My marathon weekend finally is here, and in some ways it feels like it took forever to get here and at the same time I couldn't believe that it was happening right now! This time I am able to stay a little longer so I wasn't just literally flying in for the race and then leaving. We also got a nice flight that didn't leave at a horribly early or late hour, actually in the afternoon! This was a nonstop, which I've never had before but it wasn't too bad. I tried to take a nap on the flight but didn't get to sleep a ton. Flights are always bittersweet for me. I am really excited about going on the trip and being able to hang out... and there is a certain amount of stress for me about packing and making sure the family is taken care of... so when we are finally in the air a bit of relief is let out and I always cry. No matter what... most of the time its because its at some ungodly hour and I'm exhausted but I always miss the little monsters.
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| Dude was so excited that i got to ride a train inside the airpot |
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| Dude wanted to see what my plane looked like |
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| Lake Michigan |
After we got off the plane I met up with Erin, one of Amy's old roommates who is running with us and then we found Amy together! The weather was absolutely beautiful and we couldn't wait to get something to eat! Yum yum! We stopped and got these fantastic burgers before heading back to Amy's place. We did stop and grab some groceries for dinner and things that we might need for race day before settling in for the night. I made swedish meatballs, which everybody seemed to enjoy and then we had an early night so that we could get ready to drive to our hotel.
We had breakfast and everybody was getting their stuff ready for the hotel. We decided that we were gonna try and see the Tulip Festival, which is on the way to Whidbey Island! The scenery in WA is absolutely breathtaking. it is a little funny that I am all the way across the country and I went and saw Tulips when I could just drive about 45 minutes and see them here... but it was the company and experience. There were a TON of people there... it was crazy. Then, we went to Chipotle for lunch and I was so surprised to see that they sell alcohol there! But, I guess that's a lot more common than I though.
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| Northern Cascades |
On our way to the hotel we stopped at the scenic pass for Deceptions Pass which is beautiful but way high up. When we were walking on the pedestrian bridge i was good until there were people coming and we had to get over closer to the edge... then it was dizzying! But we were running over deceptions pass during the race and it is one of the top things you're supposed to see when you're in WA so we wanted to be able to see it before we were running by!
The hotel we checked into was interesting. The guy running the hotel was Korean and he was asking Amy all sorts of questions about being Korean haha. I honestly had gotten so used to having everything be smoke free so when we smelled smoke in our room I thought something was on fire! But, turns out the hotel had about three smoking rooms and we were across the hall from one... ugh. After we got things unpacked and situated we went for a quick run and scouted out the finish line and what the course was going to be. It was a beautiful little run along the bay :) We got back to the hotel and decided to get some dinner and eat it by the park. It was so nice and relaxing... the shuttle was the same park that we finished at and it was less than a quarter mile away. Bonus! We got back and wanted to go to bed early since we had to wake up really freaking early! Like 4:30 early! So, we tried to get in bed around 9 and then... around 9:30 the fire alarm went off! We were all in a haze and I seriously thought that it was Amy's alarm so I yelled for her to turn it off! She didn't hear me right away and by the time she actually did she was confused so she started to climb on the bed and tried to take the sprinkler top off thinking it was the fire alarm haha. She is now yelling "why won't it shut off?" and I can't find the light switch so its pitch black. Erin is still asleep at this time and by the time we get the light on and realize it's the fire alarm and that we should go outside Erin is just waking up haha. So we hurry out of our room and the owner is now hustling downstairs into the office area. Apparently, he just installed new alarms and they are extra sensitive and the the smoking rooms aren't behaving well... We just walked back into our room and tried to go to bed but we were laughing so hard at the whole thing it took us awhile to settle down. Eventually we did get to sleep but when Amy's alarm went off for real at 4:00 am she didn't hear it and luckily she set another one for a little bit later.
Totally write about how the race and all that later! When we got done with the race we had to pretty much walk straight back to the hotel and check out. Amy and I had a good chat on the drive back while Erin slept in the back and then we were all STARVING. Once we got back to her place I showered (they showered at the hotel before we checked out) and then went out to lunch. We went to this cute micro brewery where they make their own whiskey and had a fabulous lunch. I had fish n chips and tried their milkshakes that have whiskey in them! They were really good but I definitely wouldn't' be able to have one all myself. The legs were feeling amazingly good, little stiff but nothing serious. We walked around a bit and ended up at a chateau and enjoyed the grounds there too. We then went to the beach. The weather was absolutely amazing. I couldn't believe how perfect it was. We hung out a bit before heading back to their place where we hung out a bit and then went and saw a movie. It has been awhile since I've gone to a movie in theater so it was a bit of a treat. :) Unfortunately, their bathrooms were on the second floor so I had to hobble up and down the stairs haha
Next morning we woke up, not too early, and got donuts before heading to the airport. I was so exhausted that I knew I was going to sleep through the whole flight. :) And I did. I woke up for the occasional snack and drink but then sawed logs until we got home.
We met up with Gato and Ratty for some delicious BBQ dinner and hung out a bit to catch up on life. Got to snug with Mari a bit before heading home. It was a wonderful weekend and I am always always so happy to be able to see Amy. Until our next race ;)
JVG
