I registered for the MCM 10K back in May when I had only one race under my belt, a local 5K. I am nothing if not ambitious. Also, easily influenced by endorphins. The best time to convince me to try something new is the day after a race. The day after my first 5K, I registered for 2 more 5K races and started looking for a 10K. Needless to say, this 10K was highly anticipated.
This was my first race with an expo. I convinced my husband to take Friday off, so he could be home for the kids. I knew I wouldn't be able to make it to DC and back before school let out, and I didn't really want to have a preschooler in tow.
There really wasn't a line for bib pickup (just one lady in front of me picking up several bibs). There was a huge line to get into the Armory, but it turned out to be because everyone went to the door closest to the bib pickup exit. Once I moved to another door, it was a quick trip through security and into the expo. I was a bit confused by then big signs directing women to the right and men to the left. I wondered what difference it made, since just a few feet ahead, everyone was mingling about. I figured out later on that those were signs for the restrooms.
I picked up my shirt and bag check bag. It seemed that most people were using their bag check bags to carry their stuff around. I didn't want to take any chances with the bag getting ripped, so I had another bag with me that I stuffed everything into. I later realized that you could probably get a bag to use at the expo and another to take with you for race day. Oh well, lesson learned. Also, this way, my bright yellow shirt was not on display for all to see. I didn't see that many yellow shirts, so I felt a little inferior. I was a bit intimidated by all of the cool kids with their red (marathon) shirts and vowed right there that next year I will be one of them (did I mention that I'm ambitious?).
Unfortunately, October was a tight month, so I could look at all the goodies but not buy, which is probably a good thing because there were so many tempting things. I had neglected to realize that I would be there around lunch time, so I made the rounds trying to satisfy myself with samples from Clif et al. and quenching my thirst at the Nuun booth (under the guise of trying all the different flavors, of course). I nearly broke down and bought some Nuun, but I had no cash on me, and they didn't appear to take credit cards. I checked out the Brooks store and took note of the price of the marathon jackets; when I run the marathon next year, I want one. I had my bone density tested and my body composition analyzed. I would have liked to have stayed longer, but I wanted to get out of the Metro system before peak fares began.
Saturday was a little stressful, since I wasn't quite ready to go. I was trying to get the house tidied up and get us all packed, and I still had visions of making a Halloween costume before we left. We had to wake up as if we were going to soccer only to find out that we weren't. We were supposed to leave immediately after a dance rehearsal, but that didn't happen. Finally, I just decided that we needed to leave. The bags were packed, and we were only going to be gone for 24 hours.
We arrived at our hotel just in time for the Manager's Reception, which sounded fancier than it was. We had some pretzel bites and chips & salsa, and the kids tried Shirley Temples for the first time. Then we went to dinner, came back, and went to bed.
I had my alarm set for 5:00am, but I didn't get up until 5:30. Then I took longer than I had planned to get ready, and I didn't really feel like eating because I was starting to get stressed about time. I had brought an Amy's tofu scramble for breakfast, but I just ate the hash browns & tomatoes, maybe a couple bites of the tofu and spinach. I must have looked odd walking down the hall with my half-eaten breakfast, but I didn't want to annoy the fam by throwing it out in the room. I didn't expect to run into anyone anyway, since it was 6:15, but there were 4 other ladies in the elevator with me. One of them took one look at me in my capris and sneakers and asked, "are you running today?" They were all bundled up for the 34 degree temps. I said yes and immediately added "the 10K" because I still tend to feel like I don't belong out there with all those runners. They were on their way out to the race, too, but as spectators. As we left the elevator, she wished me luck.
Then I nearly froze on my way to the car and had the unexpected pleasure of getting to sit there while my windows defrosted (more delays!).
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