Day 6: Somewhere Outside Barstow...

Update: A friend in NC told me he heard about the grand canyon crash on the radio this morning and sent me a link to the story: http://www.azfamily.com/news/Driver-survives-crash-into-Grand-Canyon-120791379.html. Thankfully the guy is okay, although it's still not clear what caused him to drive over the edge...

Grand Canyon, AZ to Orange, CA

Total Miles: 493

Tanks of Gas: 2ish

Marital Spats: 0ish

States: 2

Number of Tumbleweeds we hit: 3


On Tuesday we got very, very early for a final trip up to the Grand Canyon to go for a short run and watch the sunrise.

We drove into the park just after 5am. It was a cold and windy morning, but the sunrise was beautiful and the park was nearly empty. We ran a mile along the rim path to a look out point, waited for the sunrise, and then jogged back. On a side note, the altitude made it a real challenge to run and ride (at least we hope it's the altitude and not our terrible diet and lack of activity for the past week).

Our meal options were limited at 7am in the tourist trap so we opted for the McDonalds. This was my first visit to a Micky D's for at least 8 years. I was prepared to order an egg sandwich, but I was pleasantly supposed to find that they had oatmeal available. For only 290 calories it was a good option in a pinch.

I think this day of driving was the most "middle-of-nowhere" yet. I think we went at least 100 miles with zero gas stations, bathrooms, and just one radio station: God vs Satan...

The wind remained intense and while we climbed over the mountains we actually had to hold the wheel to keep from blowing around on the road!




We also saw many tumbleweeds and I hit a giant one with the truck and it disintegrated. I saw bits and pieces flying up for miles. When we crossed into California we had to stop at the agriculture inspection station. The inspector pulled the remains of the tumbleweed from out front grate to ensure we didn't bring any foreign plants into the state :)

As we got closer to Los Angeles the traffic started to get heavy and the highways got wider. It felt like we were returning to civilization after days in the desert.

We arrived at Sam's brother house in Orange and relaxed for awhile until he and his wife were done with work. We all headed down the street to watch the Angeles game. It was a great night and a fun game. Plus, the Angels handily beat Oakland - a nice bonus.




Today is the last day of our trip! I have mixed feelings. Sad that our vacation is coming to an end, but excited to get settled. We've essentially been living out of boxes and duffle bags for 3 weeks and it will be nice to get back into a routine.

We hope to arrive in San Francisco around 4pm this afternoon. We haven't actually seen the apartment we rented (Sam's dad checked it out for us) so let's all cross our fingers that it's acceptable ;)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 5: A Grand Adventure

Albuquerque, OK to Tusayan, AZ

Total Miles: 442

States: 2

Marital Spats: 3ish

Disappointing Meals: 2

Caravan Companions Since Oklahoma: At least eight...

We got a jump on the day and we were on the road by 6:30. We had places to be and canyons to see!

The day started out like the last 2 days. More driving and more wind. Our radio options remained limited to country music and Christian radio. The landscape was relatively unchanged.




At one point we passed a dude riding his Tri-bike on the shoulder of I-40. The winds are brutal, the speed limit is 75, and every other vehicle is a semi truck. No thank you!!

As we crossed over the NM-AZ boarder we made a quick pit stop at the largest teepee in the Southwest.




We perused the gift shop inside and escaped only $2.13 poorer.

Soon we were back on I-40 and focused on our mission to get to the Grand Canyon. I have never been before and I have been looking forward to this part of the trip for weeks.

We arrived in the little town/tourist rip-off of Tusaya, AZ around noon. It was too early to check into the hotel so we had lunch at a local Mexican joint first. The food was ok but nothing to blog about.

After lunch we checked into the hotel. After days of moving our bikes in and out of the truck We were finally going to have the chance to ride!

We biked the 7 miles from town into the GC and we were rewarded with amazing views. There really are no words to describe it.





We biked along one of the shuttle only roads for awhile and we were rewarded with more amazing views!



The winds were really picking up so we headed back to town. It was a short ride, only about 20 miles, but I won't be forgetting it anytime soon.




After our ride we showered, changed and headed back ip to the canyon in the truck so we cod watch the sunset. We walked about a mile along the rim trail. Again, unbelievably beautiful.

After the sunset we headed back to the truck. We were hoping to go for a sunrise run in the morning so we took a detour to scope out a different parking area. It was dark now and the roads were pretty empty.

While we were driving we saw a young guy walking along the side of the road. He was weaving a bit and appeared to be hitching for a ride. We passed slowly but did not stop. After a few more miles we realized we had missed the parking lot. We turned around and headed back to the main lot. When we passed a scenic pull off and it looked like someone was beating up the kid we had passed earlier because he was sitting on the ground. We made another u-turn and went back to the lot. A young woman flagged us down and told us that the guy we had seen had fallen into the canyon and climbed out. He wasn't hitching, he was trying to get help! I was really wishing I was already a nurse so I could offer some help... We were amazed that 4 young college girls had stopped to help a guy on a dark and deserted road.

They had just called 911 so we waited with them until the police came. The guy was disoriented and cold but amazingly he seemed ok. It turns out that he actually crashed his CAR into the canyon and then climbed out. We gave him the blanket we had in the truck and he waited in the girl's car until help arrived. First the ranger was going to bring him in his truck but they decided to wait for the ambulance instead. After the ambulance arrived we headed back to our hotel.




I checked the news today but couldn't find any news about the crash. Hopefully the kid is okay!

Today we heading to the City of Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.

**Also, I promise to write a more detailed post about our GC visit once I have access to a real computer and better photos!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 4: Stuck in the Desert

Oklahoma City, OK to Albuquerque, NM

Miles: 555

Tanks of Gas: 2ish

States: 3

Marital Spats: 0 (I know, I can't believe it either)

Cars Stuck in the Ground: 15

Our day started out with more rain, but after a few hours we finally had blue skies.

The drive from MO to OK was about 100 times more exciting than the drive from OKC to ABQ. Google maps directions went like this:

1. Drive .5 miles and merge onto I-40 west.
2. Go straight for 554 miles.
3. Exit, drive .5 miles, arrive at hotel.

We broke up the day with a few important stops.

First, the VW Bug Ranch in Conway, Texas. Five VW Bugs stuck nose deep in the ground and covered with graffiti. We stopped to take a few pictures and even added a little graffiti of our own.



We also passed a leaning water tower and the second largest cross in the northern hemisphere...

Then it was time to stop for lunch in Amarillo, TX. Our options were limited since it was Easter Sunday so we stopped at an American classic, Cracker Barrel. We enjoyed exploring the gift shop while we waited for our table...




A side of mac an cheese and a small salad was as healthy as I could get. Being a vegetarian in middle America is quite the challenge!

After lunch we stopped at another Route 66 classic just outside Amarillo, Cadillac Ranch. This is 10 old Cadillacs nose deep in the desert.



Visitors are encouraged to add their own art here too. Anything to break up the drive.

We attempted to make a pit stop in Cuervo, NM (for the obvious reason), but Cuervo was all dried up. We added a little moisture of our own (i.e. peed under a bridge) and got back on the highway.

The headwinds in Texas and New Mexico were insane. With 20-30 mph sustained winds we chewed through gas like crazy, but we think we maintained our speed because our bikes have aero bars :) We also had some serious gear work for all the hill climbing.

As we got close to Albuquerque we could see rain clouds but the rain was not hitting the ground. It was really incredible.




We arrived in Albuquerque, unpacked the car, and headed out to dinner. We found Sadie's, an excellent Mexican restaurant.




They even had a food challenge, the worlds largest sopapilla. A 7lb stuffed sopapilla and if you eat it all you get it free. Sam passed on the food challenge and opted for the "regular" sized sopapilla. It was still pretty big!

Today we got an early start to maximize our time at the grand canyon. We are hoping to get in a bike ride when we arrive!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 3: Road Side Attraction

Total miles: 589

Tanks of Gas: 2

Marital Spats: 1ish

States: 2

Road Side Attractions: 4

Cow Sightings: more than people

We had another great night of sleep at the Sheraton on Friday night. After a visit to the hotel gym we started the long process of packing the car (moving four bikes between the hotel room and the truck is no small task).

The trip between St. Louis and Oklahoma City is rather... simple. To mix it up a bit we upped our intake of road side attractions. First stop was the worlds largest rocking chair in Cuba, Missouri. While there we also picked up some excellent peanut brittle made by the Ladies of the Evangelical Holiness Church.




Next up was a stop for the worlds largest fork. Unfortunately I got a little distracted and we missed the exit... BUT, we made up for it later with a few excellent finds on Route 66.

First, a visit to the Blue Whale in Catoosa, Oklahoma. The Blue Whale is a Route 66 icon. It was built between 1970 and 1972. It used to be a swimming area but was closed because of the liability (however they were clear that nobody ever died here).




*a note to fellow travelers, the blue whale also offers some rustic, but clean bathrooms.

Next up we had two-for-one on Route 66 in Arcadia, Oklahoma. First, the Arcadia Round Red Barn. It was round and it was red. Shocker. It was closed already so we didn't get a chance to go inside.

Then, just a half mile down the road, was our second worlds largest attraction of the day, the worlds largest pop bottle.



I know you're jealous.

Finally we arrived in the livestock capital of America, Oklahoma City.

We unloaded our bikes in record time and headed over to our dinner destination, the Cattlemen's Steakhouse (as seen on Man vs Food AND Diners Drive-Ins and Dives).




We had some of the best onion rings ever. Sam enjoyed the presidential special, a T-bone steak, named after George H. W. Bush because he ordered it when he stopped in for dinner once. I had the fried catfish, also delicious but not as good as those onion rings!

After a piece of pecan pie a la mode ("that means with ice cream"), we were ready to hit the hay.

Today we are back on the road and bound for Albuquerque.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 2: Dodging Tornados

After a long, long drive on Thursday we spent two nights in St. Louis. When we woke up we checked out the weather and found we made the right decision about driving through the night.



After a good night of sleep and an hour on the treadmill and we were back in business. We headed downtown and checked out the Anheuser-Busch Factory Tour and enjoyed a few free beers.



Next stop was a visit to the Arch. It was big. Not much else to say about that...

We decided to skip the cardinals game because the weather was expected to get worse. Instead we went to dinner at Iron Barley, featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It was excellent! I made an exception to my vegetatianism and tried a Monte Cristo hot dog. A really f*ing good hot dog with cheese and jelly. I was skeptical but OMG it was unbelievably delicious!




On the way back to the hotel we started hearing tornado warnings on the radio, but we didn't know where the warnings were because they list counties and not cities... A few miles later we realized that the tornado had crossed the highway about 5 miles north of where we were. When we got to the area we saw semi trucks tipped over on the side of the road and trees and signs flattened. We exited the highway and weaved our way back to the hotel through side roads without electricity or stop lights. We were very lucky to have missed everything!

Today St. Louis is cleaning up the mess. If you've turned on the news today I'm sure you've seen pictures of flattened homes and the airport is closed due to damage in the terminals. Thankfully nobody was killed or seriously injured!

Today we are on the road again and headed for Oklahoma City. Any dinner recommendations?




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Day 1: Road Warriors

Miles: 1,018

Start: Queens, New York
End: St. Louis, Missouri

Time: 18+ hours (includes 2 gas stops, 2 pee/coffee stops, lunch and dinner)

Gas: ~2.75 tanks ($200+)

Marital Spats: 2ish

Highlights: We saw the aftermath of a semi accident which resulted in a bunch of flat screen TVs strewn across I-80. A trucker waved at me and I waved back. Sam ate a giant burger in Columbus with impressive speed.

We drove like crazy today so we can stay put tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be craptastc with major storms and hail which is why we hauled ass to St. Louis today. Not the kind of weather anybody wants to drive in, especially with your four babies/bikes in the bed of the truck!

On tap tomorrow is sleeping in, the arch, tour the annheiser bush brewery and hopefully a cardinals game if the weather allows. On Saturday we head for Oklahoma City.

More soon!
Krista


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:St. Louis, MO

Goodbye NYC

We are officially on the road! Four bikes, 8 bottles of wine, a couple bags of clothes, and lots of snacks.


Traffic is conspiring against us (do you want to see my shocked face?). We are currently moving at a rapid speed of 5mph...

The goal today is Cincinnati, OH.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Test of the Travel Blogging System

This is a test of the travel blogging system. Many friends and family members have requested updates as we embark on our cross country road trip from NYC to San Fran. If you are here for triathlon stuff please check back after May 1st. Until then, all travel all the time.

Departure: 36 hours...



Enjoying a hard earned pitcher of beer after a day of packing and cleaning.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:31st St,,United States

Weekend Wrap-Up

If you've tried to leave a comment recently you probably noticed that my comment box was broken. I just discovered this myself - the horror! But don't despair, it's fixed now :)

I had a excellent-productive-crazy-busy weekend! On Friday night I met up with Regina from Chiu on This. We had an excellent dinner at a Cuban restaurant on the upper west side. The meal was great and the company was even better!

On Saturday morning I woke up early and drove over to New Jersey for a bike ride up to Nyack. I was a bit nervous about doing the ride with my new bike. Traffic, other cyclists, up hills, down hills... But, I sucked it up, put a smile on my face and said I was going to have a great ride. And you know what? I did! We did an out and back to Nyack with a quick pit stop at a the Runcible Spoon for some Gatorade and a giant zucchini muffin (lunch of champions!). It ended up being a 35 mile ride in about 2 hours. There was nothing impressive about the numbers, but the ride itself was a great boost in confidence. I felt good, I was able to shift well, I rode in aero, and I successfully navigated traffic, cyclists and hills. I think that I somehow managed to build up this big ball of fear about riding outside after being stuck inside all winter and then going out on a brand new bike. Luckily, that won't happen anymore since we'll be in California where we can ride outside all year :)

The rest of Saturday was spent running around and having multiple lunches and dinners in attempt to say goodbye to all our NYC friends. On Sunday we woke up early for our last Sunday morning swim at Asphalt Green and then came up to pack, pack, and pack. Five hours, 22 boxes and 5 suitcases later and we are done with almost everything. It is a very interesting feeling to see nearly all of your belongings boxed up and piled in the kitchen corner. Now, my only hope is that we can fit all these belongings into a 6'3" x 7' x 8'4" box. If that fails we could try this for 3,112 miles...

{source}

Only 10 more days to go...

Race Report: MORE Women's Half Marthon 2011

First, super big thanks for all your well wishes about the big announcement that we are moving to California! Our departure date is rapidly approaching and even though I have so much I want to tell you about my days are consumed with wrapping up lose ends at work and my nights are spent training, packing and/or hanging out with all our NYC buddies.

Our official move date is April 21st - less than 2 weeks away! I am very excited about our cross country drive and I am really hoping I can keep up the motivation to blog about it. I've never driven across the US but it's something I've always wanted to do. Right now the agenda includes a visit to the Grand Canyon and a Los Angeles Angeles game :)

Anyhoo, on to the official purpose of this post - my race report!

The Short Story
The short story is that I SMASHED my half marathon PR by 26+ minutes and my met my goal for a sub 1:55 race.

Swag Bag/T-Shirt Review
I picked up my registration and swag bag on Friday. The swag bag was okay, but I was bummed that it was a cotton t-shirt. The race fee was $75 which I think is very high for a road race in Central Park. The costs are minimal and most other NYRR races in the park cost less than half the price. I don't get it... I guess the plus side is the t-shirt is women's specific (as it should be since it is a women's only race) so maybe I will get some use out of it.

The Back Story

My first and only half marathon was in October 2009. I finished that race in 2:20:48 with a pace of 10:44/mile. I ran the entire race, but walked some through the aid stations. At the time I was super proud of that accomplishment.

Now, 18 months later I was set to do my second half marathon. I knew that I could finish under 2 hours, but my true goal was under 1:55. This would require holding at most an 8:47/mile average.

The Clothing 

The race was last Sunday morning. The weather was absolutely perfect. Clear and cool (but not cold). I had an extra sweatshirt, hat and gloves to wear before the start. About five minutes before go time I tossed the sweatshirt, hat and gloves to the side for the Goodwill pick-up. I really struggled with what to wear for this race. It was in the high 30's for the 8am start but expected to warm up quickly and be near 50 degrees by 10am.  

I opted for my long sleeve Smart Wool running shirt and my new CW-X capris. I skipped gloves and stuck with a regular cap instead of my winter running hat. I also taped my shins with KT Tape which worked great.

Miles 1-9I won't bore you with a mile by mile recap. To be brief(-ish), my plan was to start with a slow pace and work my way into the 8:45 range in the 2nd or 3rd mile. The start was very congested (to be honest the whole course felt congested) so I'm glad I wasn't trying to keep 8:45 for mile 1. Mile 2 was down to 8:29 and I managed to hold a steady pace ranging from 8:26 to 8:48 for miles 2 through 9.

Miles 10-13.25
I felt like I hit a bit of a wall at mile 10 and I when I saw an 8:56 split I wondered if I would make my goal. Thinking back that was totally acceptable since a majority of mile 10 was uphill. I regained my strength with a speedy down hill and hit 8:42 for mile 11. At this point I was catching up to all the walkers (it's a two, 6 mile loop course so the walkers were at mile 5 on their first loop). The walkers were spread across the road, even though they should have been staying to the inside of the road. I kindly asked a few people to move over as I ran through and around groups of people (but I tried not to get too aggressive and I didn't throw any elbows).

With the end approaching I gave it everything I had and wrapped up with 8:12 for mile 12 and 8:09 for mile 13. The last .25 (the course was .15 long according to my Garmin) was an average pace of 7:31. This is insane to me because I don't think I've ever done a 400 at the track with a pace under 8 minutes. I don't know how the heck I managed this after 13 miles!

Looking a little shell shocked... And this was 20 minutes after I finished...

Overall, I am extremely happy with this race. I far surpassed my goal and I felt strong and fast. I'm already scouting out some courses in California for my next half marathon!

TIME: 1:53:16

AVERAGE: 8:33/mile

Recovery
I was tired and sore after the race. My feet and ankles were tender and I was a bit worried that I might have pushed too hard. I'm happy to report that after taking off Monday and Tuesday I felt 100% better. I did short and easy runs on Wednesday and Thursday. I could feel that my body and my running joints/muscles were tired on Wednesday but by Thursday I was feeling almost back to normal!