So it occurs to me that I haven’t said anything about the Denver Half Marathon which is Sunday morning before sun up, literally. Sunrise is at 7:15 am at which point we’ll have been running for 15 minutes, unless we’ve already stopped for a walk break, in which case we might have been running for 12 minutes and walking for 3. You might be noticing that I keep saying ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ and that’s because Candis and I are both running this race, it will be Candis’ first half marathon.
Several months ago when I talked Candis into signing up for the half marathon I promised to run with her and pace her for the entire race and apparently Candis is one of those women who is all into keeping the promises that you’ve made. What. A. Drag. Anyway, this is probably the reason that you haven’t heard me talk about this race these past couple of weeks. I won’t be attempting to PR at this race I will be attempting to push Candis as fast as possible so that she can feel as miserable as I felt when I ran my first half marathon. Our goal time is somewhere around 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Today we went to the expo and picked up our race packets, but that’s not all that we picked up. Oh, no. We also picked up the following:
- We picked up some new cow bells for the boys.
- We picked up our free shirts and goodie bags.
- We picked up every possible free energy drink sample.
- We picked up every possible free energy bar sample.
- We picked up our energy levels. Way up.
- We picked up some more free samples.
- We picked up some unwanted junk mail when we registered to win a new car!
- We picked up our pace when the guy at the Larabar booth yelled “Hey, didn’t you guys already take a handful of those?”
- And finally, we picked up that that was our cue to leave.
Can I just tell you all that it’s not a good idea to let your children try all those energy drink/energy bar samples and then give them cowbells. Let’s just say the buzz we all had going in the car on the way home could have powered it. I think I know how Flubber feels.
Finally, I have to share the conversation that we overheard while we were busy imbibing Clif Shot Bloks like water. A guy walks up to the Clif Pace Team girls and after some pleasant small talk says:
Guy: So... how long is a marathon?
Girls: [Giggling] 26.2
Guy: Miles?
Girls: Uh... yeah.
Guy: And you run it?
Girls: Are you sure you’re at the right conference center?
I LOL’d. It turns out the guy was just there to help set up one of the other booths. He was not a runner, but you had probably picked up on that.
That's really nice of you! I would be much more inclined to run a half marathon if someone was promised to do the whole thing with me.
ReplyDeleteI swear I saw a video of your wedding vows where you promised to cherish, love and always support your wife to the point of putting all YOUR goals and dreams on hold to watch her succeed with you pacing and positively encouraging her along the way. At least that is what it SHOULD have said.
ReplyDeleteWow, good luck Candis (and Vanilla). You're going to love it!
ReplyDeleteAnd where do you get cowbells? We wanted to get some for our boys, but haven't found them anywhere.
Good luck, Candis! Glad Vanilla is finally doing something nice for you for a change. ;)
ReplyDeleteHave fun, guys!
Topher, we now own 4 cowbells. We got them all at the Denver Marathon Expo (2 last year and 2 this year). If you want some I've got some that you can have for free.
ReplyDeleteGood luck tomorrow! It's true love when you can run a race beside your wife and hold back so you can pace her. Very, very sweet Vanilla. It's a memory you'll both cherish.
ReplyDeleteSoooo...what mile do you think you'll be at when the urge to fly grips ya????...LOL
Good luck to both you and Candis in tomorrow's race!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes for Candis to have a good first half-marathon experience!
ReplyDeleteGood luck Candis!!! (Oh, and good luck to you to Vanilla).
ReplyDeleteI had to LOL at the comment about kids and energy bars/drinks. Beer Geek gave our boys slurpees made with Monster Energy drinks one time (not knowing what the Monster stuff was). The boys were wired for about the next week LOL.
OOhhhh GOOD LUCK CANDIS!! Vanilla you aren't going to go all drill sergeant on her now are you? LOL
ReplyDeleteBest of luck you two! Have a great time!
ReplyDeleteGood luck to both of you tomorrow!
ReplyDeleteCandis, congrats on getting your goal time!
ReplyDeleteHa ha. SO funny. I told my friend I ran the marathon in 3:28 and he said, "how far, a 5k? Sure, dude. If it took me 3 hours and 48 mins to run 3 miles, I need to find a new hobby.
ReplyDeleteWay to go on your mad pacing skillzzzzzzz.
Oh God. I love when they ask "How long is that Marathon?" As if the distance changes from race to race.
ReplyDelete