Whril Wind of Fun!

What an eventful past couple days. 4 days to be exact. The short, very short of it is that I went to Seattle on Friday, ran on Saturday (amazing time), completely checked out of life on Sunday (Orange is the New Black marathon?) and then went on a company fishing trip yesterday all day. (Bad mistake in terms of a motion sickness girl… why did I not think of that?)  Anyhow, 4 whirl-wind days.

Let’s back it all the way up now to Friday. We woke up about normal time and headed up to Chris’s dad to drop off our doggie for puppy sitting with Grandpa. It’s actually very nice to have a built in puppy-sitter who loves her dearly. We made the drive up to Seattle which had a few torturous traffic areas, but otherwise was a pretty decent drive. We immediately went to the Rock N Roll expo. Here’s the thing, I wear my TOMS shoes all the time, never thought anything about it. But I guess when you wear wedges where your feat are actually wedged into the shoe and you do way to much walking around in them, a terrible blister thing happens.  We parked a little ways way from the expo cause who wants to pay $20 to park for an hour?  So we walked a little, then walked around the Expo for an hour and then when walking back to the car I knew my toes were hurting. When I got in the car and removed my shoe I was actually quite surprised to find a GIANT blister on my right pinkie toe, right on the top/front. Oops. Day before a race and all too. Bad decision. Lesson learned. From here on out its tennis shoes only at expo’s. Too much walking doesn’t work with girly shoes.

We checked into the hotel room (I changed into my tennis shoes) and then we walked to a store so I could pick up some Band-Aids which I had convinently forgotten to pack. Stupid me. But we walked around the start/finish line venue for the race as our hotel was actually like 2 blocks away. It was a perfect location. I love Seattle. I don’t think I realized how pretty and/or cool Seattle really was until this weekend. I guess there is something about running a city that brings it to life for me. Sure I have been to Seattle plenty of times in my life, but this was the first time where I felt like I really connected. I guess that’s the beauty of seeing the city thru a run. It’s just a unique experience.

Anyway, walking around Friday night was great. The start/finish line venues were by Key Arena, by the Space Needle. I actually go to relax a little and enjoy ourselves as we walked around the area. Just walking around we went by the EMP museum. I had never heard of it, so a quick inquiry made me realize that it was the museum of music, science fiction and pop culture. What the hell? Why had I never heard of this until this moment? I mean, movie artifacts and musical memorabilia are right up my alley. Of course at this point it was too late in the day to enter. They were almost closed but in that moment we decided after we ran on Saturday we would go check it out.

We had some dinner and then pretty much went to bed.  The incredibly nice thing about being so close to the start/finish line is that the morning of a run you don’t have to do much but wake up, get dressed and then walk on over. It was stress free and perfect. The race started at 7 but we were in corral 21 so knew we wouldn’t be starting until at least 7:30. We walked over about 6:50 and this was plenty of time for us to get lined up and just take it all in.  The lack of stress was very nice.

We were so laid back that by the time we were actually at the front of the start line and they said go we didn’t realize it was actually our turn and I’m like, guess I better start running. Off we went. As is the case with most of these runs, the start/finish are always in some urban hot spot, this one being the Space Needle and therefore the first few miles and last few miles are always ran in town, and sometimes in less than perfect conditions of hills and roads.  The first couple miles were a little hilly, but honestly I am starting to not even notice so much as inevitably every single run has some hills. The world is not flat.

I did not pee before the race, despite knowing I had to pee. Honestly, the line was just too ridiculously long. I decided that I was just going to have to stop during the race when it was most convenient. I mean, it’s never convenient but eventually there would be a bank of potties and I’d just have to stop.  What results is that the first few miles are slightly uncomfortable because I spend far too much time thinking about having to pee or the uncomfortableness brewing in my system. I actually knew I had to poo. Sorry for the graphicness but eventually this becomes painful to hold onto.  I ran past a few potties around mile 1-3. Then things started hurting. Eventually at about mile 4.5, I saw about 8 potties and a relatively short line all things considering so I just bit the bullet and stopped. This added at least 10 minutes to my time, but sometimes it’s the only option. After I finally exited I was concerned about starting to run again and getting my groove back but honestly it went okay. Honestly, I felt so much better, almost like a new woman, after having relieved myself that the next few miles were bliss.

Right after Mile 5 a spectator had a megaphone and was just yelling out stuff and I was cracking up. He was like, “Goodbye Mile 5, I’m never seeing you again. You’re done.  I’m over you. Good Riddance Mile 5.” And so on. It was quite amusing and got my attention. There were lots of spectators which was once again a reminder of why these Rock N roll races are ridiculously fun to me. So much mental stimulation on the course. So many people with signs and cheering you on. It’s simply something that I have not found at any other event aside from the Rock N Roll’s. This probably helps to add to the epic-ness of them. About Mile 5 (post bathroom) I really settled into a nice happy euphoric pace that lasted thru most of the run.  At some point we came across Lake Washington which was just beautiful. They lined the side of the lake with pictures of fallen war soldiers. Seattle’s race is about wearing blue to remember the fallen soldiers. It was a beautiful touch. They had lots of volunteers holding up American Flags along this section. Quite nice.

We ran thru some on ramp tunnels. Yup, complete stretches of running thru a tunnel and the entire freeway section was closed down for the runners. Completely unique experience. We ran right by Safeco field (on an overpass) and then we ran by some giant Ferris wheel. I feel like I should know what this Ferris wheel was but I don’t. Eventually we came back into down town area and I realized that their race course was definitely mismarked mileage wise.  Typically in a race my Garmin will read a few tenths off here or there and that’s totally normal and understandable. I don’t run in a straight line, but this course was like 7 tenths off or something. This is a mismark, as post-race most people complained about the distance not being accurate (so I was not alone).  This was not my Garmin acting up as Chris’s registered almost the same distance as well. Definitely ran more like 13.5 miles, but it didn’t matter. Just throws off times a little bit.

Oh, somewhere around mile 11 or 12 or so I was tired and I knew my toes which had those blisters from the day before were probably not doing so awesome. But nothing major. I crossed the finish line and felt happy and not overly exhausted which was nice. My time was pitiful in my books because of the extra 10 minutes for the bathroom and what I swear was another 5 minutes because we ran an extra half mile. But that’s fine. If I subtract the 15 minutes or even just 10 minutes then I am definitely in line with my normal finish times and that makes me happy.

It was a beautiful course, a great time and a perfect venue for the post-race festivities. We got our extra medals for finishing both Portland/Seattle this year and then the one for this being our 5^th Rock N Roll race of the year. We then walked back the 2 blocks to our hotel room to change and check out and then head back to the venue to get our beers and listen to the concert.  When I took off my shoes in the hotel room my giant pinky blister had become a giant pinky blood blister. Yup, totally nasty. Filled with puss and blood, looked like my toe was infected and have to be amputated.  HA HA. Its fine now, but it really did look severely messed up. Guess this is why they say runners don’t necessarily have the prettiest feet. We don’t. My feet are jacked up.

The post-race was blissful. It was gorgeous weather. We sat in the grass and listened to the Presidents of the United States of America. You know the Peaches song. And then Sir Mix A Lot. Total 80’s throw back. I mean, I am not really a fan of rap, but I am a fan of sitting on my ass with a beer and snacks post a 13.1 mile run, so live music is live music. People watching is fun. Eventually he did sing I Like Big Butts, which obviously is the only song I knew. It was entertaining. It was actually completely awesome. I got to lie down in the grass and just chill. EVERY single thing that I love about running was right there in that moment rolled up into one. There is not a single way I can think of better spending an afternoon. (With the slight exception of a beach in Maui). But an outdoor concert post half marathon surrounded by other runners and of course my husband, feeling awesome and accomplished. The best moments of my life. Makes me incredibly grateful for this life.

After the concert we got up, and headed to the EMP Museum. I thought it was pretty cool, as it turns out I really am a huge science fiction geek at heart. I grew up with a Science fiction father, so as long as I can remember I was watching Star Trek or Highlander or some other random Sci-fi show.  They had all these cool props from Star Trek, the Matrix, Men In Black, Superman’s costume, etc., etc.  LOTS of neat things.  I was pretty into it.  But nothing will compare to my excitement upon seeing one item.

So, we were in the horror section, which was completely NOT the appropriate place for this item. Amongst like the Saw’s from SAW and face makes from Jason and all these other nasty things, was 2 stakes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I might have had a mild freak out right there. An instant rush of excitement and suddenly I was a giddy 8 year old girl. Nothing had prompted me to want to break out the camera, despite loving so many things previously, but the moment I saw “Mr. Pointy.”  Buffy’s stake, I was like OMG, Chris, Chris, get your phone. (My phone was dead at this point), I need a picture.  I was just staring at the prop when another couple came across it. My freak out had just occurred and I was coming down from my high.  The guy was like, is that Mr. Pointy? To his wife and she was like yeah. And he was like, that’s so awesome, I figured one of those stakes had to be. And she was like; we are probably one of only a couple people in here who would get excited about that.  I was listening to their conversation as I was right behind them and I was like, “Me, right here. I’m the other person who was beyond excited about that.”  They turned around and laughed and we had a little conversation. So funny.  Made the whole museum for me. Buffy’s freaking stake.  I’m such an uber nerd.

They had lots of cool costumes from The Princess Bride, the Wizard of Oz, they had a Highlander sword and lots of Game of Thrones stuff, but nothing compared to my Buffy. Although clearly should have been in the Science Fiction category, but whatever. At that museum I realized what a freaking geek at heart I am. It was fun.

Of course at this point it was like 6 PM and we had a 4 hour drive home, to pick up my doggie and then onwards home. We didn’t make it home until about midnight, but at least we didn’t have any plans on Sunday. Yeah to that!  What ended up happening was a much needed nothing day. We went to Costco, we walked around a few stores and then came home and I ended up participating in a much more common marathon, that of binge TV watching. I have now completed the entire first season of Orange is the New Black.  I am moving on to Season 2 shortly.  Definitely not a comedy, don’t know why I ever thought it was. But it’s good and addicting. Sad as fuck, but good.

Yesterday morning I had to wake up at 4 AM, to meet at my work office at like 5 AM, as the guys literally decided Thursday afternoon at 4:30 PM that Monday they were taking everyone on a deep sea fishing trip. I have never been fishing and for some reason said yeah, let’s give it a try. I would love to be the only girl on a boat of 20 guys fishing.  Actually, that did not bother me in the least, what I should have known better about was the reality that I am a motion sickness prone kind of girl. BOATS are not my friend. Although I never actually threw up which is quite shocking in hind sight, I pretty much spent 5 hours on the boat wanting to throw up in agony. Good times :)   The guys were all very nice to me and overall I had a good time. I did catch a fish. So yup, I have caught a fish, guess I can cross that off my bucket list. Deep Sea Fishing trip and catching a fish, done. Don’t EVER have to do it again. Ha Ha. 

We didn’t make it back into town until almost 5 PM yesterday so I was exhausted from the whole 4 AM wake up and the complete stomach turning fucking with my insides kind of day so I decided to not torture my body and went home instead of going to the gym. In the end I am sure this was the right decision.  A lot of heightened activity in a short period of time and I’m just spent. So I am finally back to some normalcy today which is actually refreshing.

I do not have a single race this weekend which is kind of sad for me. My next run is not until July 4. That is the longest I have gone in months without a run. Bizarre.  Still going to be a busy week/weekend for me, as I am planning to do a quick garage sale on Saturday just to clear out some clutter and because this is the only weekend I don’t have something planned pretty much all summer.

I have more I want to talk about but this post is already incredibly long and I am starving so it’s off to lunch for me. And here are the weekend photos. Yeah, yeah… Awesome bling!