I love family weddings. Family weddings means you have a group of people that essentially have to love and accept you while you go crazy on the dance floor. And there’s nothing better than having your parents at the wedding to be the automatic designated driver (sorry parents that you STILL have to be the responsible ones).

So when when Andy’s cousin, Joe, announced that he was marrying his girlfriend, Barb, I was pretty pumped…another chance for me to look ridiculous on the dance floor without any cares in the world!!

The only catch? The wedding was in Indiana (which in all fairness, makes complete sense as both the bride and groom live in Indiana).

So Andy and I did what any other normal couple would do: decide that we will pair the wedding trip with a half marathon so we can knock Indiana off the list. Unfortunately, the only race in Indiana that weekend happened to be on the morning of the wedding.

And also a two hour drive away from the wedding.

But we didn’t let that stop us…just an incentive to run fast, right? Now all I needed to do was actually train for the race and we would be perfect. What could go wrong?

---

Although Joe and Barb were getting married in Fort Wayne, Indiana (northeastern side of the state for those of you that are not geographically savvy like myself), the half marathon was in northwest Indiana. We flew into Chicago on May 25th and rented a car to drive to Indiana.

Our first stop?

THE MASCOT HALL OF FAME!!!!

Yes, this is a real place.

It also is definitely for children, which Andy and I did not realize until we walked inside the museum. Every single person there was with a child. And then there was us…whoops. I tried really hard to be extra friendly to the museum people when we were buying our tickets so they didn’t think Andy and I were there to creep on the children, just that we are adults that have not really grown up yet. I think I was convincing enough because they did let us in to the museum!

The museum was not crowded which was great because it meant Andy and I could do all the children activities without pushing kids out of the way.

We acted like a mascot and shot t-shirts into the screaming crowd (Andy won this every time…I think he secretly practiced before we arrived).

We played in the full sports court that they had set up because what’s a mascot without sports!

We practiced wearing mascot heads so we could feel how heavy they are. Spoiler alert: Mascot heads are super heavy!! Strong shoulders and necks are required.

At the Mascot Hall of Fame you can also design your own mascot. Andy and I took this very seriously.

Of course, my favorite activity was learning to dance like a mascot (we already went over how much I love to let loose on the dance floor)! In order to fully immerse yourself in the experience you had to put on a weighted “vest” (to simulate a mascot costume) and then do typical mascot dance moves. It was hysterical.

On a side note, being a mascot is hard work!! My heart was racing after my dancing adventure which was probably not a good sign since there is a half marathon the next morning…

The museum does show the Mascot Hall of Fame which is actually a real thing. Mascots are nominated annually and put on a ballot. Then the public, lifetime voting members and the Hall of Fame executive committee all vote to determine who will be inducted that year.

Sadly, the Duke Dog has not yet made it.

I know Duke. We’re all just as shocked as you. Maybe next year.

Eventually, Andy and I decided it really was time for us to leave the museum so actual children could play.

After our stop in Whiting, Indiana for the Hall of Fame we decided to keep on heading east to go to the Indiana Dunes National Park.

To be honest, Andy and I were SO unprepared. It was supposed to rain all day so we hadn’t anticipated being able to go to the national park. Yet, when the rain stopped and the sun came out we made a last second to head that way. Which meant we arrived in jeans, with no sunblock, no water, no bathing suits and no snacks.

Luckily, we still had our luggage with us so we were able to sketchily change in the parking lot. We also managed to find one empty water bottle that we filled up in the sink of the public restroom (don’t judge…the public water fountains didn’t work!).

And, at last, we were prepared to complete the Three Dunes Challenge aka climbing the three highest dunes in the national park! The challenge consists of a 1.5 mile trail with 552 feet of vertical climbing.

We did have a map (albeit not a very good one), but we knew the first dune to climb was Mt. Tom. Imagine our surprise when we reached the top of Mt. Tom after a very short walk from our car!

Yeahhhh…about that…

We weren’t actually on the top of Mt. Tom. Not even close.

We had apparently, and unnecessarily I might add, climbed one of the many random sand dunes in the park. Yippee!

Of course, we didn’t quite realize this at the time, which also meant that we had difficultly following the map to the second dune (it’s hard to use a map when you’re not actually where you think you are on the map).

Now this is very important for one reason: It is (truly and seriously) the ONLY time in me and Andy’s ENTIRE relationship in which I was right about directions and he was wrong!

Okay, okay…I’ll stop rubbing it in. But just don’t forget this incredible moment!!

After I led us to victory, we did eventually reach the top of Mt. Tom. What a view!!

Next up: Mt. Holden!

Finally, we made it to dune #3: Mt. Jackson.

Overall, the 1.5 mile hike was gorgeous and well worth the trip!

If you have more time (and are better prepared than us), I would also recommend spending some time relaxing in the sand/along the water.

Although, lets be real, these Hoosiers must have stronger blood than me and Andy as I don’t know how people were actually in the water. It was freezing! But to each their own, I guess?

After leaving the dunes we checked in to our hotel and looked for a restaurant to get our typical pre-race meal: spaghetti and meatballs. There was an Olive Garden five minutes away orrrr we could drive over 20 minutes for a special restaurant: LIVIO’S!!

Obviously, we had to go (for my unaware readers, Livio is my father’s name and it really is quite a rarity to encounter another one) and it was such a great decision.

The food was AMAZING and our server was top notch. When we told her that my dad’s name was Livio she brought out two “Livio’s” glasses for us to take home!

Moral of the story: If you happen to find yourself nearby St. John, Indiana…definitely make a pit stop here!

The next morning was RACE DAY! Also known as the wettest, grossest, weather ever. Have I mentioned I definitely have some kind of weather curse for my half marathons?

The weather was predicting a morning of rain and, unfortunately, for once, the weather channel was not wrong. It actually rained the ENTIRE race. Guess who got to run the whole race with wet socks? Me me me!! And guess who got the worst chaffing ever because of all my wet clothes? Meeeeeee!! I’m so lucky 🙂

Besides the rainy race, there were a couple of other things that made this race pretty different from other ones I have done:

• It was the first half marathon that spanned more than one city (we ran through four different cities: Schererville, Griffith, Merrillville and Crown Point). I think this is mostly because the cities in northern Indiana are tiny. We literally started the race on one side of the street in one city and ended the race on the other side of the street in a different city!
• All previous races I have done have been at least 1,000 people. This race had 150 people and that’s including everyone for the half marathon AND the marathon. It was so small that packet pick-up was the morning of the race and there wasn’t even another option. There was no gear check, because you just put everything in your car. Needless to say, I drove myself to the race and parked my car instead of having Andy wake up early to drop me off and then pick me up. It was a little weird, but I appreciated the convenience of it all!
• Because the race was so tiny, I actually got a bit lonely during the run. There really were no people around! I almost got lost a few times, but somehow managed to stay on the path (thankfully because there is no way I was in shape to run any farther than I had to!).
• There was a tracking app, but annoyingly it was not very accurate. Since there weren’t always race signs (I think they got rained out), I never really had any idea of how far along I was or how much farther I had to go. On the bright side, the tracking app allowed Mom, Dad and Andy to send me cheers throughout the race!
• Of course, the best part about the race was the flatness of it! Yay for flat Indiana! I saw lots of farms, animals and just land on land on land.

Despite the rain, I still managed to finish and was able to cross state #13 off the list!

Fun Fact: The race was SO small that I actually got first place in my age division (Females 25 – 29) with a stellar time of 2:27:03 (this is sarcasm…this time is not stellar). Of course, there were only three of us in the age division, but who’s counting? 🙂

After the race we had to make a HUSTLE move across the state to get to Fort Wayne in time for the wedding. Although we realized that the wedding was two hours away from the race, we didn’t think about the fact that that the we were losing an hour on our drive to the wedding (going from central to eastern time zone!).

To put it simply: I was not a happy camper during the drive. I underestimated how slowly I would want to go after the race. Andy was stressed about time and I just couldn’t make myself move faster. Somehow, we made it to the hotel with 30 minutes to change/get ready and meet the others to head to the wedding. Which of course is enough time for me and Andy because we’re really good at just throwing on clothes and rolling out. 🙂

The wedding was a ton of fun! Although it rained initially during the ceremony, it cleared up pretty quickly and led to wonderful evening weather.

There was a ton of family at the wedding! All of Andy’s family was there, plus most of his aunts/uncles and cousins. We were missing a few relatives, but it was great to catch-up with everyone that was able to make it.

After our impromptu photo shoot, we headed inside for my favorite part: food, drinks and DANCING!!! And yes, we literally danced all night!

I was actually really impressed with myself that I was able to stay on my feet for as long as I did. I thought I would have to call it an early night because my legs would be too sore from the race. But somehow (maybe because of all the wine?) I was out there on the dance floor until the last song. Barb and Joe had great music all night long!

The next day Andy and I had an afternoon flight out of Fort Wayne with a layover in Chicago before heading back to DC.

Of course, traveling for my half marathons is never easy.

Somehow, the whole Chicago airport was grounded due to a storm. So we were stuck at Fort Wayne for several hours.

The good news is that because of the grounding our flight from Chicago to DC was delayed as well. The bad news? By the time we go to Chicago we found out our flight had been straight cancelled.

At this point it was 8:00 at night and the service line for United was ridiculously long.

Both Andy and I were supposed to work the next day so we were ready to do whatever we could to get home and not spend the night in an airport. Of course, it was mostly out of our hands.

By some stroke of luck, Andy was able to find a blessed front desk woman who stayed to help us find another flight. The next available flight, unfortunately, wasn’t until 2:00 PM the next day. However, we did ask to be put on standby for any other flights and were able to get one flying into BWI and leaving at 9:00 that night. We hustled across the airport and by another miracle we did make it on to standby (two wonderful middle seats!).

I wish I could say that our adventure ended there, but alas it did not:

On the bright side, we did eventually get home, even if it was through Baltimore and a good twelve hours after expected. Yay for traveling! (Really, I tell you all these stories so you can feel better about your life. So yes, you’re welcome haha)

Never a dull moment when it comes to our half marathon adventures – thanks Indiana for keeping it real!