These Are the Days When Anything Goes

I stole this pic off of The Bix 7 Facebook page. It's of the very wet race I ran. If you look to the left side of the pic, you can see how crowded and boxed in we all were. The guy running by himself was an elite runner, who got to go out in front.

I can't tell you how glad I am that I get a whole week off after this weekend. I really need it. I had a great time, but I didn't get a lot done around the house, and I plan on fixing that in the next couple of days.

On Friday, I got home and made sure the girls were both set-up and then drove to the Quad Cities to pick up my packet. I'm glad I did. As you all know, I have no sense of direction, so it was good to orient myself with downtown Davenport, so the next morning, I wouldn't spend an hour figuring out where things were.

I woke up on Saturday morning at 5 and it was storming out. Great. I had expected it, but it makes it so hard to figure out what to take. I brought sunscreen and sun glasses in case the sun magically appeared before the race, but figured I'd mostly be wearing a sports bra, shorts and a hat. Any kind of t-shirt weighs you down and chafes (that's hot).

So, there I was, standing among 15,000 other runners, when I saw my new racing buddy. He's the guy I hung out with at my last race. He used to manage the Deadwood and then later tended bar at the Foxhead when I was in college. His wife is on the roller derby team here and he now manages the meat section at the Co-op. Anyway, it's so weird that I spotted him in that huge crowd. We hung out before the race and chatted about running and our kids and how much we love that rush you get right before the race and how annoying it was that really slow runners and walkers lie about their times in order to get up closer to the starting line, but then you can't get around them. Then, when the race started, we said goodbye, because he runs a little faster than I do.

Coadster in Godspell.

The race itself was good in so many ways and a little annoying in others. It would downpour sporadically and the streets were super wet and slippery because of that. The atmosphere, however was great. You have everything from world class runners, to people wearing costumes and then spectators line both sides of the street and some just watch, but others play bagpipes. and some blare cheesy running related music, (think: "The Final Countdown", "Every Day is a Winding Road", "Gonna Fly Now"-the theme from Rocky...) or strum banjos and kids hold their hands out waiting for you to slap them.

I felt really good for most of the race. The big problem for me was getting boxed in. It took me over 5 minutes to even get to the starting line. There was no way to get around people and so I was stuck going WAY slower than I wanted. Things finally opened up by the end, and I tried to make up for lost miles, but it was too late. Note to self: Next year, lie about your time, so you'll be with people who at least run close to your pace.

Coadster in a dance number.

I left The Quad Cities feeling great and happy and still high from my race. I didn't used to run races, because it's tough to do on my own and it takes me WAY out of my comfort zone, but last year a friend of mine told me to just give it a try, and I'm so glad I did. It's not always a bad thing stepping out of your comfort zone, and I've remembered how much I like having something to train for and then battling with myself physically and mentally during a race.

I napped when I got home and then spent some time with Stinky before she went out with her friends and I went out with mine. I went to a friend's house to celebrate his 50th birthday. All the usual suspects were there and we had a great time. I warned the people I drove out there, that I didn't know how long I'd make it, but I stayed longer than I thought. Finally, I dropped my friends off at the Dublin and I went home went to bed.

Today I finally got to see Coadster perform in Godspell. She was amazing. She sang the song "By My Side" which is pretty moving anyway, and I went to the play with Stinky and my friend C., who's husband just had the heart attack and her daughter and C. and Stinky were just bawling through the whole song. It was a really nice afternoon.

Soooo, now I get 7 more days before I have to be back at work. Let's see if can make the most of them.