Random marathon happenings worth mentioning

I'm going to be basking in the glow of finishing the marathon for a few days, just warning you. There were a few random things that I feel still need to be mentioned, or were kind of entertaining. I wish I had more pictures, but I failed as a photographer over the weekend.

1. I met the incredible Jess- very nearly ran into her in the hotel lobby as we were preparing to leave. And then had to try to introduce myself without sounding like a stalker. Thankfully, she gets that a lot (that's what happens when you're such an inspirational rockstar, and a fellow Tough Chik). She's just as nice and friendly in person as she comes across in her blog.

2. I had some moments of weakness during the marathon- my left knee acted up (I haven't had knee pain since 2006!), and the blood sugar issues really got bad between 16-19. But I can honestly say, for the most part, I was smiling. I was having fun. The beauty of being slow and a first-timers is that no one has any expectations. No one puts any pressure on you to place. Nothing matters beyond finishing, which brought an unexpected level of freedom and fun. It was actually pretty great that none of the others from my husband's unit on base ran the marathon, too, since that meant the competitor in me didn't feel the need to prove anything (in last year's half marathon, I took great pride in finishing before all but one of his coworkers- I can't help but compete sometimes).

3.I tried Turkish food for the first time. Well, first time in a Turkish restaurant. I realized as we started eating our appetizer sampler that I've had quite a bit of Turkish food through the carry-ins my Middle Eastern dance teacher would have. It was all very tasty. The restaurant was in the shopping complex at the Greene.

That made it easy to see the parachute dude, then hobble/waddle a shopping block over for dinner, then hobble/waddle back to enjoy a little beer and live music, surrounded by 100s of other crazy half and full marathoners, and even a bunch of 10Kers.

4. On the way home, my husband and I passed a go-kart event happening in New Castle- little did I know that my 66-year-old uncle was racing there! He's been racing either motorcycles or dirt bikes or karts for as long as I can remember, and he's now in an age group where he usually gets 1st or 2nd, even though that's often because there are usually just 2 or 3 people!
Shortly after, we stopped at a Cracker Barrel restaurant for second breakfast. We both got the "Old Timer's special" which seemed appropriate the way we moved any time we tried to stand after sitting. It had 2 eggs, 3 slices of bacon, 2 slices of toast, hash brown casserole, and grits. I'm not usually a plate-clearer, but both of us had ate every morsel of our meal (Tim had biscuits, gravy, and sausage instead of my bacon and toast). When the bus boy asked if he could take our plates, I sounded like a sad little kid when I said, "Yeah, go ahead, there's nothing left to eat anyway." Thankfully, that meal seemed to quell the Runger until late afternoon.

5. I'm so happy to be home- especially with these 2!

They were, if possible, even more exhausted than we were. Playing on the farm, catching and plucking chickens, and tormenting cats is a tiring business.

I'm back to teaching Zumba today- and so glad that I'm not as sore as expected. The only problem is that it's going to be hard to rest as much as I should before I lace up my running shoes!

Happy Monday!
I'll have to get back into my sewing room to keep myself busy while I rest.