Memphis 1/2 Marathon Report

The excitement building up to our Memphis trip was like waiting for Christmas! And now, sadly, it's over and we have to wait an entire year to do it again. I really enjoy our weekend race trips, but this one was especially fun! Let me take you on a quick recap:

Annette picked me up at 9am Friday morning (thanks for driving us Arland!) and we headed to Cheryl's. We loaded all our stuff and away we went. Because I get car sick at the wink of an eye, Cheryl was nice enough to let me drive the entire trip. Boy, was I thankful for that. Of course, the trip couldn't officially start until we stopped at Starbucks.

First stop upon arriving was the Expo, to get our race packets and do some shopping. I got a new pair of motion control running shoes (Saucony), a really warm vest, and some shoe inserts. Around 2pm, we realized we were HUNGRY----I can't speak for Annette and Cheryl, but this immense hunger just snuck up on me and I was starving!!! After a quick hello to Kelly and Robert (we saw them outside the expo entrance), we decided to head toward Cheryl's Aunts house (we stayed w/her---Aunt Martha is awesome, only wish she lived closer). We found this great place to eat, called Newks. I had soup/salad, so did Cheryl, Annette had a turkey sandwhich. My soup was GREAT--Fire Roasted Tomato. I absolutely LOVE tomato soup!!!

Friday night we went to dinner w/Aunt Martha, Grace (Cheryl's 2nd cousin) and some friends from our running club, who had come to race as well. Food was good, but the portions were way to big! I had the vegetable plate and couldn't finish it. After dinner, we got our race outfits ready and went to bed.

It was about a 20 min drive from Aunt Martha's to Memphis. We got stuck in a few minutes of traffic/road construction (who would have thought it on an early Saturday morning). We found a spot in a nearby parking garage, headed towad the start, the girls took a potty break, then lined up in our corral.

The 1/2 Marathon was perfect---the weather was great, I got to run w/Annette and Cheryl the entire time, our pace was good, the crowd support was good. The only nagging aspect was the HILLS!!!! Annette and I didn't remember from last year that there were so many of them! But, I've come to realize if I race in AR, OK, TN---basically anywhere South, there will be hills. Even the food after the race was pretty good. I had some soup (yummy vegetable), a bagel, and what I love the most after running---Diet Coke!

Before heading home, we stopped for Starbucks (notice a trend??). I was tired from driving and sitting, but felt pretty good overall. I swept out the Excursion, did some laundry, took Maxx for a walk, then showered and sat my butt down for the rest of the night!

As usual, looking forward to our next road trip!