Last Wednesday Tayler and I flew to Seattle with the purpose of me, Julie and Marcela running a full/half marathon. Last year on our girls trip in Seattle we talked about how much fun it would be to run the Seattle Rock n' Roll Marathon and it actually happened! The previous few days I had been so sick, but started feeling better Tuesday night and then Wednesday morning woke up in so much pain. I had the stomach flu. I wanted to scream and wondered why EVERYTHING was going wrong. I had been training so hard and was so excited to do the race, but wasn't sure that was going to happen. Before we left to the airport (I was still debating on even going), I had Sean give me a blessing. We made it to the airport and onto our flight with no problems. We arrived at the airport and took a shuttle to Port Orchard to see Mom, Brent and Ashley. I was so happy to sit on the couch once we arrived. We were able to hang out for a while until Ryan and Julie arrived. Tay and I left with Ryan since we were staying with them. I totally crashed once we got there (it was about 12:30 a.m. my time so I was TIRED). Tayler on the other hand was still a bit hyper :) I was so thankful that she came with me. It was nice to have a little buddy! We slept in the next morning which felt awesome. I was starting to feel a little bit better, but still not the best. I LOVED seeing Marcela, Reyes and Camila. They are the cutest little girls. We had a great day of just relaxing. We did go into Paulsbo, which was this great little town by the water. Marcela also whipped up a batch of Empanadas for me. I ate one and my stomach started churning again.. dang it! The next day we headed into Seattle so that we could pick up our packets and check into our hotel. Julie, Mom, Brent and Ashley had gone into Vancouver to see Wicked Thursday night so we chilled and waited to meet up with them at the hotel. They were stuck in some major traffic so they were tired of driving when we finally saw them.
Thankfully Brent was still willing to drive us back to the Expo center to get our packets.
Afterwards, we hurried to eat since everyone was SO hungry and we needed to carbo load a little bit!
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When dinner was done I said good-bye to Tayler, Grandma, Ashley and Brent. Julie and I and Marcela stayed in the hotel so that we could be up bright and early to catch our 5:30 bus to the starting line. Ryan and the girls also stayed at the hotel so he was closer to get to the finish line. Did I mention, how dang cute those 2 little ones are?
Anyway, I slept awful at the hotel. I think I fell asleep around 2 and the alarm went off at 4:40 a.m. We got up, got dressed, and went downstairs to wait for the bus and get a banana and muffin. I was super excited to run that morning. We got on the bus and just as it was ready to leave I realized that I had left my number and tracking device in the room. Crap. I begged the bus driver to wait for me while I hurried to get it and thankfully they did, that would have been a nightmare (still not sure what I would have done).
We stood in line for the bathroom for about 45 minutes. Awesome!
Here I am all pumped up and ready to go.
The race was HARD. My body had no energy, but it was a great experience anyway. I am so glad that I did it and so thankful to all the cheerleaders we had routing us on. Marcela and I did the Half Marathon and Julie was a rock star and did the Full Marathon. The course was beautiful and it was so much easier to run at sea level. I was feeling really good until mile 6 and then panic set in. I literally didn't know how I was going to make it to the finish line. I had three little gummy chews that I think saved me. The cytomax along the course was awesome too. I really am not sure how I made it to the finish line but I did! I have never been so excited to see the number 13 in my life. I was a great feeling to cross that line. My time was 2 hours 31 minutes which totally sucks, but again, I am grateful I finished.
Here is my little cheerleader.
After Julie finished (which she did in under 4 hours) we took a picture. Marcela finished in 1 hour 59 minutes. They are just awesome runners. So proud of my girls! We now have our medals.
I have to admit I am really looking forward to my next race. I am pretty sure the circumstances can't get much worse :)
Here is Tayler, Grandma, Ashley and Brent coming over for the race. They were wonderful support and I am so grateful that Tayler was able to stay at Brent and Ashley's house for the night so I didn't have to worry about her. She had a great time too.
After the race Julie and I sat in the hotub. It was the best part of the day. It felt so good and totally helped with muscle soreness. Afterwards we went back to Brent and Ashley's to pick up Tayler and drop off Julie.
Sunday, we went to Church and then had a bbq at my Uncle Gary's house who lives just down the street from Brent and Ashley. It was a beautiful evening with good food (I was finally starving) and a little game of croquet. I loved every minute.
Monday, we got up to take the ferry back across to Seattle to go to the Market and the Space Needle.
It was a little bit windy.
We headed to the space needle first. It was fun to go up and see the beautiful Seattle skyline.
Afterwards, Ashley came and meet us for lunch. It was so good to see her again. Love you Ash! Poor Brent had to go back to work.
We ate and then went to the market. It was a fun experience. We got to see the fish throwing first hand and also go to a fabulous bakery. YUM.
Sadly, the time came to say goodbye. It was hard to leave. I am definitely a fan of Seattle. It is such a beautiful place. Ryan helped us get on the light rail which took us straight to the airport. Thank you Ryan and Marcela for being such a wonderful host/hostess. We felt so welcomed in your home.
