Fantastic Caverns

If you find yourself near Springfield, Missouri in the beautiful hills of he Ozark's, this is a little afternoon adventure for a couple or a family who wants to go inside a cave.  Or for someone who wants some adventure without having to get their hands dirty:)

Today for Travel Tuesday I want to introduce you to Fantastic Caverns.  This is actually the name of the business.  It is also a family owned business and I could tell they take a lot of pride in the area and it's surroundings. Additionally, they are America's only Ride Thru Cave.

Yes, that is correct.  You actually get inside a I guess you could call it large wagon pulled by a jeep.  The wagon has seats, and I think when I went we had around 16 people sitting comfortably in it.

Additionally, no matter what time of year you go, the cave is always around a comfortable 60 degree's.

This isn't just your chance to ride through a cave, but you also get to enjoy a little bit of Civil War History too!
My tour guide told us a few stories of the caves history.
One of the unique things about this cave, the owner hid it's existance from both sides on the Civil War because he didn't want either side to use it to gain an advantage over the other.
Also, when the owner asked for cave exploers, it was actually a group of 12 women in a  Woman's Athletic Club that were the caves originally explorers.

Another unique thing about this cave, that you don't normally get to do in most caves.  They actually let you reach out and touch some of the low ceiling stalacites

This cave has a rich history of different uses.  It was once used as a Speakeasy during the Prohibition era.  It also once hosted music concerts in the 50's and 60s.

IF YOU GO:
* It's about an hour long tour.
* They are open year round except certain holidays.  You can check their hours of operation and other infomation HERE.
* They do charge to go through, and I remember it was a little pricey.  You can check their website if you are planning to go, to know what the current fee's are.
* It's just a 1 hour drive north from the famous Branson, Missouri.

FYI - I am not being paid to promote this.  This was just a place I visited and enjoy and wanted to share with you all.

My Missouri Marathon #29th on my goal to 50 states

     My Missouri Marathon was actually my 2nd 26.2 in two weeks. Picked my packet up at the Bass Pro Shop, Outdoor World, WOW can I just say that was seriously one of the most AWESOME outdoor stores I have ever been in!

The morning of the race I woke up and gave myself plenty of time to slowly get ready and drive to the start to find a parking space.  I hate to rush anything the morning of the race, it just sets in nerves (Yes I still get them:)

Got a great parking space and sat in my rental car with the heater on keeping warm (Chilly 37' morning) until it was time to line up.  The race started right in front of the Bass Pro Shop.  They had a male singing group sing the Star Spangled Banner and then the gunshot sent us off.

Before I go into the race, let me give you a little FYI on my bodies recovery from D.C.  It's impossible to fully recover from a race in one week, most people will tell you in reality it takes a month or longer.  This is because a marathon causes a lot of micro tears in your muscles among other things.  So with that said, I am obviously not looking for FULL recovery, what I am going for is recovering just enough to get by and for me I felt I was to that point!

America's ONLY Drive through Cave - Fantastic Caverns

Being a little on the colder side that morning, my plan was to slow the pace the first few miles and let the Hip Flexor injury warm up gradually (although I did again use one of those Tylenol heat patches - I find if I stick them sticky side to the inside of a spandex short, instead of the skin they work fabulously!  Not only that, but not being in the skin, means after the race, I will still have skin (ouchy, made the stick on skin mistake once and that was enough, LOL)

Surprisingly the first few miles, my body actually wanted to run (Almost like it had forgotten I just ran 26.2 a week ago, LOL).

Of course just because my body was enjoying the first few miles of the race, I wasn't naive enough to believe that would last the entire race (hoped though).  The course started in Springfield, MO and I believe stayed in the city and residential areas the entire time, weaving in and out of neighborhoods, around parks, rivers and ponds.  Starting and ending basically at the same place, although (thankfully) none of the course was an out and back, (I hate those) it was a point to point course tour of the community:)

Beautiful, but OH SO HILLY!!!  Technically I was in the Ozarks, so I probably should have known the course would be hilly.  But the truth is, even I can be a total idiot sometimes, I actually looked at this course elevation chart below (when planning the 3 in 3) and said to myself, okay it looks hilly, but this is Missouri and Missouri is likely flat, so the chart probably just looks worse than it is.

Yup, like I said, I am an idiot!

Right from the beginning, the course was I like to call it "Roller Coaster" hills.  They weren't long steep hills.  They were short frequent hills, right back down, then up, and down etc...  It was pretty much like this for the first 10 miles of the course.

My Hip Flexor injury was not handling them extremely well, but I have developed a system for keeping it from getting worse, and I just did what I had practiced and what seems to be working and thankfully it did!

Cave Picture

My body was doing pretty good the first 7 miles.  But like one would assume, eventually the week before caught up to me and I was starting to feel tired and sluggish, the aches and pains were already setting in, or coming back.

Sounds bad, to only be at mile 7 when this was happening.  But the last time I did 2, 2 weeks apart I was already feeling this by mile 4 and 5.

My other BIG issue, I was forced to run this marathon in brand new shoes.  Yup, I know HUGE MISTAKE!  But nothing I could do about it!  I had popped the gel in the sole of my left shoe in D.C. same leg as the Hip Flexor injury, I just couldn't risk running in that shoe and what might happen to the injury if I did.

Sometimes, you can buy a new pair of shoes and they are great and you never have problems, this was my hope.  Unfortunately I was not having that kind of luck on my side.

By mile 10, I was having severe foot pain in my right foot on the outer side.  I looked pathetic, I was doing a running limp like I should only have after a horrible end of a marathon.  I was in SO much pain and could barely stand it each time the right foot struck.  To be honest at this point I was even wondering how I was going to be able to stand the pain enough to finish, I wasn't even halfway.

Drive though Cave Entrance

This is when experience and a very high pain threshold tolerance (LOL) comes in, not to mention lots of prayers!  After a couple of miles of sheer pain, I finally was able to take my mind off the pain enough to clear my thoughts and come up with a solution.

I keep Tylenol on me for a reason, so I planned to take a couple at the next water stop.  At the same time it occurred to me that I have had this horrible foot pain before.  Back in Vermont, I had the same pain, same area that came on intense halfway into that race.

So I started to do the same thing I did during that race to take the pressure off the pain.

Basically I made sure as I ran and my foot would strike the ground I would put all pressure on the side of my foot that the big toe is on and try little to no pressure on the side of the foot.

Interesting History Fact: This stage though history
Held, country singers, moonshiners, KKK meetings
Even a bar fight that resulted in death.

It takes a few miles of running like this, concentrating on it before I am doing it without thinking about it.  Eventually by Mile 18, with the help of the new stride and some Tylenol.  The sheer pain is gone, and the only major feet issues I was having weren't so bad anymore.  I could tell I had a few hot spots and likely blisters, but oh well.  I wasn't going to complain because my biggest issue was now no longer one!

In the later miles, I ran into quite a few other crazy runners who run as much as me, some more.  A few fun chats with them when I was hitting the real tired moments of the race that had to remind me, I do this because I love this:)

Like all races, they all have their odd moments.  Mine came around mile 22-23, I actually started feeling like a 3rd or 4th wind was coming along and my legs started feeling slightly stronger again.  I was starting to pass runners on a steady basis, I was running at the same pace that I had been earlier on in the race.  This lasted a few miles, sort of left as fast as it came:)  But by the time it left, I was so close to the finish and nearing the 25th mile that adrenaline kicked in.  When you only have a little over a mile left you really don't care how much pain you are in, because the end is near and soon very soon you can get off your feet and finishing makes all the pain totally worth it!

And it was!!!

Cave Picture

Small town race, but nice shirt and medals!  Very nice volunteers, I really didn't notice any issues with any of the water stops and after my issues in Hawaii with those I pay VERY close attention.

We ran through some nice communities, some that had gorgeous large homes.  The 2nd half of the race was more like I thought it would be in the form of rolling hills:)  Beautiful fall tree lines streets, excellent police working the intersections, I never had to worry about getting hit:)

Likely if I hadn't of just ran a marathon, I would even say the short hills were fun:)

The course was fairly well marked, although I did see some runners coming back after missing one of the turns, LOL  Glad that wasn't me!  No runner wants to add more steps to the marathon!!!

Cave Picture

I am glad to have this race behind me now, and can say Missouri was my 29th state on my goal to 50 plus D.C.  

I am resting and trying to heal up best as possible.

I rarely ever get blisters, but this time I did and quite large at that.  So I'll have a little medical to attend to with the moleskin before Texas:)

My Hip Flexor is a little more inflamed right now, and I have a bit of swelling that hopefully will go down before the weekend, I am optimistic and think it will all work out fine:)

I think Texas will be a bit on the painful/tired side but it's going to take A LOT more of my mental side than physical for the 3rd in 3 weeks (In theory).

I am REALLY looking forward to it!  I have never pushed this much mileage and (self inflicted pain, ha ha) on myself like this before, and truthfully I am just THRILLED that my Hip Flexor injury is allowing me to continue on!  6 weeks ago I wasn't sure I would even be able to run any marathon's this fall at all, so I am taking it all one race at a time and enjoying every moment!

So now I just get to see what Texas has in store for me:)  

Cave Picture

South Dakota Marathon and Caving

I headed to South Dakota for a women's only marathon.  Kind of different, but a fellow 50 state marathoner I met several months back in Arkansas recommended that I MUST try this race. 
When I flew in and arrived a few days early, I had only one priority on my list besides the race, that of course was to see Mount Rushmore...

Mount Rushmore Day View

Mount Rushmore Night View

 After I visited Mount Rushmore and walked around the area, I headed down the road to Crazy Horse Monument.  This monument I learned is unfinished because the creators refuse to accept any state or federal funds, in respect for Crazy Horse who suffered at the governments hand.  Instead it's entirely funded by the public and viewers of the Monument.


Crazy Horse Monument Today

Crazy Horse Monument how it will look one day

After viewing the monuments and driving around the South Dakota Black Hills, I discovered that there was a lot more to it, and so much more I wanted to see.  So instead of heading to Spearfish (the race town) I spent one more day in the Black Hills Area.  Thanks to GPS and it's odd driving courses it sometimes takes me on, I was able to drive through Custer State Park, absolutely beautiful.  I saw lots of deer, antelope, buffalo, and even a big horn sheep and her baby.
I stopped at Wind Caves National Park, and so glad I did.  I signed up to take the 1/2 mile cave tour, which you first hop on an elevator and go down a few hundred feet below the surface.  This cave is a limestone cave, and quite unique, so many caverns, and places to go, I bet a person could spend weeks scouting through the miles and miles of the cave system.


Wind Cave National Park

After my trip through Wind Cave, I wanted to see more, and down the road was Jewel Cave National monument, so after another beautiful drive through the Black Hills.  I arrived at Jewel Cave just in time to grab the last ticket for the cave tour for the day.
Jewel Cave is just as it's name, there are lots of crystals and interesting colors all through the cave.  Again took an elevator a few hundred feet below the surface, This cave had a lot more drop offs, and stairs to climb.  I only went a 1/2 mile of the 155.00 miles of the cave.
So worth it!!  This cave is also a live cave, so lots of water dripping through them, mud puddle fixtures, odd shapes, orange, red, black, white and so many other color crystals and draperies hanging through the cave.  Really neat to see!


Jewel Cave



Jewel Cave

Finally it was time to head to Spearfish, and get ready for the race, I had a beautiful drive along the way, and thanks to GPS I got to see even a portion of Wyoming that I never intended on driving through.  (Gotta love GPS!)
Race packet pick up was really small, but I will say this about their volunteers, they were great and very nice!
The race shirts were even made of great material and had a good fit, guess they better since this is a women's only race :)
After packet pick up, I decided to head to the famous Deadwood (Where gunfighter Wild Bill Hickok was killed and the term Dead Man's Hand came from.  Also home at one time to Calamity Jane.)
Fun little town, completely redone to look like it did back in the late 1800's.  They still have saloon's and casino's, but some of the buildings are tourist shops.

Downtown Deadwood, SC

After touring Deadwood, I drove back through Spearfish Canyon, and got out and did a (little hiking), couldn't resist:)  The beautiful mountains were just calling my name, besides who knows when and if I will ever make it back to that area...  I come to all these states to run marathon's but also to see everything else I can while I am there.

Finally I made it to bed early because I had a 2:40a.m. wake up alarm set to get me up and going and ready to meet the buses for the Leading Ladies Marathon to take me to the starting line at 4a.m.  (YIKES on the early time, but it's not the earliest wake up time, Disney World Orlando I had to wake up at 1a.m.)
I sat on the bus next to a really nice runner named Mandy who claimed she also ran the marathon's for fun.  But I later found out she places 2nd in the race over all...  I wish my times were so fast that I could have fun and have a chance at winning a marathon at the same time!
I actually met a lot of really nice people at this race, mostly at the start.  I got lots of tips from other marathoners on which races in which states are best to run.
Just before the race started the sun began to come up, and a misty fog began to set in on the mountains around.  The race started in Lead, SC, at the top of a canyon.
Most of the uphill was in the first 7 miles of the race, but over all the race is predominately what I would consider a downhill course.
The race started at about 6800 feet, a bit higher in elevation than all my other marathons so far this year.  The course was beautiful, I was sure I'd see a deer or moose drinking out of the streams standing out among the lush green hillsides and tall dark pine tree's.  But no such luck.


Creek in Spearfish Canyon

     It was still a nice and peaceful run, I'd say there were less than 200 full marathoners, so at times you felt like you were the only one out on the course as you would wind through the canyon.  I didn't bring a headset to listen to music, which I was glad.  What better music than running through a peaceful mountain canyon in the early morning?
One thing about this race although the volunteers were wonderful.  The water stops were a little far apart.  I probably should have researched this ahead of time, but then I am famous for not doing this at most my races.
At the beginning having water every 3 or more miles wasn't too bad, at this point the race was in the shade.  However, I guess through experience knowing the heat of the day that was coming it did have me a little worried.  But I was feeling good, so much better than I thought I might having not ran much at all during the past two months to let my foot injury heal, so I tried not to think of the lack of water stops too much.

We exited one canyon, and then started down Spearfish Canyon, which was just as beautiful and green, except enter the very old large cliffs and mountains, and also a river to run down the canyon next too the road.
Miles 7 to 25 were all in this canyon.  At the half way point we left the road and headed down a dirt road, for an out and back.  (same area that Dances with Wolves was filmed, and the waterfall on the picture above was located.)  I was still feeling good, and the sun was just starting it's full shine onto the course.
I made a deal with myself, if I was still feeling good and on pace by mile 21, I was going to push it harder for the last 5 miles than I normally do and try for a PR.
However, water stops became an issue and creeping 90 degree temps were also pushing on.  I was feeling great until a stretch that I almost didn't get water for close to 4 miles, and in the full out sun.  Even though I had been drinking 2 cups at each stop, this lack of water in the later part of the course and in the heat was a killer, my pace slowed mile by mile, and although I was still on pace to hit a better time than I had in any other marathon's this year the dehydration was setting in.
I was bummed, but there was nothing I could do about it, once that happens you really cannot recover, even when I did finally reach a water stop.  All I could do was do my best to not loose too much time during these final 4 miles.

Bridal Veil Falls, Spearfish Canyon, SD

The last mile was on a trail along a river at the back of a campground, the first shade I had in miles.  So that along with the fact that the finish line was within reach pushed me through and my final miles pace was a little better than the past two.

Spearfish Canyon

I finished the race in one of my best times in about 7 years.  I was thrilled about that (still am).  Makes me feel like maybe I am finally back:)  I have high hopes of dropping a few more pounds and trying for a PR in one of my marathon's this fall.  Qualifying for Boston is still way out of my reach, but having my finishing time drop, really is an uplifting thought.

I had a great time, and LOVED South Dakota!!!  I can see myself going back, there are so many more caves I'd like to visit, and with all those Black Hill Forests I can just imagine it's also a hikers paradise!
I recommend The Leading Ladies Marathon, for those (women) who want to run a beautiful course.  But this is one race that I'd suggest it might not be a bad idea to carry a little water, or a container to use to fill around the half to carry some extra water with you for the 2nd half of the race if needed.
I think it's a fast course, having all the hills within the first 7 miles of the race.  However, like all courses like this, it's a killer on the quads:)  Not so much as what the St. George Marathon does to my legs, but I'd say the toll this race took on my body is 2nd only to what marathon's in Utah do to my body...

Creek in Spearfish Canyon