad a tour of the Air and Space Museum. We did a flight simulator and it is now noted I should never fly a plane and I almost made dad sick with my horrible flying skills. Stick to running, princess. We also went to some art museum but I put myself on a couch in front of a Monet Water Lilies painting and waited for dad to come back and get me. Me and art don't really see eye to eye. After our museum tour, we decided to try and grab a quick bite in Georgetown before heading back to Baltimore to catch our flight home. I got us a last second reservation at Clyde's of Georgetown where we had a good brunch and also had a special visitor join us! So random story - about a month ago Gregg and I were in DC for the Nation's Olympic Triathlon. The way the race started was in huge waves so Gregg started about an hour before me. While I was waiting, I was just watching people take off and I strike up conversation with a guy, Matt, who lived in DC and who was telling me about all of the places we should check out while we were in town. We ended up exchanging numbers and he hung out and drank and ate pizza with Gregg and I that entire evening and we kept in touch. I mentioned to him that Dad and I were in town and spontaneously invited him to brunch with us which is always a risk when it comes to trying to anticipate what may come out of dad's mouth. But dad and Matt hit it off very well and I was glad we all got to spend some time together. All in all it was a great trip - I don't know how I don't have any pictures of dad and I but I promise he was there with me.

Matt and I post brunch in Georgetown

33 states down - 17 more to go!
#DREAMBIG

DreamBig 2014 - #32 New Hampshire

State #32 - Hampton, New Hampshire
Smuttynose Rockfest Half Marathon
Finishers: 3,884

October 4, 2014
Some of my trips become a race within a race. I have been known to make 24 hour trips out and back to a race and this was definitely one of those races. I took an early afternoon flight up to Boston, grabbed a car and started on my rainy adventure to Hampton, New Hampshire. It's only an hour drive but it was raining and driving in the rain is my biggest fear. To add to that, the rental car had the right side view mirror flipped in and I didn't notice it until I had already started driving. So rain + side mirror dilemma = stop for coffee. I made it up to Hampton which is right across the Massachusetts border on the small coast that New Hampshire has. The packet pick up was at the Smuttynose Brewery but it was too rainy to enjoy the brewery festivities.

Thank you.

The race numbers were alphabetized so I went up to my table to find a mother and daughter chit chatting away. I gave them my drivers licenses and you would have thought I was Oprah based on their reaction:

"Oh my Gosh!! It's Ashley from Atlanta! We've been waiting for you all day!!" 

I was very confused but they explained that everyone on their list was from one of the northeastern states and they had been waiting all day to ask me why in the world I had come all the way to New Hampshire. I told them I just flew in for the race and told them about my goal and they immediately wanted to be my best friend. (I mean...who wouldn't) We chatted some more because the daughter was interested in looking at Mercer and Emory for school so they wanted to know about the Atlanta area. After about 15 minutes of chatting, I'm surprised I never just pulled up a chair, but finally I said my goodbyes to my new friends and scurried on my way. The man passing out shirts in the rain asked if I was excited for the run and wanted to know if this was my first race. I decided to keep this stranger interaction simple and replied "Yup - I'm really nervous" to which he gave me some advice and sent me on my way.

Now that I had my race bib, it was the holding stage of my 24 hour trip. I went to the hotel which was in Amesbury, Massachusetts and just hung out for a while and watched the Auburn v. LSU game debating on what to pick up for dinner. After skimming through a ton of small town options, I ran to the grocery store to get popcorn for the night and then picked up some pasta from a local restaurant and then went back to eat in my bed and stay off my feet. I tend to get two double beds when I travel so I can eat in one and sleep in the other. That's normal, right? After my popcorn snack, I called it a night and got some beauty sleep for race day.

October 5, 2014
I don't remember being unnecessarily nervous for this race but I do remember having a little "uh-oh" with a coffee pot and a single serve oatmeal container. I don't want to talk about it but let's just say, don't put a cardboard container holding oats and water on a hot plate...it will melt and the bottom of the container will fall out and make a mess (I'm an idiot). That being said, I had to make a stop at Dunkin Donuts to get me a sandwich and a coffee before driving the 20 minutes or so through the small beach towns to the race start. I was one of the first people in the parking lot so I just hung out in my car parked on the boardwalk while the sun came up. The crazy people at Dunkin had decided to try and kill me by adding a zillion pounds of sugar and cream to my coffee which was a big surprise when I took that first sip. Needing a little pick me up, I ventured to a little icecream shop turned morning coffee shop for a little brew. Please note this is all at like 6am and I'm just wandering the streets. It was by no means warm, but it would be perfect weather for a nice 13.1 mile jog. The race started at 8am so I figured I may as well get my game face on and head to the start.

Gorgeous sunrise to start the race morning!

The race started in waves, and as usual it was based on your estimated finish time. I was in wave 3 of 5 and they had wave 1, 2 and 3 lined up down one side of the street and 4 and 5 on the other side. Well, some genius decided to start wave 1 then 2 then release 4 and then 3 and 5 at the same time. If you have ever run a distance race, you know this makes for a very interesting start. For one, you are stuck with all of the people who have an estimated finish time of about an 3 hours when I am trying to run at a 2 hour pace and this creates a bit of traffic. On top of that, the first 4 miles of the course was two 2 mile laps around the town of Hampton so the streets were roped off and they were literally corralling us like cattle - for 4 miles. It was a mess but it has some element of entertainment because you basically play frogger and shoot the gap with all of the other runners. I may not be able to merge in Atlanta traffic, but I am a professional merger in the game of half marathons. It take a bit of practice but after four years of cross country and 31 other half marathons, I think I've gotten it down to a science. The other nice thing about the race start being a bit packed, was that it forced me to conserve my energy instead of taking off like a crazy pants and getting winded which happens a lot just because of the adrenaline.

So, after the first four miles, the course broke off on the road and headed up the Atlantic Coast - this was gorgeous. The coast was on our right side and the waves were crashing over the seawall so every now and then you'd get a little splash. You could see the cliffs up in the distance and for some reason the beauty of it all was very motivating. There was a group of guys really strong looking guys running in kilts and they had a girl with them who was running in one of those high altitude training masks. I was super impressed remembering my race in Santa Fe a few weeks back, and decided to try and keep pace with them. I was feeling really strong and after a while decided to sprint ahead a little. When we got to Mile 6.5, the course cut off to the left and ventured through the hilly neighborhoods of Hampton for the next 3.5 miles. I have only been to New Hampshire once before for work, but everyone always told me I HAD to come back in the fall to see the leaves changing and now I knew why. It was gorgeous. The colors of the trees was amazing added to the crisp, cool morning made the miles just fly by. I was excited that I still felt strong and knew that once we made the turn at around mile 10, that I only had a 5K to go. Added to the fact that race was so pretty and I still had some gas left in the tank, I was ready to do some serious running on this last leg.

Not my picture, but you can see what I'm talking about with the sea wall

Mile 10 to 11. 5 was a slow, gradual uphill climb but that is oddly my specialty. I had taken a energy gel around Mile 9 and was ready for it to kick in so I could make that last stretch to the finish. I conquered the uphill and the route then followed the coast, now on my left and wound back around to the downtown area where the race had begun. A mile and a half to go and I had so much going through my mind. I was confused about where this new found speed was coming from but I felt confident that I could hold the pace and stay strong. I love races where you can see the finish line - I could see this big seashell on the coast from a mile and a half away and I just kept my eyes on it. It is times like these that I wish I wore a watch that tracked my splits because I was easily kicking at a 7-8 min/mile pace for this last bit of the race and I was feeling incredible. The last bit cruised through the downtown and instead of my super sprint at the end that I usually had, I cruised in with whatever I had left after using most of my energy for the last 3 miles. Crossing the finish line, I got the text of my time -- 2:00:10. Ten seconds....woof. I never set a time goal but breaking the two hour mark always means I had crushed the race. I knew had it not been for the bottleneck in the beginning of the race, I may have been able to break two but what can you do? So close.

Snapchat sent to friends immediately after race

Official Race Photo - New Hampshire #32 - 18 more states to go!

To make up for the momentary sadness, they had clam chowder and lobster rolls at the finish! What a feast! I made my way through the seafood buffet and then laughed as I walked back to my car because of all the passing racers talking and asking about the clam chow-dah. "Ohh see there - they got CHOW-dah -- hey you, where'd you get that chow-dah from?" I love the accent. I ate the chowder and saved the lobsta roll for my trip to the airport. I had some nice ladies take my picture on the boardwalk in front of the ocean and they asked what the number was for to which I explained my goal. That got the duo very excited and they discussed starting a similar goal themselves. I weaseled my way out of the parking lot around the race crowds and drove back to the hotel to shower up and speed back down to Boston to fly home.

Medal #32 and Lobster Roll

With just my backpack, lobster roll, and new medal, I was back to the airport and home in Atlanta before dark.

All in all, it was a gorgeous race that I highly recommend!

32 states down, 18 more to go! -- 2:00:10
#DREAMBIG

DreamBig 2014 - #31 New Mexico

State #31 - Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe to Buffalo Thunder Half Marathon
Finishers: 736

September 12, 2014
So, funny story about this trip. As always, I had planned this race about a year in advance because my dad and step mom live in Santa Fe for a large chunk of the summer and fall and I though it would work out perfect to go and visit them and check New Mexico off the list. Well, turns out they were going on a cruise during this time so I was riding solo. When I told my mom about this mix up and how I had already registered, she decided to volunteer to tag along from Saint Louis so it all worked out quite well.

So, I met mom at the Albuquerque, NM airport on Friday and we rented a car to head up to Santa Fe. The drive isn't too bad, maybe about an hour. We decided to get settled and checked into the hotel early. The lady at the front desk said she had a surprise for me which brought about a bit of confusion. She left for a second and came back with a rolled up posterboard that read:

He is not a journalist or an artist so just about every fact on that poster is wrong  BUT it is the thought that counts. He was so bummed out about having to miss the race and I love how he was able to be there in spirit to cheer. After we got our room and sat for a few minutes, we decided to start the long process of Mom Race Rehearsals. This is mom's second race of the year and third race overall BUT it is funny every time we do it. Because she came along to cheer, she wants to know and practice exactly where she needs to be, at what time, how to get from point to point, what side of the road to stand, and then we get to practice. Practice a LOT. So I pull out a course map and road map and start creating her race plan. (Thank you God for giving me patience). We started at where she would drop me off in the morning and then drove the full course route once and then redrove it to figure out 2-3 places she could wait for me. I will save you all the reading, but this process literally took the entire afternoon. We almost crashed several times and probably drove a total of 12 half marathons. I wish I was exaggerating but I least I knew what to expect on the course, right?

We stopped at a few places that had some gorgeous views (okay, the entire city is a gorgeous view) and took some pictures. The ones below are at Camel Rock (right around the 10 mile mark on the course) - I sort of think it looks like ET. After dress rehearsal and mom and I getting back on speaking terms after I had cooled down, we cleaned up and went for dinner at the Pink Adobe in downtown Santa Fe. The nice thing about dad living there part of the year is I didn't have to do any planning of meals - he just told us where to go! I had the best Chili Rellenos and I'm sure mom had some sort of smothered steak - that lady loves her steak. We decided the next day to take a little drive so we called it a night after dinner.

September 13, 2014
After grabbing a quick Panera breakfast, we plotted out our day and headed into the mountains. We decided to take the scenic drive to Taos, NM which is a ski resort in New Mexico in the winter about an hour and a half north of Santa Fe. I typically hate driving but this was gorgeous. From the different rock formations to the wild desert flowers, the colors were all incredible. We stopped a few times to take some pictures of everything. We drove through a few tiny little villages and thank goodness for good signage or I would have been forever lost.

We grabbed lunch at a place called Doc Martin's which had a big patio and I randomly ordered blueberry pancakes. We shopped around for a while and then decided we probably needed to hit the road so we could get to the packet pick up back in Santa Fe. We took a faster route and I got to see all the fun things I could come back and do like rafting and horseback riding. We got to the race tent and picked up my race bib and real cool Nike shirt. We had had a long day so we went back to hang out before our dinner reservation. I realized I needed a headband so I made a quick trip to Sport Authority which turned into me buying a ton of cool Nike gear for Gregg for his birthday since they were having a huge sale. I got back to the hotel way later than expected but picked up mom and went to Osteria D'assisi for Italian and it was awesome. We got to sleep early that night so I could get ready for the race in the morning!

September 14, 2014
Race Morning! It is nice being able to wake up, stress out, but then have someone drop you off right at the start line. Mom and I went over the checkpoints and then we head down to the park where the race would start. It was not the biggest race in the world and there were no frills or pump up music - just a crowd of runners and some scenery to get us ready.

The gun when off and so did we. The first 2 miles of the race was a long, steady uphill climb of about 300 feet. Normally this would be okay, but what I had forgotten was that this race was at 7000 ft!! So I was barely into the first mile and gasping for air like a fish out of water. I wish I could say I got used to it over time but no, I didn't. The second mile was along a highway, but there was a sound wall so you couldn't see much - however, all of a sudden at Mile 2, the hill finally settled to a peak and the wall was over and the view literally took whatever breathe I had left away.

It is moments like that when I am looking out over the plateaus and desert of Santa Fe and realize how fortunate I am to have the opportunity to travel the country like I do and see the sights on foot. This would also be one of those moments where I get really emotional and start tearing up for no real reason but I just feel moved. I will never forgot the panoramic sight of what would be the background to the next 11 miles of my run.

The race continued on the left side of the highway and then passed back under towards the Tesuque Village where I knew mom's first spot would be. I started heading down the hill past the fire station and there she was all bundled up chit chatting with some other lady which she told me while I ran past, that they were going to stick together. It was fun seeing her! The race continued through the town for a few miles and then cut back under the highway at Mile 7. By this point I was already super tired and my arms...of all things, my arms...kept cramping up. I started to slow but by no means was giving up.

I knew mom would be at Mile 10 and that was right near Camel Rock where we had taken pictures on Day 1 of our trip. The rough part about this straight line of a race, is that I could SEE the rock but it felt like light years away. I just did my best to stay focused and hunt down that next checkpoint. When I got to Mile 10, mom was standing right where she expected. I was slowly dying at this point and seeing your mom is encouraging but sort of makes you want to just stop. She cheered and I made the notion that I was having a hard time and I continued towards the finish.

Those last 3 miles were brutal - I was basically doing the "Struggle City Shuffle" just making sure to put one foot in front of the other. My arms were all cramped up too. Basically my body was under altitude attack and I just needed to be done. I could see the Buffalo Casino up ahead (the Casino that would later be on Chris's season of the Bachelor where the girls stay when that crazy girl drives all the way there from Colorado for a second chance? - anyone?). As always, when you are struggling the race ends up having an uphill finish. I was close to tears and just wanted to get done and the one thing I told my mom not to do was call me after the race because chances were I hadn't finished yet if she hadn't seen or heard from me. Not more than 800m from the finish she calls multiple times and I was not very happy about this.

I thankfully finished and just needed to walk around alone for a little bit to catch my breath and let my body chill out. They didn't have a ton of snacks but they did have coconut water --- which is disgusting. I finally let mom come near me and told her about the race and then we started walking back to the car so we could go get brunch. Randomly, two women stopped us and asked for a ride back to Santa Fe and of course we said yes and chauffeured them back downtown swapping running stories and telling them about my travels. We dropped them at the start and then basically drove back to towards the finish to get my race picture.

OFFICIAL RACE PIC - 31 states down, 19 more to go!

So happy mom could tag along for her 3rd half marathon!

We head back to town so I could shower and change and then went to place called Cowgirls for lunch and knowing me I think I got BBQ ribs or something and made it all quickly disappear. We had the rest of the day to kill so I decided to take mom on an adventure up to Dad's house since he was out of town. Once we got there, the back gate was locked so I went ahead and jumped the big rock fence and made sure to get evidence of it so Dad knew I successfully broke into his house.

Panorama of Dad's backyard 

Just breaking in.

We had out fair share of excitement for the day so we decided to drive down to Albuquerque where we were staying for the night before having early flights in the morning. We were so lazy I think we just ordered room service and ate in bed like 2 little fat peas in pod. Later when I checked Instagram, I saw that my picture had been featured on the City of Santa Fe instagram page which was pretty cool!

Regardless of the pain and altitude, the weekend with mom was a lot of fun and I can successfully check New Mexico off my list of states!

31 down - 19 to go!
#DREAMBIG

DreamBig 2014 - #30 Illinois

STATE #30 - Chicago, Illinois
Rock N' Roll Chicago Half Marathon
Finishers: 13,865

July 17, 2014
I was in suburban Chicago for work all week (and for my 27th birthday yesterday) and I had a master plan about how to get my race pack early Friday morning and then get back to St. Louis. Well, all of that sort of went to shambles and I ended up calling in an earlier flight so I could get back home quicker and deal with some backpack drama. I rented a car at the airport and zoomed down to meet mom at home before heading over to the Parres's to save the world. (This is all a very long story). Mitch and I counted backpacks for a while and then I went home and was exhausted and had to get ready for planning day tomorrow!

July 18, 2014
Crazy, crazy day. Jeremy decided to fly in early as well and we had several big things to do to get ready for the JMac's Back to School Packs on Saturday. I had a quick breakfast in downtown Kirkwood at Kaldi's and then met Mitch, Cindy and Jeremy at Costco where we thanked them for their generosity in providing us with the backpacks for our event. Then Jeremy went with me and we made our way over to Wal-Mart back in Kirkwood to talk to our team of helpers there and pick up all of the school supplies for the event. I'm talking like 3 SUV's full of school supplies. We had to make several trips to Kirkwood High where we had even more people volunteer to unload everything with us. We got hungry and stopped at what will forever be known as "Magic Market" for sandwiches and continued on our mission back and forth between Wal-Mart and the high school. Mitch and Ron finally decided to show up and we organized everything in one of the many weight rooms Kirkwood now has and got everything ready for packing night.

I went home and continued to go go go getting agendas, packing lists, labels, letters all set up for the days ahead. We had an awesome, efficient team meet us up at the gym and we got all 215 backpacks stuffed in under 2 hours. It was awesome to see everyone so focused. I was absolutely exhausted so I head home knowing that the next day would be even crazier.

Assembly Line Magic

Backpack Stuffing Team Champions

July 19, 2014
Backpack day! Well, first the day started with me making Jeremy meet me at the bank at 9:00am to do some paperwork for the foundation. Sorry friend. Then I called Ben, our Kirkwood contact to see if he wanted Chick-Fil-A before I head over to the highschool to start my Type A preparation. After making some lists and checking them a million times, volunteers started to show up to help us move backpacks and get everything organized for the day. The event started at 1pm but it evidently takes a lot to get boys to move backpacks without messing around. We got the video set up, people showed up and then we were ready to go!

Jeremy, as always, gave a great talk about the importance of hard work in school coming before being a student athlete. No work, no play. I think the parents get almost as much out of hearing him speak as the kids do. After he spoke, we let the students and parents come pick up the fully stocked backpacks and then made sure everyone got to meet Jeremy and get their pictures taken. Smoothie King also showed up with smoothies for the kids. Once the crowds had settled, we cleaned up all of the supplies, I said my goodbyes to our amazing team and zoomed off to the airport to catch my flight back to Chicago.

I arrived fairly late due to a flight delay, but caught the train into the city to meet Cooper at the hotel. I was obviously exhausted so once I got to the hotel, we just went downstairs to get some Italian food and then I needed to go to bed early after my hectic non-stop day.

215 Backpacks stuffed and ready to distribute!

Jeremy giving his talk to the attendees

JMac Gives Back Employee of the Month (for Life) - Mitchell Parres

Thanks Big Mike for stopping by! Crazy how much can change since 1st grade!

Jeremy with some of the cute little kiddos!

July 20, 2014
After a rather restless sleep, I had to wake up early and walk to the start of the race to pick up my race packet since I had missed the expo the day before. I told Cooper he didn't need to go with me (it was like 4:30am) but he didn't want me wandering through the city streets of Chicago alone in the dark. We picked up my bib and on the walk home i started feeling absolutely horrible. I think it was my body's way of saying "pump the brakes" but I was here and I was going to run. When we got back to the hotel, I got dressed and then curled up in a ball in the fetal position forcing myself to drink water and take little bites of a Cliff Bar and knew the race would be a slow one, but I would finish. 

We made the long walk back to the race start again around 6am - I think the race started at like 6:30am to try and avoid the heat. It was a rather large race that would wind up and down the Chicago city streets and then come up the lakeshore. The gun went out and I did my best to stay with Cooper for the first two miles and then I could tell I was holding him back so I told him to run along and I would meet him at the finish. It wasn't a super challenging race but since I had just done my race in Maine the weekend before, my body was a bit confused on what I was doing....again.

Hot....just really hot

The race went under the bridges where I'm pretty sure Batman was filmed and then went out and around just turning down random blocks through the city until mile 6 or so. Evidently Alison Andrews was at one of the water stops and I sadly totally missed her - that would have made my day! Mile 6 until 8.5 went south out of town and there really wasn't much to look at but it was progress and getting closer to the finish so that was all I cared about.

Bringing back the hand numbers

Maybe near the finish?

We made a turn and a few loop de loos and then once we got to mile 10, we headed north again along the water back towards the city. This last 5K was supposed to have a club setting so they had stereos blasting music and those inflatable men they put outside of car dealerships that go up and down and wave when air is blown into them (bad description?). It was nice and a change of pace. You could see the city in the distance but it wasn't getting any closer. Somewhere near mile 12, we ran under the convention center and they had lights and music and it actually made me kind of dizzy but it was the thought that counts! The last mile was a slow, hot, uphill climb along Lakeshore and Columbus Drive and I couldn't be happier to get to the finish! I finished in 2:13 which I could care less about. I had finished another decade of races!! 30 down 20 more to go!

Official Race Pic - 30 down, 20 more to go! Illinois - check!

I found Cooper after the race and he had done great! My friend Renee who I had met while working in New York called and found us near the finish. She helped take some pictures and then walked with us to the park to take pictures with the Bean! After pictures Cooper and I went to clean up and get brunch before I caught a flight back to Atlanta after having been gone for almost 3 weeks straight. 

#30 for Ash and I think #10 for Coop!

So happy Renee came to meet us at the finish!

Home sweet home ATL! I had been gone for my birthday so when I arrived back at the house Gregg had surprised me with a spread of my favorite things - cheese, milkshakes and popcorn. Only a boy roommate would think of this....

The birthday spread

30 states down, 20 to go!

#DREAMBIG

DreamBig 2014 - #29 Maine

STATE #29 - Portland, Maine
Shipyard Old Port Half Marathon
Finishers: 2,468

July 11, 2014
Today is Dad's Birthday - happy birthday pops! The ironic thing about dad's birthday, is that instead of him getting the present, he nicely let me use some of his Southwest points for my master crafted weekend plans. I was in Chicago leading up to this week and I had a race in Maine on Sunday which left Friday night to figure out where I should stay. Naturally, I realize that New York is sort of close to Maine so I decide to take a flight with dad's help from Chicago to New York to spend the evening with Kali, Ryan and Halie. Kali and Ryan had recently moved to NYC for Ryan's work and I hadn't seen there place in Astoria so the trip was well worth it. I took a cab and met Kali at her place and then we got ready and went into the city with her friends for pizza and Halie Mobley Larson (my sorority little from ZTA at Auburn) came over from her place in New Jersey and met us for dinner. Again, never in a million years would I think I would casually drop into NYC and have two of my best friends in the world get to meet each other over pizza. We had a great night of eating and drinking and just exploring the NYC night life together.

Two of my best friends ever - in the same place!!!

City that never sleeps with Kali

 Just enjoy these next few videos....

July 12, 2014
The next morning we had planned to do brunch but no one work up. Kali loves her sleep. I had a flight from NYC to Boston at noon so Ryan (Kali's fiance) drove me to the airport and sent me on my way. I arrived in Boston around 1:30pm and picked up my car to drive the 2 hours up to Portland, Maine. I do some work every now and again in Exeter, NH which is right across the border from Maine so I was fairly used to this drive. Of course I stopped at the Nike Outlet because I just had to....you never need a reason for deals.

Oh good...Maine's open.

I got to Portland around 4pm and went right to the expo to pick up my packet which was on a Pier with a band and food and it was like a carnival. I didn't stick around too long because I wanted to explore some more, but it was an prerace party set up had I been with a group. I decided that it would be fun to drive the course to get a feel for what I was getting myself into. This is also quite difficult when you are navigating alone. I stopped a couple times to take some pictures of the water and surrounding scenery. The course only had a few ginormous uphills and the entire thing was super scenic so I knew we were in for a good race.

The top of one of the big hills would be well worth the view

I decided to wander the town and look for postcards and dinner. The town is gorgeous and I wish I had more time to explore. I ended up picking up a turkey burger and then decided to drive the coast a little more...when I ran across a place called Benny's that I just had to stop because it was so cute. And I mean... who wouldn't eat fried clams right before a half marathon. Isn't "fried" technically a carb?

So with way too much food in tow, I headed to the Westin where I would be staying for the night and kicked up my feet for the night after my walking tour of Portland.

I realized fairly late that I probably needed breakfast and water for the morning so I ventured out to find a Walgreens to pick up some supplies before heading to bed.

July 13, 2014

The race was starting very early to avoid the heat and my hotel was a good mile or so from the start. It was still cool, so I left the hotel fairly early and as I walked others started emerging from neighboring hotels to join me in my trek to the start line. The race started on the pier and it was a fairly decent sized crowd of about 2000 all lined up on the boardwalk.

The race took off at 7am and headed back down the main street towards my hotel and then looped up and around Benny's and through the mansions of the West End neighborhood for the first 4 mile before heading back down towards where we started. Continuing through downtown, we started the ascent up the hill I had mentioned previously near Mile 6 and I knew if I could get to the top, the scenery would be a welcomed treat. I have an odd gift for uphills on my good days and it felt good to activate that stored up power and cruise past people struggling on the hill called Mount Joy. 

Once at the top, we followed the road along Casco Bay where we were able to look down and see islands, ferries, sailboats, lobster boats, and paddlers. As I left the first half of the course behind me, I started on the second half which ran on a trail along the Back Cove, a 340-acre circular tidal basin, which was basically a 3.5 mile stretch with spectacular views of the Portland skyline. The only really hard part about this was that the basin was ginormous and the entire loop you could see how much further you had to go. I never realize how far 3 miles is much less 13 miles is until you see it from a bigger picture...or drive it in the car. 

Running along the longest basin trail ever

It was starting to get hot and a few medics were having to help people on the trail but I just stayed in my groove and kept drinking water. Once off that mentally draining loop, we jumped on another trail that took us along the Eastern Prom trail that passed by the old Grand Trunk Railroad swing trestle bridge AND by a sewage treatment plant. While stinky, there was a long concrete wall along the trail that features some of the city’s best urban art because it is a sanctioned area where graffiti artists can go wild. This area was all concrete and had nowhere to hide from the sun and people were dropping like flies. I just did my best to stay positive and knew the end was near. 

Graffiti Wall near Mile 11 - and the sewage plant

The race finally jumped off the path and finished at the Ocean Gateway Terminal near where we had started. It was an adventure getting to the finish line through the windy finishing tunnel but it was, as always, a great feeling to be done and survive the hot sun! My time was fairly in the average zone under 2:10.

Heading to the finish!

Official Race Pic - 29 states down, 21 more to go! #DREAMBIG

I got my treats and had a nice group of ladies take my picture before running another mile back to the hotel so I could quick change and head for the airport to fly back to Chicago for another week.

Snapchat check in!

29 states down, 21 more to go!

#DREAMBIG