(The Thelma and Louise theme I will need to take a picture of the sign Patty made so I would not miss her at the airport)
Well we were on the road talking a mile a minute (reason 1, 2 we missed the exit) it was like being with an old friend, the minute she got off the plane it felt like we had known each other FOREVER! And it was a great time, no awkward silences, we spent 5 full days together and it was SO MUCH FUN!! There were people in both our lives worried about if we would get along or if she was crazy (just like me) but it was AWESOME!!
We finally hit the road and we were South Dakota bound, we stopped for a healthy (er) lunch at Subway on the way and talk about EVERYTHING (I am so sending you a SEXY thong) life, marriage, running there was just something so comfortable about being with her, we finally got to Spearfish and checked into our hotel. The guy at the front was rude when I had explained that I had called to make sure we could have a late checkout on Sunday after the race so we could have a shower before the 5 hour drive home. It was funny really.
Saturday morning we headed to the Expo and met Elaine its amazing what hearing ones persons experience can set a fire in someone else.
We picked up our packages and chips and headed out for lunch. We decide to plot the coarse and drive it just to see what it would be like. We mapped it from where we were told we would start and headed on our way, I was almost in tears at the end when I realized there was a HUGE HILL we had to run up at the end to the tune of 3 miles!!! Patty told me not to worry and I would be fine (secretly I was PANICKING!!) we were so sure this was the way we paid special attention driving it back. It was SO BEAUTIFUL out there the scenery really was relaxing and calming. We headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before the spaghetti dinner.
At dinner we met these amazing ladies. They had all met online as well and have been running marathons together ever since. Me and Marjorie (first one on the left) chatted like old friends and even teared up a few times talking about running and what running means for each of us. Harriette having only know 1/2 hour offered to let me use her camel back as I was stressing that I had left mine at home and Mary actually lives and runs in the same area as Patty.
Dinner was AWESOME and we met some great friends. I hope to keep in contact with these ladies and maybe see them again and run with them next year!!
We woke up at 3am just to be sure we had plenty of time to get to the finish line where the buses were going to pick us up and take us to the start. We drove to where we had mapped the coarse and we saw all the water stations along the way so we knew we were heading in the right direction. And we drove and we were both wondering out loud "WHERE THE HELL IS IT!!" We were the ONLY car on the road so we double checked the time to see if we had made a mistake and drove the coarse AGAIN (me in panic about the 3 mile hill at the end) then we FINALLY saw another car and wanted to follow it. We at this time realized we had already missed the bus to the start so we just drove there and sure enough everything worked out. Within minutes of us parking the buses with everyone else pulled up.
We made it to the Porta Potties just before the buses unloaded and you could feel the nervous tension in the air. We walked the 500meters to the start and we did a little stretching AND WE WERE OFF!!!It was amazing and beautiful, and fun, and exciting, and emotional..... Words can not express what this experience was like...
After the race Patty and I went for a "dip" in this waterfall.. yeah it was BELOW freezing water but its great for muscle issues and helps with cramping... I wish I was CRAZY enough to post the picture that Patty hard taken of my in the water.. Yeah its not pretty At all and it was so PAINFUL!!
