Thursday Evening: At the eleventh hour of packing, I received a package from my girlfriend Angie (of Ironman fame) with this letter and bracelet:
No matter what happens this weekend, "every little ting'/ gonna be alright"... Much love to you Angie!
Friday Morning: All that stands between me and Washington D.C. is Hurricane Sandy. What could go wrong? The captain decided to change the flight plan to Miami because he had flown through the storm the previous afternoon and (I quote) "it's not fun". To accommodate the new flight plan, we needed more fuel. Remember, this is Barbados. The fuel truck hooked up to the plane and the pump promptly broke. They scrambled to get another fuel truck and by "scramble" I mean... well, you get the idea. We were so late in to Miami we actually had to sprint to the gate ala OJ. No worries, I had my magic bracelet!
Friday Night: Met up with my friend Laurie from Portland that I hadn't seen since 1994! SO great to catch up and learn about each other's lives. She has done many amazing things with hers and I couldn't have asked for a better reunion. Our "link" in this life, Brian Kalimanis, passed away in 2001. I know for certain he was smiling down on us as we tried to pick our way through the Ruby Tuesday menu looking for vegan options. I settled on four veggie "sides" and 32 oz of wine. Not pretty.
Saturday: We got up early and made it to and through the Expo in good time. ALL anyone is talking about is the weather. How much will it rain? What time will the rain start? What kind of winds are we expecting? Weather weather weather! Mark and I picked up two disposable water-proof shells for $6 and called it good. I only brought my running skirt which led to hours of discussion about buying and wearing new tights for the race. Never try anything for the first time during a marathon. I followed that sage advice and decided that I'd rather have wet legs that could possibly dry than wet pants chaffing for an eternity.
Saturday Night: We all convened for our Last Supper at an Italian restaurant by the hotel. The weather was warm enough to sit outside where we were treated to a dog fight between a Doberman and Newfoundland. I wanted to cry the whole time the owners were trying to pull the dogs apart. All emerged unscathed but my heart was pounding out of my chest. Thankfully, my sister-in-law Jodi had given us pre-race gifts that lightened the mood considerably...
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| The front... |
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| The back... |
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| And lest we forget... Mark's "Monument" |
Yes, these are the prototypes for our little family brain-child: The Marathong. Jodi used stickers to customize our undies and it didn't even matter that they were all extra large. I laughed so hard I cried. What dogfight?
Sunday Morning: Got up early and coerced Mark into bringing me two glazed donuts from the buffet in the lobby. I never eat doughnuts but for some reason, the pure sugar rush before a race gets me going and doesn't upset my stomach. So, donuts it is! I also ate a veggie burger and drank two iced-coffees. All systems were GO in the bathroom (totally appropriate information when discussing a marathon) and the streets were dry as we headed out to the start.
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| From Left: Stacey (from Pittsburgh - FAST runner!), Cousin Robyn (squatting), Sister Jodi (in trash bag), Handsome Husband, ME (my what pink socks you have!), Laurie (from Portland- she hates this and ALL photos) and Poonam (my beautiful from from Barbados, recently back in D.C.) IT'S GO TIME! |
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