East Coast Travels Part 1

On 29 June, Sean and I packed up and flew to Raleigh on leave, where we linked up with Jen and Reagan.  We immediately hopped into the car and drove up to South Boston for a lovely visit with Sean's mom, Dody, and her husband, Garland.  They have an absolutely gorgeous cabin up there and have made some amazing renovations to it in the past year, which we were excited to see!

First I got to see my awesome (and apparently very sleepy) niece, Reagan!

Dody giving Reagan some love!

Garland trying to get Reagan to drink her bedtime milk!

We can't forget the four-legged beasts - Pepper and Rufus...I mean Fargo :-)

Sean had us out there everyday doing some sort of interesting workout...

Great form, Jen!

On Friday night we went to the South Boston Speedway and Reagan had a big time!   

We finished off the night with an awesome display of fireworks!

We had a wonderful trip and it was great to see Dody, Garland, Pepper, and Fargo!  Thanks for everything!

R.O.C. On!

Loch Ness Monsters: Jessica, Sean, Patrick & Ashley

The Loch Ness Monsters surfaced last Saturday to run their first Ridiculous Obstacle Course (ROC) 5K at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in SoCal.

The 3.1 mile course featured over a dozen obstacles such as snow mountain, a rope swing and monkey bars.


The team included team captain, Sean, Jessica, and our friends Patrick and Ashley.

We finished the course in just over 33 minutes for an official team time of 2 hours, 12 minutes and 23 seconds.

Here are some photos from the event.

Ashley & Sean vs the Joust

Crossing the finish line

Go Loch Ness Monsters!!!

55!

On Saturday, April 9th, in the heart of the Spring Mountains, just to the southwest of Las Vegas, NV, Jessica took on the task of running her first 100 mile ultra-marathon.

It would be her first long distance race since completing the Marine Corps Marathon in 2005, and her first ultra since running a 50 miler in 2003.

Headphones in and camelback strapped to her back, she began her pursuit at 0700 (PST) in 30 degree weather. Her goal was to accomplish 4 laps out-and-back along the course's 11 mile stretch plus a short 6 mile out-and-back to cover the remaining 12.

She covered the first 6 miles in 90 minutes and just before noon she completed her first 22 mile loop. Battling 4,000 feet of altitude, a sudden snow storm and frigid winds, Jessica muscled through with a smile on her face and completed her second loop just before 6 PM.

As the sun set and the stars arrived, Jessica continued to march northward toward the midpoint of her 3rd lap. Hitting the half-way point of 50 miles just after 7:30 PM she pushed through the darkness and reached the turnaround at 9 PM. Unfortunately, by this point the cold weather and distance had taken it's toll. Although she was disappointed, instead of pushing forward and risking injury, Jessica decided to call it a day after 55 miles and 14 hours of running. Although she didn't complete the 100 miles, she did break her personal best by 5 miles. Not a bad day.

To put things in perspective, here are some interesting facts about her 55 mile accomplishment.

- Most people are happy to run a marathon. Jessica ran two back-to-back...in 14 hours...and then ran an extra 2.6 miles.

- NASA consider outer space to begin at 50 miles above the Earth and award Astronaut wings to those who fly above it. (See what happens to you when you try to run to outer space --------------->)

- She ran the equivalent of almost 807 football fields.

- She was 11 miles shy of covering the distance between Columbia, MD and Warrenton, VA.

- Plus she didn't get lost or eaten by any wild animals. Great job!

Additionally, Jessica raised almost $1000 for Fisher House.

Congratulations Jessica on running 55 MILES!!! It was amazing and a lot of fun. Special thanks to West Coast Lisa for her support and being an excellent member of the crew as well. Thanks to everyone who follow on Twitter and checked-in with us throughout the day.

Way to go Jessica!!!

Race Weekend - Labor of Love 100 Miler

This weekend Jessica will be running the Calico Racing Labor of Love 100 Miler in Lovell Canyon, located in the Spring Mountains southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada.

The course will consist of an 11-mile stretch on the paved Lovell Canyon Road. Jessica will run four loops on the 11-mile stretch four times for a total of 88 miles and finish the remaining 12 miles on a short 6-mile out-and-back along the same road.

The event begins at 7am (PST) Saturday morning. Jessica will have 32 hours to complete the ultra-marathon.

As part of the event, Jessica will be running in support of the Fisher House Foundation. Fisher House provides support to wounded service members and their families.

You can follow her progress throughout the day on the blog site or via Twitter.

Black Mountain

Today we took a trip down to Black Mountain, where we hiked the Miner's Ridge Loop. The weather was a bit chilly and overcast, but it turned out to be a great day. Nessie was able to run around off-leash (breaking park rules...haha) and had a blast.