So through all that happened on Wednesday April 27 I knew I still wanted to run the 1/2 Marathon and thank goodness I had that goal to keep my mind busy and not totally consumed by the chaos around me. I tried to talk The BF into going to Nashville Thursday and settling into a hotel so we would have power and we could try to get our minds clear, well my mind clear at least. We decided to stay in B-ham and luckily his parents got power that afternoon so I was able to get up for the Royal Wedding! (OK maybe that was a little bit of the reason I wanted to go to Nashville early!)
Luckily, my brother who ran the 1/2 with me was able to come spend the night with us and after a little side trip back to the neighborhood we headed north. Mind you we had no power at home, so we had no idea where the tornado had gone other than what we heard in the short bursts on radio in the car or from neighbors. I can attest that Tuscaloosa got the local and national press, and I know that it is bad there but I am not sure that they deserved all the attention. On our way up I-65 about Decatur we got hungry and pulled off the road. NIGHTMARE! There were 8 cars waiting for every gas pump at the first stop, and there were 3 gas stations right off the highway. We turned around and got right back on the road, about 40 miles later we tried a simliar turn with similar results. This time we decided to just go in and get some food and skip on the gas until later.
At Subway I wanted a pizza, but there is no pizza crusts; how about a wheat bread, no; this went on and finally we just went with the luck of the draw on bread. Meat was not as bad, but close. There were no chips in the station, people were wandering in asking any question you can imagine. It was the twilight zone in there. Randomly along the highway we ran into places where you could see tornadic or high speed winds that came through. Steel light poles just pretzled, debris caught in the barbs of fences, trees down, and again all sorts of damage to structures and landscape. Tuscaloosa got it bad, but if the highway is any indication of North Alabama it is as bad there!
When we got to Nashville we headed out to the expo to get our packets and meet our friends for dinner. We had a very delicious, slow, carb loaded plate each and went back to the hotel for bed.
Saturday morning came very early, but heck after the past few mornings I was totally prepared. With exception of the shuttle coming and leaving 15 minutes before we scheduled our pick-up the morning went off well. We showed up at the start line and the magnitude of the whole deal set in. Since the shuttle situation my running buddy had driven to the start herself, and in over 30,000 people I never saw sight of her. My brother and I checked our stuff and next hitch, I left my sunglasses in the bag. We headed back toward the start line with only a mile long detour through the porta-potty line. While in line we made a few great sightings, my favorite was Biggest Loser style weight loss man who was behind us. He had clearly been prepping for this race for at least a year, the skin on his legs was droopier than any post baby boobies I have ever seen. It bugs me that on the Biggest Loser you see the people when they are really fat with minimal clothes, but when they start getting thinner they clothe them more. I mean I get that you want people to think they are going to look great, and nothing is great about saggy skin but for the same reason people want to see bin Laden I want to see the sag!
Back to Nashville: Jeff and I started together, well we were in the same place. The second we crossed the start ine Jeff was gone. I was impressed with his pace and really hoped that he would be able to keep up the whole time. I will spare the dirty details of the whole race but I have to say I had a great time. I ran in and out of random conversations and was really encouraged by the people and signs along the way. The bands we ran into were fun, and it was just way more fun than I could ever imagined.
When I crossed the finish line my knees had started to hurt and I was so happy to be done, but man alive there are a lot of people running and then all of a sudden they are stopped. Inside the "secure area" there was food galore but I had to find another porta-potty! I had been running for over 2 hours and drinking water about every 3 miles. I know that most people would have sweated out all the water but I really had to potty.
The next step was finding everyone, and man was I glad that we decided on U as our family reunion letter. It was super close to the end and I was able to sit down sooner than if we had chosen almost any other letter! The BF was there with a hug and Happy Birthday! Oh yeah it is my 30th birthday, HURRAH!
While waiting on the others to finish I managed to get my shoes off and discover some serious blisters (which after a short run today are in serious hurt mode) but otherwise I was feeling good.
I spent most of the rest of the afternoon resting in bed, but we did have a really nice dinner in MidTown Nashville and went to a few local bars. It was all in all a great way to spend my 30th birthday!
In my last update on the list I feel a little guilty about some of the things, but I will go through them quickly!
22. Make a summer decision about work This is something I will need to change my focus to Asheville. We were planning a trip there for Wednesday, but after the tornado hit Cahaba Heights we were not able to make the trip, there are a few things that this last minute storm impacted!
18. Complete a puzzle This one I blame on the dogs. I got the puzzle out, set it up, worked on it, and came home from work to discover pieces eaten and scattered all over. Don't worry I still had fun with it, and I know sometimes I need to slow down and enjoy things other than TV (The purpose of this was to get me doing anything but watch TV and I have definitely accomplished the background meaning of the goal)
15. Remind myself why I am doing these things.
14. Get the sewing machine out of the basement Well the machine is out, but it is not doing anything now. It is packed up and ready for the move. Half of and accomplishment again, the purpose this time not accomplished but the actual goal yes!
12. Spend the better part of a day cyber stalking all things Royal Wedding and prepare DVR
11. Call Scott
9. Start riding for Free Wheel I will do this, when I can get the bike out of the basement. I will do this!
6. Donate unwanted clothes/shoes This has a while new meaning! We are still going to have a garage sale, but hopefully we will be able to also donate things we are not moving to help people re-build their lives. We are going to have a better idea once we find a place in Asheville what furniture we can leave in B-ham for people who need it!
4. Write rec letters for Tri Delta girls This is the only one I do not feel bad about. I fully intended to have resumes and all the stuff I would need from the girls, and only one has managed to get it together. Rec Letters not done, but grad cards are!?
Don't worry I will continue to update the blog and I will do better with more moving details soon! We will hopefully know after this weekend what the plan is for the whole process! Wish us luck in NC Friday when we look at houses, and wish us luck in getting the house in Cahaba Heights on the market with all the stuff going on in the neighborhood.
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