My Big Fat Fabulous Birthday

I love birthdays.

Birthdays are my favorite.


I celebrated my 54th birthday last Saturday, and YES, by golly, I'm telling you how old I am, because I'm DAMN proud of EACH and EVERY year that I've lived on this earth, and I'm not about to hide my age - or my wrinkles - that I have EARNED, thank you very much.

Ahem.


And although I've enjoyed EACH and EVERY one of those birthdays, I have to say that THIS birthday celebration, spent at home with my family, was extra special. Which is a pretty bold statement to make, considering that I have spent my birthdays past in such fabulous places as Rome (2009) and Paris (2015).

Perhaps this birthday was the Best. Birthday. Ever. because of the FABULOUS birthday present that Hubby presented me with…more on that later…but if you pay attention, I'll sprinkle some one or two clues throughout this and perhaps you can guess what he got me.

Or perhaps not.

We'll see. Hee.


Since celebrating a birthday is too FABULOUS to condense into a mere 24 hours, I decided to celebrate an entire birthday WEEKEND - because 72 hours is what is needed to pack in all the fun and fabulousness.


So, Friday night was spent at a Kansas City Royals game - because as I've said before, it's pretty much tradition from when I was 7 years old - spending my birthday at the ballpark. Although you'll be pleased to know that I no longer don my baseball glove when I head to the ballpark, in hopes of catching a fly ball. I always sorta' looked like a dork when I did that before, so those days are gone. And as I've said before, I have been a huge, HUGE, baseball fan as far back as I can remember (Hey look!! There's a clue!!).


It wasn't just ANY baseball game, though…it was the annual celebrity Big Slick weekend, where a bunch of big celebrities head to town to raise money for a local children's hospital here in town. We're talking Paul Rudd, Eric Stonestreet, Kevin Pollak, Jason Sudeikis, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, among others (What a hunk - and why did they have to kill Denny off on "Grey's Anatomy"??!! Gah. My heart died a little that day and the show was never the same. But I digress.)


Here's Paul Rudd (a Kansas City native, by the way) sporting a Kansas City Royals World Series ring…which brings us to Clue #2.

So, we watched a FABULOUS softball game with the celebs, and then afterwards, watched a FABULOUS game with the Royals, who trounced the Detroit Tigers, 10-3. Squee!


Saturday, the day of my ACTUAL birthday, I woke up and got in an early 7-mile training run. I wore a new bright and colorful running skirt for the occasion, as it was important to appear FABULOUS while drowning in sweat.


Can you see me now??!!


However, it became quickly evident that although I may have LOOKED fabulous, I must have smelled like rotting fruit, as every horse fly in five counties quickly surrounded and swarmed me while running. That might be okay if not for the fact that I run with my mouth open - which meant that I almost, ALMOST swallowed a few of those flies. Gah.


Thankfully, no flies were harmed during the run, and my youngest Daughter then treated me to a FABULOUS brunch at a little restaurant here in town. Gluten-free eggs benedict were on the menu, and I pretty much licked my plate clean. Hey - 7 miles will do that. And when the waitress heard it was my birthday, she presented me with a complimentary gluten-free chocolate cupcake, because EVERYONE should have a chocolate cupcake for brunch!!!


Um, YUM!



Saturday afternoon was spent chillaxin' at the house, acknowledging birthday wishes on Facebook, chatting with my Mom on the phone (she's in Florida), chatting with one of my sons on the phone (he's in St. Louis), and chatting with another son on the phone (he's at work).

That evening, Hubby and I headed down to the Westport area of Kansas City, to dine at a very small, but very delicious, restaurant, called Room 39. We did the tasting menu, which was TO DIE FOR. Seriously, four courses of FABULOUSNESS and deliciousness that was fresh, tasty and absolutely stunning in the presentation. And to finish, I indulged in an Expresso Martini, a concoction of 360 vodka, expresso, Bailey's, Kahlua - but mostly vodka.


Cheers!!!


I'm not sure what happened after dinner…I'm blaming it on the 360…but I'm sure it was all good. ;)


Sunday was Father's Day, and we were having a big party at the house to celebrate both holidays - because I've always been generous like that, sharing my birthday with Father's Day. I spent the first part of the day getting everything set up to PARTY - and by 3:00 pm, the kids, grandkids, nieces, and other family had arrived.

Being a FABULOUSLY hot day, Hubby took everyone out for a boat ride on the lake, while others kayaked or swam. We had the Royals game on the boob tube, and in true Royals fashion, they eked out a win, 2-1, in 13 innings.


Captain, my Captain



Soon, it was time for cake and presents - the BEST part!!! Boy, my family knows me well, as I received some really cool stuff:


FABULOUSLY cool coasters, portraying my love of Kansas City and baseball!!!




a FABULOUSLY stylish Kansas City Royals scarf, so I will be FABULOUSLY dressed at my next game!!!




a FABULOUS exquisite Pandora bracelet, complete with a Mickey Mouse charm and wings, to represent my running!!!



Soon, boo, everyone had left, and Hubby then presented me with his gift…and here is when I pretty much died, DIED, I'm telling you.

Inside a card is a piece of paper, folded up, with this poem on one side:




And on the other side of the paper, there was this:



You guys.

That's a World Series ring.

THAT'S A WORLD SERIES RING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was stunned. I was shocked. I was speechless.

For a second.

After I processed it, I was pretty much like someone who just won the lottery, but can't quite believe it.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS??!!" I squealed.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!!" I squealed again.

"IS THIS A JOKE??!! PLEASE DON'T TELL ME THIS IS A JOKE!!!" I begged…as I literally broke out in goosebumps.

It's not a joke. My ring is on order, and I will receive it sometime this summer. No, it's not this exact ring, as that's the big honkin' men's version, and I would never be able to wear something that big. My ring will be the more dainty, but still FABULOUS, women's version.


And this is why this birthday was so amazing.

I loved spending time with the family. I loved the Facebook wishes. I loved the party and picnic on Father's Day. I love the fact that I have an amazing Hubby who totally gets it; totally gets that I am the biggest Kansas City Royals geek out there, and this gift was truly winning the lottery for me. I've stuck with my team for 40+ years, through the bad years (of which there were many), and the good years (of which there were few)…and my loyalty has never wavered.

Sigh.

Life is fabulous.

Peace.

The Color Run 5k: A Review

On a normal day, if my 15-year old daughter were to rub her psychedelic chalk-covered hands all over my face and neck, leaving me looking like a Salvador Dali painting on acid - I'd pretty much slap her upside the head, and then ground her for a week.


Yeah…that is totally me.

But…when one is running the psychedelic-infused Color Run 5k with said daughter - you just go with the flow, and then try to exact a bit of revenge with your OWN psychedelic chalk-covered hands.

Mwahahahahahahahaha.

All is fair in love and war…or in this case, at the Color Run.


The "Happiest 5k on the Planet", aka "The Color Run", blew into Kansas City yesterday morning…and how could I NOT sign up for a race that promotes "healthiness, happiness and individuality"???!!! Several months ago, when I looked into signing Hubby, my regular running buddy, and I up to run this, the conversation in my house went like this:

Me: "Hey - the Color Run is coming! Wanna' do it with me?"
Him: "Color Run? Never heard of it."
Me: "It's really fun. You run while people throw colored chalk dust on you."
Him: Totally silent at this point, but he had this weird expression on his face that looked like this:



Needless to say, Hubby was NOT on board with doing The Color Run, so I had to find my next victim running parter. It didn't take me long to figure out that anything involving "individualism" is PERFECT for my opinionated, strong-willed Daughter - so here we were…signed up to participate in our very first 5k as a Mother/Daughter Duo.

Of course, when she heard she'd be getting up early on a Saturday morning to run a race with her Mom, you can only IMAGINE the excitement.


Yeah.


Saturday morning dawned cool and cloudy…with a slight northerly breeze in the air. We wanted to leave the house at 6:30 a.m. (for an 8:00 a.m. race start), so I waited until the last possible second to wake up Daughter. She, uh, tends to be…um…a tad bit…grumpy…if woken too soon.




Although Hubby wanted nothing to do with getting messy, he was more than willing to drive us to the race and cheer us on from the sidelines. While he drove us, I spent time going over the race strategy with Daughter, who, I'm SURE, was attentively listening to me behind her dark sunglasses from the back seat. I know that she wouldn't have been using this time to sleep, or anything….

Ahem.

We arrived at Arrowhead Stadium by 7:00 a.m., and HOLY TRAFFIC JAM, BATMAN…you would have thought that the Kansas City Chiefs were playing a Super Bowl game that morning…cars were stretched out for miles, attempting to get into the stadium for parking. It was crazy. I knew this was a popular race, but I was still taken aback by the number of participants….I never heard a final number, but I DO know that my race bib number was six digits. Yowza.


The Race Gods were smiling down on us, as we managed to snag a second-row parking spot, which actually sounds pretty dumb to be all excited about when you're getting ready to RUN for 3 miles, but hey.

This is a "wave" race - meaning they send out so many runners per wave - and I was determined to be in the first wave. Not sure why that was so important, as it's not a timed race or anything - but I wanted Daughter and I to be able to run without 20,000 other runners breathing down our necks…and if we were out first, we could quickly get up ahead and leave the other runners in our dust. (Hee hee…see what I did there? "Dust" - as in "colored dust"!!!)

Fortunately, arriving an hour before the start pretty much guaranteed that we were literally at the starting tape:


Yup - nothing but empty pavement before us…SWEEEEET!!!


We killed time by dancing to the obnoxiously-loud music blaring from the speakers, as well as taking silly selfies:




Before we knew it, it was 8:00 a.m. - we were OFF!


The course basically wound around the parking lot at Arrowhead Stadium, and it didn't take us long to settle into a good, comfortable pace. Within the first quarter of a mile, we were greeted by a Drum Line, and because percussion along race courses is ALWAYS cool, I stopped to take a quick photo:


Race directors take note…more drum, please.



It was about here that I had a bit of a race snafu.

I was wearing a neon orange hat - not so much to protect my hair from the colored dust - but to keep the rain off my sunglasses. There had been a bit of a 'spit' - or mist - that morning, and I hate nothing more than getting rain-soaked glasses. Gah. Well…remember that northerly breeze I mentioned earlier??? Every so often, that "breeze" turned into a major gust of wind (there was a cold front blowing in, apparently), and unfortunately, my hat became a victim. One minute it was there - and the next - it was gone.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT MY HAT!!!!!!

(I only have about a hundred hats, but still…)


Daughter came to my rescue, and quickly retrieved my hat…she then even volunteered to wear it, tucking her pony tail through it so it wouldn't go sailing off in the distance again.

My hero.

And this will explain why you'll see the orange hat on MY head for some of the photos, and on DAUGHTER's head for others. Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you.


Soon, we were approaching our first color station - ORANGE!!!!

Daughter and I tentatively approached the line of volunteers on either side of us, and then screaming like banshees, we ran through, waving our arms in the air like fools, and laughed and giggled the entire way as we were getting bombarded with oodles and gazoodles of orange-colored cornstarch.

Ahhh…good times.


And I took NO pictures! Gah.

Not to fear, though, because about a half-mile later, we were approaching our second color station, YELLOW!!!




We repeated the same process as before, running through and screaming, laughing and giggling like crazy, through a golden cloudy haze…


And it was here that I realized something had to change. I was reluctant to take my phone out and take too many pictures - ESPECIALLY when we ran through the clouds - as I didn't want to potentially damage it. But…I was missing some good blog material here, darn it!!! Fortunately, it was about this time that Hubby appeared like magic on the sidelines, and he agreed to take over my phone and photography duty. From now on, Daughter and I had our own personal photographer to document our adventure.

He got right to work in his new important role, taking a photo of us as we finished the Yellow station:



And another one:




After this brief break, Daughter and I hit it again, hurrying along until the next station, but not before grabbing some water at the (one) water station along the course. Soon, we were entering Smurf-land, aka BLUE!!!



By now, we'd perfected our strategy. I'd send Daughter a bit ahead, so we wouldn't "block" each other from the dust. And we would turn and spin our way through the dust cloud, so we'd get color both coming and going. We looked like drunken sailors, but it worked, as far as spreading the color to the front AND back of our shirts. We saw other folks start adopting this strategy as well, so we were knew we were on to something.


Before we knew it, we were approaching the last color zone, PINK:



I lost Daughter in this picture…she must have gotten a bit too far ahead.

But that was short-lived, because before we knew it, we were approaching the Finish Line, and she insisted that we hold hands as we ran through it together:






Did you catch that?

I'll repeat it.

She INSISTED THAT WE HOLD HANDS.

Be still, my heart.


After finishing, you get handed a cool medal and some color packets & glitter. We then made our way down to the stage area in the parking lot for the After Party, and here's where the REAL fun is.

See, we were a bit "colored" up - but not too bad.

That was about to change.

After hundreds of runners gathered near the stage, the deejay did a countdown - and then everyone threw their colored dust, from their color packets, up in the air - and when the cloud cleared, we. were. covered.





Of course, Daughter decided to dip into her colored packet before the "official" drop, and decorate my face and neck a little with her pink powder. I looked like a clown.

So, I retaliated with a bit of my yellow powder on HER face.



We had powder EVERYWHERE. On the front of our legs. On the back of our legs. In our ears. In our mouths. And even up my nose, which made blowing my nose very interesting later that day.




Soon, we decided to head home…fortunately, Hubby had spread some old beach towels on the seats in the car, so we didn't totally colorize the upholstery.

When we got home, we spent a few minutes taking some more photos to document our experience:



I'm thinking, that no matter how cool she tries to be, or nonchalant, that she had some fun today. Call it Mother's Intuition…but she definitely had fun.


Finally, we turned the leaf blower on Daughter to blow off some of the dust. Seriously.


Bring it on.


I'm sure our neighbors thought we were crazy, but what else is new??


OUR TIPS FOR A HAPPY & HASSLE-FREE COLOR RUN:

1. Wear sunglasses (to protect your eyes from the dust).
2. Wear old tennis shoes.
3. Everything washes out fine in the laundry - so don't worry about stains.
4. Bring old towels to sit on in the car for the way home.
5. Everything washed out fine as far as our hair goes, too. No issues.
6. Try to get in one of the earlier waves if you can - less crowded!
7. Go with an open mind and good attitude.
8. HAVE FUN!!!!


Oh, one last pic - check out the swag! Besides a t-shirt (which is amazingly soft, by the way), you get a headband, tattoos, and a medal!!!



It's funny, because on the way to the race, I was telling Hubby that this would probably be a "one and done" race for me…but now, looking back, I would do this race again in a heartbeat!

Besides the fun that the Color Run promises, I wouldn't trade the memories I made with my Daughter for ANYTHING.

Trolley Run 2015: A Review

Sometimes, well-meaning friends and family members have asked me why I keep training, and pushing myself, and signing up for races that start at ungodly hours on a weekend morning…

…and the answer, my friends, is bacon.


I confess…I have a love affair with bacon.

The aromatic smell, the crispy crunch as I snap a piece off in my mouth, and then...the smokey taste…nom. Nom. Nom.


I run so I can eat bacon.

And the Trolley Run, a 4-mile downhill race here in Kansas City, offers an opportunity to run WHILE eating bacon.

Win-win!!


Let me back up.

The Trolley Run, now in it's 27th year, is one of the largest 4-mile races in the country. With a plethora of 5k's (3.1 miles) and half-marathons (13.1 miles) around, it's always awesome to find a 4-mile race, as it offers that perfect (for me) distance that's a tad bit more challenging than a 5k, but not near as grinding as a half marathon. The race benefits the Children's Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI), so it's not unusual to have blind runners, along with their guides, running along beside you. Way cool.

The course follows the old streetcar/trolley tracks, and for the most part, is a gradual downhill course. SCORE! I love downhill courses. Almost as much as bacon. Almost.




I wasn't sure how my legs were going to be for this race, after having ran two half-marathons the two consecutive weeks prior to this. They were tired, but I figured that four miles was tolerable…surely, I could do this, right? Hubby and I had done this in 2014, and it had been my longest race at that point, to date. I had finished last year in the blinding speed of 49:10, with an average of 12:18 mile. I had placed 114 out of 264 women in the age group 50:54.


Me, last year. I hadn't discovered the beauty of Sparkle Skirts yet.


Could I top that this year?

I had certainly spent the last year training hard…so would it pay off?

Or would the two half-marathons I did the first part of April slow me down?


The night before race day, I had laid out "Flat Me":



If you haven't figured out by now, I have a serious addiction to Sparkle Skirts. They are da' BOMB. Built-in running shorts underneath, with POCKETS - SQUEE - that do NOT ever, ever ride up. And they sparkle. With glitter. Which is awesome.


Watching the weather conditions, it was going to be a little cooler than I liked…I began second guessing that tank top I had planned. When we woke up at 5:15 am, we also discovered that there was a northwest wind that was creating a windchill of 40 degrees. Yikes. I decided to add a base layer under the tank top, as well as a running hat to keep my ears warm.

I would end up regretting that base layer…and I'm learning that I really, really need to trust my initial gut reaction on what to wear, and to QUIT second-guessing myself.

Anyway.


Hubby and I made the 25-minute drive to the Country Club Plaza, which is where the Finish Line was located. This is a point-to-point race, so we needed to park at the Plaza and then ride a free shuttle bus the short 4-mile distance to the Starting Line, located in the Waldo neighborhood of Kansas City. We had no problems finding a parking spot on the Plaza, and then walked a short distance to where the buses were lined up - and HOLY COW.

We were met with mass pandemonium, as thousands of other runners all squeezed, pushed and shoved, trying to get on the few buses available. This race is organized by waves, and one of the race organizers began barking loudly that anyone with a red or blue bib needed first dibs on the buses, as those were the first two waves. Well, Hubby was red, and I was blue, so we hopped to the front of a line and quickly got on a bus, and although we didn't have a seat, we were just happy to be on one, and not still in the mass chaos. I used this short ride to go over my mental game plan, after having learned my lesson at the disastrous Garmin Half-Marathon.


Arriving at the Starting Line, a light drizzle was falling from the sky, and most of the runners were huddling under the awnings of nearby shops. It was surreal to see the Starting Line near empty this close to the start of a race:



Seriously. There's over 5,000 runners, so where the heck is everyone??!!



I almost had one of those, "Am I here on the wrong DAY???" moments, which NO runner ever wants to have. That's the stuff of nightmares.


Plenty of port-a-potties were available, and after making a quick visit, Hubby and I went to a side street to begin warming up. I've found that this is crucial, CRUCIAL, to how I'm going to perform in a race. When I first start trying to run - no matter how slow, or no matter the occasion - my entire mind and body will go into somewhat of a state of shock, and immediately rebel against this forced exercise. Seriously, it's like my legs don't even know how to function, and they'll stumble blindly down the road, each one going off in a different direction. My brain will be all, "Whah??!! What the He$$??!! What IS this foreign thing you're trying to do right now…RUNNING??!! We don't know what that is, and we DEMAND that you STOP!!! NOW!!!"

I've learned that if I warm up for 5-10 minutes, and push through these treacherous thoughts and motions, I'll eventually settle into a rhythm, and my mind & body will be all like, "Oh…we get it now! Running!! We know how to do that!! Silly us. Okay - we're good. Continue."


So. I warmed up. And I got into the groove with about 15 minutes before the start of the race…at which time, I kissed Hubby goodbye so he could go up to the Red Wave, while I settled into the Blues.


Sometimes, Selfies are NOT your friend.


While waiting, I checked Facebook, because, I mean…well…isn't that what everyone does before a race??!! I discovered that one of my Red Cross buddies was also at this race, so I texted her so we could say hello before the race:


Meghan and Me



It wasn't long before the national anthem was being played, sung by THIS guy, and he was really, really good - and I could HEAR it, which was even MORE awesome:




After that, a drone flew overhead, which, although drones are a bit creepy, they're also a bit cool:


SMILE! You're on CAMERA!!!


It was about this time that I started to get my Garmin 220 Forerunner watch started…and to my horror…it DIDN'T start!!! Ack!!! It was somehow…frozen…and it would NOT turn on! A brief panic attack ensued, as I wondered how I would ever, EVER hope to run four miles without a watch.

And then my brain settled down, and I realized it was NOT my watch that was doing the running, but my legs. And my legs were fine. Rather than trying to run/walk with intervals, I told myself that my new strategy would be to "run" the course…run as much as I could for all of the downhills, and walk, if needed, only when there were uphills or I was just too freaking exhausted to run anymore.

Whew. Panic attack averted.


The gun started, and the Red Wave took off…and a few minutes later, it was our turn - the Blue Wave. I had settled towards the back of the corral, not wanting to get caught up in a deluge of runners at the beginning of the course. My strategy was to get a good "pocket" of space around me, so I wouldn't waste time bobbing and weaving around slower runners or walkers.


There are a few uphills on this course, and most of them are at the beginning. Compared to the hills I'd been running the last few weeks at the Rock the Parkway and the Garmin, these hills were NOTHING. I just ran. And ran. And ran. I kinda' felt like Forrest Gump, in that it seemed that all cylinders were firing, and everything seemed to be settling into place: I just felt like running.




Before I knew it, I was already past the Mile 1 Marker…I was so focused on running, that I TOTALLY missed the race photographer stationed along the sidelines…



I know. I'm shocked, too. I'm normally on top of those things. No cheesy smile for the photographer?? I'm so disappointed in myself.

However - take a second look at that photograph, and notice the visually-impaired runner behind me, alongside his guide.

That is WAY cool.


Although my legs were feeling really good at this point, I was getting pretty hot. As in, this is how I felt on the inside:



So hot. So freakin' hot.


This is the 2nd race in a row I've worn that base layer, and the 2nd race in a row that I have COOKED. I obviously heat up on the inside like a race engine, and I need to just leave that thing at home - or send it to some needy kid in Siberia next winter. Gah.

I had to resort to my old standby…at every aid station, I would sip the Gatorade, and dump the water - over my head. As in, let's get totally soaked in 40-degree temperatures. Smart, huh?

By now, we were heading north on Brookside Boulevard, which is one of the prettiest streets in Kansas City. Not only are there some really cool houses along this stretch, there are some pretty awesome residents, who pull out all the stops to cheer the runners along every year. They'll set up lawn chairs and boom boxes, and sit there with their kids, their dogs, and their friends, yelling encouragement to everyone who passes by. They have awesome signs of encouragement, and the kids all offer their hands for "High Five's" as you run past, and I, of course, being the Queen that I am, happily obliged, high 5'ing every kid I passed. Ah, my loyal subjects - thank you for coming out on this chilly Sunday to support your Queen.




Not to mention, I got lots of compliments on my AWESOME skirt.



And as awesome as the music, and the signs, and the pooches, and the high 5's from the kids, and the skirt compliments were - there was one thing, and ONLY one thing, on my mind, at this point.

The bacon.


It's a well-known tradition at the Trolley Run for one house, along Brookside Boulevard, to set up their grill and fire up bacon. Which they then pass out & distribute to anyone and everyone running along the course.

BACON!!!!



I had missed this famous "aid" station last year, but there was no way in H.E.L.L. I was going to miss it this year - so I kept my eyes - and nose - peeled. And I found it.



I know. I look like a wild-eyed crazy bacon stalker.



However…a curious thing happened. I discovered that attempting to run - really fast - while chewing on crispy bacon - is not the best combination. My mouth was too busy trying to focus on sucking air, and I was now attempting to force it to chew, and SWALLOW, bacon.


Yes. Instead of walking and chewing gum…as the saying goes…I was attempting to run and chew bacon.




I failed. One thing had to go, and if you think I would sacrifice the bacon in order to race faster - you thought wrong.

I sacrificed some time on the clock to savor the bacon.

Priorities, peeps.


As I was slowing down to savor the bacon, a woman ran by me and said, "NOOOO!!!! Don't slow down NOW!!!!! You've been my pacer!!!!!"

Which totally shocked me, as I'm normally the one globbing onto someone in front of me like a cat on velcro, and here someone had been globbing onto ME!!!




After my bacon break, it was time to push on…and before I knew it, I was approaching the Finish Line at the Country Club plaza. Without the use of my Garmin watch, I had NO CLUE as to how fast I'd been running…had I been running too slow? Too fast?



Yup. Clueless.

I crossed the finish line, and you can somewhat see the doubt and confusion on my face here…I haven't had time to get my official results to see how I'd done. Had I sucked? Had I rocked it?


Okay. Not my best look. But I was still very, very confused.


As I stumbled through the long chute at the end, grabbing a water bottle, a banana, and whatever else they were throwing into my hands, I frantically looked for Hubby, and couldn't find him anywhere.

This was odd. Normally, he's RIGHT THERE at the Finish Line, ready to greet me with open arms and the adulation that I deserve. Huh. Weird.

As I was looking for him, though, the lady that had said I'd been her pacer approached me and thanked me, AGAIN, for pacing her. I said, "But…you passed me! When I stopped for my bacon break!" She replied that I'd soon passed her, and as I'd been running the "perfect" pace, she'd tagged behind me the rest of the way. And she'd managed to set a PR, so she was extremely appreciative.

Not to mention, she liked my running skirt.

Duh.

I made my way to the spot where Hubby and I had agreed to meet up, in case we got lost, and as I sat waiting for him, I managed to check my results.

And I was Blown. Away.


I finished this race in an amazing time of 42:04, with an average mile of 10:34. I had placed 89th out of 311 in the 50-54 year old females.

I had shaved almost seven minutes off from last year.

Whoa.


Soon, Hubby found me…and he admitted that he'd missed me at the Finish Line, as he didn't think I'd be finishing that fast.

Whoa.


It was the Sparkle Skirt.

Or the bacon.

Maybe both.




Things I Liked About This Race:

1. Pretty much everything. The course is awesome, the aid stations are situated just right, the crowd support is amazing, and the after party is to die for.

2. Bacon.

3. Did I mention bacon?


Things I Didn't Like About This Race:

1. The only negative thing is the bus situation at the beginning…always a bit chaotic. I don't like point-to-point races for this exact reason….