Hello
blogosphere. Hopefully by now, you’ve
realized my lapse in entries (while irritating) is somewhat normal, and I did
not, in fact, die while running the Peachtree.
I (mostly) hit my time goal, I got a t-shirt in the size I wanted, and I
got to spend the day with my best friend. Victory!
Race Recap
I actually managed to get six hours
sleep. I wasn’t expecting to be able to
sleep at all, but I woke up about 2:30 and was just raring to go. Like all nerds and good racers, I didn’t have
much to do at 2:30 as I’d packed my race gear and K-Taped my legs before going
to bed. But even at that hour, people
were awake so I indulged in some late-night texting and Facebooking (apparently
Jaclyn was having the same sleep issues I was) and read for awhile.
For
those of you who’ve never participated in the Peachtree, the order of the day
is “Hurry up and wait.” And strategic
parking is a must. Some people like to
park at the starting line of the race and take the Marta back to their cars
(there are also more parking spaces from what I can tell). However, the flaw in this plan is at the end
of the race, you’re stuck in Marta cars with 60,000 other fools who just ran
6.2 miles in July.
Jaclyn
and I decided the smart thing to do is to park at the end of the race, and we
found the world’s sketchiest parking lot (that we missed the turn for three
times—this is normal). So we Marta-ed,
got to the start in plenty of time to hydrate and find my start wave.
One of
the many things that’s so awesome about my bestie is that while she is one of
the most competitive people I know (and I work with lawyers), the truth is she
just loves running and she loves to run with people she cares about. So while she had the option of an earlier
start time and the chance to hit a PR, she stayed with me and my bad shins and
kept up a steady stream of conversation the entire (literally) 6.2 miles. I am not entirely sure I could have finished
without her by my side. And truthfully,
it meant a lot more to finish my first race in 3+ with my best friend
anyway.
Also
making the day awesome: Cason got up wicked early, drove down from Snellville,
and waited by herself in Midtown just to cheer Jac and I on for a few brief
seconds. A random and welcome sighting
of one of my co-worker/friends made getting through the half-way point a
reality. And Mom and some other of my
co-workers were crowd-control volunteers at the finish line, so my day was
filled with people I care about.
Sadly
they ran out of post-race bananas and peaches, but I did get Powerade and
popsicles (and alliteration), so #winning.
Post-race,
Jaclyn and I ate more calories than humans should at the Waffle House and we
parted ways until the Enners Family Barbecue that evening at her parents’
house. I brought an epically awesome potato
salad and I say this as someone who
didn’t even like potato salad until I made this. Of course, Mrs. Enners, in typical mom
fashion, sent all of us home with a ton of food.
For my
next running adventure, Jaclyn’s already picked out our next race. Cason made the comment in front of Jaclyn
that she would love to do something like the Peachtree next year. Jac doesn’t take these sort of statements as
idle musings; less than two days later, she found the Vinings Downhill 5K which is a
Peachtree qualifier, so next year, I won’t have to start in the W’s.
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| Me, Jaclyn, Cason |
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| Me and my shirt |
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| Me and Mom |
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| Me and my bestie |
