I took an early morning United flight out of LAX to Lincoln with a very short layover in Denver. During the first leg, I saw Daddy's Home. I'm not a big fan of Will Ferrell, but it was a pretty funny movie. After we landed in Denver, it was a very long walk to the terminal where regional planes land. It would turn out that I didn't need to hurry since the plane hadn't arrived yet. It was raining a bit on the flight out to Lincoln. One thing I liked about flying with United was that they gave out Stroopwafels! They were way better than the usual peanuts or pretzels.
I landed at Lincoln airport a little after 12 pm. This was my second time at this airport and it was totally unrecognizable to me. I asked the guy at the car rental counter and he said that it had been remodeled several times. After signing the paperwork, I was given a red Hyundai Elantra and soon I was on my way to the expo at The Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel. At first I was searching for metered parking, but I noticed that the first hour was free at the parking garage right next to the hotel. So I ended up parking there. The expo was well organized with the packet pickup downstairs and the expo in a separate room on the main level.
After I was done with the expo, I headed over to my motel, Horizon Inn Motel. I stopped at a Dollar General to buy some snacks and drinks for the weekend. I also went through the McDonald's drive-thru to pick up some lunch. After paying for my room for 2 nights, I grabbed all of my stuff and went up to my room. It wasn't too bad. The guy at the front desk informed me that they had just put in new mattresses and new flat screen TV's.
View from my room
I ate my Quarter Pounder Deluxe meal while watching The Fault in Our Stars. I had wanted to watch this movie when it first came out but never got around to it. It was a decent movie, one that would probably get most people at the very least misty-eyed. Also during the movie, I went through my race packet and laid out my race gear.
The Fault in Our Stars
Flat runner
After the movie was over, I drove out to my friend's house for dinner even though I had just eaten. They had prepared some pasta and salad for a few of us Marathon Maniacs/50 States runners. After dinner, our local hosts took us to attend a Saturday evening church service at Christ's Place. I still think it's pretty cool that I've made friends in Lincoln, Nebraska as well as other places in the world from running marathons. Their hospitality was truly appreciated!
Sunday 5/1
I parked at the Avery Ave parking structure, which was located at 14th Ave and Salt Creek Roadway. I didn't want to park in an open lot since the forecast had rain in it. It was also very close to the start and finish lines. As the start of the race approached, I got ready and made my way to the Campus Recreation Center. It was nice that it was open for us to stay out of the elements. It was both a little windy and raining.
Starting line
The last time that I had run a marathon was the LA Marathon back on Valentine's Day. I had gotten so accustomed to running at least 1 marathon a month. So it was a bit weird to take a couple of months off. I was actually going into this race a little nervous, not really knowing what to expect. I was expecting or hoping to run about a 5 hr marathon, but if things go bad, it could be closer to 6 hrs. So when our green corral was released at 7:15 am, I didn't shoot out like a rocket like I normally would do at the start of a race. I made sure to take it easy from the very beginning. At about mile 3.5, I was starting to feel warm, so I pulled over to take off the rain poncho. I kept it just in case it started pouring. It was a gentle climb up to about mile 5. At about mile 6, we hop on the Helen Boosalis Trail which was a concrete path. At about mile 8.5, we made a right turn on 20th St to run up "the hill" which was a gradual incline for the next mile and a half. At about mile 10, we made a left turn at Harrison Ave followed shortly by a right turn at 10th St. At about mile 11, one of my local friends running the half marathon caught up to me. It was good to see a familiar face as I was struggling and I still had more than a half marathon to go! 10th St turned into Salt Creek Roadway as we approached Stadium Dr. This was where the half marathon course split for the finish line inside Memorial Stadium. One of my local friends was the course marshal stationed here to help direct runners. She gave me a much needed hug. Without that hug, I'd probably call it a day and head for the finish line.
During the second half, there was light rain most of the time and it got windy here and there, so I kept putting on and taking off my gloves. At 14th St, we hopped on the Rock Island Trail, which was another concrete path. We leave the trail at J St and turn onto Capitol Pwky which eventually turned into Normal Blvd. We ran on this road until we came up to Holmes Lake turning right at 70th St. We then turned right onto Holmes North Shore Rd for a short out and back. From there, we traced our way back to the finish line at Memorial Stadium. I had a chance to finish under 5 hrs, but I had two very slow miles walking off some dreaded leg cramps.
Finishing on the 50th of Memorial Stadium
Click here for my Garmin data.
After getting my medal, they gave me a mylar blanket. Refreshments were inside the tunnel. That was very convenient in case the weather gets a bit nasty outside. They had bananas and stuff, but nothing looked appealing to me, so I headed on out.
I then proceeded to exit the stadium and head back to my car. There was an older gentleman that was sort of lost. He asked if I knew the location of the start line. He had parked near me, so I helped lead him back to his car. We talked a little bit and it turned out that he used to live in Carlsbad, CA, one of my favorite cities in California. His name was Karl.
I know I had been putting off running a marathon in Nebraska for quite some time. I'm thankful that everybody including my local Nebraskan friends had recommended that I run this marathon. It was very well organized, the course was pretty scenic, and everybody in Lincoln was just so darn friendly! It was super cool to finish on the 50 yard line inside Memorial Stadium! I too recommend that anyone wanting to run a marathon in Nebraska to run this race! I was hoping to finish under 5 hrs, but the legs cramped up during miles 24 and 25.
After I reached my car and had gathered all of my stuff, I started driving back to my motel. Along the way, I drove through the McDonald's drive-thru. Their french fries were just about the only thing that I was craving. I decided to get a Big Mac and 10 pieces of McNuggets to go with them. Boy, did those fries hit the spot!
For dinner, I met up with my friends at Leadbelly located at the Haymarket area. I tried to find a metered parking spot since they're free on Sundays, but I was unable to find one. After circling the area for a while eventually I gave up and parked at the parking structure at Pinnacle Arena Dr between R Street and Q Street. It was only a couple of blocks away. I grabbed a table and started off with a Nebraska Brewing IPA while I waited for my friends to show up. For my meal I ordered the Cowabunga Ground Chuck Burger and added a side salad. The burger came with crinkle cut fries and waffle fries. The side salad was pretty big for a side salad, big enough for an entree salad. The burger was pretty good, a nice surf and turf burger, my favorite combo. To finish the burger off I had another local breer, the Empyrean Brewing Carpe Brewem Mochachino Stout.
Nebraska Brewing IPA
Side salad
Cowabunga Ground Chuck Burger
Empyrean Brewing Carpe Brewem Mochachino Stout
After we were done with dinner, our local friends suggested that we get handmade ice cream at Ivanna Cone. I got a scoop of their Malted Vanilla with a waffle cone. I don't always do desserts, but this was good stuff! Afterwards we went our separate ways. Parking ended up being only $2.
Malted Vanilla Waffle Cone
Monday 5/2
Check out time was 12 pm, so I took my time getting ready and packing my stuff up for the trip home. I eventually checked out at about 11 am. I drove the car to the gas station next door to fill up the tank. Then I drove the car across the street to eat at Perkins. I got a booth and ordered their Southwest avocado salad because it was featured on their menu cover and the ingredients sounded appealing. It included blackened chicken, black bean corn relish, American cheese and avocado on garden greens garnished with crunchy tortilla straws and served with Chipotle Ranch dressing. The waitress told me that that was her favorite item. It was indeed good and filling for a salad. I didn't use too much of the dressing as it was flavorful enough without it. However I didn't really like the tortilla straws. The salad would have been fine without them. My waitress informed me that it was Monday pie day, so I could get a free slice of pie to go with my entree. I got a slice of cherry pie.
Southwest avocado salad
Free slice of pie
My flight wasn't until about 5 pm, so I had a lot of time to pass. Originally I had thought about driving out to visit Concordia Seward. However if I went past 12:30 pm, I would be paying extra hourly car rental fees. So instead of doing that, I decided to just wait at the airport.
It was a small airport, so we couldn't go through TSA until it was about 1 hr before the flight. It turned out that my flight was late in getting into Denver by about 15 minutes and my connecting flight was there early. It was a short layover to begin with, so I had to grab my stuff and hurry to catch my flight home. I couldn't move very fast as my left foot and right hip were both very sore from running the marathon yesterday. Thankfully I made it in time and there was still overhead bin space left. During the flight we were given a bag of Asian style snack mix. It was mostly rice crackers, but in the many years that I've flown, I don't recall ever being given that on a domestic flight.
44 States down, 6 more to go! Which 6? Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Rhode Island, and West Virginia are left.
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