Spending Major Holidays on Holiday

Although I’m American, I thought the title sounded a bit more clever written that way. Are Americans the only group of people who use the term “vacation?” Anyway, last year I spent Thanksgiving in beautiful San Diego, which you can read about here, here, and here. Even though I wasn’t visiting family in San Diego, my husband and daughter were with me, so I wasn’t spending the American holiday by myself. We found a restaurant that was serving a traditional Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Honestly, spending our holiday in San Diego was even better than I thought it would be, but then again I absolutely love San Diego.

Not a bad way to spend Thanksgiving with views like this!

We’ve spent a few Thanksgivings away from home and extended family, so this wasn’t the first year for that, not to travel to see family but to travel for half marathons. This year, I spent my Thanksgiving in Malta. That was the first time I was in another country during an American holiday. We had Chinese food for dinner on Thanksgiving although we could have had just about anything we wanted other than a traditional turkey dinner.

My husband, daughter, and I have also traveled during Easter. I was running a half marathon in Eugene, Oregon the weekend of Easter recently, so my daughter joined an Easter egg hunt in Eugene. The Easter bunny also brought along her treats and placed them in the container for the ice machine from the hotel. We had loads of fun hiking around Bend, Oregon after we left Eugene.

Easter egg hunt in Eugene

We’ve also been on vacation during more minor holidays like the 4th of July. We were in Montana during Independence Day one year and just completely missed all fireworks and everything. It wasn’t a big deal, though. One year we spent Valentine’s Day in Atlanta, Georgia when I ran the utterly miserable Run the Reagan Half Marathon. It wasn’t exactly a romantic way to spend the day but my husband and I made the most of it. We were in Virginia Beach, Virginia during St. Patrick’s Day when I ran the half marathon portion of the Shamrock Marathon, which was pretty fun. We didn’t drink green beer or party since the race was the following morning after St. Patrick’s Day, but it was still a fun atmosphere to be in.

There are of course some downsides to traveling during major holidays. Hotels in the Caribbean and airfare to/from there will be more expensive during the weeks of Christmas and New Year’s. In fact, travel to many destinations costs more during Christmas and New Year’s. I’ve found for many other destinations, however, prices even in the United States aren’t any higher during Thanksgiving or Easter. There may be less places open or less availability, though (i.e. restaurants may be closed, hotels may be fully booked).

Many people also look at being away from extended family during Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter as a down-side. My extended family is so far away and in colder climates, my husband, daughter, and I usually only see them during the warmer months anyway. For us, it’s not worth risking our lives getting in a car accident on slippery snowy or icy roads to see them on Christmas day. We hope they understand.

Overall, I have enjoyed traveling during holidays and think it’s been a good thing. It’s fun to experience how people from different parts of the country celebrate the holidays. For instance, I really enjoyed the Christmas decorations all over San Diego and Malta. Seeing Christmas decorations in beach areas is very different from seeing the same ones every year where I live.

If I were a solo traveler, I’m not sure if I would feel the same way about traveling during holidays and being away from my family. That’s hard to say, though without going through it first-hand.

How do you all feel about traveling and being away from extended family members during major holidays? Do you always spend the holidays with family and couldn’t imagine not being with them for the holidays? I’d love to hear what you all think about this!

Happy travels!

Donna

 

 

 

Packing List- What’s in my Family’s Luggage

If you follow my blog, you probably know that I’m a huge advocate of traveling light so I don’t have to check a bag with airlines. As a family of three, we haven’t checked a bag since our daughter was old enough to carry her own luggage, many years ago. We’ve gone on multiple 3-week vacations around the world without checking a bag. I’ve gotten asked many times how we manage to do this. The key is to only bring a week’s worth of clothes at the most and do a load of laundry mid-way on your vacation.

There are several advantages to not checking luggage with airlines, the most obvious being the money it saves you from not having to pay a baggage fee with airlines but there are other advantages as well. I’m in the process of running a half marathon in all 50 states, and over the years we’ve flown 3 or 4 times a year for races (in addition to flying to other places purely for vacations vs. racecations). By having all of my running clothes and gear on the plane with me, I don’t ever have to worry about my suitcase getting lost and not having those things for the race. The first time I flew to a race without checking luggage, I remember what peace of mind it gave me to know I would have all of my running things with me and there was no way my things were getting lost before the race.

My family’s main carry-ons

 

Having your carry-on luggage on the plane with you also has other perks. I remember being on a flight that was the absolute coldest I’ve ever been on in my life. It felt like I was at a ski resort instead of sitting on an airplane. I was able to pull out several articles of clothing to layer-on and keep me warm, and I was so thankful to be able to do that. I’ve also pulled out sweaters from my carry-on in freezing airports on more than one occasion.

But I don’t want to lug around all of my stuff, you say! Trust me, you get used to it. I always tell myself I really just have to carry my bag through the airport and from the airport to the rental car once I get to my destination. It’s really not that bad. Besides, with the size and weight limitations on carry-ons from airlines, it’s not like you’re going to be lugging around 100 pounds or anything crazy anyway. Speaking of carry-on rules, many airlines limit carry-on luggage to 9 inches by 14 inches by 22 inches ((22 cm x 35 cm x 56 cm), including handles and wheels. Some airlines do allow slightly bigger but some have even greater restrictions, so you should always check the airline you’re flying with in advance.

Since most airlines allow one carry-on bag and one personal bag, I always have my Patagonia backpack with handles and a cross-body strap for my carry-on bag and a backpack for my personal bag. I use the cross-body strap so I can still have a backpack on my back. Since my carry-on is a soft (i.e. flexible) material instead of hard-shell, I’ve always been able to stuff it on the plane, even small planes. My daughter recently asked for her own Patagonia carry-on like mine to replace her small roller bag, so she also has that plus sometimes a backpack but sometimes she’s been able to pack everything in her carry-on and didn’t need a backpack. You can buy the Patagonia Headway MLC from eBags here.

My husband recently down-sized from an already small carry-on bag to an even smaller roller carry-on bag. He also has a backpack for his laptop and other electronics, but he’s debated several times if he should leave his laptop at home so he wouldn’t have to lug it around (I doubt he’d ever leave it behind, though).

My husband’s little roller bag

 

One of my husband’s new favorite things for travel has been a 100% Merino wool shirt I got him from Amazon. Wool is great for travel because it absorbs odor from sweat so you can literally wear it for days without it stinking. He even wore it on multiple days in Charleston, South Carolina in August when it was hot and humid with no smell. That was definitely a test for this shirt! Find the shirt here on Amazon.

I also am a huge advocate of rolling my clothes and using packing cubes. I like the 3-piece set of packing cubes from eBags, which you can buy here.

The large packing cube unzipped

OK. So you have your carry-on bag and your packing cubes. Now you just need to fill the packing cubes. The great thing about the 3-piece set is you can use the bigger one for shirts, pants, undies, socks, and a small pair of shoes. The medium-sized one is great for when I’m traveling to a half-marathon and I can fit all of my running clothes and gear in that cube. If I’m not going to a race, I’ll use it for my swim suit and a couple of pair of athletic clothes for runs or working out in, or I’ve used it for things like warm hats, gloves, and a fleece jacket for layering if we’re going somewhere cold. The small cube can be used for beauty products or snacks for travel days or undies and swim wear if you don’t have enough room in your larger cube. The point is, you can categorize your clothes and things so that when you reach your destination, it makes unpacking and finding things much easier.

That covers the larger carry-on. As I mentioned, my husband and I also carry a backpack, and our daughter sometimes carries one. In my backpack, I have my tablet, my camera, cell phone, a paperback book (I’m old-school), medications, my baggie of liquids each 100 ml or less, headphones, snacks, and water bottle. My husband has his laptop, cell phone, sometimes a couple of paperback books, earbuds, snacks, baggie of liquids 100 ml or less, and water bottle.

And that’s it! Nothing complicated, just your basics really with some specifics but nothing crazy.

Here’s a simple break-down:

1. Patagonia Headway MLC carry-on for me and one for my daughter, roller carry-on for my husband
2. 3-piece set of packing cubes typically containing:
   1. 5-6 shirts
   2. 1 pair of pants (if cold) or 2 pair of shorts (if warm)
   3. 6 pair of undies and socks
   4. 2-3 athletic shirts, 1-2 athletic shorts, 1-2 pair athletic socks
   5. Bathing suit
   6. Tank top and shorts for sleeping
   7. Eye mask
   8. Water bottle holder & bottles, running watch & charger, cell phone arm band, Nuun, snacks for race if running a half marathon
   9. Snacks (usually nuts, dried fruit, crackers, sometimes jerky, cereal bars)
   10. Small pair of shoes (slip-ons or flip-flops)
3. quart-size ziplock bag with liquid toiletries, each 100 ml or less
4. hair brush
5. camera
6. tablet
7. cell phone
8. 1 or 2 paperback books
9. medications
10. headphones
11. water bottle

On the plane, I’ll wear a shirt with a lightweight cardigan-type sweater or hoodie, my most comfortable jeans, and my running shoes. If I’m going somewhere cold, I’ll also wear my winter coat and have my scarf, hat, and gloves in the pockets or stuffed in my backpack. I always wear my most bulky clothes and shoes on the plane, to save room for smaller items in my bag.

What about you guys? What do you like to travel with? Anything you’d never travel without?

Happy travels!

Donna

 

Weekend in Huntington, West Virginia

I spent the first 22 years of my life in West Virginia. I grew up in the southern part of the state and got my undergrad degree in the northern part at West Virginia University. It’s fair to say I’ve seen quite a bit of the state and spent my fair share doing mostly outdoors activities.

I’ve gone skiing and/or tubing at Winterplace Ski Resort and Snowshoe Mountain (I hate skiing so I am not a skier now but love tubing). I’ve gone whitewater rafting many times down the New River. I’ve gone hiking in most of the state parks throughout the state. I’ve been to the capital, Charleston, for many different occasions. I’ve gone camping throughout the northern and southern parts of the state. However, I had never spent any time in the second-largest city in West Virginia, Huntington, until recently.

Even though Huntington is the second-largest city by population in West Virginia, it’s still pretty small by most standards, coming in just under 50,000 people. The entire population of WV isn’t even 2 million but it does have more people than 12 states and the District of Columbia. I’ve mentioned all of the outdoor activities I’ve done throughout WV, and it’s no surprise since outdoor activities are what drive most tourists to the state.

Heritage Farm Museum and Village

I was going to Huntington to run a half marathon, though, as part of my quest to run a half marathon in all 50 states. West Virginia would be my 43rd half marathon in my 41st state. I didn’t think it would be a great idea to go hiking all over the place the day before a race. What on earth is there to do in Huntington besides go to Ritter Park, the number one thing to do on TripAdvisor? There’s also the Huntington Museum of Art, but again, I didn’t really want to spend a lot of time on my feet before the race. We were heading back home after the race on Sunday, so it’s not like we could go after the race.

Enter Heritage Farm Museum and Village. My family and I went to a similar place before the previous half marathon I ran in Morristown, New Jersey and we had a great time. Fosterfields Living Historical Farm in New Jersey seemed to be considerably bigger than this one in Huntington and I did OK after walking around there, so that’s what I decided we would do. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but honestly, I wasn’t seeing many options that would work given our situation.

There was a wedding the day we visited Heritage Farm

Heritage Farm is a good way to spend a couple of hours especially if you have kids and/or are a history buff. In early November it was beautiful with all of the trees in full display of yellows, reds, and greens. There are eight museums, a blacksmith shop where you can see a blacksmith in action, an artisan center full of skilled tradespeople such as a quilter and a potter, Maker Space is full of hands-on activities and pop culture trivia displays through the years, a homestead site, a hands-on outdoor play space where kids can learn about simple machines, a cafe, church, gift shop, and petting zoo. Being a huge animal lover, the animals were my daughter’s favorite part of the farm. She especially loved the bunny who had a rooster friend with her. Apparently this rabbit and rooster were best friends and the rooster watched out for the rabbit. We also took a wagon ride around the farm and saw lots of unique animals. Although we didn’t stay overnight at the farm, you can stay overnight in one of a few log cabins or even a train caboose.

Llamas

Vittles anyone?

Besides finding things to do that didn’t involve tons of time on my feet, finding a hotel was a bit difficult as well simply because of the limited options. I wanted to find a pet-friendly place but the only one I could find was Towne Place Suites with a $100 non-refundable pet fee. For just a weekend, I could board my dog with a sitter near my home for less than that and she already knew the people who would be watching her. My new puppy was going to be watched by her foster mom who rescued her. Still, this seemed like pretty much the only “decent” hotel in the area, so I made reservations at Towne Place  Suites. When I looked on Airbnb, there weren’t great options near Marshall University, where the race was, but if you’re not limited by that, there are definitely more options. Towne Place Suites turned out to be quiet and in a good location, not more than about 10 minutes from most things in the area, so it was a good choice for us.

Unless you’re driving into the area, it’s not very easy to fly into Huntington. There aren’t many direct flights into/out of Huntington Tri-State Airport. Unless you’re coming from Charlotte, North Carolina, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Orlando, Florida, or St. Petersburg, Florida, you’ll have to make multiple stops to get to Huntington. In some ways it’s easier to just fly into Yeager Airport in Charleston, which has considerably more flights than those into Huntington, get a rental car, and drive one hour to Huntington. I would venture flights into Yeager are cheaper than flights into Huntington as well but I haven’t priced them. This is of course no different from transportation to/from any small town in the US. Any time you can fly into a bigger city and drive to your destination, it’s cheaper and Huntington is no different.

Dining options are about what you might expect in a small town in West Virginia. There are tons of fast-food and chain restaurants, but it is possible to find local places to eat. We had lunch at River and Rail Bakery, where we planned on having lunch and getting something from the bakery to take with us for later. While our lunches weren’t bad but nothing great, the options for dessert were flat-out disappointing. My daughter and I didn’t get anything for dessert and we were given our money back for the cheesecake my husband bought because it was so bad. We later had dinner at La Famiglia, which was by far the best meal of our weekend in Huntington. My daughter and I had handmade pasta and meatballs and it was delicious and the perfect pre-race dinner. After the half marathon, we had lunch at Surin of Thailand, which I later found out is a small chain in the south with six other locations. It was standard Thai fare so it was good but not the best Thai food I’ve ever had.

After our lunch, it was time to head back home. For others looking to extend their stay a bit in West Virginia, there are several places within a relatively short drive from Huntington. If you want a bigger city with more options, Lexington, Kentucky is only two hours away and is filled with fun things to do. This would also be an option for flights into the area, but you would have a bit longer of a drive than from Charleston. There are also many state parks around the Huntington and Charleston area great for hiking and camping.

When is the best time to visit West Virginia? Really anytime, depending on what you’d like to do. You can go skiing in the winter, hiking and camping in the spring, fall, and summer (of course you could go in the winter as well; that’s just not my thing personally), and whitewater rafting and zip lining in the summer. Another interesting place to visit is The Greenbrier, a resort in White Sulphur Springs, about three hours from Huntington. You can just go here for the day but really there’s so much to do here it would be better to spend the night if it’s in your budget. There’s everything from a golf course, spa, casino, tree-top canopy tours, fishing, afternoon tea and other fine dining options, bowling, off-road tours, and even a declassified bunker tour, just to name a few. If you’re interested in planning your next vacation to West Virginia, this website is a good tool to help you get started. I’d also be happy to answer any questions any of you might have.

Happy travels!

Donna

 

 

Marshall University Half Marathon, West Virginia- 41st state

This is part of a series of posts from my quest to run a half marathon in all 50 states. West Virginia was my 41st state.

I grew up in West Virginia and went on to get my bachelor’s degree at West Virginia University, so I spent the first 22 years of my life in the state. Surprised that I waited all the way until my 41st state to run a half marathon here? If you knew just how hilly mountainous the state is, you’d understand. The entire state lies within the Appalachian Mountains, which means you’re hard-pressed to find an area with enough flat sections to run a half marathon that’s not super-hilly. In my opinion, a half marathon is hard enough without having to run up and down a mountain along the way.

For years I also put off running a half marathon in Colorado because of the elevation. That race was every bit as difficult as I thought it would be, but I did it when I ran the Boulder Rez Half Marathon. After that race, I thought I could easily tackle a half marathon in West Virginia, which should be much easier because the Appalachian Mountains are much smaller than the Rocky Mountains. As I mentioned, I was looking for something fairly flat, at least by West Virginia standards. I also wanted a place fairly easy to get to, that I could drive to within a reasonable time. In my mind, that pretty much left a race in either Charleston or Huntington, since both cities run along rivers and are relatively flat.

Enter the Marshall University Marathon and Half Marathon. Marshall University is in Huntington, a small town of about 45,000 people, in the southern part of the state near Ohio and Kentucky. There is a small airport here, but you’d probably be better off flying into Charleston, the capital, about an hour away, and driving a rental car to Huntington.

A beautiful sunrise over Marshall University stadium

2017 was the 14th year for the marathon, so I thought it should be well-organized and most likely a good match for me. The only wild card was the weather. I remember trick-or-treating in my hometown in West Virginia wearing a heavy winter coat many Halloweens as a kid, and seeing snow in October wasn’t unusual. Since moving to North Carolina many years ago, I’ve become a weather wimp, especially when it comes to cold weather. The week of the race, the weather forecast for Huntington changed from a chance of thunderstorms the morning of the race to rain the day before, to no rain on race day, and back to 61% chance of rain at 8:00 a.m. during the race. So I had no idea what the weather was going to be like during the race.

Packet pickup was offered both Friday and Saturday (no race-day pickup) and was easy and efficient. Half marathoners received a short-sleeve technical shirt and marathoners got that in addition to an Asics jacket (half marathoners could purchase a jacket). People running the 5k got a cotton short-sleeve shirt. There wasn’t really much else in the packet other than a map of Marshall University and written instructions for the race. There was a WV magazine, which I flipped through, but that’s all there was and I was glad really. I always think it’s a waste to get a bunch of junk no one wants anyway in your packet.

Despite the not-so-great weather predictions for the race, what happened in reality was near-perfect racing weather (for me, anyway; probably a bit warm for most other people). The low Saturday night was 57 F, which is 17 degrees warmer than it was this time last year in Huntington. Although it was overcast and looked like it could rain any second, it stayed completely dry the entire morning. Hurray! So I ran the course with temperatures in the low 60’s and overcast.

Marathoners and half marathoners all started together but the crowd thinned out after the first mile

The course was extremely flat by West Virginia standards. When I tried to look at course information on the website, I was unable to get a real feel for the elevation and how many hills there were on the course. When we tried to drive the course the day before the race, we were unable to because of all of the one-way streets and the fact that the course veered onto running/walking paths a few times. In the course description it said there was only one small hill and I was so happy I could have cried when I saw it was indeed a small hill, by anyone’s standards, and there were no more hills on the rest of the course. A flat half marathon in West Virginia is almost unheard of, but somehow I managed to find it.

Volunteers along the course were great and there were plenty of aid stations with water and Gatorade and port-a-johns. There were spurts where there were people cheering on runners and I thought crowd support was pretty good given the race is in a relatively small town. The best parts of the course were where it ran along the river and on the running/walking path in Ritter Park. With the trees in full peak time for autumn foliage, it was beautiful seeing all of the bright red, orange, and yellow leaves everywhere.

My daughter getting handed a football to run the final portion of the 5k with

The finish in the football stadium was awesome. There were volunteers handing out footballs near the end, so you could finish running with a football if you wanted, which I did of course. The footballs were ours to keep too. It’s definitely one of the more unique things I’ve received from a race. The medals were on the small side, but they were individualized for each race, the marathon, half marathon, and 5k. Food at the finish was hot dogs, hamburgers, potato chips, chocolate milk, cookies, bananas, and water. I was nauseous prior to and during the first hour of the race, so all I felt like eating after the race was a banana and I drank some chocolate milk.

The pacer here (in green) kept me on-track for the last couple of miles!

I did have a mishap the morning of the race. When I was filling one of my small water bottles that fit into my waist-pack for races with Nuun, I noticed I seemed to be spilling some of it, then I noticed there was a gash in my bottle. I grabbed the bottle and salvaged what I could by pouring it into my full-size water bottle I had been using for the weekend (and it was empty, fortunately). I decided I would just chug that immediately before the race started then hand the empty bottle off to my husband and run with just one small bottle of Nuun instead of my usual two small bottles. Although there was water and Gatorade on the course, I prefer to run with my own Nuun for races. However, I didn’t even finish the bottle of Nuun I was running with, so it turned out fine in the end. I still have no idea how my bottle got such a large cut in it, though. Fortunately these Nathan bottles are easy to find and replace.

Overall, I loved this race. It helped me remember why I run half marathons and I truly enjoyed myself during this one. At the last two races I ran, in New Jersey and  Utah, I really struggled during those races and didn’t really enjoy them because they felt more like a slog to the finish. I was so glad I chose this race for my one in West Virginia and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun and well-organized marathon or half marathon in West Virginia. I later heard raving reviews from other runners about the full marathon as well, in case any of you are wondering.

My chip time was 2:00:55 (my A goal was 2:05, so I was thrilled with 2:00), and I finished 11th of 66 in my age group. I was the 93rd female out of 577. On a side note, my daughter ran the 5k and finished second in her age group, which is fantastic considering she was in the 19 and under group and she’s only 12! #proudmama

Marshall University Marathon, Half Marathon, and 5k

What’s one of the most unique things you’ve gotten at a race?

Happy running!

Donna

 

 

My Revised Bucket List- More In-Depth this Time

The first bucket list I posted really just skimmed the surface. Basically I wrote about my burning desire to go to Malta, the Canary Islands, and the Republic of Georgia with several other honorable mentions. For the full post, you can go here. Since then, I’ve come up with a more extensive bucket list with specific experiences listed instead of just listing places. I did want to keep it reasonable, though, since I fully plan on actually doing these things eventually!

These are in no particular order, either (that would be nearly-impossible for me to rank them).

Hike in the Caucasus Mountains in the Republic of Georgia

Republic of Georgia. Image credit YourAmazingPlaces.com

Enjoy the parades and music at the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria carnival

Visit the Xwejni Salt Pans in Gozo (Malta)

Climb Mount Fuji

Explore Croatia’s national parks and UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Plitvice Lakes National Park in Croatia, image credit TripAdvisor

Tour the Postojna Cave system and Škocjan Caves in Slovenia

Škocjan Cave in Slovenia; Image credit: samo_wi/Flickr

Visit the South Island in New Zealand and see if I like it better than the North Island

Road trip around the Isle of Skye

Isle of Skye, photo credit unusual places.org

Hike up the trail to Machu Picchu peak

Trek through levadas and look for the Madeiran long-toed pigeon

Madeira levada

Admire the Magellanic penguins in Chilean Patagonia

Magellanic penguins, image credit aquariumofpacific.org

Watch a sunset at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur, California

Sample Uruguayan wine at a bodega

Visit all of the Provencal markets I possibly can in France

Take Harry Potter tours in England

Climb up Lovcen National Park and Njegos Mausoleum in Montenegro

Montenegro, image credit getbybus.com

Enjoy a Guinness in the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland

Play with rescue puppies at Potcake Place in Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands

Rescue puppies in Providenciales, image credit Top13.net

I think that about covers it for me- lots of hiking, mountains with stunning views, good food and drink, beautiful water, and puppies! If you know me, you know this list sums up what I love most in the world (besides running of course, which I can do almost anywhere).

Now to see about actually making some of these places a reality for me!

Happy travels!

Donna

 

 

 

 

 

Last Long Run Before my Next Half Marathon, Running Au Naturel

Lest you were thinking something else by the title, I won’t disappoint you. I don’t mean sans clothing by au naturel. Let me explain.

When I headed out the door to go on my last scheduled long run from my training plan, before I even started running I found out there was something wrong with either my earbuds or my podcast app (or my phone). It sounded like there was a short in my headphones, so after a few minutes of trying various things, I just stashed the earbuds in my running belt and started my run.

Even though I always run my long runs listening to podcasts (but no other runs during the week), I thought it would be fine to not listen to anything except for the sounds of nature around me. Then maybe a mile and a half into my run, my running watch died. Yes, I usually check my battery and storage on my watch the night before I run, but for whatever reason I must not have this time.

I swear this road seemed a lot hillier when I was running up it than it looks here!

OK, I thought. I’ll just go the route I normally run for long runs. I know pretty much where each mile point is. But then I thought, no, I’ll do something a little differently. I’ll just go by time. I still had my phone with me in my armband, so I figured I’d just pull it out every so often and check how long I had been running.

Since the following weekend I would be running in a half marathon in a place I’ve never even done anything other than drive by in a car, I thought it might be good for me to run a route I don’t normally run for this last long run before the race. So, I was without my GPS running watch and without anything to listen to on my phone, hence “au naturel.” I was running the way people used to run, before watches with GPS and before people ran listening to podcasts or music.

I learned a couple of things along the way, too. 1). I learned that time seemed to go by slower than I estimated. I would think to myself, surely ten minutes has passed by now and check the time on my phone, only to find out it had only been 6 or maybe 7 minutes. It made me wonder if maybe I should run listening to music or podcasts during races. Normally I don’t listen to anything during races, but maybe it would make the time go by faster. 2). It’s a pain in the butt to keep pulling out your phone and putting it back into an armband. I don’t know how people stand to do that when they’re running. Maybe you get used to it over time, or maybe they have different armbands than I do.

So now with only a couple of days before my next half marathon, I’m left wondering how I’ll do since I wasn’t able to see my pace for my last run. I did have a fairly decent 12 mile run the weekend before this one. Based on that, I should finish somewhere around 2:05 or so, but who knows. The biggest factor for me is going to be how hilly the course is and how cold it is. Lately I’ve been dealing with some sort of sinus problems I can’t get under control and I’ve been coughing a lot as a result. Cold weather always aggravates any sinus issues I have. I’m pretty sure it’s just allergies so in theory I should feel at least partially better at the race since it’ll be in another state. I guess I’ll find out. Wish me luck for state number 41 in West Virginia!

If you don’t follow me on Insta @runningtotraveltheworld, you probably don’t know I got a puppy! She and my other dog are BFFs!

Also, if you follow this link, you can get $4 off any Nuun 4-pack on Amazon through 11/13/17:  Amazon link for Nuun

Happy running!

Donna