Alan's Planes Trains and Automobiles Party

Okay, so I realize this is extremely late.  Alan's 2nd birthday party was in August, and it's just now December when I'm posting about it.  But better late than never, right?  So here it goes...

Alan loves cars, trucks, Thomas the train, and pretty much anything like that, so I decided his theme for this year would be Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  We had the party at our house, and only invited family and a few close friends with kids.

The invitations were boarding passes and were printed onto card stock paper.

I split the house into the three theme rooms.

The Plane Room
We had one room for Planes, which was the playroom where the craft was set up.

The decorations for the Plane room consisted of an "airport" with a runway and a helicopter landing pad.

The craft was an airplane magnets made out of clothes pins and Popsicle sticks.  The kids could decorate it with glitter glue.

The Train Room

The train room was the living room. I set up train tracks leading up to the living room using electrical tape.  I purchased the railroad crossing sign off amazon to add to the post to the stairs.

Inside the train room, I had a train set on the coffee table for the kids to play with.  This was also the room where we opened presents.

The presents were initially dropped off at the Cargo area in the plane room.

The Automobile Room

The automobile room was the kitchen.  On the kitchen floor, I set up several play spots with various different automobile scenes using the toys Alan already had.

 We had a construction zone, a school zone, a Monster truck rally, a race track, and a parking garage.  I also purchased traffic signs from Amazon to hang around the room.

The room was a hit with the kids, as they played with all of Alan's toys.

Food and Cake
The food and cake also followed the theme.  The cake was make out of banana bread and was shaped like a train.

For food, we also had Monster Truck Tires (chocolate donuts),

Steering wheels (bagel halves),

Lumps of Coal (cocoa krispie treats),

Traffic lights (fruit skewers with strawberries, pineapples, and green grapes),

and Gasoline to drink (apple juice - don't worry!  The gas can was brand new!)

I set the table up like a road in the dining room.  We also had blueberry muffins shaped like cars that "drove" along the road.

Activities
For activities we had the craft (airplane magnets above), toys set up in the various different theme rooms, and a car kiddie pool with a slide set up outside on the deck.

Finally, I set up a baggage claim carousel with the party favor bags on the kitchen table.

Alan's party was a big success.  You can see the video of everyone singing Happy Birthday here.

Birthday boy opening presents

Marathon #12 - Texas

Before I begin, I just want to say I Love Texas!  Texas has to be my favorite state.  Along with the fact that it has great weather and plenty of big cities, there is such a sense of pride in being a Texan.  I don't feel like any other state is that proud of who they are as Texas is.  Not to mention the fact that there are a lot of great people in Texas that I would love to live closer to.  The dancing is awesome in Houston, San Antonio, and Austin (Austin is based on what I've heard, not experienced).  There are so many great places to run.  I would move there in a heartbeat.

So when my co-worker, Keith, said he was doing the Dallas marathon, I was in.  He had done one marathon before, and wanted to improve his finishing time, so I told him I'd run with him and try to pace him.  And when I found out I was gong to be flying there anyway for work the week before, and had some extra vacation to burn, I decided to take my time enjoying the great state of Texas while I was there.

The Race:  Dallas Marathon (formally White Rock Marathon), Dallas, TX, December 9, 2012

My Training Plan:  I only had a month to train for Dallas, since I had just completed the Manchester City marathon on November 4th.  Since I was running with Keith, I decided to use his training plan.  He got his training plan out of a book, and sent the mileage to me.  My longest run was a 22 miler three weeks before the race.

Weather:  The weather was warm, for sure.  But I really like warm weather, so it didn't bother me too much.  The start of the race was about 64 degrees, and it got up to about 70 during the run.  By the end of the race, however, the temperature was dropping as a cold front moved through that afternoon.  It was probably about 50 when we finished, and dropping.  (It actually snowed a little bit that night after the cold front came through!)

Running Attire:  I started out in shorts and the Liz shirt I wore during the Manchester City marathon.  I also wore my signature pink Nike visor and iFitness belt.  After about mile 3, I tucked my shirt up into my bra, so my midsection was exposed.  In doing that, I was able to keep cool enough to be comfortable throughout the race.

Who I ran with:  As I said before, I ran with Keith the entire way.  I also met several people along the way: Evan who was originally from Detroit, but had just moved down to the Dallas area for work and was running his first marathon; Darren who worked for the Dallas Parks and Rec and had run several marathons but hated running; Ed who was also running his first marathon and was from somewhere close to Fort Worth; John, a guy who did IT architecture for a small company in the Dallas area.  Most everyone I talked to was fairly local.  I didn't run with any of them for long, but it was fun to hear the stories of the runners around us.

The Course:  The course was a new course this year.  Previously, I believe it was ran mostly around White Rock Lake (thus the name White Rock Marathon).  However, this year they changed the course to start and finish downtown.  I have mixed feelings about the course.  I believe that the first few miles were extremely crowded, and the roads were a little too narrow for the crowd.  It would have been much better had they either started the half marathon at a different time, or from a different location.

I would describe the course as having rolling hills.  Most of the hills were gradual, but long.  The elevation change wasn't drastic, as the elevation chart shows, with only about 160 feet difference between the lowest and highest points.

There were some beautiful points along the way.  At one point, when crossing over the bridge with the big white arch, you could see the city in the background with the bridge and the Texas state flag in the foreground.  It would have been a beautiful picture had I gotten my phone out to take it.  There were also some beautiful parts along the lake and some very nice neighborhoods that we went through as well.

Organization:  The organization of the race was good.  There were plenty of emails that went out to tell you about the event and the expo.  They alerted the runners about all the possible parking lots near both the start and finish.  The did not have a map of the course that showed where the water stops were in the bib packet though, which was disappointing.  It was easy enough to look it up online, but it would have been nice to have the map in front of me when I was getting everything ready the night before.

The expo was held in the convention center and was big enough - with plenty of vendors (although not a lot of free giveaways) - and the lines for the bibs were short and quick.  I did not, however, like that they made you go to one line for the bib and another line at the other end of the expo for a shirt.

Along the course, there were not enough volunteers.  There were plenty of water stops where there were no cups filled and volunteers were clamoring to keep up with the runners, particularly during the first part of the race when both the marathon and half marathon runners were on the same course.  I saw one stop where a runner just grabbed a cup and dipped it into the Gatorade bucket.  With temperatures in the 60s and 70s, having limited water and Gatorade supply is not acceptable to me.

One of the good things, though, was the number of porta potties along the course.  There were probably five at each water stop, so the lines were minimal along the course.

Swag:  This race was a first for me in that they had two shirts:  a regular race shirt that you got at the expo, which was a regular cotton long-sleeved shirt, and a finisher shirt that you got after you finished the race, which was the actual dri-fit long-sleeved shirt.  I'll probably use the cotton race shirt as a throw-away shirt at another race in the future.  They of course had a medal as well for all finishers.  Other than the two shirts and the medal, there wasn't anything fun or exciting in the swag category.

Starting Line:  The starting line was set up with estimated pace signs along the side so you could, theoretically, line up by the people who were going the same pace as you.  However, the corrals were open from the back, so it was very difficult to make your way up to your desired pace sign.  In addition, as advertised, there were porta potties inside the corrals.  In corral A, the porta potties were along a side street, so the lines were obvious.  In corral B, however, they were just lined up along the side of the main road, so you couldn't tell who was in line for the porta potty and who was just in the corral waiting for the race to start.  You also had people walking right in front of the porta potties trying to get up to their estimated pace sign, so when you exited them, you were knocking people over with the door - or you couldn't get out at all because of the crowd.  Again, I say, the half marathoners should have either started at a different time or from a different place.  This would have alleviated some of the congestion.

Fans:  Surprisingly, I thought the fans were actually better once the half marathon split off than at the beginning.  Perhaps this was because the first few miles were in a sort of shady part of town, and no one wanted to stand around and watch the race from there.  I saw several groups of people who went from place to place cheering on the runners.  It wasn't like I imagine NYC would be with fans constantly lining the course and cheering, but there were enough fans in the last six miles of the race to motivate you to keep on going.

Finish Line:  The finish line may be my biggest disappointment of the race.  They directed you into the convention center to get your shirt and food.  You had to go up to the second level to get to the area with the shirts, beer, and food.  The escalator was broken, so there was a huge line of people waiting for a slow elevator to go up to the second level.  We ended up taking the stairs, but I can see how that would be difficult for someone who just ran 26.2 miles to try to climb up stairs.

Once we got into the convention center hall, the food left much to be desired.  They had bananas, pretzels, unpeeled oranges, and chocolate milk (which I loved).  Other than the chocolate milk, which were in small cartons, the only hydration was water and Gatorade in small paper cups.  There wasn't anything you could take with you.  No bottled water.  No bottled Gatorade.  They did have Miller 64 beer in cans, one per runner, but I am not a big fan of drinking beer and getting more dehydrated after running a marathon.

Results:  We were shooting for 4:30 and were on track the first half of the race.  Unfortunately, toward the end, our pace slowed.  We ended up finishing in 4:56:20 - still beating 5 hours, but behind our desired finish time.

How I felt:  I'll have to admit, I felt great throughout the entire race.  Granted, I ran slower than I usually run, but I felt like I could have kept on going after we were done.  Who knows, maybe someday I can do a 50k or 50 miler...if I run slower the entire way.

Travel/Tourism:  Like I said before, I took some vacation time and saw some of Texas that I had never seen before.  It was an amazing vacation, one of my favorite for sure!  I flew into DFW airport on Monday morning, and worked from our Dallas office on Monday and Tuesday.  While there, I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Irving, which is a newer hotel and is pretty nice.  It's not as nice as the Omni (which I have stayed in before), but still nice enough to enjoy my stay.

Tuesday-Wednesday - Waco, TX
On Tuesday evening after work, I drove the hour and a forty-five minutes to Waco, TX.  I stayed in the Fairfield Inn, which is another hotel that is good value for the money.  While in Waco on Wednesday, I drove to Baylor and ran through campus, along a river, through a park to the top of a mountain (they call Lovers Leap), and back.  It was a very nice 15-miler.  After cleaning up and checking out, I went to Rudy's Bar-B-Q for lunch before heading south.  It was delicious!  The meat was great, the creamed corn was good, and the banana pudding was delicious too.  I would highly recommend this place, which looks to be somewhat of a chain in the Texas area, but I had never heard of before.

Wednesday - Austin, TX
I drove another hour and a half to Austin.  Austin was just a stop along the way.  I parked downtown and toured the Texas state capital.  I learned so much about the history of Texas from doing that.  After the tour, I headed to The Salt Lick restaurant southwest of Austin.  I had heard a lot of good things about the restaurant, and was a little disappointed.  The meat was good and the sandwich was huge, but the beans and potato salad were not tasty at all.  I ended up leaving so much food on my plate that I felt guilty.

Wednesday night - San Antonio, TX
From there, I headed south to San Antonio.  After checking in at the Hampton Inn near the Forum, I changed and went to Semeneya Ballroom to go swing dancing.  The ballroom is pretty big and the dancers are good.  It was a fun night.

Thursday - San Antonio, TX
The next day, I found an 8-mile out-and-back run from downtown to the San Antonio zoo.  After running the four miles to the zoo, I walked around the zoo for a couple of hours before running back downtown.  After showering I came back to the Riverwalk where I took a riverboat cruise at night, learning even more about the history of San Antonio.  I ate at a nice Italian restaurant along the Riverwalk called Paesano's.  I got the baked eggplant, and it was delicious!  The riverboat cruise also had a coupon on the back of the ticket for a free dessert with the purchase of an entree, so I got these little balls of ice cream covered in chocolate and drizzled with caramel.  The entire meal was amazing!

The Riverwalk at night with the riverboats

The Alamo at night

Friday - San Antonio, TX
On Friday, I got up and went for a 5-mile run mostly along the Riverwalk.  The run was designed to be a tour of the historic points of the downtown/Riverwalk area.  I passed by an old U.S. Arsenal, a flour mill built in the Civil War era that is still family owned and operated by the same family, a neighborhood with historic houses, the Alamo, the Tower of the Americas (which I stopped to go to the top), and of course the Riverwalk area. Then I toured the Alamo before I went back to the hotel to change.  After showering, I went back downtown to take some pictures around the Riverwalk before dark.

Running on the Riverwalk

The Riverwalk during the day

Once it got dark, I headed up toward the North Star Mall area for dinner and to wait until dancing at Luna started.  A band called PM Soul was playing at a CD release party at Luna.  One of my favorite Texas leads, Michael Williams, who I had met when I had a work project in Houston for six months back in 2006, was there.  I also danced with a couple of the leads I had met on Wednesday night at Sameneya, but a majority of the night was spent with Michael, who has got to be one of the best blues dancers I know - well actually one of the best dancers, in general, that I know.  I didn't want the night to end!

Unfortunately, I had to get up really early on Saturday so that I could drive the four hours back to Dallas and meet Keith for the marathon expo.  So four hours of driving and a 5-hour energy later, I was back in Dallas.  I went to the expo and spent the night at Keith's house to get ready for the marathon.  After the marathon on Sunday, I flew back to Atlanta, and it was back to reality.

Marathon #11 - New Hampshire

Due to the NYC marathon tragedy, New Hampshire became the 11th state on my 50 state journey.

The Race:  Manchester City Marathon, Manchester, NH, November 4, 2012

My Training Plan:  I knew that I was going to be running with Mimi on this race, but I also knew that she runs a pretty fast half marathon.  I remembered that the end of the race I had run with Stephanie didn't go so well, so I decided I better continue to do speed work.  The Quad Cities had been just a month and a half before this race, so I just tried to run all of my shorter runs pretty fast leading up to this race.

Weather:  It was cold and windy.  The start temperature was 41 degrees, with wind gusts making it feel like it was in the 30s.  The finish wasn't much warmer, at only 47 degrees.  It was sunny, so when the wind wasn't blowing, it was actually quite nice.  But the wind could get pretty brutal.

Running Attire:  Before this race, Mimi and I had purchased short-sleeved technical shirts from MyRaceRagz.com with our name on the front and a Bible verse on the back.  We did this primarily because of the fans at the NYC marathon, which I have heard are packing the entire course.  Since it was cold, I wore a long-sleeved technical shirt under my LIZ shirt and my black running tights.  I also had my signature pink Nike visor, some purple throw-away gloves, and my iFitness running belt to carry my phone and gels.

Who I ran with:  This was Mimi's first marathon, so I ran with her to help her pace and make it to the finish line.  Mimi had a very good base leading up to the race, as she frequently runs half marathons, and also trained for the Myrtle Beach marathon back in 2010 that had been cancelled due to snow.  She's also pretty fast at the half marathon distance, so I knew that she would have a good time for her first marathon.

Along the way, we met a few different people and ran with them for several miles, most notably David from Boston and Michael from Connecticut.  Around mile 15, we met David.  We ran with him, off and on, until mile 19 when he took off.  At mile 21, we met Michael and ran with him through mile 24.

The Course:  I felt that the course was very scenic.  It had rolling hills, but they were not unbearable.  There were three different parts on the route where we ran on trails, so there was a nice mix of terrain.  Two of the trails were packed gravel.  The second trail had a lot of pine cones that I had to avoid so I wouldn't roll my ankles, but the first trail was clear and nicely marked.  The third trail, toward the end, was a paved bike trail.  The course ran past a lake (maybe two...or maybe the same lake twice) and crossed the river several times.  Some of the fall colors were still out, making the hills around the course very beautiful.  It also went through some nice residential areas.

Toward the end of the race, the course became a little confusing.  Of course, by this time the runners were so spread out that we didn't have people to follow.  There were volunteers at various spots to make sure we went the right way, and parts of the course were marked on the roads/parking lots that we ran through, but it was a little confusing.  At one point, we rounded a corner and I had no idea what side of the street we were supposed to be on.  Perhaps more volunteers directing runners toward the end would have been helpful.

The course was also not closed to traffic.  There was one time that a car pulled onto the street, almost hitting a runner, drove on the wrong side of the street (albeit slowly) and had to avoid traffic heading toward them in the same lane.  There were also a few times where we had to cross busy streets.  The police did a nice job of directing traffic when we crossed.

Organization:  I was extremely pleased with the organization for this race!  I emailed the race director middle of the week before the race to ask if they had any numbers left.  She returned my email promptly with the status of the race.  They also kept the online registration open longer to accommodate the NYC runners.  I heard that this was the first year that the 2,000 runner limit was met and exceeded, yet they were able to accommodate the field.  They were even adding additional runners at the expo.

The expo was an average size for a smaller race.  There were about 20 vendors, most of which had free goodies to give to the runners.  The packet pickup was smooth and easy.  The location of the expo was convenient (at the host hotel) with plenty of parking, although the parking did cost $5.25.  There were also plenty of places to grab lunch around the expo, since it was right downtown.

The water stops were adequate.  They served both water and lemon-lime Gatorade at every stop.  The volunteers were wonderful.  I even had one volunteer run to catch up with me when I passed the water by mistake.  There were only 2 GU stops, and they ran out of the fruit flavored gels at the second stop.  The one suggestion I would make is to try to add more water stops between mile 20 and 26.  The water stops were every other mile, and they really need to be every mile at that point in the race.

There was only one porta potty at each porta potty stop (which was about every other mile opposite of the water stops).  Often there were lines for the porta potties, so perhaps having two per stop would be better.

I believe they did run out of medals and Mylar blankets for the slower runners, mainly because they hadn't counted on the influx of runners from the NYC marathon cancellation, but they did send out messages that the medals would be sent to participants who did not receive them.

Swag:  The long-sleeved technical shirts were very simple, but they had both men's and women's sizes.  The medals were simple, but adequate.  One of the best freebies were the free digital race pictures.  Every picture that was taken of the race was free to download by the participants. 

I don't know if I should include this as swag or not, because it had the sponsor's logo instead of the race logo, but they gave cowbells so the participant's support group would have something to cheer with.  They also gave mini footballs with the sponsor logo, which was nice to take home to my son (even though he has probably a dozen like it).

Starting Line:  The starting line was very close to the race hotel, so runners were able to lounge around the lobby area before the race to stay warm.  Even though we didn't stay at the hotel, we were able to sit in the lobby to wait.  Runners could also use the nicer bathrooms at the hotel and expo center instead of having to use porta potties before the race.

The starting line was very crowded, and it was difficult to figure out where to line up.  There were no pacers or signs that might help guide runners to an expected finish time pace.  A suggestion for next year would be to put up signs of expected finish times along the side of the start shoot to help the runners figure out where to line up.  This may decrease the amount of weaving that has to be done in the narrow road at the start of the race.

Fans:  There were several spots along the course where the fans were great.  Because there was a relay component to the race in addition to the half and full marathons, there were exchanges along the course where there were a lot of people cheering for the runners (whether their own relay team or just the runners in general).  The race went through downtown three times (start, around mile 19, and at the finish), so the fans could hang around downtown and see their runners three times.  Outside of downtown or the relay exchange areas, the fans were typical small-race fans:  few and far between.

Both Mimi and I had our shirts with our names on the front, so there were a lot of fans that cheered for us by name.  So many, in fact, that we got several comments from other runners.  One girl turned around after hearing our name for the second or third time, and said "You DO have your names on your shirts!"  When we first met David along the run (before he saw our shirts), he asked us how everyone knew us and said that he had thought we were some famous people from around town or something.  It was actually quite motivating, and I would recommend to everyone to do the same, especially if you are running your first marathon or are trying to set a new PR.

Our personal fan this trip was my brother, Matt.  He met us at around mile 19, and again at the finish.  He handed Mimi some gummies that she had bought the day before at the expo (which were delicious!).  He videoed us running toward him and also took pictures at the end.  He waited around in the cold for us as we cooled down and got massages, and he was there to drive us back to the hotel after the finish.  What a trooper!

Finish Line:  At the finish line, they had our Mylar blankets and medals.  They also had water, soup (chili and chicken rice), apples, rolls, hot chocolate, and coffee.  There were no bananas or bagels, which I thought was fine.  One of the complaints I would have is that it seemed like there were spectators that were taking the food, which left less for the runners.  Perhaps putting the food in an area where only the runners could get to it would be better.

They had a band playing and a bunch of porta potties.  They also had a tent set up for massages.  There were two massage schools that offered their services to the runners.  You had to sign up, and there was a little bit of a wait.

Results:  Our official finish time was 4:08:38.  This is amazing for Mimi's first marathon! [Great job, girl!!]

How I felt:  I actually felt really good throughout the entire race with the exception of my dreaded mile 25.  Once we got to that point, the course was getting a little confusing, and it was difficult to focus.  In addition, the wind picked up along the river, making it cold.  At about mile 25.5 there was a monster hill to get back up from the river to downtown, which was pretty tough.  How do races always find a huge hill right at the end??  But toward the end, I was able to increase my speed and encourage Mimi to give it all we had to the finish line.  And, while I was probably limping a little afterwards, I really did feel good.

Travel/Tourism:  Manchester is a quiet little town south of New Hampshire's capital.  We flew direct from Atlanta into Manchester's airport, rented a car, and drove the 2 miles or so to the Holiday Inn Express Manchester Airport.

The hotel was wonderful.  It smelled and looked new (or at least recently renovated).  There was a nice fireplace and sitting area where we lounged to watch the football game on Saturday.  The parking was free, and we never had a problem finding a space, even though the hotel was full on Saturday night.  They offer free breakfast, including some hot items like bacon, sausage, biscuits, cinnamon rolls, and (make-your-own) pancakes.  They also accommodated the runners for an early breakfast on race day.  They had free wifi, comfortable beds (with no nasty comforter that doesn't get washed), and big towels.  The shampoo and conditioner were separate, and not that "conditioning shampoo" you find at some hotels.  The staff was very friendly, although some of them didn't seem to get out much and didn't have a lot of suggestions of things to do.  It was overall a great place to stay!

While in Manchester, we ate dinner at Cactus Jacks (CJ's) and lunch at Portland Pie Company in downtown.  Both meals were delicious, especially the New England clam chowder at the Portland Pie Company.  We also stopped by the cupcake shop downtown and managed to get two of the few last cupcakes of the day before they closed.  We also got to stop at my favorite northern chain restaurant, Friendly's, for some ice cream before leaving on Monday.  All so worth it!

After the race on Sunday, we drove the 45-50 minutes to Boston, MA.  After parking at the Prudential Center, we walked north to North End to eat dinner at Mamma Maria's.  It was delicious!  The restaurant was a few doors down from Paul Revere's house on the Freedom Trail.  We followed the Freedom Trail south as far as it went before making our way back to the Prudential Center. 

Once there, we went to the Top of the Hub for dessert and drinks.  The view of Boston is amazing from the Top of the Hub.  They had a delicious Boston cream pie and chocolate cherry martini.  They even wrote "Congratulations!" in chocolate on Mimi's chocolate cake when they found out we were celebrating the completion of her first marathon.

Monday before flying back home, we visited Massage Heights in Manchester for sports massages for the girls and a Swedish massage for Matt.  They did an excellent job of working out any remaining kinks. 

After all the walking along the Freedom Trail Sunday evening and the massage Monday morning, I could barely tell I had even run a marathon.  Dallas, here I come!

The 2012 NYC Marathon tragedy

My sister-in-law Mimi's first marathon was supposed to be Myrtle Beach in 2010. That race was cancelled due to a massive snowstorm - the first time Myrtle Beach had snow in over 10 years. After taking time off to have Alan, we decided to try it again and signed up for the New York City marathon's lottery. As luck would have it, we both got picked in the lottery, so we made the plans to spend a long weekend in the Big Apple.


Monday, October 29th, Hurricane Sandy made landfall just south of New York City, causing massive flooding, power outages, fires, and loss of life in the area. NYC was a disaster, but the race was still set to go on. The airport was flooded, the subway was flooded, the tunnel onto Long Island was flooded. At that point we were watching the news and checking the race site frequently. We still planned on running the race, but Mimi's second attempt to run her first marathon seemed to be in jeopardy.

On Tuesday, things still weren't looking too good in NYC. Although the race director and NY Road Runners were working diligently to recover and prepare for the race, I was skeptical. Using marathonguide.com, I looked up all the marathons that were being held the weekend of November 3-4th. I found two that were viable options: Manchester City marathon in New Hampshire and the Midsouth marathon in Arkansas. I emailed the race director of the Manchester City race to see how they had fared the storm and to see if registration would be extended. The race director emailed back that there were 150 numbers left and that they would keep registration open until it was full.

Wednesday, October 31st, at about 9pm, I got an email from Hotels.com (where we had booked the Salisbury Hotel in NYC for the race) saying that there was a problem with our reservation and to call them immediately. When I called, they said that the hotel was temporarily closed due to the storm and that they could rebook us in the closest hotel, which was in Connecticut. Mimi and I consulted each other and began to look at our alternatives.

That night Mimi did some research on the two races (Arkansas and New Hampshire) and liked the New Hampshire race better. She called Delta to see if we could change our flights without penalty and called some of the race hotels to see if they had any availability.

Thursday morning, November 1, despite the NYC mayor's announcement that the race would go on, we both signed up for the New Hampshire race and deferred our NYC marathon registration until 2013. Mimi booked the Holiday Inn Express in Manchester, which still had availability at the time. I called Delta and changed my flight to arrive in Manchester, NH instead of Laguardia. Delta was able to give me an even exchange on the ticket due to the storm circumstances. We were set to run Manchester City marathon in New Hampshire.

Friday, November 2, 2012, NYC was still a disaster.  At least a million and a half still did not have power.  Rescuers were still finding bodies close to where the start of the race and the first few miles were to be run.  Protests were being organized to boo runners.

Late Friday afternoon, due to a major controversy over continuing to hold the race, the NY Road Runners announced that the NYC marathon was cancelled. Many of the runners who had already traveled far to run the race, changed last minute to the Manchester City marathon, just as we had.  Others stayed to try to help with relief efforts, although that was loosely organized.  And still some met in Central Park to run anyway.

To provide a different perspective than the traditional media, Marathonguide.com posted this article about the race cancellation:

Social Media/Controversy Cancels the NYC Marathon


It was a tragedy - and we don't mean "SuperStorm" Sandy, we mean that politics and Social Media caused the cancellation of the 2012 New York City Marathon. We live in New York and can report - as the mayor's office stated in their cancellation statement - that holding the NYC Marathon would have caused no hardship to the storm cleanup efforts. Somehow, however, the decision to cancel was made without concern for the damage to numerous businesses, athletes, city revenue, individuals and the sport - ouch. While, with no "controversy," Times Square was lit up and using enough energy to power any small city in the nation, while tourists were visiting Broadway shows and while New York sports teams were playing their contests, the Marathon was canceled - why pick on the runners and the one activity promoting health? The immediate and long-ranging damage to running may be incalculable:

• we visited the marathon expo where many small running-related businesses rely on sales to power their year. The photo vendors and the small companies that provide the keepsake souvenir boxes will see no revenue to offset their costs and some may not survive. Similarly, dozens of other running-related companies that we love saw meager expo sales and will now suffer if they can continue.
• many had already arrived to New York, but many more canceled or shortened their trips. We estimate 30,000 hotel nights were lost - why do something to hurt the hotels and lose city tax revenue when it is needed?
• the professional athletes who had put their eggs in the basket of the NYC Marathon and expected prize money to support their continued ability to live as professional athletes and inspire the rest of us will be suffering, some may be forced to curtail their training as they seek other ways to make money.
• other local businesses that rely on marathon day were hurt. I stopped in my local bagel restaurant (a tough business) on West 72 St. and it was fairly empty. In the past they have relied on the finisher and spectator traffic on Marathon day as their busiest day of the year, now lost.
• the New York Road Runners, a non-profit that does much to support youth running and professional running programs, will have lost significant funds that will no longer be available to support running - the ripple effects will be great. Ouch...

In all, canceling the marathon helped no one and hurt many. With the negative effect on running businesses, professional athletes and even the New York economy; MarathonGuide.com's position is that this was one of the worst political decisions ever. While most of the 40,000 marathoners who were forced to give up their day of a marathon will get over this blip, the effect on the business and professionals who relied on this event is larger than most might realize and we expect there may be long-ranging effects.

Marathon #10 - Illinois

I first found out about the Quad Cities marathon at the tiny "race expo" at the Wisconsin marathon.  They were one of three different tables at the Wisconsin marathon packet pickup.  At the packet pickup, the Quad Cities folks displayed the swag that the runners would get.  I saw the gloves, found out it started in the city where my uncle lived, and decided I was going to run the race.

The Race: Quad Cities Marathon, Moline, IL, September 2012

My Training Plan:  For this race, I relied solely on the Runners World training plan app.  This training plan has a considerable amount of tempo runs, allowing me to get used to the idea of running fast for a longer period of time.

Weather:  Cold.  It was cold when we started.  It was cold when we finished.  But then again, I had trained in heat and humidity through the Atlanta summer.  To folks who live up there, it was probably no big deal.  This was the first time I had breathed in cold air while running in at least seven months, so it took a little getting used to.  The first few miles, I was coughing as my lungs adjusted.  At the start it was about 37 degrees.  At the finish it was about 49 degrees, I think. 

Running Attire:  As I always do when I go to these destination marathons, I brought clothes for every possible scenario.  When I woke up on race morning, and it was cold, I opted for my running tights, purple long sleeved technical shirt, black throw-away gloves, pink Nike visor, and iFitness belt.

Who I ran with:   Since I was at the race by myself, my goal for this race was to set a new personal record (PR).  My previous PR was 3:51, so I decided to start with the 3:45 pace group.  This was a bit of a stretch, since knocking six minutes off your time in your 10th marathon is pretty hard to do, but I figured I could always fall back if I had to.

There were five of us that lasted the first 20 miles at the 3:45 pace:  me, Nathan from Newton, IA who is trying to run ten marathons before he turns 30 (Quad Cities was his 5th), Andrew from Chicago who was also trying to get to the 10 marathon mark, Chris who is a graduate student in microbiology at a college in Iowa (I forget which one), and Mark who I didn't talk to much, so I don't know much about him.

The Course:  The course goes through four different cities and onto an island.  It is well laid out and has some rolling hills.  Some of the course is run along narrow bike paths, but that is far enough along in the route that it's not too crowded at that point.  Most of the course was closed, so traffic wasn't an issue.  The course also runs along the river for some nice views.

Organization:  For a smaller marathon, the organization was pretty good.  My one complaint was with the packet pickup.  There were lines, and it was confusing what line to be in.  You had to bypass one line to get your bib, and then go back into that line to get your gloves, shirt and poster.  The signage wasn't very good, so I ended up standing in the wrong line for probably 10 minutes before realizing it.

Other than the confusion at packet pickup, the race was well organized.  The water stops were well stocked with water, Gatorade, and volunteers to hand them out.  They had at least four different GU stops along the way and two different fruit and candy stops.

The expo had plenty of parking and the expo hall was a good size.  There weren't a whole lot of vendors, but it was a pretty good mix.  They also had bus tours of the course during the expo.

Swag:  This marathon had the best swag of all the marathons I had run so far.  There was the traditional long-sleeved technical shirt and race medal.  They also gave everyone a pair of very nice running gloves, a poster, and a running belt.

Starting Line:  The starting line was at the same place as the expo, which made it easy to find.  They had pace teams, so it was easy to gage how fast the runners were going to go.

Fans:  The fans were typical small race fans.  There were a lot during the start and finish, but not a lot along the course.  Every now and then there would be a pocket of folks cheering you on.

Personally, I had some of the best fans cheering me on, both in persona and from afar.  My uncle was one of the best fans around.  He was excited about having me there and about the race.  He dropped me off at the start line and was looking for me to finish.  Unfortunately, he missed me finish, but his enthusiasm about having me there and the race in general helped carry me to the finish.  My cousin and her daughter also came to cheer me on.  I saw them toward the finish line and they were awesome, cheering me along!

Finish Line:  The finish line was a little confusing initially.  I ended up passing by the Mylar blankets, and it was like pulling teeth to get the volunteers to let me back through to get one.  But once you got out of the shoot, there were a lot of vendor tents set up.  They had a place where you could go to get your official race results printed out for you.  They also had a ticket on the bib for a beer, a soda, and a sandwich.  In addition to that, they had bananas, cookies, and bagels.  There was a stage set up with a band and benches to sit to watch.  I used one of the benches to lie down and shake my legs out before going to stretch.

How I felt:  I stuck with the pacer the first 20 miles and felt amazing.  When the pacer ditched us at mile 20, I was still feeling fine, but had no idea what pace I was going.  Our group of five ended up spreading out.  Andrew and Nathan ran ahead.  Chris hung with me for a little while, before he took off too.  I ended up finishing fourth in the group, followed only by Mark.  By about mile 23, when we turned to head back to the finish, my legs and feet were aching.  I kept telling myself "the faster you run, the faster you're done."  At the finish I was exhausted.  I'm not sure if I could have made the 3:45 if the pacer hadn't dropped out.  I think just having the group together and knowing my pace would have helped.  I may have had to drop back for the last mile, but I may have been closer.  Either way, though, I had set a new PR!

Travel/Tourism:  I was able to get a direct flight to Moline, IL from Atlanta on Delta, although my flight back connected through Detroit.  I stayed with my uncle, so I can't provide any advice on hotel accommodations.  The town is small and quaint, but it has everything you need.  I ate at the IHOP for my traditional pre-race meal, and was able to get a bagel and banana from the grocery store for my morning breakfast before the race.