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I can see the finish line! I'm almost done! |
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My warmup: carrying Henry while powerwalking to the start line so I wasn't late. |
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Walking with me to the start. |
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I don't get downtown often enough...I didn't even know they'd put a giant sticker on the Marriott. |
I always have the goal of jogging the entire distance, with the exception of stopping for a drink (running + drinking Gatorade = Gatorade splashed down front and sucked up nose). It's around the three-mile mark that people really start dropping like flies.
Most people continue walking, rather than giving up entirely, which I'm all for--you paid to run this race, so keep going! However, like driving, I got sooooo annoyed by people who walked wherever they felt like it. Instead of pulling over to the right to allow runners to go on the left. I'm nearly positive I ran at least two extra miles weaving in and out of walkers who didn't pull over for the runners.
On the plus side, all those people walking made me feel like I was an Olympian sprinter. I just focused on someone in front of me and tried to catch them. Once I did, I moved onto the next person, unless I could find someone to be my pacesetter, and ran with them. More than once, I wished I could have just brought Raven along with me to keep up the pace.One of the most fun and memorable parts of the race was when we finally made it to the track--we literally ran on the raceway where the Indy 500 cars drive. The first mile is dedicated to all the fallen Indiana veterans and is incredibly difficult to run past without getting choked up. I'm not ashamed to admit tears fell, especially when I passed one man who was kneeling and weeping by one of the signs. It was an incredibly sacred experience in the middle of a grueling run.
Around the curve of the track, we jogged on the perfectly smooth asphalt (no potholes to trip on!) until the Indy 500 finish line was in sight. Though, not the end of our race, it was another entertaining sight as I passed it. By tradition, race car drivers kiss the line of bricks when they win.
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Kissing the bricks. |
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No time for kissing the bricks. Or tv interviews. |
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Why are you walking?! We can see the finish line! |
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I finished! And I didn't have my camera on selfie mode, so you'll have to take my word that I'm at the finish line. |
In fact, I was so fast that I beat Jack and the kids to the finish line, who didn't even get to see me kick it in. Dragging five kids around a bustling city isn't exactly easy, you know.
Eh. I'll always remember how awesome it was.
So, overall pretty pleased with my performance. I'm still firmly convinced my time would have been even better if it hadn't have been for all the walkers clogging the race course and the extra distance I was running weaving my way in and out of them. Plus, being in the top third out of 35,000 people felt like a decent accomplishment. All I was looking for was to finish and I did!
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That's a lot of people wanting morels... |
...while the kids and I snuck around back and looked through the small nature center, which was much more fascinating than standing in a stagnant line.
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A half pound of Oregon-found morels! |
With mushrooms in hand, we stopped by a park on our way out...
...and climbed up a very rickety radio tower the kids insisted they wanted to climb. I watched from the car to let my legs and a sleeping Zoey rest, while Claire and Kate raced to the top, Jack trailed Henry to keep an eye on him, and Evelyn very, VERY cautiously scaled her way up.
The rest of the family having had a late brunch and my stomach finally settling down after my run, we decided it was time to find some lunch. On our way back from a camping trip a few years back, we'd driven through a small tourist town that we vowed one day to return and visit. Turns out, now that town is only about 45 minutes from home and minutes away from the mushroom festival we were just at.
The town is basically art shops, ice cream parlors, a couple restaurants, inns, and nut, fudge, or jerky stores but it is so cute and incredibly friendly. Which you kind of have to be when you're trying to get people to spend money.Mostly, we window shopped until we found a pizza place that had enough space to fit all of us. However, the good weather and the mushroom festival had brought out a slew of other people and even at two in the afternoon, there was an hour wait for pizza. So, we got ice cream first.
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You wish, Evelyn. |
It'd been a long day, so why not? Saturdays don't come often enough!
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Everyone trying everyone else's flavors. |
...until everyone's competitiveness came out and it turned into a game of King/Queen of the Logs. Thankfully, the restaurant texted that our table was ready and we scurried off to eat.
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Evelyn won that round. |
Once we were full and ready to take a nap, we grabbed a bag of kettle corn for a treat and made the trek home.
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Half of them zonked out, the other half were in hysterics due to lack of sleep. At least they weren't bickering! ;) |
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