I sent back my iPaq 6315 and have decided to wait for the Treo 650 to come out. In the meantime, I’m going to order a Palm Tungsten C to hold me over. Who knows how long it will be before the Treo 650 actually makes its way to stores…there hasn’t even been an official announcement about it yet. Besides, I can always pawn my barely used T|C on eBay.
So the Rock n Roll Half Marathon was this past weekend in Virginia Beach. It pretty much sucked. I mean, I know I was undertrained, but the course’s wildly varying weather (wind, sun, rain, hot, cold) and super-flat, super-straight terrain just made it seem like a really long, boring, miserable race. I felt awesome after the Country Music half in April, but after the race on Sunday, I felt like puking and passing out, all at the same time.
And it wasn’t just me. Lydia felt bad, and Guy got so overheated during the race that at one point he had to stop for nearly half an hour and recuperate. And he’s, like, a real runner…the kind who can run six-minute miles and stuff. (Versus me…I’m a runner wannabe.) The person who felt the best of our clan was Kim, my former co-worker who was running her first road race ever. Ever! She did awesome and felt good.
I’ve decided that I am going to be like the Penguin, John Bingham, who spoke during the Team in Training Pasta Party that Guy and I went to with Lydia, who had participated in TNT for this race. The Penguin’s philosophy is to take your time during the race, just get out there and enjoy it, but most of all, just do it. I’ll never win an award in running…getting the finisher’s medal is enough for me. But if I can have a good time and get my friends hooked on it too, then my job is done.
Virginia Beach was weird. We had thought perhaps it would be a good weekend to spend some time on the beach, but that wasn’t going to happen because it was way too windy. And I’m not talking about hurricane winds. I’m talking about the kind of wind that you know is not the result of major weather forces down south…it’s just bad Virginia Beach weather. We had a hard time keeping ourselves entertained outside of the race. The beach area is full of cheesy souvenir shops with devil-eyes airbrushed kitten beach towels and visors. Ugh. We did go see a movie, Paparazzi, as a way to kill time one afternoon. We also went to the post-race concert long enough to watch Mark McGrath of Sugar Ray prance around stage with his boxers hanging out. I used to think he was really cute, but he looked totally different on stage.
Maybe I was still in post-race delirium.
We also befriended one of the local cab drivers. Bobby was a riot, with Nascar driving tactics and a mysterious wad of rubber bands hanging off his turn signal lever. He did have an awesome recommendation for a pizza place though. Gotta give him credit for that.
Kim, Guy and I ended up snagging an early flight home on Monday rather than spending the day in Virginia Beach and catching our evening flight home. Lydia was on a noon-ish flight back with her TNT group. I’m just glad we all made it back before the awful weather hit. Monday night was hellacious in Atlanta. A huge storm knocked trees over and I woke up with no power.
So now, my left knee hurts but I’m less sore every day. I did take a beating though, and I’ve got a bit of a bug. I’ve got to keep running…I can’t let myself get out of shape again. I do want to continue to do two half marathons every year…anyone care to join me?
