Dear Friends and Family,
We've been having an absolutely gorgeous Indian summer this fall. And, I've been almost religious about taking advantage of it whenever possible. My hammock and I have become best friends. I traded more hammock time on Friday afternoon for work time on Friday night. It was worth it, especially since my 2007 hammock days must be drawing to a sad, sad end.
Saturday morning we got up early. We spent the morning getting the house ready for our marathoner guests. Fred, his girlfriend, and another couple we met in Montreal (Fred's girlfriend's friend and her husband) were all flying in on Saturday. I found about 15 minutes to spend on the hammock on Saturday morning, but, frankly, it was almost too hot to be pleasant. I felt myself burning, which given my tan foundation says something about the weather.
We went to the airport to pick up Fred and Gen. Mr. mouse headed home. And, we headed downtown to pick up bibs and to drive the course. Wow. 26.2 miles is not trivial. I'm 100% sure I'd need some very serious training to even consider it. And, even then, I'm not sure I could play the mental games needed to get through it. We had a big ole pasta dinner Saturday night. We made signs and put together a plan with our cheering points on them. And everyone turned in early. That is, everyone, but Mr. mouse.
Mr. mouse made, in my opinion, a very bad judgment call to stay up until 1AM, head out to the bar, and watch the Chinese Grand Prix, until 3AM. I told him I wasn't going. And, that I would be watching the race next Sunday at the bar. But, he decided to go and watch it live. I don't know why.
Sunday morning - race day. We all got up at 5:30 to see our runners off. Mr. mouse gets up as well. He wants to change the plan and rent bikes. He's been big on the bike thing all night Saturday, so I acquiesce to his bent. We rent online. He drops the runners off at the park while we all have breakfast. And, I can tell he's tired. He's getting all testy with me and accusing me of getting excited - all signs he's tired and not processing info well. Whatever. We leave for the race. It's already 75+ degrees out.
We combo bike/cab over to the bike rental shop. They're not open. We're guessing they're on fall hours and will be opening at 9. We head over to mile marker 4-ish to cheer on our girls. I'm already feeling overheated. The same sun that makes for glorious hammock time makes for killer race condition. We see them. They're hanging tough. We head back over to the bike rental shop. No freaking sign of the guy. The concession stand guy says the bike guy doesn't show until 10-ish. Well, that's not going to work. Two of us head over to mile marker 10-ish. And, two head down to Navy Pier to pick up these damn bikes. They make it back in time. We almost miss the girls (they're in a zone and we're looking as hard as we can to see them) but get them replenished on water.
Here's where Mr. mouse's judgment isn't doing well. I know this is the tightest part of "our" race to get to the next meet up point. Mr. mouse is feeling great now that we're armed with bikes. And, he's feeling tired. In his mind, there's plenty of time now. And, he's slowing down. It's hot out. We begin to worry about our runners. We dork around in getting our bikes unlocked and getting going. We make it to the half way point. It's a sea of people. We think we've missed our runners. We can't be sure. They were with the 4:00 pace setter at the first point. They were closer to 4:15 at the second point. It's impossible to gauge where they are. It's impossible to see them. It's impossible for them to see us. It's brutally hot. The sun is shining mercilessly. It's not going to be pretty. Runners are walking.
We race ahead to mile marker 16-ish. We're 99% certain we're ahead of the girls. We set up base camp. The plan it to meet up with them and go the rest of the course with them. The 4:00 pace setter went by ~5 minutes ago. We should be in good shape. The runners have stretched out by this point. They're aren't a lot of cheerers. We should be able to see our girls in the race. We wait. And wait. And wait. And, there's no sign of them. Now, we're in between a rock and a hard place. There's no way they could have beat us to that point. There's no way they haven't made it to this point yet. There's no way they could have passed without us seeing them. Um... Okay. Now what? We split. Two go way ahead to try to find them again. Two of us wait. The weather is playing mind games with us. If it had been a brisk fall day, we would have been 99% certain they would have kept pace. And, wouldn't have waited as long as we did. But, with the heat, you can't be sure. They slowed the one time we saw them. They might have slowed more. Turns out they ran right past us without us seeing them. The best laid plans...
The two of us waiting decide to leapfrog the first two. We make it to a half mile before the finish. We find out they've called off the marathon due to record breaking temperatures. We glad they did. The runners really looked wicked tired when we saw them at the 16 mile point and the hardest part is yet to come. The first pair find the girls. We bike back to meet them. The two guys join the pair to walk to the finish. They had, very smartly, started walking with a couple of miles to go. Mr. mouse and I lock up our bikes and meet them at the finish line.
There's a long and convoluted process getting bikes returned, bikes home, people home. I won't go into the details here, but suffice it to say, we got it all in place by around 4:30. Mr. mouse grilled up a bison steak for all of us to nibble on. Then, we headed out for dinner. We gorged at Adobo Grill on a bunch of dishes and some margaritas before high tailing it over to Coco Rouge to pick up some chocolates for dessert. We all passed out pretty early.
Next year, we can prep better. Rent bikes the day before. Dress our runners in some high visibility clothing. And, use technology to make it easier - real time, personal tracking GPS! I can see Fred buying one. He's a gadget guy. And, it makes find them trivial. Or at least a ton easier than it is right now.
Before I close out on the weekend - my middle school friend wrote. She is in St. Paul. I'm so looking forward to seeing her the next time we're out there. Yeah! And, in sister news. The drama begins again. This time it might be serious. It's tough to gauge. She found out she has a ginormous cyst in her ovary. And, she's hesitant to get it removed. Somehow, now, she states children are very important to her. I think this is more a function of her current boyfriend and the irreversibility of getting an ovary removed, but who knows. Whatever. I'd slice it out without a second thought. I'm on this roller coaster yet again. Lord, help me.
Cheers!
mouse
We've been having an absolutely gorgeous Indian summer this fall. And, I've been almost religious about taking advantage of it whenever possible. My hammock and I have become best friends. I traded more hammock time on Friday afternoon for work time on Friday night. It was worth it, especially since my 2007 hammock days must be drawing to a sad, sad end.
Saturday morning we got up early. We spent the morning getting the house ready for our marathoner guests. Fred, his girlfriend, and another couple we met in Montreal (Fred's girlfriend's friend and her husband) were all flying in on Saturday. I found about 15 minutes to spend on the hammock on Saturday morning, but, frankly, it was almost too hot to be pleasant. I felt myself burning, which given my tan foundation says something about the weather.
We went to the airport to pick up Fred and Gen. Mr. mouse headed home. And, we headed downtown to pick up bibs and to drive the course. Wow. 26.2 miles is not trivial. I'm 100% sure I'd need some very serious training to even consider it. And, even then, I'm not sure I could play the mental games needed to get through it. We had a big ole pasta dinner Saturday night. We made signs and put together a plan with our cheering points on them. And everyone turned in early. That is, everyone, but Mr. mouse.
Mr. mouse made, in my opinion, a very bad judgment call to stay up until 1AM, head out to the bar, and watch the Chinese Grand Prix, until 3AM. I told him I wasn't going. And, that I would be watching the race next Sunday at the bar. But, he decided to go and watch it live. I don't know why.
Sunday morning - race day. We all got up at 5:30 to see our runners off. Mr. mouse gets up as well. He wants to change the plan and rent bikes. He's been big on the bike thing all night Saturday, so I acquiesce to his bent. We rent online. He drops the runners off at the park while we all have breakfast. And, I can tell he's tired. He's getting all testy with me and accusing me of getting excited - all signs he's tired and not processing info well. Whatever. We leave for the race. It's already 75+ degrees out.
We combo bike/cab over to the bike rental shop. They're not open. We're guessing they're on fall hours and will be opening at 9. We head over to mile marker 4-ish to cheer on our girls. I'm already feeling overheated. The same sun that makes for glorious hammock time makes for killer race condition. We see them. They're hanging tough. We head back over to the bike rental shop. No freaking sign of the guy. The concession stand guy says the bike guy doesn't show until 10-ish. Well, that's not going to work. Two of us head over to mile marker 10-ish. And, two head down to Navy Pier to pick up these damn bikes. They make it back in time. We almost miss the girls (they're in a zone and we're looking as hard as we can to see them) but get them replenished on water.
Here's where Mr. mouse's judgment isn't doing well. I know this is the tightest part of "our" race to get to the next meet up point. Mr. mouse is feeling great now that we're armed with bikes. And, he's feeling tired. In his mind, there's plenty of time now. And, he's slowing down. It's hot out. We begin to worry about our runners. We dork around in getting our bikes unlocked and getting going. We make it to the half way point. It's a sea of people. We think we've missed our runners. We can't be sure. They were with the 4:00 pace setter at the first point. They were closer to 4:15 at the second point. It's impossible to gauge where they are. It's impossible to see them. It's impossible for them to see us. It's brutally hot. The sun is shining mercilessly. It's not going to be pretty. Runners are walking.
We race ahead to mile marker 16-ish. We're 99% certain we're ahead of the girls. We set up base camp. The plan it to meet up with them and go the rest of the course with them. The 4:00 pace setter went by ~5 minutes ago. We should be in good shape. The runners have stretched out by this point. They're aren't a lot of cheerers. We should be able to see our girls in the race. We wait. And wait. And wait. And, there's no sign of them. Now, we're in between a rock and a hard place. There's no way they could have beat us to that point. There's no way they haven't made it to this point yet. There's no way they could have passed without us seeing them. Um... Okay. Now what? We split. Two go way ahead to try to find them again. Two of us wait. The weather is playing mind games with us. If it had been a brisk fall day, we would have been 99% certain they would have kept pace. And, wouldn't have waited as long as we did. But, with the heat, you can't be sure. They slowed the one time we saw them. They might have slowed more. Turns out they ran right past us without us seeing them. The best laid plans...
The two of us waiting decide to leapfrog the first two. We make it to a half mile before the finish. We find out they've called off the marathon due to record breaking temperatures. We glad they did. The runners really looked wicked tired when we saw them at the 16 mile point and the hardest part is yet to come. The first pair find the girls. We bike back to meet them. The two guys join the pair to walk to the finish. They had, very smartly, started walking with a couple of miles to go. Mr. mouse and I lock up our bikes and meet them at the finish line.
There's a long and convoluted process getting bikes returned, bikes home, people home. I won't go into the details here, but suffice it to say, we got it all in place by around 4:30. Mr. mouse grilled up a bison steak for all of us to nibble on. Then, we headed out for dinner. We gorged at Adobo Grill on a bunch of dishes and some margaritas before high tailing it over to Coco Rouge to pick up some chocolates for dessert. We all passed out pretty early.
Next year, we can prep better. Rent bikes the day before. Dress our runners in some high visibility clothing. And, use technology to make it easier - real time, personal tracking GPS! I can see Fred buying one. He's a gadget guy. And, it makes find them trivial. Or at least a ton easier than it is right now.
Before I close out on the weekend - my middle school friend wrote. She is in St. Paul. I'm so looking forward to seeing her the next time we're out there. Yeah! And, in sister news. The drama begins again. This time it might be serious. It's tough to gauge. She found out she has a ginormous cyst in her ovary. And, she's hesitant to get it removed. Somehow, now, she states children are very important to her. I think this is more a function of her current boyfriend and the irreversibility of getting an ovary removed, but who knows. Whatever. I'd slice it out without a second thought. I'm on this roller coaster yet again. Lord, help me.
Cheers!
mouse
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2 comments:
oh my gosh what a crazy race day! kiki was running the Chicago marathon too - i bet she's pissed that it got called short. but good thing - that weather is hard core. sorry to hear about your sister...good lord, tell her to get that OUT of her body. there are other ways to have kids when/if she's ever ready. plus, she'll still have one ovary, right? nothing is out of the question. but something toxic and ugly MUST go...is it really an option to leave it, medically-speaking???? hang in there mousie. xoxox
ah nevermind - i just checked and it does look like kiki was able to finish - she clocked a 4:15 time which is damned good considering the heat!! hopefully she's in good shape today! xoxox
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