#DreamBig : 13.1 in all 50 states : DreamBig 2015

STATE #43 - Missoula, Montana
Run Wild Missoula Marathon
Finishers: 3,166

June 10, 2015
I can not tell a lie - putting an out of office up for 2 WEEKS was an amazing feeling. I know I travel a lot, but most of my travel is 24-48 hours and I feel like I am always on the go. Not that I was going to get any R&R out of these weeks but it's the thought that count.

Gregg and I met at home after working a big chunk of the day and then grabbed an Uber to Marta to start our adventure to the airport. Thankfully all travel was working in our favor and we made our way to Salt Lake with no issue - I was that annoying 5'5 little girl in the exit row with the empty spot in front of me that all tall people on the plane hate me for. Sorry.... At SLC we had a bit of a layover so we wandered for a while and got dinner and had some local brews. Around 9 or 9:30 we took off to Missoula and touched down around 11:30PM. Thankfully after a long day of work and travel, we finally checked in to the hotel around midnight excited to be in Montana for an awesome few days ahead!

Welcome to Missoula!

June 11, 2015
Happy Birthday Dad! We woke up to the sound of rain which is great for Montana who had been dealing with some horrible heat and fires, but not so great for us who had booked a full day of white water rafting. We got all of our stuff together and after a quick breakfast at Cracker Barrel head west on I-90 towards Alberton, MT about 30 miles away. It was still raining when we arrived but we were bound to get wet regardless so we just embraced the fact we were finally in Montana! We rafted with a company called Montana River Guides and they were super great - our guide Maddy helped us rig up the GoPro to a helmet and got us excited for the day. We were with a group of about 11 including the two guides and everyone was great. During the trip we spotted 15 bald eagles which was a record for both of the guides. We stopped around lunch and had a great spread of sandwiches and fruit and Reeses brownies. While the guides were setting up for lunch Gregg and I went exploring up a freezing cold creek which we were told was awesome for fishing. We also woke up a nest of bees - so that was bad. We were all soaked from the rain and rapids but the guides brought us all fleeces so we were able to warm up a tad. Since we rushed through lunch, it didn't turn out to actually be a full day trip but that gave us the chance to explore more of Missoula.

Thank goodness for those fleece!

Taking a lunch break on the rafting trip

Exploring the creek - and finding bees.

After showers and a little break, we head for some coffee at a cute place downtown called Black Coffee Roasting Company and then due to my OCD we opted to drive around and then drive the race course so we knew what to expect. It was a very pretty course for the most part and then through some quaint neighborhoods as well. Since we figured a lot of people were in from out of town, we decided to get a really early dinner at an italian place called Caffe Dolce. After dinner we went back to the airport to pick up our packets and then picked up some morning snacks at the grocery store before calling it an early night -- I'm talking it was still light out. I made Gregg watch a Family Feud marathon until we both just gave up and fell asleep by 10pm. Early morning for us!

Black Coffee Roasting Co!

Weirdest - but informative - SnapChat filters

Dinner at Caffe Dolce

Local beers at dinner - beers are carbs - carbs are good for running

June 12, 2015
4am wake up call! I have really got to start finding the "non-shuttle" races. We got our race gear together, made some oatmeal and then made our way down to the University of Montana where the race shuttles picked up. It was drizzling a tad but nothing too serious. When we got to the start of the race we had some time to stretch and enjoy the sun coming up. We made our way to the start line and waiting for the cannon - yes, the CANNON - to go off the start the race.

Race Ready!

Bus Line Pre Race

Rough view waiting for the race to start

Start Line - sorry its dark

I look really excited and ready to run....which turns out I was not.

The first 2.5 miles or so of the race was through some ranches up in what seemed to be a national park. We were about to make our first turn on the course when a DEER pranced across the road straight across the race barely missing all of the runners not more than 30 feet in front of us. It was wild. Once we turned at Mile 2.8, I was starting to realize my legs just weren't feeling it....greattttttttt. I stopped to stretch my quads hoping that would help and then continued on our way. Around Mile 3.5, there was a man out in his yard under a tent playing a baby grand piano in the rain. Not your typical fan base.

I took other pictures...they are really blurry.

Bridge towards beginning of race

Just running through the Missoula ranches

Large Cow at the Mile 6 or 7 turn

We weren't even going all that fast but I just knew I was going to have a rough race so I told Gregg to go ahead so I could just focus on whatever I needed to focus on to make it through - it was his race too and I didn't want him to have to deal with me. So he left and I just struggle bused - between my knee hurting and my arms falling asleep, I just did what I could to keep moving forward. The miles ticked by and I did my best to focus on who the race was dedicated to. Wearing my #43 hat, my Auburn tank, and my #43 bracelet, I tried my best to stay positive thinking of the Lutzie 43 Foundation and Phil and the Auburn Family.

By Mile 7, I was still struggling but thats when I made my snapchat video (which I forgot to save before losing service) and kept on keeping on. The miles continued to creep by and I was going at a snails pace. Around Mile 10, I saw a lady with a map of the US pinned to her back so I asked what number race she was at and she told me that she got to State 41 and then had lost the desire to finish the goal -- wait, what?? That is not what I wanted to hear lady! I'll spare you the remainder of all the struggle bus details but I finally texted Gregg once I passed Mile 11 so he knew I hadn't been drug into the woods by a bear or a moose or something. I made the last turn to go over the bridge and tried to give it my last bit of energy for a strong finish BUT my calf cramped up so I just laughed it off and cruised across the finish line at normal speed instead of turbo speed. Gregg was near the finish line and had finished, no joke, a good 20-25 minutes before me but I finished and I got my medal that was like 10lbs easily! As I was talking to Gregg at the finish line, a random dude said "War Eagle" and we chatted with him for a while - Montana was state #44 for him.

Finish line post finishing

Gregg and Ash with our new race bling!

But the beer at the finish line may have been even better...

Yes, I drank water too...hush

Finish stretch over the bridge

All 13 miles done...thank goodness!

Well deserved breakfast sammy!

We made our way out of the finish area and down under the bridge to get our well earned t-shirts and beer before heading up to take my race photo on the bridge and ordering some breakfast to go from Hob Nob while we watched the super speedy marathon runners finish. We made it back to the car and to the hotel where we packed up and headed north to Glacier National Park!

Official Race Pic - 43 states down, 7 more to go! #DREAMBIG #WAREAGLE

I would blog all about that but I will instead just share a few details and some pictures because I could honestly write all day.

June 12-14, 2015

June 12:
Drive up to West Glacier and through Glacier National Park along the Going to the Sun road. Stopped at Logan Pass and did a slow 4 mile hike on the top portion of the High Line trail which goes along the cliff and goes way way further but we just did the top part for the experience and the views. Continuing through to East Glacier, we made it to our accommodations at Many Glacier Lodge and I'm almost hesitant to put that name on this blog because I want it to stay a secret. The lodge is celebrating its 100th birthday and is right on the lake overlooking the mountains. The pictures speak for themselves. The place itself is nothing luxurious and there were no TV's, internet or anything but none of that was needed. Gregg and I claimed some space on some rocks down by the water and got a few $2 local beers from the snack shop and just sat in awe of the view. We had a late dinner and then called it another early night as we had big plans for the next day.

Made it to the park!

The biggest baddest bear

Even clouds don't hurt the views

Braving the wind to check out the #1 rated GNP trail!

Just a casual stroll along a cliff

Stumbling upon a waterfall

Probably not worth visiting...right?

Obligatory picture any time I am near the Continental Divide...sorry mom and dad

So many layers

Sitting on top of the world

America

Many Glacier Lodge - just what we needed

Nobody stay here - it's too awesome

Rough way to spend a day

$2 local brews!

Not a care in the world

Getting any height after a half marathon and a day of hiking was rough

GOOD NIGHT!

June 13:
We had been told the sunrise was amazing lighting up the mountains so we got up at 5am to go outside and watch. No coffee was available until 6:30 so we sat outside until then and just stared into the nature and mountains. It sounds weird - but you have to see it in person to understand. We had a mountain view breakfast in the dining room before backing up our packs and heading on our day hike. I have no need to describe the rest of our day because I took a million pictures so just enjoy our trip to Grinnell Glacier!

Deer sighting...got right up to it

That's a moose...its hard to see

That's another moose - this actually has a story to it

Made it to the Glacier!

Hot dogs or legs?

Giving directions....as always...people ALWAYS ask us for directions - even on Glaciers

#postcard

7.5 hours later, a much deserved local brew with my feet in the water

Nap time

Adventure #2 of the day....exploring a nearby waterfall

June 14:
Exhausted from our adventures, we slept in a little - until like 6am before bundling up and grabbing a spot in the chairs on the patio where I wrote postcards and Gregg did a crossword. We had a later breakfast and then sadly packed up to head back through the park. We wanted to get one more hike in so we decided on Avalanche Lake towards the west side. We almost skipped it because the parking was so bad but Gregg magical weasled in between two cars and off we went. We did the entire 5 mile rainy hike with 500ft of elevation change in about an hour and a half. That included some trail running and off road trekking to get around huge groups of kids, but the view from the top was another one to remember. It was around 2pm at this point and we exited the park and then head back to Missoula to get a quick dinner before jumping on a late flight back to ATL via SLC.