Texas Marathon Expo and Pre-race carb-load

Saturday was Marathon Expo day; held downtown at the Dallas Convention Center. It was very crowded with excited runners, and I got there fairly early to pick up my race number, shirt, final instructions, etc. Typically, expo = SHOPPING for marathon souvineers and taking advantage of great deals on running gear, but I actually didn't end up buying anything this time (combination of household budget cuts and saving for holiday travel/gift shopping). I walked around a little while and ran into a few people I knew. (Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures that day and I now regret it).

But here's one funny story that represents the wide range of people I've met through running this past year: I ran into one friend (Limo) that I hadn't seen since summer kickball and got to chatting with him about his race plans. He told me that he was not 'racing' on Sunday, but might be running to help pace a friend. This was because he was still recovering from his last marathon recently in Fort Worth. "Oh," I said, "how did it go?" "Pretty well", says Limo casually, "I won." This made me laugh out loud. Not because I was surprised (Limo is an EXTREMELY talented runner), but because I realized how few people I actually knew who could make that statement about a marathon without being sarcastic or funny. LOL! In case I didn't already realize it before, this is why one of the most popular slogans for recreational runners is "In my dreams I'm a Kenyan." Congratulations Limo!!

I left the expo a little earlier than I expected to. I could tell I was having trouble finding my "marathon spirit" this weekend. Without one of my good friends there the whole experience just wasn't the same. I ended up carb-loading by myself at home that night (if you can call frozen pizza carb-loading I guess) and watched "Spirit of a Marathon" trying to get myself in the right mood for Sunday's race. It took a little work, but I managed to promise myself I'd focus on what was good about this weekend (because there was LOTS of good), rather than on what was missing. I thought a lot about my mile sponsors, the reason I was running, and a lot about Susan. By the time I went to bed I'd managed to put things in perspective fairly well I think.