Race Weekend Part 1: Health Expo and Carb Loading
Dear Diary,
It snowed again today. I am beginning to fear that we will never see Spring...
Just kidding. It is coming right?
Okay, let's just get started. I have so many things to talk about. Today we will cover Part 1 of Race Weekend.
The weekend started for me on Thursday. I left work at 3 to pick up my cousin, Keeley, at the bus station and head down to Virginia. We could have gone straight down, but then I knew we would get caught up in Rush Hour traffic. So we stopped to visit grandmom on the way. It would have been a good time to eat, but that's 2 hours earlier than I am used to so we waited until we were close to mom's. Subway! Good news! My favorite sandwich is the special of the month. A 6-inch Oven Roasted chicken is just $3 for March.
Friday morning we grabbed some breakfast and then headed in to DC to go to the Health & Fitness Expo. It was being held at the Armory which is at the finish line. It's a nice 45 minute metro ride so being the good studier that I am, I pulled out my flash cards. I didn't want to bring my books to study because I didn't want to carry them around.
The weather forecast for Friday and Saturday was cold and rainy. I had on my sweatshirt and coat...argh! I could have left the coat at home. It was sunny and warm. I was starting to get hot.
I could feel the buzz as we were getting off of the metro. All of these people were getting on with their race bags...it does not take much to get me excited. After going through security we went straight to check in. There were 34 Corrals starting on saturday. They had me registered in corral 12. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Remember, I was not asked my time and was registered by Run for Autism (who apparantly thinks I have wheels on my feet). I mean I know I've trained hard and my time should move up, but not by THAT much.
Then we picked up my shirt and headed in to the merchandise area...oh yeah! I was good though and limited myself to a shot glass and socks...in the "official" area. There were a couple of shirts I liked and I figured if I didn't find anything else I liked then I could come back.
As we walked in to the rest of the Expo we were hit with samples of power bars. There were a couple I liked so I picked up some. Then I wanted to find the table with my Run for Autism peeps. I had looked it up on the sheet the night before, but naturally they were moved. I did eventually find them though. It was nice. I got a map for where there tent will be after the race for more food and my second medal of the day :-) And then we walked around a little more.
I got a couple of shirts and then was looking at hats. I still wasn't sure what to do about my hair for the race. A race hat would keep the rain out of my eyes and if I found one that was cute I would get it. I did! "This isn't Sweat, It's Liquid Awesome"...te he. SOLD!
Aunt Kathy and cousin Hannah would be arriving in a little while to pick up her packet, but we needed to get something to eat and get to the car before Rush hour started. If you've never gotten caught in DC Rush hour then consider yourself extremely lucky. haha.
As we were walking out we got stopped by a guy a the Spartan Races table. It's basically another take on the Warrier Dash. Race with obstacles. I'm partially intrigued, but it's the stopping and starting that makes me hesitant as my knees really just can't do that. But, it doesn't matter since the dude made a major mistake in his approach. I can't remember his exact wording, but he seemed to be questioning that either of us would be in the race the next day. I said I was doing the Half and his response was "Well that's good too." Um...so do you only want to talk to Full Marathoners? He was a tad snotty throughout his sales pitch about it and really the postcard he gave me went right into the trash. Really not cool to dismiss anyone like that.
When we walked outside we were greeted with sunshine and blue skies...and a Cherry Blossom! YEAH! I probably wouldn't be seeing too many more. There was a chance that we could run and see them before heading home, but my back was getting sore from carrying my bags so I made the decision to skip that and just go home. I needed to lay on my back and put my legs up against the wall. I needed to realign and stretch.
I didn't want to buy anything from the concessions and I wasn't sure where we were in relations to other food places. So I just got a very large soft pretzel from a street vendor. Carbs and salt. I scarfed it down. I didn't want to get too much else because we were going to my Aunt's to carb load in a little bit.
I was too tired to study my flashcards on the metro heading back, so I just relaxed. When we got to our stop I made sure we picked up metro cards for everyone for the morning so that we wouldn't miss a train standing in line for them.
We got home and relaxed a little before we headed out to the grocery store. We needed to get drinks for dinner and then snacks for the crew for Saturday. We got some bagels, peanut butter, raisins, animal crackers, and gatorade for me...and bananas even though they weren't looking good.
We pulled up to Aunt Carol's for our Carb Loading dinner and I was salivating before I even got out of the car...pierogi casserole...baked ziti....That's what I'm talking about! And I was NOT disappointed!
We waited as long as we could for Aunt Kathy and Hannah, but I had a schedule to keep and couldn't wait much longer. Just as we sat down to eat they arrived though so it wasn't too bad. I had one serving of each with a salad...and a couple Shamrock sugar cookies. Seriously, I heart Carb Loading Night!
I had broken my rule and was wearing sweatpants. That was more to make sure my back was okay, it wasn't to give me license to eat too much. I can eat the calories, but not the volume. My body is not used to it and the last thing I wanted was an upset stomach.
My cousin Corey was also there for dinner and I love every time I see him. He always says "What's up Skinny?"...te he...seriously, that NEVER gets old! I'm not sure how it came about but we were joking about starting a series of Naked Boy and Skinny Minnie (he spent the better part of his younger years sporting underwear and a homemade cape hence I nicknamed him Naked Boy...and for the record, he now towers over me so I have to be careful about using that again haha).
I was getting tired and really wanted to go home and go to bed. We had 5 ladies using one bathroom in the morning. I called it first and that came with a 4am wake up call. But, we needed to plan out the agenda for Saturday.
Is everyone going into DC at the same time? No. I would drive Aunt Kathy and the girls in. Mom and Aunt Carol would come in 30 minutes later. They might miss the start of the race, but they would be there to meet up with the girls.
Where are we meeting up before the race? They would all meet up at the start line.
What are they doing during the race while they wait for us? Starbucks (that was just mean!)
Where are we meeting after the race? At the Race For Autism tent in Charity Village
Who is carrying my bag? Hannah...because she is strong. haha
Once everything was resolved I hurried home and got my PJs on...and Passed out!
Will I wake up at 4? Will we miss the train? Will we all meet up in the morning? What will I be wearing? Will it rain all day? Will the tutu survive? Will I get to see anymore Cherry Blossoms? Will I get to eat after the race? Will I be running or crawling at the end of the race?
All these questions and more will be answered in the next post...
PS - Bonus points if you can tell me what I just referenced lol
Have a Blessed Night.
****Please note****
If you feel like you are alone on your journey and you just need some encouragement I am here for you! Shoot me an email and I will do my best to check in on you or give you the words of support you need several times a week. The journey is so much easier if you have support.
jhendersonfit@gmail.com
It snowed again today. I am beginning to fear that we will never see Spring...
Just kidding. It is coming right?
Okay, let's just get started. I have so many things to talk about. Today we will cover Part 1 of Race Weekend.
The weekend started for me on Thursday. I left work at 3 to pick up my cousin, Keeley, at the bus station and head down to Virginia. We could have gone straight down, but then I knew we would get caught up in Rush Hour traffic. So we stopped to visit grandmom on the way. It would have been a good time to eat, but that's 2 hours earlier than I am used to so we waited until we were close to mom's. Subway! Good news! My favorite sandwich is the special of the month. A 6-inch Oven Roasted chicken is just $3 for March.
Friday morning we grabbed some breakfast and then headed in to DC to go to the Health & Fitness Expo. It was being held at the Armory which is at the finish line. It's a nice 45 minute metro ride so being the good studier that I am, I pulled out my flash cards. I didn't want to bring my books to study because I didn't want to carry them around.
The weather forecast for Friday and Saturday was cold and rainy. I had on my sweatshirt and coat...argh! I could have left the coat at home. It was sunny and warm. I was starting to get hot.
I could feel the buzz as we were getting off of the metro. All of these people were getting on with their race bags...it does not take much to get me excited. After going through security we went straight to check in. There were 34 Corrals starting on saturday. They had me registered in corral 12. hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Remember, I was not asked my time and was registered by Run for Autism (who apparantly thinks I have wheels on my feet). I mean I know I've trained hard and my time should move up, but not by THAT much.
Then we picked up my shirt and headed in to the merchandise area...oh yeah! I was good though and limited myself to a shot glass and socks...in the "official" area. There were a couple of shirts I liked and I figured if I didn't find anything else I liked then I could come back.
As we walked in to the rest of the Expo we were hit with samples of power bars. There were a couple I liked so I picked up some. Then I wanted to find the table with my Run for Autism peeps. I had looked it up on the sheet the night before, but naturally they were moved. I did eventually find them though. It was nice. I got a map for where there tent will be after the race for more food and my second medal of the day :-) And then we walked around a little more.
I got a couple of shirts and then was looking at hats. I still wasn't sure what to do about my hair for the race. A race hat would keep the rain out of my eyes and if I found one that was cute I would get it. I did! "This isn't Sweat, It's Liquid Awesome"...te he. SOLD!
Aunt Kathy and cousin Hannah would be arriving in a little while to pick up her packet, but we needed to get something to eat and get to the car before Rush hour started. If you've never gotten caught in DC Rush hour then consider yourself extremely lucky. haha.
As we were walking out we got stopped by a guy a the Spartan Races table. It's basically another take on the Warrier Dash. Race with obstacles. I'm partially intrigued, but it's the stopping and starting that makes me hesitant as my knees really just can't do that. But, it doesn't matter since the dude made a major mistake in his approach. I can't remember his exact wording, but he seemed to be questioning that either of us would be in the race the next day. I said I was doing the Half and his response was "Well that's good too." Um...so do you only want to talk to Full Marathoners? He was a tad snotty throughout his sales pitch about it and really the postcard he gave me went right into the trash. Really not cool to dismiss anyone like that.
When we walked outside we were greeted with sunshine and blue skies...and a Cherry Blossom! YEAH! I probably wouldn't be seeing too many more. There was a chance that we could run and see them before heading home, but my back was getting sore from carrying my bags so I made the decision to skip that and just go home. I needed to lay on my back and put my legs up against the wall. I needed to realign and stretch.
I didn't want to buy anything from the concessions and I wasn't sure where we were in relations to other food places. So I just got a very large soft pretzel from a street vendor. Carbs and salt. I scarfed it down. I didn't want to get too much else because we were going to my Aunt's to carb load in a little bit.
I was too tired to study my flashcards on the metro heading back, so I just relaxed. When we got to our stop I made sure we picked up metro cards for everyone for the morning so that we wouldn't miss a train standing in line for them.
We got home and relaxed a little before we headed out to the grocery store. We needed to get drinks for dinner and then snacks for the crew for Saturday. We got some bagels, peanut butter, raisins, animal crackers, and gatorade for me...and bananas even though they weren't looking good.
We pulled up to Aunt Carol's for our Carb Loading dinner and I was salivating before I even got out of the car...pierogi casserole...baked ziti....That's what I'm talking about! And I was NOT disappointed!
We waited as long as we could for Aunt Kathy and Hannah, but I had a schedule to keep and couldn't wait much longer. Just as we sat down to eat they arrived though so it wasn't too bad. I had one serving of each with a salad...and a couple Shamrock sugar cookies. Seriously, I heart Carb Loading Night!
I had broken my rule and was wearing sweatpants. That was more to make sure my back was okay, it wasn't to give me license to eat too much. I can eat the calories, but not the volume. My body is not used to it and the last thing I wanted was an upset stomach.
My cousin Corey was also there for dinner and I love every time I see him. He always says "What's up Skinny?"...te he...seriously, that NEVER gets old! I'm not sure how it came about but we were joking about starting a series of Naked Boy and Skinny Minnie (he spent the better part of his younger years sporting underwear and a homemade cape hence I nicknamed him Naked Boy...and for the record, he now towers over me so I have to be careful about using that again haha).
I was getting tired and really wanted to go home and go to bed. We had 5 ladies using one bathroom in the morning. I called it first and that came with a 4am wake up call. But, we needed to plan out the agenda for Saturday.
Is everyone going into DC at the same time? No. I would drive Aunt Kathy and the girls in. Mom and Aunt Carol would come in 30 minutes later. They might miss the start of the race, but they would be there to meet up with the girls.
Where are we meeting up before the race? They would all meet up at the start line.
What are they doing during the race while they wait for us? Starbucks (that was just mean!)
Where are we meeting after the race? At the Race For Autism tent in Charity Village
Who is carrying my bag? Hannah...because she is strong. haha
Once everything was resolved I hurried home and got my PJs on...and Passed out!
Will I wake up at 4? Will we miss the train? Will we all meet up in the morning? What will I be wearing? Will it rain all day? Will the tutu survive? Will I get to see anymore Cherry Blossoms? Will I get to eat after the race? Will I be running or crawling at the end of the race?
All these questions and more will be answered in the next post...
PS - Bonus points if you can tell me what I just referenced lol
Have a Blessed Night.
****Please note****
If you feel like you are alone on your journey and you just need some encouragement I am here for you! Shoot me an email and I will do my best to check in on you or give you the words of support you need several times a week. The journey is so much easier if you have support.
jhendersonfit@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment