all we can do now is wait

Peaceful views on today's last training run for Grandma's.
And tomorrow's finish line!

It's here.  Marathon weekend!

The husband and I drove up to Duluth last night and checked into our hotel. We didn't mean to have an extra night in Duluth but I screwed up our reservation by not reading the fine print on the lodging webpage.  After debating about it, we decided we would drive up Thursday evening after all, and then maybe Friday would be more relaxing.

There was a bit of confusion regarding our reservation.
a. January - I booked the hotel for two nights.
b. Confirmation e-mail (received immediately post-booking) states two nights booked.
c. Confirmation letter (received via snail mail one month before marathon) states three nights booked.
d. Call hotel and am informed that there is a three night minimum.  Ugh.
e. Try calling other hotels to see if we can find a room for just two nights.  Yeah, one month before the marathon. We're SOL.
f. Send check to hotel (because they can't just take a CC over the phone, they have to MAIL an authorization form first, that I sign and send back to them.  Huh???  Well....ok, I'll just mail a check then.)  Check is for the entire amount on the confirmation letter, which states three nights.
g. Last night: Arrive at 10:30 p.m., check in a front desk and are informed that we had only reserved a room for TWO nights. You're kidding right? So much for relaxation.
h. Luckily, they did have a room available, and it's directly below the room we'd booked for the weekend so we'd just have to switch rooms in the morning. And we would even be getting some money back because the one night room is a little cheaper than our reserved room. Ok, sounds good.

Post last training run. High humidity. Squinty and sweaty.

i. One night room is quite lovely and right on the harbor.  Jacuzzi,  Fireplace. Very pretty, very quiet and comfortable.
j. Go for a run in the morning, when I get back to our room I see a hotel employee who says our other room is ready, she'll go get keys and we can move as soon as we're ready.
k. Move to the new room which is bigger than the one night room and has a sitting room overlooking the harbor. And a jacuzzi.  And a fireplace.  And a bag of goodies for before and after the marathon.  What a nice treat!!!
l. Phone call to our new room from the front desk: husband takes the call and the hotel is saying we owed for the one night room because we only had reservations for two nights.  (Good thing he answered.  I would have been all, "What???  No f'ing way. That can't be right. I KNOW I paid for three nights!!")
m. Find confirmation e-mail and see that yes, indeed, we did pay for only two nights.  Shiiiiiittttt.
n. Go to front desk to pay up.  Chat about the marathon with the two people working as they help us sort stuff out. Mention the confusion between the online reservation and the confirmation letter.

South Pier Inn. I highly recommend this place.

o. Guy at desk says he looked at the letter he sent and realized he made a mistake when he typed it up. So he's NOT GOING TO CHARGE US FOR THE ONE NIGHT ROOM.  How cool is that?

I love being the recipient of excellent customer service.

Plus, I think this qualifies as Free Stuff which is even cooler.

After getting our room stuff sorted out, the husband and I headed to the expo for packet pickup.  Not quite the clusterf%ck that AJ and I experienced last year, which was nice.

Got our packets and did a little expo shopping.  I got another pint glass (tradition) and another sticker for my car.  I'm not sure I'm going to put another one on the car though.  We'll see.  it might be overkill.

Yay for new Injinjis!!

Oh, and I went to the Injinji booth to get some new socks and when they found out that Injinji's are really the only socks I wear, I got a HUGE discount on my purchase.  Score!!!  (Kind of like getting a pair for FREE.)  Too bad I waited until AFTER I paid to tell them I have a link to the Injinji website on my blog.  They just might have paid me to take the socks.  Or maybe not. Yeah, ok, probably not.

I also found the gel I like (Ignite Naturals Reload gel) and Honey Stingers galore.

Tomorrow's weather forecast looks nasty - thunderstorms, moderate heat and 95% humidity.  Should make things interesting. I have no idea how it's all going to shake out.  All things being perfect, I think I have it in me to finish under 4:30.  But knowing how I tend to crump in humidity, if the weather is a huge factor I'll be happy to match last year's pace.  And hey, if I match last year's pace and don't spend 8 minutes in the frickin' porta potty at mile 13, I'll PR no problem!

So..... the training is done. Carb loading has been a success. Hydration has been good. Outfit is picked out and the timing chip is securely fastened on my shoe.  An early dinner and early to bed.  All we can do now it wait for race day and see what Grandma's brings. 

<contented sigh>

I'm ready for tomorrow.