North Bend & My First Marathon

 Hello, all! I have recently been having some issues with my Jeep, so my adventuring was put on hold for a brief while. We thought something might be wrong with my transmission, which made my bank account cry, but turns out the spark plugs just needed to be replaced. Tito and I are set to resume our adventuring!

For this adventure, we did decide not to take Tito, just in case something happened; We wanted to be sure that nothing catastrophic would occur, so for this trip, we took Megan Stanley's car, Terra. 

On Saturday, July 29th, Griffen and I took off from Lewiston at 5:45 AM to make it up the hill to Moscow by 6:30 AM. From there, we threw our stuff into the X-Terra, grabbed Megan S., and were off on our journey to Washington. 

Along the way, we stopped in Washtucna to make some contributions to the graffiti bus there, which was quite fun and satisfying. I got distracted by some flowers and found a hummingbird moth, which was so cool to see and entertaining to watch. 

Continuing on our journey, we stopped along the way to see the Gingko Petrified Forest near Vantage and then stopped to hike around Snoqualmie Falls. The petrified wood was very cool to see, and then we went into a rock shop with lots of cool knick-knacks and a big, fluffy cat. We spent some time petting the cat while Griffen got himself tied up in a political conversation with the shop owner. 

Snoqualmie Falls was really neat. We saw it first from a higher vantage point and then decided to take the trail down to the river to see it on level ground. Even though the waterfall is at a low level and not putting out nearly as much water as it could be, it was still very impressive. The water in the river was so clear that we decided to hang around there for a while. I ended up jumping in with my leggings on, but the water felt so nice on my legs. Plus, my clothes were dry by the time we had hiked back up to the car. 

After this, Griffen informed us that he was very hungry and that a mandatory next step would be food. First, though, we went to North Bend and picked up my race packet. While we were there, Griffen explored the Nike store and bought some new running shorts. Then, we went to a little restaurant called Rio Bravo, where we ate some yummy Mexican food. After this point, I was pretty stuffed, but was really trying to eat as much as a could before the race the next day; the few days before this I had been pretty sick, and ended up sleeping most of three days away and losing about 7 pounds. I was feeling a bit shaky while running, so I was trying to make sure that I had enough strength to get through the whole 26.2 on Sunday. However, I am not used to eating that much, and I could definitely tell. Griffen advocated for post-meal milkshakes, and I thoroughly disagreed but conceded to the possibility of a tasty dairy treat the next day, AFTER the race. 

After our little meal, we went to Monroe to the hotel to chill out a little bit. We checked in, and found some lovely graffiti on the building: "SOS" and "Help Me" were great ones. I triple-locked the doors, unpacked, and laid everything out for the next morning. Some dozing was required, and then we found an Italian restaurant nearby. We got dinner there, and I hardly made a dent in my pasta before boxing it up and taking it back. I was just so full. 

Upon our return, I showered and then immediately went to sleep. I think Griffen and Megan stayed up a little bit longer, but I was very clear that I would be going to bed no later than 9 PM because of the early morning and long day ahead of me. 

The next day started at 3:45 AM. I have never woken up that early, and my entire being was in protest of being awake at this hour. I ate a protein bar, drank some water, got into my running clothes, and stocked my water backpack with water, some caffeinated gum, energy gels, and salt chews. Then, we were off to Monroe to North Bend for the start of the race, which was the Jack and Jill Downhill Marathon. 

When we got to the drop-off point, there was a line of people a 1/4-mile long waiting to get on a shuttle for the start line. It was 5:00 AM, and the last shuttle was set to leave at 5:20 AM. Instead, we got back in the car and drove up to the start location. 

There were so many people in this race! Of course, it wasn't terribly big, but I don't think I've run a race with that many people in it yet. I enjoyed always having someone in my sights throughout the race, though. 

Of course, the race started late because of all the people needing to be shuttled up to the start line, so we didn't actually get out until about 6:30 AM when the start time was listed as 6:00 AM. However, once we were off, we were off! The first part of the marathon goes through the Snoqualmie Tunnel, which is 2.5 miles long, and requires a headlamp. That was a really cool way to start the race. My headlamp, unfortunately, although tested prior to the race, went out only 2 minutes into my tunnel adventure. Luckily, there were enough people around to mooch the light off of. 

After the tunnel, the race consisted of priceless mountain views, old railroad bridges, foggy peaks, and lots and lots of green trees--all very refreshing after the training I did in Lewiston, Idaho. The views were great, the air felt awesome, and I had some awesome music on to keep me going. I was going pretty fast for the first 12 miles, faster than my goal, which was great. However, at about the halfway point, I noticed some blisters forming on the bottoms of my feet. Unfortunately, this continued until the end, when I took my socks off and found blisters covering the entire inner bottom of my foot (one of these would later become infected). Griffen looked at my shoes afterward and could see where my foot was rubbing against my shoes, which meant that I had shoes that were too big. However, I stuck with it, and even though I slowed down considerably, I came in with a time I was ultimately satisfied with for the first time. The next time I do one of these, though, I will be sure to have better shoes so I can go faster. I have already ordered a new pair of Hokas in a smaller size. 

After I crossed the finish, I sat down for a bit and spent some time drinking water and eating wild blackberries that Megan was finding off of bushes nearby. Then, I got myself up to stretch for a while, was very painful but also very necessary. Then, I got myself down to the car, and we drove to Rattlesnake Lake, where the intention was for me to wade out up to my waist and "ice" my legs, but I only made it up to my ankles, because my blisters hurt to walk on. So, I sat on a rock and cooled my feet down while Griffen and Megan skipped rocks and took turns sitting on the rock with me.

After a bit, Griffen informed us that he was hungry again through his passive-aggressive tone of voice. So, we left and went to that little milkshake place we had seen across from Rio Bravo the day before. We each got some food and a milkshake, which tasted so good. My stomach has always acted a little weird after long runs, meaning I can't eat for a while after them or else I will throw up. The chicken sandwich and milkshake were all I could eat that day without puking, which was sad because I like food, and I probably burned upwards of 3,000 calories on that run. 

Either way, after eating, I hobbled back to the car and we drove up to Everett, Washington, where we visited the Funko headquarters. It was fun to look around, and I ended up getting a little Wall-E figurine and a character from one of my favorite animes. Griffen got Padme from Star Wars. 

After shopping, it was getting a bit late, so we decided to head back to Moscow, since Griffen and I would still need to make it back down to Lewiston, and we all had work the next day. I slept for most of the drive, and Megan and Griffen were lovely to drive that whole way back. When we returned, I fell asleep immediately. 

Overall, I had a great time on this trip! I was able to check off my first marathon and see lots of cool stuff around Washington. I am already even signed up for next year's race! :) 

Happy trails!