Dave went out with two of the other coaches from Brandon’s team on Thursday. When he got home, I called Tina for a ride back to her place. Since I was taking her home, I didn’t want my car over there. We ended up back at her place, and then we went to sleep since we had an early day. Our flight was 6 am, so we were leaving Tina’s at 415 am, meaning we were up and at ’em by 4 am. Paul dropped us off at the airport, and we got through security without any problem. Our first flight was the longer of the two, to ATL, with a quick layover before heading out to DC. Tina and I sat on opposite aisle seats, so we each could stretch out our legs, and have easy access in and out, yet still talk to each other. The flight had two crying kids, and that made everything difficult. They weren’t even near us, but it definitely interrupted any sleep I’d hoped to get. I think being a parent, I’m even LESS tolerant of whiny kids. Keep your kids entertained, with whatever means possible. We finally landed in ATL, and we headed to get lunch, even though we were still 3 hours behind on pacific time. Soon enough, we headed to our next gate and boarded right away. This flight was much easier and shorter. Tina and I were split up, but we made friends this way. The person sitting next to me was with a running group, and she was headed to DC for the first time. She had friends with her who worked for KP, too, only they were surgical techs and nurses. Tina and I met up and took a cab to the hotel. It was raining, which we’d expected, but we didn’t need umbrellas since we were under cover most of the time. It wasn’t too cold, but we didn’t stay outside long. We met up with Suong and Pam, who were on the hunt of umbrellas, and they took a a long time to do so. We headed out for a light dinner, and then we went back to the hotel to rest up. The next day, Pam headed out early to sight see, while Tina, Suong and I slept in until 1030-11am, which was still early for our time zone. At first, I checked my watch, and it said “7:30”, so I thought we were good on time, but then in my sleepiness, I’d forgotten to add 3 hours. I figured it out, and started to get ready to start my day. Soon, we were all up. Tina went to visit a friend, while Suong and I set out for souvenirs for the kids. We started out with “lunch”, which was a food truck chicken shwarma. We ate that at Capitol mall before heading over to the Natural History museum, and later the air and space museum. I’m the boring mom who brought back books for their gifts. I got a book on Cherry Blossoms for Peyton, and then a book on dinosaurs and then a Pearl Harbor book for Brandon. Suong wanted a strawberry good humor bar, while I picked a hand scooped ice cream truck. The ice cream was good, but it was almost a 30 minute wait. We then headed to see the MLK “new kid on the block” memorial. We met Tina there, who was done with lunch with her friend by then. We headed over to our reservations for dinner and “carb loading”. Pam was running late, but it didn’t hold up our reservation. Tina, Suong and Pam all had pasta, while I had chicken pot pie with biscuits instead of traditional crust. We all enjoyed dinner (and even agreed to go back the next night for the “real food”), and then we headed back for a quick dip in the jacuzzi. It helped relax us, and then we tried to go to sleep for an early wake up call, by 540 am. The race started at 7 am, and we were just upstairs from the start. We got our clothes ready to go, and then everyone turned in for a fitful night of sleep. No one could sleep well, which is usually the case for me, but I had three other people in the room. We all got up, groggy, when the alarms went off. We headed down as planned, and got into our corral. We all started in the same one, 9-9:30 pace, which is a bit faster than my usual pace, but it was better than dodging those who were walking, like they would behind us. Pam and Tina were probably about that pace, but definitely not for Suong and me. We all split up during the race, but we had plans to meet up after. The race went well for me, having no potty needs and only stopping for water once. I took a cliff shot to go, and ate that, and then collected chocolate for later. I did have to stop to tie my shoe once, but I recovered from that. I saw a few people stop that were cramping up, and I couldn’t bare to watch. I didn’t want to be swayed by power of suggestion, for fear I’d cramp, too. I saw one girl vomiting the yellow hydration fluid (yuck), and I had to turn away, too. There were some inspirational messages about fighting cancer along the way, and that got me all choked up. The sights of the monuments were also breath-taking. The sun was out in full force, right off the bat, something different from the SF race, which is held in October. I did run a little bit with my eyes closed, since the sun was so bright. I peeked every once in awhile to make sure I didn’t fall asleep or run into anyone. I’d had half a cup of coffee before starting the race, so that did help keep me awake. I finished the race, and I gathered my finisher’s goodies before meeting up with Tina and Joyce. It took me awhile to meet up with Suong, but I’d found Pam by accident. We hung out until she left to take her shower first. Suong was getting her stuff about 10 minutes behind me. After everyone took showers, we headed in two different directions for lunch. Tina went off with her high school friend, while Suong, Pam and I tried this place Pam went to for dinner on her own. We were getting brunch, so it was still a different experience. It was called Busboys and Poets, and it was a bookstore/cafe, with a Berkeley vibe to it. I was so hungry, I got an egg dish and a granola with yogurt. There wasn’t as much food at the finish line as in other races, so I hadn’t really eaten as much as I normally would by that time. By this time, we’d texted back to Dave to find out our times. My official time was 2:08:10. This beats my last fastest race (the Wine and Dine -2:20:37) by almost 13 minutes! I was so surprised. I hadn’t been trying to beat my time by that much, but I figured the 1) caffeine, 2) not stopping as much for water, and 3) training faster to be done with the gym time faster probably all accounted for the improved time. The only “long” run I’d done prior to the race was with Brandon last week.
After a big brunch, we headed back for naps. Tina joined us in the room after she was done, too. After not sleeping well at night, this was much-needed. We got up around the same time to head to the Capitol mall for a post-race picture. We were all showered up and wearing our finisher’s shirts, but the sun was not cooperating with us. We had bad lighting, but we took the picture anyway. We ended up going back to the restaurant from the previous night to try the “down home” food. This time, we ordered the chicken and waffles, bruschetta, and Suong had the same. We followed up with red velvet cake to celebrate. We then headed back to the hotel to pack up. I went to visit a high school friend, from the class below me, who had run the race and was staying in the hotel, too. We chatted with her roommate for about 30 minutes before I left to get ready. Tina and I were leaving again on the 6 am flight, and we were going to have to get up by 4 am. Brutal, since I had no idea what time zone my body was on.
Today, we got up and out of the room just as planned. The taxi ride over was quick, and we checked our bags this time. We hadn’t on the way over for fear our running stuff wouldn’t make it to us. Now that the race was over, I didn’t want to lug my bags through the connecting flight. There were no babies crying on either flight, and everything went smoothly. We did have a longer layover, 3 hours, so we continued to walk around to ease sore muscles. They seem to stiffen up more when seated for a long time. I don’t feel as badly in races with hills, but I’m still a bit sore. We arrived on time, and Dave picked us up as planned. But instead of driving back to work, he headed home with us. He had practice for Brandon, so it wouldn’t make sense to take the train or he’d miss it. We dropped Tina off, then I got busy unpacking before heading to get Brandon. I dropped him off to do homework, then went to get Peyton. When she saw me, she was in circle time. She whispered, “You ARE here today!” like she didn’t think it would happen. She had a big smile on her face. I asked her if she missed me as we were walking out, and she got a little sad and said, “Yes.” I told her about the books I had at home, and she was excited to read them. I had to stop at the store first for food, then we headed home as Brandon and Dave were leaving for practice. She did some homework I found for her, as none was assigned, then she proceeded to read the whole Cherry Blossom book to me. After the first 3-4 pages, she realized it was a poem and the words rhymed. She didn’t read the smaller print, only the riddles guessing what kind of animal was among the Cherry Blossoms. She said, “It’s too hard,” though I think she could have gotten through it. After she ate dinner, we walked over to the practice for exercise. She was happy to walk, and she did just fine while we riddled the rides AND did math! I was surprised she wanted practice her math facts. Next week is orientation, so maybe she’s honing her skills. The kids got to bed by 8 pm, after Brandon did some homework for tomorrow, since he has a game again. The week has moved right along, and I hope to not feel as sore tomorrow, but I’m not sure that will be the case. Here are the pictures (lots) that we took!
Here’s my time screenshot:
| Place | BIB | Name | Age | City | State | Division | Div Place | 5K | 10K | 15K | 20K | FINISH | Pace |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4353 | 7745 | Robyn Mah | 39 | Sunnyvale | CA | F35-39 | 328/1480 | 0:28:52 | 0:59:46 | 1:30:40 | 2:01:27 | 2:08:10 | 0:09:47 |
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While we were heading back in the house from me picking her up, Peyton asked, “Is that a new necklace?” She noticed right away! I told her that was what I’d “won”. Brandon asked if I won, too, and when I told him I didn’t, he said, “You never win!” I told him I won for myself because I finished, and also because I got my necklace. Needless to say, he wasn’t impressed. I did miss two doubles that Brandon had hit, line drives out to center field. Peyton did a good job, too, and she told me she caught a pop fly at third, but actually, Dave said she fielded a grounder.
Dave learned that Peyton doesn’t like flan. He gave her some to try, and she told him she didn’t like it. We didn’t think the kids didn’t like any desserts. Brandon polished his off no problem.