My Trip to Iowa

KAs part of my attempt to turn my blogging life around, I'm coming back to this one now in May 2015 to get it done. Almost a year later but I'm getting it done.

I finished my Iowa marathon on June 28, 2014 in Dubuque. It was a little race, entering its sixth year, called the Run4Troops. The event is a fundraiser for local military families, and includes a relay event along with the marathon. Actually, the relay is more of the big deal, which is one criticism you might launch against this as a marathon. But overall it was a nice race and the kind of intimate marathon experience that I prefer.

But mostly, I picked this one because it fit my schedule and I could drive to it myself. Dubuque is about 7 1/2 hours away if you don't stop, or more like 8 hours if you do, and who doesn't have to stop on an eight-hour drive? For one thing, you at least need to stop for gas!

Never been to Iowa before, let alone Dubuque. From my little bit of research, the main thing it looked like there was to see would be the filming site of the movie, Field of Dreams. Also, I learned that the course would be on a relatively flat limestone trail, but the city itself is quite hilly. I was not going to be surprised if there were hills on the course, but I was a little unprepared for the limestone trail part. Kind of hard to be prepared for that if you never have a chance to train on that surface.

In order not to have the big drive the day before the race on Saturday, I decided to depart on Thursday afternoon and stop in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois (another place I had never visited before). This was just about half way to Dubuque.

And I was quite ready to stop when I got to Champaign, and not really looking forward to getting back in the car for another four hours the next day! But I would be getting an earlier start so it would be a bit easier.

In Champaign, I stayed in a newish Comfort Suites that was right off the highway. It was nice and clean and fresh. I had a microwave and fridge and a little minisuite with a couch in addition to my king size bed. I took the recommendations of the front desk clerks and headed downtown to a craft brewery/restaurant called Destihls. Turned out to be an excellent recommendation. I had a sampler of three beers: their double IPA, a rye IPA, and something else that I don't remember but maybe it was on the dessert side. They were all quite good. I was bummed that they were out of their session ale. I would have bought a six pack of the double IPA but they were not selling them at the restaurant. They said that they are distributed in northern Ohio but not yet in Cincinnati.

Oh yeah, almost forgot about the food. I had a mac and cheese appetizer, and an entree of salmon over a bed of roast vegetables and mashed potatoes. Oh, and chocolate mousse for dessert that was accented by maple bacon coated with cinnamon. I thought the mousse could have been more chocolately but otherwise it was excellent,

Friday morning I was up bright an early. I skipped most of the breakfast bar except for a carton of yogurt, and ate my leftover mac and cheese and the chocolate mousse. That was enough.

The ride from Champaign to Dubuque was uneventful. When I could not find local NPR stations to listen to, I plugged in my Shuffle and listened to NPR podcasts.

In Dubuque, I first headed to the packet pickup, which was at the offices of the Hodge Company. Connie Hodge is the race director, and her family business is logistics and distribution, located in a big office park outside of town. Along the way to the office park, I passed by the Best Western, where Connie had arranged a block of rooms for out-of-town runners. It was basically your generic suburb that could have been anywhere. I was also worried that I would get stuck with a noisy poolside room like I so often do in those convention-type hotels. So I wasn't staying there.

After I picked up my race packet, I headed downtown to find the bed and breakfast where I was staying. The Redstone Inn is located in the historic district of Dubuque, and was actually a couple miles closer to the finish of the race. It was too early to check in, so I parked the car and went out looking for lunch.

Okay I am now back writing on this almost a year later and I am quite saddened to see that this is as far as I got. I wonder how much I can still remember. Okay, I had lunch at a Jimmy John's, no big deal. Then I think I did go over to the B&B to check in. It was a very interesting old residence that was built in 1894 by a man who made his fortune building wagons as a wedding gift to his daughter.

The proprietor of the inn was a very nice Asian gentleman, but as I look over the web site now, it looks like it has changed hands. Anyway, lots of ornate old Victorian-style artifacts and decor. Maybe you can picture it. I chose this place over another B&B primarily because I was certain that I would be able to make myself some pre-race coffee at 4 am, which seemed to be an issue at the other place I looked into.

My room was a couple floors up. It was quite spacious and comfortable, with a private bath and a little mini fridge and microwave. I had no complaints.

After settling into the room, I decided to drive out to the race start so I'd have an idea what I was facing in the morning. It was about four miles away in a park, and I did manage to get lost for awhile but I got there in time to take a little walk and scope out the gravel trail.

For dinner, I found an upscale, trendy  Italian place a short walk from the B&B. Can't remember the name of it now. Had a craft beer (wheat) that was new to me so I could log it on Untappd. I had a pasta dish with a very rich sauce, and these delicious little fried bread bites that seemed to be a specialty of the house.

Race Morning

After my typical battle with the unfamiliar coffee maker, I was ready to head out to the start. Good thing I drove it the day before, because that makes it a lot easier trying to find your way around an unfamiliar city in the dark. I got there just at the right time. That is, I wasn't first and I wasn't last. Parked the car and joined the other runners walking to the buses that would shuttle us up to the start.

I sat next to a young woman whom I don't remember much about now, except that she was a lot faster than me. She reminded me a lot of the woman I sat next to on my ride to Leading Ladies the year before. I think we had a pleasant conversation but a year later I cannot remember it at all.

Our start was out in Dyersville, which is where Field of Dreams is located. It was sort of a small park with a connection to the military of some sort. I remember there was a tank there, and a bunch of us Maniacs climbed on the tank and took some group pictures. There were also a few RWB folks, not surprising since the race was to support military families

We had a bunch of time until the start, so I got on the portapotty line.

Do I remember the weather at all? I think it was basically summer in Iowa. It was warm and a little muggy. Was it raining? No, but there had been rain in the days before so the trail was kind of soggy, and this became an issue for me later in the race.

I think there were some speeches. Was it Connie Hodge's son? Or brother? One of them had been in the military. And I think there was another guy, a disabled vet maybe? Jeez, I really do not remember much of it now.

Because the event also included a relay race, and a lot of those people were slower than I am, I did not immediately fall to the total back of the pack at the beginning of the race.

The Race

What kind of shape was I in? Better than I am today, certainly. I had done a 15 miler two weeks before the race. Other than that, I was not very well trained. I was just going to chug along and finish it somehow.

The course, being an old rail trail, was almost entirely flat. Despite this, the softness of the gravel tended to slow you down. I did manage to hold close to an 11 minute pace for the entire first half. Then I was a little bit slower for miles 14-19, but still sub-12. And then around mile 20 I guess I hit the wall, with some 13s, 14s, and even a 15:39 in mile 23. Part of the problem was the soggy gravel had made my shoes soggy too, and my feet were really squishing around in there. I was surprised that I avoided blisters.

I chatted with a few people over the course of the race. One young guy, fellow Maniac, who had been to Cincinnati but was working in Louisville. I think he was even slower than I was. One old guy who was really struggling whom I managed to outkick at the end, if you can call 2:14 for the last .2 a kick.

The scenery was pretty. Lots of woods and farmland and occasional livestock. There was a nice canopy of trees. Because of the rail trail set-up, they couldn't offer the traditional and regularly spaced aid stations. So what they did instead was have volunteers driving golf carts up and down the trails handing out bottles of ice cold water and sports drink. This worked well and was much appreciated, except occasionally those volunteers went a little crazy on the golf cars and it was a little scary to try to get out of their way, especially later in the race on tired legs.

I finished in a time of 5:13:12, or an 11:57 pace. I was 6 of 8 in my age group, 23 of 38 women and 83 of 121 marathoners overall.

Things were starting to wind down at the finish area by the time I got there, but I didn't mind too much since I didn't have a big reason to linger anyway.

Tourist Time in Dubuque

Saturday after the race was all the time I would have for true touristing in Dubuque. I scrapped the idea of driving back to Dyersville to see Field of Dreams. Just did not want to spend that time in the car, and afraid I would really stiffen up. Instead, I walked around downtown Dubuque. There is a casino on the river, but more interesting to me was the natural history museum.

Can't remember what I did for lunch, but I had a fun time checking out the museum, which I could walk to from the B&B. When I was done with that, I headed back over near the B&B and wandered around the historic district, which had some cute little shops. Were they open? Can't remember. Did I buy anything? Don't think so.

One unforgettable part of my afternoon, however, was my ride up the Fenelon Place Elevator. This was a little wooden box that you rode uphill on in order to get from the downtown area up to the residential neighborhood on the hill above downtown. It was built by an old banker dude back in the day who wanted a quick way to go home for lunch. This funny little diversion was one of my favorite parts of this trip!

So I went up there on the elevator, took a look at the view, and then rode it back downtown, just in time for dinner at a place recommended by the B&B proprietor. I also now can't remember the name of this restaurant. How to describe it? Kind of very 1970s-1980s decor and a menu from around the same era, but that doesn't mean it wasn't good. I had their steak and it was delish.

This is just the salad. It was dark in there and the other pics didn't come out.

I think, if memory serves, that I brought my dessert back to my room? Or did I? Anyway, after dinner there was not much to do but go back to the B&B and hang out. Was there a TV in my room? I don't remember. I know there was wireless internet but I don't remember watching TV.

The next morning, I had the full B&B breakfast. This was some sort of breakfast frittata, which was tasty but nothing too spectacular. One thing that was a little weird was that the B&B was opened to the public for breakfast on Sunday mornings, and I got the impression that was more important to the owner than serving the B&B guests. So I felt a little rushed. But no big deal. Anyway, I was in a hurry to get out on the road so I could make it home in one day, which I did.

Overall, I was very pleased with my selection of Run for the Troops as my Iowa marathon. I felt like the B&B and my quick visit around town gave me a good feeling for the area.

A Couple of Weekend Races

I got out there twice this past weekend. First on Friday night for the annual Kilgour 5k, and then on Sunday morning for the Mt. Airy trail race. I was slow and non-competitive in both races, but I don't think I did any lasting harm. Neither race, however, provided a huge shot of encouragement for my upcoming marathon in Vermont. But they didn't go so badly as to make me want to give up on my marathon plans, either.

Kilgour 5k

I must have written about this one before. It's the little community 5k that supports the elementary school my daughter attended. I try to do it every year. At this point, I am one of the oldest people in attendance and, in fact, I didn't recognize a soul there this year. Last year was better because My sister was in town and Susan joined us and I ran into my former coworker and running friend, David. This year, I didn't even see David.

I like to run up early to the start, grab my number and shirt and run home to drop off the shirt, and then run back to the start as a warm up. Wasn't going to do that this year since I'm in such rough shape but I did it anyway. Just slower. It probably helped. I had some idea that maybe I'd wear a throwaway shirt to the start and then switch to the race shirt, but I'm glad I didn't because the race shirt seems hot. And it was a very warm and humid evening.

I found a bench to sit on while I waited. We started pretty much on time. I tried to line up a little further back then usual and resolved not to elbow anybody out of the way. The challenge of the first half mile is to avoid getting tripped up by any of the erratic young kids alternately sprinting and stopping dead in front of you. And sometimes they just veer sideways all of a sudden.

As we ran up,the first hill, I felt comfortable with my positioning. I even managed to pass a couple of younger and fitter looking women. Mile one went by in 10:27. That's about how it goes these days for me.

I slowed for just a few seconds at the water stop. No need for a walking break when I am going so slow. A little boy and girl were just ahead of me. As we approached the intersection of Uright and Ault View, the boy told the girl that the "short cut" was coming up. Yes, if you turn off down Uright you can cut off at least a tenth of a mile.

The little girl said "Isn't that cheating?" And I told them that it absolutely was cheating, and managed to shame them into not taking the short cut.

There are several places on the course where it is possible to cheat, and it pains me to know that the parents are not doing a better job of keeping the kids on the honest path.

I waved to Tommy when I saw him at the trail head. And then I began climbing the hill into the park. I was passing some women pushing huge running strollers, and some little tiny kids accompanied by parents who were trying to encourage them while giving all kinds of bad advice.

The 2 mile mark is in the middle of the big uphill. My time was 10:33, so not much slower, although this was the mile that also contained the most downhill so it was a bit dispiriting to see this time on my watch.

There's one more nice downhill stretch before the uphill finish in front of the school. In this part I was running alongside a little girl and her dad. She was struggling and he was encouraging her. I told her she was doing a good job, and ultimately let her kick ahead of me at the end, because in a race this slow I am not going to shame myself by tring to outlook a kid for no reason. The third mile took me 11:26. Jeez. And then I tried to kick for the last .1 and that took 59 seconds. It's really horrifying.

I grabbed a cup of water from the table after they cut off my timing chip, and immediately started walking home. I didn't want to linger, in case I stiffened up so much that I couldn't get home under my old power. And my bags of frozen peas and glass of chocolate milk awaited me.

My final time was 33:26, perhaps a new PW at this event. I was 2 of 4 in the age group. And 146 of 358 runners overall. Five minutes slower than last year! Although, in addition to my injury I was not helped by the late lunch (3 pm) of wild rice and asparagus with a poahed egg!

My. Airy trail race

Susan joined me for this one. We got there a little earlier than usual, so I got my closest parking sport ever, almost inside the oval.

It was hot and humid already by the time our 5.4 mile race began at 9:15. Susan is trying to make "the Dirtiest Dozen" and she is a good bit faster than me since my recent injury, so she lined up closer to the front while I started from the back.

The back was where I belonged. I passed a couple of people on the out and back before we hit the trail, and then basically held my position the rest of the way. I had to step aside for a few folks and got passed by a couple others (not counting the 3 guys leading the ten mile race who passed me near the end).

It was a little slippery in parts due to some recent rain, but I managed to avoid any mishaps. My foot hurt really the whole way but I survived. Trail running is hard!

I ran much of the second half in front of a guy who was also doing the Rugged Red, and he was telling me how hard that race was. But I just kept thinking, well no wonder it was hard for you, dude, if you're back here with me in slowpoke land. I' hoping that I'll be I better shape by then, but who knows.

I carried my phone, so I got a little audible alert when Susan finished, and I could tell she she ran a good time. I still had a ways to go. When I thought we had a half mile left I asked the guy how much farther he thought it was and he said it was more like 2k😓.

I left the guy behind on the last climb out of the woods. In the last gassy section, I saw a woman ahead of me who was walking, and by keeping my steady pace I managed to pass her. So that was something. Then when I got to the last little uphill to the finish I kicked hard so she wouldn't pass me, although I think she was quite a bit back and not trying.

My time was 1:13:35, and I was 44 of 57 women and 104 of 124 runners overall. Susan finished around 1:02, which would have been a solid placement back in the day but these races seem to have grown in popularity so she's kind of on the bubble. She actually fell down 4 times during the race, so clearly she needs to get better shoes. She might have been a couple minutes faster without the falls, I bet.