My co-workers really surprised me Thursday!
At the expo - 26.2 With Donna - full marathon course
Audra and I with our race numbers, Blythe and me, the Galloway girls (Blythe, Jen, Caron, Audra, Rachael), us with Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson!
Audra, Olympian Jeff Galloway, me, Rachael
Katie, me, Kristie at Happy Hour (no drinks for me)
Me carbo loading at dinner Friday night - kid's spaghetti and lots of bread!
I had a great night of sleep Wednesday night (9 full hours). Thursday afternoon at work I heard noise in the hallway and came out of my cube to find nine of my teammates standing there staring at me. I quickly scurried into my cube like a cockroach who saw a light being flicked on. "Caron! Come out...come back!" they yelled. I peered around the cube but didn't understand what was going on. I've never really been completely surprised before. So, I came out and they presented me with a bag, and I opened it and found a running shirt with my name printed on it, "First Time Marathoner" emblazoned across the front and back and tidy little signatures and good luck notes from my team. A signed card accompanied the shirt. I was very overwhelmed and surprised! After work I had a massage, hoping to loosen my legs and IT bands, and get comfortable for the race. Thursday night I ate rotisserie chicken, vegetables and salad for dinner, and got about 9 hours of sleep again. Friday I went to work, then went to the 26.2 With Donna expo downtown with my co-worker and fellow Galloway partner, Audra. We met up with Blythe and Rachael, from my pace group. We got our race numbers, shirts (lots of pink), timing chips, and perused the aisles for free goodies (Biofreeze packets! emory boards! comfy socks! pink shoelaces? a spatula? a slap bracelet?) and interesting merchandise. We met Olympic gold medalist Joan Benoit Samuelson, and snapped a photo with Olympian Jeff Galloway (the founder of our Saturday morning running program!). I also bought a framed "Goals are dreams with deadlines" print that Kurtis Loftus did last year. He was a big inspiration to me when I began this journey in summer -- I read his entire blog from last year about his race preparation and training. Unfortunately he's not running this year due to an injury he sustained about 3/4 of the way through our Galloway training. After leaving a note - "Running a marathon...!!! Be back (hopefully) Tuesday! Wednesday if I can't move" - on my work computer, I headed to Katie Clark's happy hour. Katie is the real reason I am running a marathon. I am so happy she flew in from North Carolina for the big race weekend to cheer me on. After her event, it was time to carbo load. Mmm. I had tons of bread and then kid's spaghetti with marinara. I was absolutely stuffed when I went to bed. I slept okay, but woke up several times, including after a bad dream around 4 a.m. I got up around 8.
Also, I am in 25th place for most funds raised by an individual for the race! I am so excited about this. My current tally is $1,370! And, there's still time to donate:
http://www.active.com/donate/2009DonnaMarathon/CaronS
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