monster dash 10 mile dns

I was all set to run this one again but alas, it was not to be.  <cue the violins.....>  I have a nasty, terrible, no good, miserable cold, complete with clogged ears, sore throat, sinus pressure, sneezing, excessively running nose and I'm coughing up all sorts of yuck..... I've been blowing my poor nose so much that it's all red and raw and painful.  Just imagine, with the cold weather and the way my mucous production has been in overdrive, I would have been the queen of snot rockets out on the course today!

I would have needed something like
this if I tried to run in today's race.  source

But enough about me (said the self-absorbed blogger.)  

So yeah, I didn't run in today's race but the husband did!  Believe it or not, it's the first race he's run solo.  He likes to run but isn't a bling whore like I am, thus, he gets enough satisfaction just from the act of running.  I could use the weak argument of, "I usually run by myself so I like to run races because then I'm with other humans...."  but really, we all know the truth, don't we?  

Anywhoo, back to the husband..... I'm so proud of him!!  It's his longest run since Grandma's and he killed it!

He's done way more than his share of showing up at races to cheer me on so I decided I would do that for him.  So Jane and I piled into the car headed over to the big city to see our man run. My original plan involved catching him at a couple of places along the course, but princess that I am, didn't quite feel up to being out in the cold for that long.  We'd have to settle for watching him cross the finish line.

I conveniently forgot the little factoid that approximately 10,000 people signed up for this race, and that numbers like that might impact my ability to park close to the finish line.  Luckily, I got lost and ended up on a lonely side street, where I stumbled upon a parking spot about 4 blocks from said finish line.  Score!! 

volunteering with the boy 2010

Jane and I wove our way through the throngs of runners and spectators to the finish line and waited about 20 minutes for the husband to cross.  Holy crap there were a lot of runners!!  It's definitely a different perspective being on the sidelines rather than in the race. Surprisingly enough, it makes me want to volunteer again.  

Side story: Sweet Son and I volunteered at a 7k race in 2010 but were sent out to direct traffic to and from the race, which meant we didn't get to see any of the runners actually run in the race. I was hoping that seeing the huge numbers of folks running would inspire him to run a race someday, but it didn't quite work out that way.  Oh well.  On the up side, he was pretty impressed with the huge number of runners who thanked us for volunteering.  So that was cool!

The husband striding to the finish line!
I'm dying to know the story of the woman next to him. Maybe
she thought the finish line banner was really low....

Back to the husband and his awesome race today.....

I got up with him this morning and was all, "Did you have breakfast?" "Do you have some type of energy food to eat during the race?" "Do you have gloves?" "Are you going to wear a hat?"  "Make sure you use the bag drop, you don't want to be without warm clothes like we were two years ago when we had to wait forever for that damn shuttle!" 

Last time I checked, he's a grown man who is able to take care of himself.....guess I sort of forgot that for a few minutes.

Anyway, back to the husband again....I was super excited to see him looking strong and heading toward the finish line!  I shouted (croaked) his name but he didn't hear me.  Jane went crazy when she saw him.  (The German Shepherd in her HATES it when we're out in public and not right next to each other.) We had to try to weave through the crowd again to find him.  When we did, Jane leaped upon him with relief. He looked like he hadn't even been running! Just looked totally relaxed, like he'd been out for a walk.

The husband and a much calmer Jane post race.

I drove the husband back to his car.
Sort of a side note: This is a point to point race. The 10 mile course for this race ends 3.1 miles before the half marathon finish (I'm a math whiz!) so the 10 milers have to take a shuttle to the half marathon finish to get their stuff from bag drop and to be closer to their cars.  The line to the shuttles was indeed long, and it wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference if the husband had listened to me and relied on the bag drop for quicker access to his warm clothes. Yeah, he didn't listen to me on that one. He ignored me about the hat and gloves, too. Always exercising his free will.  
Anywhoo, while we were driving, I asked him about the race and how it went.  He said the first mile flew by, the next couple of miles went pretty fast as well, but the last three, not so much. And that was it.  It would appear that, unlike me, he doesn't get verbal diarrhea when describing his races.

A coffee for the husband, and a little treat for the wife.

But I think he's pretty proud of himself.  And he PR'd!!  1:43:13. Did I mention I'm proud of him too??  I am!!

Being the good wife that I am, I offered to hit Starbucks on the way home and get some coffee for him to drink while he languished in his ice bath. (A REALLY good wife probably would have made coffee at home but whatever.) I saw the Pumpkin Spice Latte on the menu. It looked soooooo yummy!  Right away I'm thinking "Damn, too many calories." But then I remembered a very important fact.  You always feed a cold.  Feed.A.Cold.  Feed all those luscious, flavorful, fat-filled calories to your nasty, terrible, no good, miserable cold.  Use it to make that cold your beyoch!  So that's exactly what I did. I included the whip cream for good measure.

And I got a coffee for the husband too. :)