This adventure was so great it took two days to get it all in! We signed up for a race in the dunes of Indiana right along Lake Michigan after Jay mentioned it. The website kept saying that you couldn’t pick up your packets on race day morning (who does that really!!). So since the race was a Sunday and Jesse and I were off on a Friday we decided to take a road trip to the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond, IN to get our packets.
We also discovered that Three Floyds Brewing is in Munster, IN which is thisclose to Hammond. We arrived early since they are in Central time and we live in Eastern Time, so we headed to the brewery first. It was a little tricky to find since it was in an industrial park and I failed to notice that when I looked up Google directions. We eventually found it and it was packed! We had to come up with a clever parking spot for the Jeep (thank goodness for that car, it can go anywhere) and added our name to the list.
From the art on the door and the big beer steel things (I don’t know what they are called, feel free to enlighten me) that were out front it looked like an old school tattoo artist decided to open a brewery.
Our name was eventually called and we were sat at a table near a TV showing some god awful bloody zombie movie and also a window were we could see other steel beer things and the men working on the beer.
I had a Robert the Bruce, a nice dark malty beer and Jesse had an Alpha King. We ordered some open face sandwiches and enjoyed our beer. I think I will let Jesse describe the food for you. I won’t do it justice. I will just say that it was the most amazing, artful food I have had in a very long time.
After eating we picked up our packet at the welcome center. Funny enough Hammond is the home of The Christmas Story movie and the kid… Flick… that suck his tongue to the pole had a sculpture of his likeness outside the welcome center. Jesse got a kick out of it since he loves that movie. You could even buy that leg lamp in the little gift shop.
We got our bibs and shirts and also picked up a map so we could check out the dunes before it got dark. I am glad we went, the wonderful girl at the guard station even charged us the in state plates rate instead of the full out of state price since it was kinda late. We parked by the beach and looked out at Lake Michigan. It is amazing how big that lake is, you feel like you are at the ocean since you cannot see land on most sides (although you can see the Chicago skyline) and there were some pretty impressive waves.
Those of you that know Jesse know that he loves Jockey’s Ridge in the OBX of NC. Well there was this huge dune so of course we had to climb up it and then back down the other side. Our shoes were completely full of sand but it was worth it since there was a trail surrounded by all the beautiful fall colors. We walked a bit and then drove over to a nifty observation deck and checked that our before it started raining and we headed home.
So fast forward to Sunday, 4:30 in the morning, Jesse and I are up getting ready to get to the race. He deferred to me when I picked the time that we needed to get on the road but I was way wrong. The race started at 8am central time which means it would be 9am our time but for some reason I had it in my head that it was 7am our time so we had to leave super early when in fact we could have left later. You should have seen the two of us trying so hard to figure out an hour time difference when we were both sleep deprived and not caffeinated. We finally figured out we could sleep until 5:30 and make it to the race with time to spare.
It was dark and COLD in the morning, like mid-thirties cold. I did not dress appropriately. My brain in still set on 70 degree days. We drove around lost for a bit since we misunderstood the cones and couldn’t find where to park (neither could the cars following us, so good thing we left early). After some sketchy maneuvers we found the lot and joined the others standing around huddling for warmth.
The race director lined us up by mile per minute time which I thought was smart. I started later than Jesse since he is a speed demon. This was a great run. The fall colors all around us and a mostly flat course made for some enjoyable sightseeing by me. This race was about enjoying the surroundings and finishing on my feet at a somewhat acceptable time. I was not in it to PR or anything.
The first half was along the road and through these quiet golden tree lined streets. It then went off onto Calumet trail. It followed along through another great neighborhood and then mile 7-8 was right along Lake Michigan. You could hear the waves and the houses on the other side were so different, they were these super square modern homes and one was hot pink. Not what I expected on a lakeside street.
There were some welcome rolling hills, so much flat is very tiring on your legs I have noticed. Then came the part of the race that left me cursing. We got back on Calumet trail but this part was WET, like ankle deep puddles and mud… so much mud. There were some that had a bit of land so you can go around them but the others there was just nothing you could do. My feet were soaked and cold and cramping. My shoes were squelching out mud and just felt super gross. It lasted from mile 9.8ish to about mile 11. Not cool. At least the last bit was on dry pavement.
I came up to the finish line where my sweet (dry footed) hubby was cheering me on. I saw on the clock that if I hauled it I could beat my fastest half marathon time by about a minute, so I did. Yes ladies and gentlemen I believe this is a PR. I have to do some internet research when I have a Wi-Fi connection but I think I did it. Wet, muddy feet and all.
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