Shamrock Marathon Recap, Part 2

 I wrote the half the last post like this and the other half at 1:30 am completely exhausted. Maybe someday I'll edit it.

 After crossing the finish, I was on cloud 9. 

Granted, I could barely move, and I had the after marathon stupidity that I talked about after finishing the Baltimore Marathon, but I couldn't get over my time. I tried to figure out how many minutes I had cut from my previous time but after comtemplating 41-17 for about 4 seconds I realized it felt like doing calculus and figured I'd just get Eric to tell me when I found him. I got my random post – race food and picked up my bag and then had to walk down stairs and across the sand to get to Eric and Lily's roommate, Tricia. Um, who designed this crap? Walking across sand after a marathon felt like I might as well be driving a scooter cross country – I was going so slow I didn't see how I could ever get there. Cramming banana and granola bar down my throat helped me power through it. I finally got to them and Lily was with them! We celebrated, took pictures, and watched the finish line for Mike. Lily and I were freezing though so Lily and Tricia headed to the beer tent, and since I hate beer Eric and I decided to go get some lunch.

Of course I wanted to “have fun with that calorie deficit” like I saw a sign telling me during the race, but I wanted to get out of the wind, sit down and eat even more, which meant we beelined into the first restaurant we saw. Mike finished shortly after and came to meet us. I ordered a greek salad, which seemed sort of odd after a marathon, but it was what I was craving and it was delicious. After lunch we headed to Starbucks
 
(I was SO cold I was shivering uncontrollably and the hot coffee was amazing) and then to our third hotel of our three night trip. I realized as we pulled into the parking lot that it was a Double Tree and started hyperventilating about how excited I was to get a cookie. (Did you know Double Tree gives you free warm cookies when you check in??)

When we got to the hotel room things really got interesting, and I don't mean that in a dirty way. You'll have to wait to my next post to find out why though ;). Trust me, it's good.



Once I was showered and Lily and Tricia were back from the beer tent, we hung out in her hotel room drinking wine and reliving the race with our horror/glory stories and just generally feeling awesome. I had brought a cute outfit and was all ready to get a fancy dinner and go out and celebrate, but once again convenience was king. The hotel had a restaurant, which was coincidentally where we had ordered food from the night before and where Lily and Tricia had eaten the night before! It wasn't that great or anything, but it boasted being here, available, offered seating and didn't require research or driving to find it. Instead of my cute outfit I just stayed in my marathon shirt and changed my pj pants into jeans. We all wore our medals, because you really never get to wear them other than race day (well, actually I'm wearing mine right now) so you better believe we were getting as much use as we could out of them! Dinner was pretty good. More importantly, the restaurant had a sundae bar. Again, nothing life changing, but it hit the spot. The menu said you got a bath tub full of ice cream but we just got tiny soup cups with one scoop. I SHOCKINGLY did not go back for seconds even though it was unlimited, and I even took home half my pasta! My stomach was feeling a bit off, it wasn't willpower or crazy ideas like that.



Whipped cream is right up there for frosting with me. The whole walk to the sundae bar (yes, it was in the restaurant but required stairs and took a lot longer than you might think) I was telling Tricia how much I loved whipped cream and how I never ever bought it because I was addicted and how I couldn't wait to have some. The whipped cream at the sundae bar was EMPTY! Obviously the only solution was to go straight to the manager and demand a new one be brought out immediately. She brought one to our table instead of the sundae bar. Um, thanks lady, you might as well go back to the cooler and get another one for the other customers, don't think you're going to see this precious baby again.

A local bar that sponsored the race had a local band playing, that was also playing on the course during the race (according to Lily anyway, I have no memory of this). A bunch of runners were there with their shirts and medals so we fit right in.

If you ever want to see something really funny, find yourself a situation like this where after a marathon the marathoners are all “dancing” when they can barely even move.

 
 We made a new friend.

 
 
Man, those were some sweet moves.
We “danced” until 12:30 at the bar, which was a huge improvement from Eric carrying me to bed at 9pm after my last marathon! I didn't want the day I ran a 4:17 marathon to end and I was having so much fun celebrating it. After Baltimore, I spent most of the rest of the day laying on the couch, and I was kind of nervous about not being able to do that in Virginia Beach. I think being up and moving and keeping busy most of the day really helped though, so at Baltimore 2011 I need to get of my lazy ass after the race!



I didn't go to bed until almost 2 and I thought it would be a struggle to get out of bed in time to check out at 11. Laying down seemed to really stiffen up my legs though, and I was wide awake at 8:30. Just when I was putting on shoes to get coffee from the lobby to get coffee Lily texted me to say she couldn't sleep either. I have woken up hungry, and woken up sore, but I don't think the combination of those two things has ever woken me up before! We went to a diner and got fabulous diner breakfasts before heading back to Baltimore.



Clearly we all know how I feel about marathons (it should be required for everyone like joining the army in Israel) but I am going to show some pictures that don't sugar coat the aftermath. If you've signed up or are thinking of signing up for one, check this out. Just know its totally worth it.

 

Eric likes to take random pictures of me to annoy me. Here's what getting out of bed looks like the night after you run a marathon. Note I am still so cold I am wearing his coat.

Sometimes you can't walk so your friends have to pull you on the luggage cart.

And you may need to demonstrate foam rolling in the hotel hallway.

All in all, an amazing race weekend. Couldn't have done it without all the wonderful support from my blog friends :).