Marathon Recap Part 1 - The Expo, the Piglet, and the Antici... pation

If I was told once during marathon training, I was told a thousand times - a marathon is really just a 20 mile warm-up for a 10K. I didn't really understand just how true that was until I was right in the thick of things, and the idea was reinforced once again when I finally sat down to write up my Flying Pig recap. I started writing with Mile 20, while the thoughts and emotions were fresh in my mind. It ended up being really, really long for only 10K of the race, so the recap of the entire event will come in three parts.

Part 1 - The Expo, the Piglet, and the Antici... pation

I dragged Husband Charlie with me to the Flying Pig Expo on Friday afternoon. He had very little desire to go, but I needed someone with me to calm my nerves. I also needed someone to take pictures. First stop was to pick up my race packet and get my bib number. I made Charlie take a picture so that I could post it on Facebook. I was so excited!



We wandered around the expo, checking out all the cool stuff. I was able to resist buying things, for the most part - I needed to buy some Gu Chomps for the race, and while I was visiting the Spot booth I decided to go ahead and pick up my "26.2" car magnet. But other than that, I managed to leave empty-handed, except for the swag that I got as part of my registration - a tech shirt, a Flying Pig backpack, and a race poster.



On the way out, we visited the Pig that would be guarding the Finish Swine. I gave it a pat for good luck.



Then it was on to a late lunch at Nothing But Noodles, because we had coupons to eat there for free and it was nice and carby. Went to retrieve Toddler Charlie from school after naptime, and was surprised with this awesome poster that he and his friends had made to wish me good luck on Sunday!



How cute is that??

Tried and failed to go to bed at a reasonable hour, but slept reasonably well. I was up bright and early on Saturday - too much energy to go back to sleep once I opened my eyes at 6:00. It was Flying Piglet day, and my aunt and my grandma had finally gotten into their hotel a few hours earlier.

Charlie's Piglet registration included a super cute race t-shirt and his very own bib number. He was very upset about his number - in his last race, all of the kids had been given "1" as their race number. He wanted his number 1. We finally convinced him that this number was ok, too - that it was even better, because it was his own number. I don't think he really believed us, but we climbed into the car and left for the race.

The 5K and 10K races were taking place that morning, and the city was FULL of people. Tens of thousands of people. It was madness. It was also really cool, knowing that I would be running in the main event down those same streets the next day!

Charlie waited patiently for his race to start.



He did a great job, and even agreed to re-create the race so that we could get an action shot. Check out that super cool Flying Piglet medal!



After the race was over, we went home for lunch and naptime. My BFF was running a relay leg, so we had her and her kids over for a giant pasta dinner. Well, I had Chipotle, and everyone else had pasta, anyway.

They surprised me with some super cute signs that they had made to cheer me on in the race the next day.



BFF also gave me a good luck present - a really pretty bracelet with a charm on it, with the most perfect quote for the occasion:



I never wear jewelry while I work out, because I'm always afraid to lose it, but I decided that I just HAD to wear the bracelet for the race the next day. I wrapped it around my Garmin so that I wouldn't forget.

And then it was time for bed. I actually climbed into bed around 9:00 and set my alarm for 4:00 the next morning so that I would be ready when Auntie Ann came to pick me up at 5. I read until about 10, when my eyes felt like they were heavy enough to sleep. I was wrong. I tossed and turned and worried and tossed and turned some more, finally falling asleep just after midnight.

I felt like I had only slept for 10 minutes when the alarm went off, but I was wide awake anyway. I jumped out of bed and hit the shower. I turned on the weather (still showing rain), got dressed, double- and triple-checked my gear bag, checked a fourth time for my Garmin and my iPod, grabbed my waffle out of the toaster, and headed out the door.