Here are the details of the weekend:
Thursday I arrived at Sea-Tac on time (yay Southwest!), got my rental car and drove straight to my grandpa's assisted living to visit him. I took him out to lunch at the Issaquah Cafe, and visited with him a bit at his apartment afterward. He is doing pretty well for 89 years old, though he has definitely deteriorated quite a bit since the last time I saw him. Still, he seemed pretty aware in general. He knows what all his grandchildren are up to, is aware of at least some current events, and talked to me at length about things he's done in his life. He ran the 400m high hurdles in high school - I had no idea that he'd done that! He said he never won, because the city champion also went to his high school. I bet he was pretty good, though, because his daughter (my aunt) is a fabulously talented runner.
After meeting with my grandpa, I went to my aunt & uncle's home, where I was going to stay (they were out of town, so I couldn't visit with them, but it was wonderful to stay at their gorgeous home). They had left some wine & cheese & crackers & fruit for me :). I just had a little fruit and saved the rest for later. After settling in a little bit, I left to drive to meet my friend Heather (in photo at left, with me). I've known her since early 2004, when I joined an online buddy group for pregnant women due in late Sept 2004 (Calvin was born in early October, and so was Heather's daughter). It's funny, but I really feel like I know this group of women really well, even though we have never met in person. I had never met anyone before that I only knew online, and it was great! Heather and I hit it off really well and it seemed like we'd known each other for ages, even though we had just met. I met her girls (same ages as Calvin & Michelle), saw her house & yard, and then we got to go out to dinner together at a very nice little Italian place in the Magnolia area of Seattle, where she lives. It was a lovely evening, and by the time I got back to my aunt & uncle's home, it was pretty late. I slept very poorly, despite wanting some good sleep because of the impending race. I awoke at 2:30, kind of anxious about the race details, and could not fall asleep. I decided to look over the course map, and do a few other things. I finally fell back asleep about 4 am, and then had to get up at 5:30 to get dressed and drive downtown. I drove to the hotel that the TNT participants were staying at, and met them in the lobby for an easy 20-min workout to get the kinks out of their legs. Only one participant of four showed - the others planned on going later. We enjoyed a very easy walk around downtown (the participant who showed was a walker), and then I was off to the staff & coaches' meeting. 90 long and mostly boring minutes later (though there WAS some GREAT info in between the dull parts, so I'm glad I went), I left the hotel, grabbing some breakfast on the way out (one apple & a biscotti), and drove to the airport to pick up my friend Diane.
Diane and I then went to the race expo, where we met up with some more online friends: Elizabeth and Dora, alumni from Dave McGovern's racewalking clinics, and Elizabeth's granddaughter Nicole. Glen, a high school friend of mine that I haven't seen in over 20 years, also met us there. We just became Facebook friends a few weeks ago, and discovered we were both TNT coaches! He lives in Seattle, and is a talented runner who ran cross-country in high school and is now an avid marathoner - his PR is 2:35!!!!! I very much enjoyed reconnecting with Glen and chatting with all of the racewalkers. Elizabeth's practically encyclopedic knowledge of racewalking facts entertained all of us, and we had a great time despite the horribly slow service at the restaurant (guess they hadn't planned on the race expo traffic, despite the fact that they were across the street from Qwest field, where the expo was held). And darn it, I just realized I totally forgot to take pictures of us at our lunch :(, but I do have one of Glen at the expo (at left) :).After lunch we explored the race expo for a while (typical, and unremarkable... I never care much for them), Diane and I drove back to my aunt and uncle's home, with a detour at Costco and Fred Meyer to find some warmer clothes for pre-race, as with the humidity in Seattle it felt much cooler in the mornings than the same temps in Utah. Yeah, I'm the coach, and wasn't really prepared for the cooler weather ;). At least I could remedy that situation, so it all worked out. At my aunt & uncle's home, we enjoyed wine, crackers, and fruit, and a brief nap (me; Diane was unpacking) before heading to the pasta party.
TNT pasta parties (photo at L of some of the team members (all except Laurie) and Diane) are great, and this was no exception. John Bingham (aka "The Penguin"), Runner's World columnist, was our speaker, and he was in rare form. Even though I've heard some of his jokes before, they were just as funny the second time. The food was pretty darn good, too. My only complaint was that it ran a bit long - started at 7 and ended at 9:30 pm, which meant Diane and I did not get back until about 10:15 pm. I was asleep by about 11 pm, but we had to wake up at 3:15 am. UGH! More about that in the next post... so keep reading!
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