I took a couple days off of work just prior to my planned marathon. Since I dropped to the 1/2, I felt as if I won the lottery. I didn't really need the days of rest prior to a 1/2 but I enjoyed every minute. Allison had a surprise half day on Thursday which was very stressful timing wise. I schedule each day to the precise minute. This was the plan: wake up, make breakfast for the the girls, clothes, hair, make lunch,double check backpacks. Oh yes and coffee for me. Walk Allison to school then come home and play with Laureate. Drive her to school, head across town to work out with Brent. Speed back to pick up Laureate then Allison....Then the half day creeps in and wham-How do I juggle that? First I thought it must be a mistake. I have all the days off and half days in the calendar so how'd this one get missed? So I called the school...yup 1/2 day. Dismissal is at 12:10. What are the options?Cancel with Brent? Nope-can't with less than 24hr notice. Have someone else pick up Allison? Nope-husbands out of town, sitter has an appointment. Well I made magic happen and picked up Allison from school a 1/2 hr early to make it to Brents on time, and just then he calls and slides me into a 5:15pm spot. All that chaos and it seemed to have worked out. So Allison and I have a couple free hours alone-this is a precious rarity.
Friday was my Birthday-HAPPY 35th BIRTHDAY too me!! I started the day with a cupcake! I love being an adult where I can choose a cupcake for breakfast over eggs!
Laureate and I had a busy day playing together, play-doh, baby dolls, coloring, fashion show-It went by way too fast. I got a message to be ready by 5:30pm- yes! I love surprises. We went to pick up Allison from school and dad met us there and they were off for the weekend, always the worst part of my week. I went home had a cup of tea and got ready. My husband was home promptly and we set off on our date. Dinner at Francesca's was amazing. We skipped dessert to have it at my favorite place Bitter Sweet. I went to find a two seater in the back and ran into a girl from my waitressing days and we spent a couple mins catching up. As I turned back to sit with my husband I notice the table was set for 6...and as we sat one by one my friends filtered in to join us.It was an amazing night.We arrived home with a gift on my door step, love!
We woke up the next morning and quickly packed for Canada. Marathon weekend!! We grabbed a cinnamon raisin bagel and pumpkin coffee and hit the road. We arrived at packet pick up and visited all the booths at the expo.
I bought a cute 'run girl run' shirt and took some salt and vinegar chips-my fav. We waited for Kevin to get his Marathon bib and named him 'the last one standing'.
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| Even on my tip toes, I can't get a leg up on him. |
There were 5 of us running the marathon and he was the only one left. I was injured and dropped to the 1/2, Julie had babysitting issues and canceled, Phil was only doing the full to keep us girls company so promptly drooped to the 1/2 with me, and Adams race gods are against him so he is now missing his second race in a row.
Phil and I went to the hotel and checked in.I put on some warmer clothes and we headed off to the falls. Such a gorgeous finish line and I was psyched for the race to start.
We grabbed a snack at the local brewery and then off to dinner.
I had my usual salmon salad--yumm!
I was tired and my Wifi wasn't working. when you couple tiredness and ineffective technology that equals an early bedtime.
I woke up before the alarm which was good because I was very disorganized, it felt like it took me forever to shower, get dressed and pack up my stuff (I didn't even unpack so again I don't know what the issue was). I made hotel coffee and drank a bottle of water. We stopped at Tim Horton's and yup, you guessed it another cinnamon raisin bagel and pumpkin coffee. We walked to the shuttles and waited in line.
I love taking school buses, they remind me of my childhood and I happen to love school as a child so school buses are fun. I did what I do best and listened to all the conversations happening around me and enjoyed ease drooping on the various tales of the other runners.
After what seemed to be a really long bus ride to the start line, we arrived. This was very different than any other half/full marathon I've been at. Typically the runners start together and the half ends and the marathoners continue. This time the half runners were drooped off at the marathon mile 13.1 to finish the marathon course. The amenities at the start line were great. Lots of porta potties not very long lines at all. Hand washing stations, baggage buses and warming tents. I loved the warming tents!
I felt like an elite runner. We waited about an hour and before you knew it we were off! I made the silly mistake of taking off too fast. I was excited, it was cold, people were running and running is fun, so how can you hold back? After mile 2, I realized I was running 8 min/pace and I got scared and backed off. I think it was the right thing to do because I know I had 11 more to go and I'd hate to run out of steam and end up walking to the finish line. I certainly will give that fast pace a go when its a practice run!
We found this lovely bridge and decided to run off coarse.
Hello other runners!
Did I mention the wind yet? It was super windy the river was pushing us back away from the finish line. It was hard. I finally felt it let up around mile 6-8 and then slap me in the face for the rest of the race.
At one point we stopped talking. We were silent, I zoned off into the pavement for what seemed like forever. Then I heard him speak...look up love, enjoy the scenery. So I did. Lucky for me, I saw a glimpse of the falls at mile 10 and it was magical. I'm not sure if its a self fulfilling prophecy but mile 10 is my mile. Talking myself into running a 5k after completing 10 miles is easy and exciting and exhilarating. Counting down the kilometers was fun, we were in Canada remember? 1 mile to go and I realize I could walk this mile and still beat my PR, so what did I do? I ran faster and finished 21.1 kilometers under 2hrs!! Go me!
Our friends from Ragnar surprised us at the finish line...in Canada! How cool are they?!
We warmed up
annnnd waited for Kevin to score his PR marathon (3:22) and get one giant step closer to Boston.
We are going to run Boston April 17, 2017...mark my word.
Some more ogling at the falls was necessary.
We stooped at an awesome Italian restaurant before we crossed the border home.
I grabbed a quick shower and met up with Betsy for dinner to wrap up my awesome birthday weekend.
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