Saturday, November 2, 2013

How Do You Know if Someone ( LIKE ME!) Ran a Marathon??

Don't worry,


After months and months and months of training I was sort of not at all ready for the Portland Marathon weekend.

But here is how it went down.

In two parts.

PART ONE

I knew that I had an incredibly fun weekend ahead of me.  Until it snowed somewhere and Erika's flight to Seattle was CANCELED. We just knew right then that the weekend. Was. Ruined.


Luckily, with much cunningness, and the fact that she had paid for a ticket and it was not her fault that it snowed, she was able to get a new flight out the next day to meet us in Portland!


On Saturday, TriGuy and I kidnapped Ann Marie at the craaaaazy early hour of 11 am, and we were on our way!

I was trying to be zen on the drive.


And during lunch.


And during the expo.


I was not very successful.

Though I did enjoy running into Zoe from RunZoeRun, who was manning the Nuun booth all by herself!


That evening at the hotel, Erika and I reviewed what I would wear on the run.  I had brought layers.


Also:


Having settled that decision, I also chose not to wear my fuel belt.  Instead, I stuffed 2.5 packets of Sport Beans into one package.


With nothing left to do, we all went to bed. I slept a bit the night before the race.  One of my biggest concerns was that there was no microwave in our room and I didn't know how I would get hot water for my oatmeal.

This may seem like a small thing, but if I didn't have hot water, I wouldn't be able to eat my gluten-free oatmeal, which meant I wouldn't be able to eat anything for breakfast, and how would I run-twenty-six-point-two-miles-with-no-food-omg-that-is-impossible-I-will-have-to-drop-out-of-the-race-and-I-worked-so-hard-and-people-came-all-this-way-to-run-with-me...


It was a long night.

At about 5 a.m. I finally took TriGuy's advice and called down to the front desk to request hot water. They happily provided me with a full teapot.


It was a wish come true, and all was well in my world again.

Originally, I had packed just enough oatmeal for breakfast, but then thought it would be better to bring more.  It was a great idea until I realized I had to pour most of it out into, um...

What exactly?

I improvised.


In hindsight, I probably could have just asked for a bowl.

Anyhoo, after breakfast we met up with Ann Marie and hung out with her in-laws and TriGuy for awhile, taking pictures, stopping at the port-a-potties, and finding our corral.

The race announcer started us off with a moment of silence for Boston.

We then sang the national anthem, followed by Sweet Caroline.


Before we knew it, our corral was racing walking increasingly more quickly to the starting line. I may or may not have hyperventilated into my hat for a moment, and then we were off!



Stay tuned for PART TWO!!


UPCOMING POSTS: PART TWO, THEN WE WILL BACKTRACK TO MORE SUMMER RACE RECAPS AND MARATHON TRAINING

I linked up with Yeah Write's Moonshine Grid this weekend. Come see what's going on there, and maybe submit one of your own posts!

47 comments:

  1. Haha! I love your sassy, irritated pics. I laughed through this whole post! And why is candy from a hotel mini fridge the same approximate cost as a three carat diamond ring? It's insanity!! ;)

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    Replies
    1. I know, minibars are ridiculous. I never touch them. And yeah, I was sooo irritated.

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  2. There are so many things in this post that I will have to Google (or Bing, I'm not biased). I have no idea what Nuun, a fuel belt or sport beans are. I'm not fully convinced you're not making this up. It makes me doubt the existence of "ba ba baaa" in Sweet Caroline. I don't know what's real anymore!

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    1. Sorry! Ok, here you go:

      1. Nuun is a sports drink powder (sort of like Gatorade)
      2. A fuel belt is like a fanny pack (but waaaay cooler of course) that you can put stuff in like small water bottles, your phone, keys, and any food you want to eat on your run.
      3. Sports beans are just jelly beans that supposedly have electrolytes and vitamins along with sugar to give you energy during the run.

      I assure you we're open...I mean, it's real.

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  3. Ha ! This is great! Can't wait for part 2!!

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  4. You are always hilarious and amazing! Well done...can't wait until the next post!

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  5. I didn't know that you were the anxiety riddled athlete (ya right). Very funny even though it's so true. Love the art as usual it was very funny. Can't wait for part deux.

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    1. Oh, perhaps that should have been my moniker!

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  6. Well, now I'm excited for part 2! I like that you ran into other bloggers at the event. That's a bit of a bucket list item of mine, to meet some of you guys. (and probably dispel the myth that I might actually be an interesting fellow) I know I'll pick you out in a second by your stick figure and transparent clothing. :)

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    1. Haha! Yes, that would make me easy to spot! I'm much more boring in person, myself. We could sit together and watch the interesting people.

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    2. While we eat oatmeal out of wine glasses! :)

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  7. You are inspiring, and you make me laugh. I adore that "I Dream of Jeannie" genie coming out of the teapot : )

    xo Karen

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    1. Thanks Karen :) The hot water was so wonderful!

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  8. I was actually beginning to get slightly nervous for you whilst reading this. Then I remembered I personally will never be forced to run such an outrageous distance and all is right with the world.

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  9. How exciting! The oatmeal worry is the type of thing that would keep me up all night, too. I loved your genie-in-a-teapot picture.

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    1. Thank you Marcy :D Oh my gosh, the stress of the oatmeal was so annoying!

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  10. I sometimes just want to look at the pics & not read - sorry!! ;) Love this!

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    1. No problem Jody! I just hope you come back at some point and read too...I spend lots of time on that part too making sure the pictures and words complement each other :)

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  11. BaHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HA HA HA AH AH! You and I are one in the same! Always making things a little more difficult than they need to be (YES a bowl would be simpliest, but WHO HAS TIME TO WAIT!! and I mean, who DOESN'T Want to DRINK their oatmeal??? lol)

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    1. You know, oatmeal out of the glass might have been good. I actually put all the extra in the glasses, and ate my oatmeal out of the plastic container.

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  12. Woo hoo! Can't wait for part 2...I'm on the edge of my seat!

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  13. Love this of course!! Can't wait for the next installment :)

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  14. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I really like your fun blogging style and pics :) Sounds like quite a build up to the marathon that I know you've been training hard for. Looking forward to part 2, sorry I missed wishing you luck but congrats on getting it done. #FitTrio

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    1. Thanks Gillian! It's great to hear from my #FitTrio again!

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  15. I just run quietly by the side of the road and hope no one notices :-)

    I really like your humerus take and artistic skills, being among other things, an artist myself.

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  16. I hopped on over from I Don't Like Mondays Link up and found you. I must say that I am not one that likes to run. I have often been heard saying, "Someone would have to be chasing me to get me to run." But I admire those who do. I like the gadgets and would love to get them for my long walks and hikes. Now that I can get into! I am interested in hearing what happens in number 2. =)

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    1. Yes, the gadgets and doodads and fancy duds get pretty fun!

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  17. Oh man! I can't wait for part 2!

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  18. Man that $900.00 candy in the mini bar better be good

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    1. Yes, I should hope so! I've never been able to bring myself to try it...maybe Willy Wonka is holed up in the fridge.

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  19. Why use a wine glass for your oatmeal when a perfectly good toilet filled with water was available?

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    1. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

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  20. Hey! Looks like oatmeal parfait!

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  21. I am so behind on blog reading! I love your improvising techniques. I would have done the same. Love that you guys sang Sweet Caroline before the start of the race. What a great way to get you pumped up and ready to run! Can't wait for part 2! (even if I know the outcome) :)

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    1. *I* am so behind on responding to you! It was good to sing Sweet Caroline; it was comforting and familiar :D

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