September 18th and 19th 2010, I did two states in two days. On Saturday the 18th I did Kroll's Diner Bismarck Marathon in Bismark North Dakota and Sunday the 19th I did Montana Governor's Cup Marathon in Billings Montana. I wanted to be able to do more than one race per trip, and began looking for two races in the same time frame, that were within a favorable distance of each other. My requirements were that they be half marathons, they have to fit my vacation schedule, (I am the last to pick vacation at work due to seniority, any week with a holiday is out) and that they give a finishers medal at the end. Normally, I am not that concerned about finishers medal. I have a bunch and am not sure what to do with them. Other than the 5 Cowtown medals that will form the big star. If I get all 5 of them I will get them framed or something, that will be worth commemorating. Most people say hang the medals up some where, but I am not sure just how or where to do that. With the 50 states though, I do want one for each state. I will find something to do with them. Of the 10 I have now, some are really nice, one or two not so much, but they are all part of the big story, and I am proud of them all. After researching for quite a while I finally found Billings and Bismark which were about a 5 hour drive apart.
So, the trip was on. I flew into Montana the Tuesday before the races, and stayed just outside Yellowstone park for 3 nights. While in Yellowstone, I got to see some wildlife (including a Mammoth Elk, and a Bazilllion Buffalo), I visited "Old Faithful," and I had what seemed at the time, to be a brilliant idea. I decided to go mountain biking down one of the ski slopes in Big Sky Montana. Turns out it wasn't such a good idea after all. I missed a turn, and ended up on an advanced course. I took a spill, which resulted in the loss of my glasses, and as I found out later, I cracked a rib. Not a real bad crack, just enough to be uncomfortable until I started running. About halfway through each race it would begin to throb. Luckily, I had some bio-freeze, and was able to finish both races. When I left Houston Sept 14th, it was 95 degrees, and that was in the shade with a ceiling fan blowing. I think the low at night was in the 80's. I got to Montana and it was in the 40's. Friday, the day I left Yellowstone, they got 6 inches of snow and I drove through snow flurries all through North Dakota. Quite a difference from Texas weather. I think that if I had been running in 90 degree heat the rib problem would have been much worse. I definitely like cold weather to run in. But not to cold. Frigid sux too.
No comments:
Post a Comment