It is Tuesday night, two nights after we returned from our weekend trip to the Marshall Marathon. It is always strange to me how I can be running a marathon one morning and the next morning I am just back to being a mom dropping the kids off at the preschool and limping slightly while doing so! And today things were almost all the way back to normal. To me, running a marathon is like Christmas morning or the mornings I delivered my babies. You should get to feel special for at least a few more days! It's almost like I want to feel the stiffness and pain since it helps me remember the race more vividly. And now the memory is already starting to fade a little, so I will write some now to hopefully keep the memory alive!
First, almost none of our marathons would even be possible without Rick's good planning and organization. I found this email from back in June when we were talking about our fall marathon schedule:
(from Rick)
...looking at marathons in Oct./Nov. I found three possibilities for consideration:
Freedom's Run, October 2, Shepherdstown, WV (near Baltimore, MD), ~11 hour drive from Madison, ALhttp://www.freedomsrun.org/Default.aspx direct flight to Baltimore from Huntsville is a possibility
Marshall University Marathon, November 7, Huntington, WV, ~7.5 hour drive from Madison, ALhttp://healthyhuntington.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11&Itemid=17shortest drive
SunTrust Richmond Marathon, November 13, Richmond, VA, ~11 hour drive from Madison, ALhttp://www.richmondmarathon.com/index.htmrecommended by Runner's World
at first glance, I'm kinda leaning towards the Marshall University Marathon
... Rick
We ended up picking the Marshall Marathon based on these words alone: SHORTEST DRIVE!
Fast forward to a couple of week ago when Rick then sent his sister (and our babysitter) and me a detailed itinerary for the weekend plans:
FRIDAY
Leave Madison ~7:30 a.m.
Pick up Monika in Nashville~9:30 (where should we meet you?)
Stop in Lexington for a lunch (picnic?) ~1:30
Check out the Explorium of Lexington (http://explorium.com/)~2:30-4:00
Grab some dinner (near Ashland, KY) ~6:00
Check into the hotel in Ashland, KY ~7:00-7:30crash...
SATURDAY
sleep in!
go to a park (Harris Riverfront Park)
go to the shopping area - Pullman Square http://www.pullman-square.com/
eat some lunch
go to the expo (sometime between 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.)
go to ??? (ideas anyone?)
eat some dinner
go to sleep
SUNDAY
make sure the time zone difference and time change hasn't messed us up
leave for the marathon ~5:45 a.m.
start the marathon 7:00
finish the marathon ~11:00
back at the hotel ~noon
shower and check out ~1:00
lunch and hit the road for home
back to Nashville ~7:30
back to Madison ~9:30
This pretty much sums up how our weekend was spent and how organization can really help our trip go smoothly. As most marathoners do, we have a pretty set routine with laying out all of our stuff for the marathon the night before too. Everything from what we will eat, to our clothes, to our watches and race numbers. Seeing all of this organization makes me happy!
You said it perfectly - it is like Christmas morning...or your birthday and you want to hold on to that just-run-a-marathon feeling. I always think it is so strange when I am walking into work the next day, just like normal. I feel like things should be different somehow, but they are rarely so.
ReplyDeleteI'm on to read the next bits! ;)