Here we go! The first race of the #Tex2Mex challenge – that means Texas in the morning and Mexico at night!
[And there was a 5k on the weekend as well. It was fun and lovely.]
I have tried to be very deliberate in my planning of this weekend.
I tried to get a pretty good amount of sleep (for once, with my crazy work/travel schedule :-P). I got my ankle KT-taped at the expo (just to be on the safe side). I have a second pair of shoes I changed into after security at the airport. Like, I am doing everything I can to be ready for this crazy adventure!
This morning, I woke up and stopped over to the VIP bag check. (Thank heavens for the sweet Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series giving me the awesome VIP treatment for singing The National Anthem.) I wasn’t 100% sure on the luggage rules, but I was hoping to goodness the Rock ‘n’ Roll VIP place would take my duffel bag, bookbag, and coat, because as soon as the race was over, I wanted to grab that stuff and get in an Uber – no time for this walking to some hotel and getting it from behind a desk.
Thankfully, yes. They took my luggage. Then I went over to the start line where all the “Los Locos” (members of the #Tex2Mex challenge) were hanging out. We took some pictures and warmed up and all that jazz, and then I sang the National Anthem. Then, bam! It was time to start! We all got to start up in the 1st corral(!), since the Rock ‘n’ Roll series knew we all had to catch our flights. (That was super nice of them.) It was crazy starting behind the elites! Hello great start line view!
Then I went along and did the course. The bridge was pretty. The weather got kinda hot. And I ended up spending the last number of miles on the phone(!). I’d been having trouble checking in for my flight, and I’d found out it was because somehow there was a typo in my last name. (Dum dum duuuuuum – scary chords.)
I was on hold alone (not even counting talking time) somewhere around 50 minutes during the race…
I had tried to get the problem fixed before the race
First, I’d talked to an agent at the airport when I first landed in Dallas. I saw I was having trouble checking in, and she said it was because it was more than 24 hours before the flight. Oh, duh! That made sense to me, of course. (Apparently I’d somehow forgotten how Friday and Sunday work and that they are not in fact within 24-hours of each other.)
Because that was such a simple, normal explanation, neither of us thought to look for anything else, or noticed the typo.
Then, when I tried to check in within the actual 24-hour period, I couldn’t. So, I called in to American Airlines. That was when I was told about the typo problem, but said that it couldn’t be fixed over the phone since we were within 24-hours – I’d have to wait ’til I got to the airport.
As the race continued, and I thought about how relatively little time I was gonna have at the airport, I called American asking if I could upgrade to first class. All I could see in my future were lines and lines – to the ticket counter, through security, and I wanted to try to bypass them (’cause I thought I might not make it to Mexico otherwise.)
Turns out, I was already in business class! (And the flight didn’t have a first class, so I was officially good to go.) I don’t know how that happened. But shhhhh, try not to move and hope it all just stays that way!
Then, since we were already on the phone, I asked if there were any way at all the typo could be changed while I was on the phone…
She said no, but that since I booked through Priceline, they could help me change it.
And this is where that super long hold time came into place.
I felt bad because I totally snipped at the woman who was just trying to do her job. (“We’ve been on the phone for nearly an hour and you can’t help me change one letter in a reservation?” Or something along those lines is what I annoyingly told the poor customer service agent who probably gets snipped at all day every day.)
So, we got off the phone, and I finished the race. As I was turning the corner toward the finish, I made a mental note of the intersection where I saw cars/taxis being able to drive because I knew I’d want to put that into Uber very soon.
Crossed the finish line. Went to pick up my Remix medal. They were out. (They’re gonna send ’em out to everyone who didn’t get one.) I did get my Lone Star for doing San Antonio last year and Dallas this year. Then, over to the VIP tent to grab food and my stuff, and on my walk over there, I ordered an uber (knowing it would take at least a few minutes for the uber to get there in half marathon traffic).
I grabbed my bags and some food. (Yet again I felt bad because I dropped a biscuit and a couple of pickles on the grass, but did I pick them up? Nope. I was like, “There’s too much stuff in my hands and I’m in a super hurry. I just let them sit there… Apparently this is the day where Aurora’s just a big jerk…)
So, I took a new biscuit and pickles and hurried across the field to meet my very nice Uber driver… Who informed me we needed gas. (Dum dum duuuuuum!) And this is where I’ll pick up tomorrow.