When we arrived my parents home in Oregon after stopping to get my race packet at the Portland expo, I lucked out and had another 40th birthday celebration. I think I have been plenty spoiled with nearly a month of several continuous celebrations (first in MN with Cheryl my mother-in-law and Harley's grandma in September; then champagne toast with 2 other birthday friends; from my hike group down by Mt. Rainer; then with Harley at Mt. Rainier Paradise Lodge again ON my birthday; at my trainer's the same week; at my sister's the following week; and the culmination of the celebrations the weekend of the marathon in early October. Wow!
Menu - Coconut Pumpkin Curry Soup, Green Beans, and Thai Chicken Curry with Squash
September 24th, 2011 at the Vieco household - my trainer Merrie, her husband Pedro, our gym mate and another September birthday buddy Randy Thompson, and Harley & I
Randy's birthday was on the 25th and mine on the 22nd of September. So we celebrated it together at Merrie's who is our trainer. Randy left shortly after to work for 6 months at McMurdo research base in Antarctica.
September 22, 2011 - Paradise on Mt. Rainier Read the quote on the steps.
Paradise is LUXURIANT
Haha! When we came home from the pasta dinner my dad was just DYING to dive into the ice cream cake we did not have time to eat beforehand.
When we got home after the dinner I had to get to bed quick as it was almost 9 pm and I had to get up at 4 am! So I told dad that we could not eat the cake until after I finished the marathon on Sunday. It gave me an extra incentive to keep running as I wanted some cake too! :)
Note: Why on earth would I have to wake so early? Argh! That is not at all normal for me and I am NOT a morning person like my dad. However, all marathon start times are really early for 2 purposes: firstly that is tradition as many events are in hotter climates and they want to start it during the cooler hours of the day.
Secondly, it takes much longer for walkers to complete a full marathon. So they start early so the course can be shut down in a reasonable amount of time and before evening approaches.
When you are on a team, the team generally meets 1 hour before the start time which is at 6 am. You meet for a photo and make sure everybody is there and knows where to go for their starting corales (runners or walkers start in different gates based on their estimated finish time and pace; the fastest runners get to cross the startline first).
Often, people from out of town stay at the hotel hosting the expo where you pick up your race packet with your timing chip and number. My parents live about a half hour outside of Portland. Thus I just stay there but that means I will have to leave about 45 minutes beforehand to ensure I get to the team meeting spot.
I was so groggy in the morning that I wore my underwear inside out and had no idea until I took my ice bath hours after the race!!!! LOL I was also very tired after the race and ran around with my finisher shirt on backwards! Dear Lord what a confused case I was!
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