Embrace the Cheese!

I didn't post yesterday, but I wanted to extend my thoughts to Jenna as her family fights through this tough time in their lives. Life is short, and even shorter for some people for reason we don't understand. I don't know Jenna personally, and I only found her blog through this tragedy, but I hope her family stays strong. With nearly 800 comments on her blog, I hope that she and her family are receiving the support and time they need virtually, physically, and emotionally.

Yesterday I headed down to Chicago to pick up my race packet for the Wisconsin Marathon next weekend. Since they were trying to draw a Chicago crowd to the race (advertising that it was only an hour from Chicago), it made sense to have a pick-up location in Chicago in case people just wanted to drive up Saturday morning without getting a hotel. We're heading up the night before since it's about an hour and fifteen minutes from my house, and that would mean a very early wake-up call in order to get there in time (7 am start!), plus the added stress and everything. Hotel it is.

After navigating the streets of Chicago (which are always a mess), I reached the pick-up location, which was just a running store in Chicago. No expo, no huge crowd, just the three guys who happened to work in the store. This was definitely a huge change from my previous marathons (Marine Corps, Chicago), where you picked up your packet in a giant expo center and then wandered around every running vendor you could ever imagine. I'm a running nerd, so I enjoy doing that quite a bit, but it's nice to experience different things, and maybe I'll really like a smaller marathon. We'll find out soon enough! My packet/goodie bag contained the following loot:

I got a reusable bag, some Shot Bloks, a Hammer Gel (apple cinnamon...I'll probably donate this to the Rocket Scientist or something...I'm not an apple cinnamon fan, let alone in gel form), a bunch of ads for future local races (not pictured), my number, my shoe tag, and my race tshirt that says, "Embrace the Cheese!". Awesome. The race shirt is actually a nice technical shirt, but despite being a size small, it's a bit too big for me. It probably fits a guy who wears a small well, but for us smaller females, not so much!

When I picked up my packet, the running store guy looked up my name and then proclaimed, "540! Your lucky number!" I sure hope so, I told him. (I also wanted to add that 3:40 is my lucky number, but I refrained.)

It's been pouring here since yesterday and is supposed to continue to storm for the next day or two. I'm hoping Mother Nature gets it all out of her system before Saturday! The current forecast looks pretty good:

Saturday, May 2

High: 54 °F RealFeel®: 49 °F

Partly sunny

I would definitely take it! Another rest day for me today as I continue to taper. I worked the upstairs section at work yesterday (I was supposed to work it next Sunday, but any marathoner knows that stairs spell disaster after a marathon, so I switched for this week instead.), so I considered that a mini-workout. Off to enjoy some indoor activities, compliments of the rain! I hope you're all enjoying your weekend, hopefully with some sun!