Picking up from yesterday –
I caught up with a couple the girls and I had been leapfrogging with. I have a caffeine boost, and I’m in it to win it now!
Okay, not at all in it to win it, but in it to catch up with people who’d passed us!
I caught up with Damaris and Laura. We had some lovely conversations, and just enjoyed the gorgeous weather around us.
Eventually, we parted ways.
The Seattle Half Marathon really takes care of its runners. They had plenty of snacks, Gatorade, and water. (I love when there are snacks.) Of course, its possible that everything was so abundant (and that there were snacks) because we were sharing the marathon course, and all of us half marathoners got to start first (by 45 minutes).
I passed a Hostess building. It was odd to think that Hostess will soon be a thing of the past.
Before you knew it, I was coming into the finish!
I couldn’t believe it. (I mean, I could.) It was awesome. All those miles, all those races in one weekend – done. I didn’t know what to expect. I’d never done four races in a weekend before. But it really wasn’t hard. I think my fitness level keep secretly improving little by little without me noticing.
I crossed the finish line and got my medal from Army soldiers. Then I walked across the field to go into the indoor post-race finisher area.
Race announcers are always shouting encouraging things over the loudspeaker. He happened to say, “You did it!” as I was walking out of the race it area. It was almost like the timing would be in a movie.
Medium shot of Aurora as she’s walking triumphantly out of the stadium as in the background we hear “You did it!” She looks straight ahead knowingly with a half smile as if to tell us “Yeah, I did.”
This finisher area was wonderful. Chocolate milk. Yum. Bagel. Yippee.
They even had soup and hot chocolate! I didn’t have any of either of those, but it was cool that they existed for those who wanted them.
They even had a goodie bag with deodorant in it! And not cheap deodorant – the great kind. Clinical protection. Don’t mind if I do, thank you very much!
I also thought it was smart of Seattle to have their finisher area indoors! You never know what the weather will be like. It might’ve been cold or rainy (it wasn’t), but using an indoor area makes it lovely and comfy no matter what the weather.
I went to Bastyr University’s area where they were stretching people out. Tom was unbelievably helpful. This was totally exactly what I needed.
Eventually, I made my way back to the car, met some Seattle friends for delicious cheeseburgers, and called it a day.
Would I ever do four races in a weekend again? Definitely. Would I ever do the Seattle Quadzuki again? I cannot imagine a scenario in which that would happen. I loved races 1, 3, and 4. I can’t stand trails though and don’t ever want to set foot in race 2 again. Ever.
Considering I did live, and didn’t even have any injuries, I’m glad I had this experience. And I do love Seattle. My gosh, it was gorgeous out here this week. Absolutely lovely. And huge, huge thanks to my amazing friend Helen who let me stay in an empty condo for free this weekend. I couldn’t have asked for any better housing situation. And huge thanks to Rich for suggesting carpooling and driving me to day 2’s race. I was extremely happy to not have to drive home after being traumatized! 🙂