I’m SO close to being done! Which is good, because my motivation is completely gone. There’s a life lesson in there somewhere though because accomplishing goals is often more about discipline than anything else, so when my unmotivated ass stood on the start line this morning, I knew I had a job to do regardless of how I felt.

I arrived in New Hampshire yesterday, I was there less than 24 hours, but all good.

At the airport I met a fellow member of the 50 States Half Marathon Club and we shared an uber to packet pickup. Some may think it odd to get into a car with a complete stranger, since most of us were taught from birth to never do that, but with the rise of Uber and Lyft we now literally pay for that privilege so what’s one more person? 🤷🏼‍♀️ She was lovely and it’s always fun to hang out with another person who enjoys extreme endurance sports as a hobby.

The packet pickup was just a small tent set up in a parking lot. I grabbed my bib, race jacket, and bought a sticker for the suitcase, because one can never have too many stickers proclaiming your love for running and tasty beverages.

After picking that up I went to my hotel and then searched for somewhere to grab dinner. I found a brewery called Smuttynose a mile away, and as it shares its namesake with the race I figured it had to be a winner. I tried to walk there, but failed. New Hampshire is not very pedestrian friendly and doesn’t have many sidewalks, so I ended up having to uber a mile which was stupid.

I did finally make it- they had one sour on tap, so I gave it a try. Not bad, but it didn’t compare to what we have at Nothing’s Left in Tulsa.

Race day came early this morning- only because some previous person had set the physical alarm clock in the hotel room. I didn’t know people even did that anymore, I thought everyone used their phones?

The race wasn’t until 8am, which is a tad late for a race, but no big deal. I was able to get an uber to the start line and watch the sunrise on the beach.

The theme of this race is Rockfest and so they had an electric guitar player do the national anthem which was pretty cool. Afterwards, the race finally got started.

I’ll be really real. It was pretty to run alongside the beach for a bit, and there was some beautiful foliage (I realize how old using that word makes me sound), but it was kind of a boring race. I expected tons of music and rock bands and there were only two. It was also hot, or as the locals shared with me, unseasonably warm.

The reason I had picked this specific NH race though was because of the lobster roll at the end. I mean, a girls gotta eat and that beats a banana.

So I got the race done and enjoyed my lobster roll. My goal had been to go sub 2:30 as I had a flight to catch and I was able to run 2:21. Headed back in the right direction with my running fitness.

I got back to my hotel with time to grab a shower! I know I’ve mentioned this before, but one of my biggest fears is not being able to do so before getting on a plane after a race. Then I headed to the airport.

I’m home now, after a small snafu at the MHT airport. They told us to board the plane but something important was missing…

Next up, Michigan in two weeks!