We all met at Cheryl's house on Friday morning to set out from there. I believe Cheryl ran on her own that morning from her house, Kim went to the gym and ran , and I did a circuit class at 5:30 at the NLR Athletic Club. I didn't want to run the day before the race so my poor foot would function during the race. Of course I had the most stuff...as usual...Kim second...and then Cheryl. In my defense, Cheryl's clothes are pretty much as big as Barbie clothes, so of course, she only had one duffel bag! (ha ha..sorry Cheryl!) Once Kim arrived, we loaded up the car and headed to the Bucks for our coffee. I had to have at least one cup at Cheryl's because I had a BAD caffeine headache going on, but I still got my usual Venti coffee with Hazelnut syrup. Yum! The trip had plenty of conversation as usual, although I HATE the drive to Memphis with a passion... We discovered Kim's "hidden" Enrique Iglesias CD and the heckling began...ugh....It was hilarious! By the time we got to Memphis, we all had to pee pretty bad! It didn't take too long to find a parking spot, we saw Annette and her entourage in the parking lot. Of course, I forgot my running shoes in the trunk, so I had to run back to the car (and leave the girls freezing on the sidewalk) to get my shoes and insoles. We went inside, did the deed (aka went potty), and found our bib numbers. Kim and Cheryl had consecutive numbers in the 5000's, mine was double that 10524! Thankfully, we were able to get a size small shirt (I signed up for a medium) ! We got our "goodie" bags (as Cheryl says...minus the goodies) and started looking around. Most what I saw I had seen online at some point, so I didn't need much, but we did come across some $9.99 stuff and I got a shirt and hat. I really liked the shirt, so I got an extra large, and was glad later when Kim tried hers on and she said it was tight (hers was a medium)...FINALLY we came to the infamous insoles that were going to solve all my problems and cure all my ills...I tried them on and after walking in them a bit, decided to buy a pair. Apparently I have a "bunionette" and place almost no weight on my toes....go figure...As I talked to the reps, Kim and Cheryl talked to Arland and Annette. After that, there wasn't much else to look at, but I did buy a shoe charm for a necklace and we left.
After finding our way to the interstate, we headed another 30 minutes to Aunt Martha's house. I had never met her, but was looking forward to after Kim and Cheryl talked about how fun she is. We made a short pit stop to fuel up (our tummies) at Nook's, getting salads and soup. About halfway through eating, Kim thought she saw her lettuce move....and sure enough, there was a bug crawling in the bottom of her bowl! As you can imagine, that didn't exactly whet our appetites to finish our meal! Cheryl probably would have been okay to eat her soup, but she was so grossed out, she just ate some SEALED bread sticks, as did I. We made a quick pit stop to Kohl's to exchange Kim's hat. We all got matching hats the day after Thanksgiving at Kohl's and hers was torn in one spot....I call them the "yoddle-e-he-hoo" hats, because they have these little Braid-like things that hang down and make us all look like Scandinavian milk maids...The afternoon was finished with a trip to the local Target "just in case" there was something there that the NLR Target didn't have...hehe...and to Aunt Martha's for some dinner and rest. We had a lovely dinner of soup and sandwiches and we were just glad that we didn't have to go back out into the cold (especially Cheryl!). I modeled my long red footie pjs with the sock monkey feet and Cheryl's niece proceeded to poke fun of me...Oh well, it was just a showpiece I decided, I was going to suffocate in that thing (the bedroom was WARM)....We laid out our outfits for the next morning and hit the sack. It took a little while for me and Kim to fall asleep, so as we talked and giggled, Cheryl was wishing we would just SHUT UP...
Me and my infamous Sock Monkey pjs
The next morning we were up with our alarms around 5:45...I scared Kim by folding into "child's pose" on the bed after waking up, cause my back hurt..it was funny! It was SO cold and we were all torn about what to wear. I started out with a performance tank, 2 performance long sleeve shirts , a fleece, and of course, shorts...I ended up taking one of the long sleeves off. Cheryl was conflicted about adding another layer because of the wind, but I think she ended up with her original planned clothing, worried that she would be hot. I went against conventional advice and did something new on race day...I wore my new insoles! I know, I know....many of you are shaking your heads in feigned shame at the "rookie" , but I figured, I could either run in what I KNEW would hurt (aka my current insoles) or try something that MAY or MAY NOT hurt...more on that to come......It didn't take too long to find a place to park, in the parking garage Cheryl and Kim parked in last year. It was fairly close to the start, but we had to find our coral and go potty. We saw Annette, Gary, Michelle, Andrea, and Brenda. I was having BAD performance wear lust, seeing all those wondrous tech shirts, CRX running tights, and fleece cover ups...WE huddled together until the race started and we moved forward in timed increments. I was thinking "Where is that SUN?" It was cloudy and my fingers and toes were numb! They stayed that way until about mile 4 or so. I kept seeing all these cool hats, dropped and unopened Gu, and clothes that I wanted to snatch up....but alas....I could not....It was during these first few miles that I learned my first, of I'm sure many, running myths/lore/superstitions if you will....Apparently you are not supposed to wear the race shirt given to you IN the race....Bad luck? That's what Kim and Cheryl said..and they promptly reminded me that if I wanted to run with them, I would be in my running bra before I would be allowed to wear my race shirt!!!
I was actually pretty comfortable, as far as exertion and foot discomfort for quite a while. We had the usual stops for shoe tying and Cheryl had to hit the Porto-potty at mile 6. The water stations were a bit hairy at times, people just didn't pay attention to where they threw their cups! And speaking of not paying attention....I hate to say it, because I want to use mine, but those ipod people were CLUELESS!!! as far as what was going on around them. It was very frustrating. We also had our share of people that would just STOP right in front of you....I held up pretty well until mile 10, at such time that my foot issues returned. I had to take 2 or 3 15-30 second walking breaks from mile 10-13. We all took turns trying to offer incentives to finish because we were SO OVER IT by mile 12! Coffee.....medal....food.....these were the things that drove us...All in all, I am glad I wore the insoles. I know it's a no-no and I don't intend to start a habit of doing new things on race day, but I think I was actually better off than I would have been had I worn the other ones. I got my second wind about mile 13.001 (just kidding)...but somehow when I saw the finish around the corner....I just pushed it! Kim, Cheryl, and I crossed the finish line at the EXACT same time 2:14:19 and although I didn't PR or set any speed records.. I was just so happy #1 to be done, #2 to have run almost the entire race, and #3 to have finished at all. After all those foot issues, I seriously was questioning even finishing! There's time for a new PR later!
We were herded through the stadium area to the stairs, after getting our time chips cut off and getting our stylish Mylar blankets and medals. Some guy near us was saying how he felt "weird" and lightheaded and looked a little spacey..I offered him my Gu and got him a bottled water. I've seen that look many a time before, he looked like he was about to crash from low blood sugar! His friend assured that he would "look out for him", but he seemed more interested in telling his friend a story....geez...I was thinking to myself how dumb that guy was for not eating anything...and then I remembered that I had only one Gu at mile 7 and had only drank a small G2, much less than I usually consume. I'm usually pretty good at fueling up regularly! We finally got up the stairs into the "wind tunnel" to line up for food. I ate a banana, 1/4 cup veggie soup and 2 NutterButter cookies I was ready for some STARBUCKS!! We decided to go to the car to warm up and get some more layers so we could come back and watch Brenda and Andrea finish the marathon. On the way to the car, Cheryl had her Mylar blanket wrapped around her and all you could see was the silver blanket on top and her little legs sticking out the bottom...Kim and I cackled like crazy, as I started singing "Silver bells....." It was hilarious! Here we are (Cheryl and I, pic below) finally partaking in some coffee...as you can see, I'm not quite coherent yet...
By the time we got our layers, coffee, and a bathroom pit stop out of the way...we realized that it was about 15 minutes until Brenda and Andrea planned to be done! We hurried over to the stadium, found a place in the COLD shade close to the front and watched Brenda come in at a little over 4 hours, Andrea in around 4:28 ish?...we were excited for them! After that, we went to the car and tried to find our way out of the city. We saw Annette just as we were stopped for a second in traffic and we all yelled "Hey Annette!" She was trucking along, and I think she was fairly close to the end! It was soooo cold that day, we were all glad that we didn't have to do the full! But all those who did were awesome!
After getting to Aunt Martha's, we took a shower and headed out to shop...yes....you heard that right folks....although it didn't last long. We went to World Market and the mall, and finished up the evening with dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. My turkey burger was awesome and I actually was converted to liking guacamole after I tried some that Cheryl and Kim ordered! W
e headed back to Aunt Martha's and chilled for the evening, we were beat! The next morning we headed out for home around 8-8:30, with our Starbucks trip along the way. Cheryl had to get back to pack for Seattle and Kim had to pack for Texarkana. I was sooo glad I didn't have anywhere to be on Monday! It was a fun trip and I am so glad I could be a part of it, not only for the company, but that I could do the race. My only focus now is the LR Marathon....
2 comments:
Congratulations! Looks like the trio had an amazing time!
HEY - enough with the No. 2's! LOL!! Great report, I'm glad you had a good time, I know I did.
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