We had 48 hours. Make a round trip to Atlanta, Georgia, from DFW, in a Sportage. Retrieve a very specific desk from IKEA, and make it back in one piece. Optionally, visit some new cities and squeeze in exercise while driving over 1600 miles.
Expanding on this a bit … after yearly relocations for the past several years, accompanied by downsizing in line with The More of Less, one of our party had finally hit the point where furniture consolidation dictated getting rid of the two desk combination from Container Store and IKEA. To replace the work desk and the music desk with one piece of furniture was going to require some inventive squeezing, and after a long search, IKEA won again with … FREDDE.
The summer of 2020 was a chaotic time. The pandemic was still in full force, coming back with another wave after declining in cases for a month or so. Business were open to varying degrees, with varying restrictions, tending on the more lenient side in our part of the country. We had settled into a comfortable routine of working from home, cooking from home, exercising from home, entertaining adult and teenage children at home … the list goes on. July was the perfect time for a break from all that. Yes, travel would still present challenges, given the lack of available dining opportunities, but it was also an excellent time for exploring the world on a socially distanced agenda, which is our preference anyway.
Adjusting from the abuse of attempting half-marathons in remote places, we dialed our expectations down to the 10K distance. After an unsuccessful attempt at this in Seattle (run cancelled by … rain? Seriously …) – we took advantage of a long weekend to revisit and further explore the great Southwest. New turf for one of us, historical relevance for another – we took advantage of a week of work to simplify travel, and had the benefit of a long weekend for wandering around Arizona. Sedona became the focus after one of us spotted a link for the Sedona Red Rock Rumble – with a 5-mile option, it fit in our goals and looked like a nice base for the weekend.
In 2018 we were working on a long-term goal of completing a half marathon in all 50 states. This was an ambitious goal for two average, middle-aged runners, but we had started off well, having already accomplished Texas, Michigan and Nevada by the beginning of the summer. When we booked a trip to Ithaca, we knew this didn’t really fit the mission as we’d already run a half marathon here two years prior. Ithaca is a beautiful little college town tucked into upstate New York on the south end of Cayuga Lake surrounded by trees and well-known for its waterfalls and dramatic gorges.
As it was probably our favorite course to date, we determined that duplicating a state was worth the money and time. Excited and planning ahead, we had booked flights, a place to stay, reserved a car, and registered for the race several months prior to the run, expecting we’d be in prime condition to tackle the route again. The best laid plans …
On the second weekend in May, a trip to Slaton, Texas, was in order. Has anyone ever said that? Why Slaton? A race (or for us, a run / jog), of course. The West Texas Running Club organized a run in Horseshoe Bend Canyon, a hole in the ground southeast of Lubbock. We signed up for the 11 mile distance, thinking that wouldn’t be too difficult after running a few half marathons earlier in the year. As a bonus, an event in West Texas would allow for a side trip to visit with a college student in Lubbock. The best laid plans …
It was the year of the half marathons. That was the plan anyway. We had made progress – Austin in February, Michigan in April and now it was time to accomplish Nevada. Conveniently, a work trip at the end of May allowed us to book a flight a few days prior, and we were able to register for the Mt. Charleston half, a race organized by a group called Revel. This worked out well, since Mt. Charleston was on our hiking bucket list. Having spent some time in exploring Red Rocks about nine months ago, we were familiar with the area.
In 2018, we decided we needed some specific goals oriented around physical activity. The year before had been chaotic, with work and kid schedules. Anticipating a more routine year ahead, we decided it was time for stability. Also, aging bodies needed something to offset excessive food and alcohol. Simple math – more (many more) calories need to be burned to compensate for diets like ours. Someone recommended the Austin Marathon – the half would be 13.1 miles of hills, starting in the city, wandering around the river, and finishing up downtown. Easy enough, said the sacrificial victims …
More like, running in hell, or running uphill in hell, or .. you get the idea. After multiple rounds of the 13.1 mile run (Dallas, Cowtown, LSRC Spring Half), on our way to the Gorges Half, we met Jack the bartender in Scranton, PA. After describing our aspirations to run up big hills in Ithaca, Jack suggested we should consider the Steamtown Marathon, an evidently well-known event that lets people qualify for the Boston Marathon by providing a 26.2 mile downhill event with over 1000 feet of elevation drop on the course. For those of you who don’t run, 26.2 miles is a looooong way, and going downhill the entire distance makes a lot of difference in how fast you can get through that. Probably a combination of exhaustion, drinks, and lack of common sense had us agreeing that we would be back for Steamtown in 2016.
Continuing a theme of turning the back or front end of work trips into productive exercise time, and with a week in NYC coinciding with the weekend for the Gorges Half Marathon in Ithaca, it was time for another very busy weekend. The fact that Ithaca is the home of Cornell University, of which at least one family member is an alumni, just added context. Running a half marathon for which we were minimally prepared was less a concern than seeing upstate New York – it’s on.
So … we appear to be committed to long, painful runs that result in exhaustion, days of soreness, and spending lots of money for a t-shirt, a big clunky medal, and a few pictures we manage to catch along the way. Figuring that we’ve seen and pounded enough miles of pavement, we decided to branch out. Trail runs seem to happen on more frequently on Sundays which makes schedules a bit easier, but to offset that, it’s always a good idea to pick one that is at least 5 hours away – convenience is not a watchword we adhere to. Hence, the LSRC (Lone Star Runner’s Club) Palo Duro Canyon Spring Half – 13-point-something miles in the bottom of Palo Duro Canyon State Park. The club also hosts the Palo Duro Trail Run in the fall each year, but getting both of us there on a Saturday has proved tough. One of us walked the 20K (12.2 miles or so) two years ago, and ran (well, jogged) it last fall. While not a walk in the park (sound effect here for bad pun), it seemed like a do-able half marathon. Ummm, yeah.
graveyardsandghosttowns 