The half marathon countdown is on...
Well, we're down to the wire on the 2010 Half Marathon! And it looks to be a doozy! A rundown of the last 24 hours or so, told in third person because I'm just awesome like that:
Thursday:
Mid-afternoon: Kirsten feels really sick at work, and is thankfully granted an ER. She hurries to her car, only to find that she's too dizzy to drive. So, in the middle of the West Clock lot, she leans the seat back and sleeps it off for 2-3 hours.
5 pm: Kirsten awakes and realizes "oh crap I have to get to the race packet-pickup today." So, despite feeling ill, she powers over to Wide World of Sports and promptly gets sick in the parking lot. Glorious!
She totters inside, claims her goody bag and bib, and hits up Runner Relations to get her corral placement changed. She has a moment of smugness as she hands over the race results from the ToT 13k and gets a surprised, "Whoa, that's pretty good for not having run distance races before!" and is bumped from Corral H up to Corral C. WIN.
She also tries to wander around the vendor booths to find a small waist pack and a pair of running gloves, given the forecasts looking more and more like "snow." (Really, what state IS this!?) She snags what she needs, but only makes it halfway through the line before having to drop her goods and run for the bathroom to be sick again. Glorious!
6 pm: She finally stumbles out of the Runner Expo, goods in hand, and makes a beeline for the car. She also realizes "Holy shit, it's cold, and I don't have a comforter on my bed and the heat is shut off to save money." So, she makes a side stop at WalMart, veering back and forth in her lane a fair amount as she battles double vision. At WalMart, she secures a cheap (but better than nothing!) comforter... and a comfort DVD. Come on - Stargate Atlantis Season 2 for $15? Can't lose! She can and does, however, lose her lunch again in a corner of the shoe aisle. Whoops! Cleanup, aisle 3...
7 pm: Kirsten sleeps for another half hour in her car in the WalMart parking lot, trying overcome dizziness. She feels like the epitome of white trash. Then, in a burst of "now or never" strength, she fires up the car and races the last 10 minutes home, somehow avoiding accidents and flying in the front door and making it to the bathroom just in glorious time. Isn't being sick fun? Feeling like crap, she leaves all her stuff in a big pile in the middle of the living room (hey, the roomies are out of town, she can clean up messes later!) and falls into bed.
Friday
8 am: Kirsten's alarm goes off, and she rolls over, says "Fuck that," picks up the phone, and calls in sick. She's really not in the mood to be sick at work like the day before. She promptly falls back asleep, and sleeps for the better part of the day.
1 pm: Finally Kirsten stumbles out of bed, makes a couple of muffins, and sits down to check the weather report... and holy balls, there's now a 40% chance of snow at race start. Seriously. 40%. In Orlando. Florida. Not Antarctica. Snow. Now, I like snow, but not when I have to be out in it in shorts and a t-shirt! Although, admittedly, the thought of running through Disney World in the snow (or at least flurries) is pretty damn cool.
3 pm: Crawling out of her apartment, she attempts to get in one last, quick run, more to test out clothing layers than anything else. Just a 2-miler, and she's already figured out how much is too much. Maybe snow won't be so bad... at least not after the first couple of miles. I may just be that Garbage Bag Runner that I've heard about at the start. And mylar blankets at the finish line will make me feel like some rescued victim, so I'll pretend like I just did an away mission to an arctic planet through the Stargate. One that left me with no feeling in my legs, and a funny-looking medal with Donald Duck on it. Yeeeeeeah.
6 pm: Kirsten grows hungry (after all, it's not like anything's really stayed in her stomach lately!), and ventures out to Little Caesar's in her pajamas. Yay, $7.99 for large pepperoni and crazy bread! Such healthy food before a race...
9 pm: Bags are packed, plans are made... and Kirsten is off to bed, to be up no later than 3 am... wish me luck!
Thursday:
Mid-afternoon: Kirsten feels really sick at work, and is thankfully granted an ER. She hurries to her car, only to find that she's too dizzy to drive. So, in the middle of the West Clock lot, she leans the seat back and sleeps it off for 2-3 hours.
5 pm: Kirsten awakes and realizes "oh crap I have to get to the race packet-pickup today." So, despite feeling ill, she powers over to Wide World of Sports and promptly gets sick in the parking lot. Glorious!
She totters inside, claims her goody bag and bib, and hits up Runner Relations to get her corral placement changed. She has a moment of smugness as she hands over the race results from the ToT 13k and gets a surprised, "Whoa, that's pretty good for not having run distance races before!" and is bumped from Corral H up to Corral C. WIN.
She also tries to wander around the vendor booths to find a small waist pack and a pair of running gloves, given the forecasts looking more and more like "snow." (Really, what state IS this!?) She snags what she needs, but only makes it halfway through the line before having to drop her goods and run for the bathroom to be sick again. Glorious!
6 pm: She finally stumbles out of the Runner Expo, goods in hand, and makes a beeline for the car. She also realizes "Holy shit, it's cold, and I don't have a comforter on my bed and the heat is shut off to save money." So, she makes a side stop at WalMart, veering back and forth in her lane a fair amount as she battles double vision. At WalMart, she secures a cheap (but better than nothing!) comforter... and a comfort DVD. Come on - Stargate Atlantis Season 2 for $15? Can't lose! She can and does, however, lose her lunch again in a corner of the shoe aisle. Whoops! Cleanup, aisle 3...
7 pm: Kirsten sleeps for another half hour in her car in the WalMart parking lot, trying overcome dizziness. She feels like the epitome of white trash. Then, in a burst of "now or never" strength, she fires up the car and races the last 10 minutes home, somehow avoiding accidents and flying in the front door and making it to the bathroom just in glorious time. Isn't being sick fun? Feeling like crap, she leaves all her stuff in a big pile in the middle of the living room (hey, the roomies are out of town, she can clean up messes later!) and falls into bed.
Friday
8 am: Kirsten's alarm goes off, and she rolls over, says "Fuck that," picks up the phone, and calls in sick. She's really not in the mood to be sick at work like the day before. She promptly falls back asleep, and sleeps for the better part of the day.
1 pm: Finally Kirsten stumbles out of bed, makes a couple of muffins, and sits down to check the weather report... and holy balls, there's now a 40% chance of snow at race start. Seriously. 40%. In Orlando. Florida. Not Antarctica. Snow. Now, I like snow, but not when I have to be out in it in shorts and a t-shirt! Although, admittedly, the thought of running through Disney World in the snow (or at least flurries) is pretty damn cool.
3 pm: Crawling out of her apartment, she attempts to get in one last, quick run, more to test out clothing layers than anything else. Just a 2-miler, and she's already figured out how much is too much. Maybe snow won't be so bad... at least not after the first couple of miles. I may just be that Garbage Bag Runner that I've heard about at the start. And mylar blankets at the finish line will make me feel like some rescued victim, so I'll pretend like I just did an away mission to an arctic planet through the Stargate. One that left me with no feeling in my legs, and a funny-looking medal with Donald Duck on it. Yeeeeeeah.
6 pm: Kirsten grows hungry (after all, it's not like anything's really stayed in her stomach lately!), and ventures out to Little Caesar's in her pajamas. Yay, $7.99 for large pepperoni and crazy bread! Such healthy food before a race...
9 pm: Bags are packed, plans are made... and Kirsten is off to bed, to be up no later than 3 am... wish me luck!