spottedthebird | Never A Dull Bling

… in Reno, that is. I probably mentioned it like once a long time ago, but we are here for the Reno 5000 Series Downtown River Run. I may have even possibly mentioned (or not) that both James and I have dropped down in our categories… him to the half, me to the 10K… this won’t count towards our 50-state goal for either of us. James wants a PR this spring, so we’re holding out for a race closer to home… the North Olympic Discovery Marathon and Half in Port Angeles; one that is at sea level as opposed to 4800 feet. (Reno is in the mountains… I never knew!) We’ll go to Las Vegas to eventually conquer Nevada, but for now we’re just here to have a good time.

We’re staying at Harrah’s Downtown, right at the start line and super close to the river. After getting off our little propeller plane (I kid you not) and checking in, we took a lovely walk to see what the downtown had to offer.

I’ll say this… Reno is clean. The only other downtown that I’ve seen this clean is Tulsa. But downtown Reno is a happening place. It’s beautiful, and it’s so refreshing to see people and government officials taking pride in their city (as opposed to Seattle which… never mind, don’t even get me started).

Anyway, the river overfloweth. A dam floodgate near Lake Tahoe has been released to allow for melting snow over the next couple of months; therefore, the river is flowing high, fast, and furious. Wouldn’t want to be on it, but it is a beautiful sight:

#spottedthebird! He was patient and posed nicely for me until I was done taking his picture. I’m out of my element, so I don’t have a clue what he is… where is my Sibley bird-watching book when I need it (and if any of you actually know what that book is, you’re my new BFF)!

As for news from the home front… the child is leaving Sunday on his first trip without Mom or Dad. He’s going with a friend to Maui for the next 2 weeks. I think I forgot to tell him he’s not allowed to grow up.

Now I’m off to go explore Reno and the raging river some more. After two leg cramps in the middle of the night last night from being poorly hydrated, I’m sucking down the Nuun and water, and need to stretch out the tightness. I logged 4 miles yesterday… we’ll aim for another 4 today, then the race tomorrow. Should be a great time!

#spottedthehusband 🙂

And so training begins again, only this time I have a decent amount of time to get in shape for the Tulsa Half taking place in November, my 7th state.

Or wait… maybe I’m supposed to be getting ready for the Hamster Endurance Run in August… oh well… moving on…

I’m not sure I mentioned it before, but because of that crazy stint I pulled off with the SLC Half, RNR Seattle Half, and just recently Missoula (3 half-marathons in 90 days), I managed to qualify for Half Fanatics. I am now Half Fanatic #15164! For my friends across the pond and elsewhere that aren’t familiar with it, it’s a national running club here in the States which affords certain race “perks.” For example, in Tulsa, we will have access to the VIP tent. And yes, James qualified for Marathon Maniacs as well. We both have joined the Asylums!

Anyway, as I was saying, today was the first day of training for Tulsa… or Hamster… whatever. My feet are feeling much better (thanks Rob!), almost completely healed and normal again. Regardless, I kind of had a lazy run. Okay, not kind of, more like really really. But it’s all good. I haven’t been able to train properly since the PF started, so it was good to get out and just get ‘er done.

I opted to go ’round and ’round at the soccer fields. It was flat. And I was feeling lazy. And could the sky get any more beautiful?

So I completed 5 lazy miles going ’round and ’round. It got a bit warm with no shade, but I’m thinking I shouldn’t really complain about that as, last I heard, the rest of the country is melting.