The Flying Pig Marathon was hands down
the best event I have ever done. I ran for 5 hours, 21 minutes and 7
seconds and genuinely loved every second of it. (Separate blog post with more photos.)
Thinking back to how miserable I was
the last 8 miles of the Columbus Marathon, trying to make a time
goal, I wonder if slowing down and stopping to smell the roses
(literally, Rebecca E. stopped and made me smell some pink ones), is
the best way to go.
To bad I have too much of a competitive
spirit!
This weekend was a whirlwind. I'll just
whiz through the early details so I can get to the super-fun stuff. Woke up at 5
a.m. Saturday. Headed to downtown Columbus to see the MITers off for
the Capital City Half Marathon. Had a blast standing on a freeway
overpass for several hours ringing a cowbell, jumping up and down and
yelling at the many, many members of my running groups competing. The
incredibly awesome Sara W. cheered with me. She blogs here.
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| Me and Sara |
Sat in a Tim Hortons sipping tea for an
hour -- as quiet of a moment as I was going to get that weekend. Met up with Brandie D. and Rebecca and headed out of town. Got
stuck in traffic for an hour because of an Obama rally. Finally got
out of the car on I-270 to stretch our legs. Saw cars moving up
ahead. Screamed. Waved our arms. Ran back to the car. Many engines
behind us revved up as a result.
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| Ick! Traffic. |
Finally made it to Cincy. Found
parking. Went to expo. Spent too much money at expo. Bought some
yummy dried fruit snacks and some Flying Pig gear at 50 percent off.
Loaded up on free samples of laundry soap, wrinkle reliever and
undereye cream. Since Mr. Obama held us up we were there as they were
closing and trying to get rid of stuff.
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| Loot |
Went to Arnold's Bar and Grill for dinner with other members of Run DMC. Got
some yummy gluten free pasta with portabellas and a bottle of
Woodchuck cider. Made it to the hotel by 10 and crashed almost
instantly.
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| Run DMC after dinner |
Our alarms went off at 4:30 a.m. We dragged ourselves out of bed, got ready and walked a good mile in the dark to the starting line. When I woke up I was petrified, but as we were walking across the bridge that separates Kentucky from Ohio, we heard "Born to Run" over the loudspeakers and saw crowds of people pouring in from every direction as the sun rose. The fear was gone, now we're just excited. We dropped our bags and got in the corral.
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| Brandie and I, up bright and early. |
I loved, loved, loved this course. I wish I had brought a camera so I could document some of the things we saw. The course was windy, curvy and hilly. Around every turn there was something new, a mascot, someone in a funny costume, cute kids cheering, zombies, drunk people, a band, a DJ, people with hoses to cool us off. The miles just flew by.
