"What did you do last weekend?"

Wait, first, I have to apologize. I wanted to post this on, like, Monday. But the problem with an insane weekend is that there is no time to share the stories of it. Now then, on with it...

"Everything."

Last weekend (March 29-30) was A Weekend to Behold. Let's go back one day, as Friday really colored the rest of it.

Part One:

I woke up with a headache. Which quickly became a migraine. I was going to spend the day at home anyway, cleaning the house before my friend Sarah arrived from New Hampshire. After a good run at the National Marathon last year, she was aiming for the BQ. Following my "run for speed" winter, I was going to do the half. The house was still a controlled disaster area, so in between gagging episodes, I did shake out some rugs, sweep, and do various other activities. When Sarah arrived at 1, I opened the door to let her in, explained the situation, and did my best to carry on a conversation. We hadn't seen each other since September so there was a lot to say. I had to get up a few times to run downstairs, which I think confused her at first. Eventually she said she could just go to packet pickup on her own and get my stuff for me, so I could sleep. (Saint Sarah!)

After her return she entertained herself upstairs while I continued to suffer in bed. Flatlandish came home and hung out with her; they had dinner and watched TV and mapped out our upcoming Acadia/White Mountains trip.

By the time actual bedtime rolled around, I hadn't consumed any calories all day.

Saturday morning I got up a half hour early (3:30) and snuck upstairs for some "test toast," to see if I could keep it down, then went back to bed. If not, then there would be no sense in even trying to race. It was successful, so I crammed as much breakfast down as I could stand and got dressed to run 13 miles.

It was a cold morning, and I opted to wear my second layer into the race instead of leaving it in the car or checking it. After seeing a bunch of familiar faces, we lined up. I ambitiously stood in my original goal pace corral, but had no idea what I'd actually produce. Sarah was in the same corral, but immediately after the start she was already ahead, and after a mile, I couldn't see her anymore.

I got through the first few miles okay. I felt like I may have been pushing a bit too hard, but I hoped I might get into a groove. Through 4 miles, I was on target for my top goal. Then we ran uphill, through the Golden Triangle, Dupont, and into Kalorama and Adams Morgan. My pace bumped up by 45 seconds/mile, but I was feeling okay. Through Columbia Heights, along the reservoir and past the children's hospital. And then we turned onto North Capitol. I passed the 10-mile mark in 1:30, off my goal but still on PR pace. I was both disappointed and shocked--no way I expected to do that well, but no way I'd meet my top goal.

But then my tank was empty. Even walking was hard. I was dizzy and lightheaded and felt like I was moving through pudding. H Street was awful. Runners streaming past me. All the Gatorade and Sport Beans in the world wouldn't help. As we headed into Capitol Hill and toward the finish, I saw my friend Kendra and her dad go by. (They are normally much faster but were using the marathon as a training run.) I scurried to catch them, knowing that a mile with them would be easier than a mile alone. As I watched my goal time, and then my PR tick by, I was pretty bummed. After they split off and I headed up the hill to the finish, I did my best to kick--hoo--and got across the line with a high 2:02. Bummer. But really, only 4 minutes off my PR, and my third-best half ever. After a Friday like that, I was fine with it.

Flatlandish found me and we went back to the car for more layers. Sat in a car for a bit to rest before going back up to wait for Sarah. At 10:15 or so we took our spot along the fence and cheered for the finishers. At 10:30 I began Sarah Watch. And at 10:35, There She Was! With the last bit of energy I could muster, I jumped up and down, took a couple of pictures, and yelled BOSTON! as loud as I could. I got weepy. I think I scared the guy next to me. We hurried over to the finish chute to find her, gave big hugs of congratulations, and led her to the food. That was easily the best part of my day.



Went home and got cleaned up before heading over to Kendra's house for some post-race pizza. Chatted for a bit, played with the baby, and scarfed down various forms of chocolate. Then it came time to leave because...

We went to the Nats exhibition game against the Orioles that night. Our first visit to new Nats Park. Oh, it's amazing.

Part Two coming tomorrow