“Just sit and write…do it…do it N-O-W!” Gah, it feels like the last few hours before a big paper is due and I’m just now getting around to starting it. Why, oh, why can I not get motivated to write this race report?! (Well, there’s this little thing called “work” that’s been EATING ME ALIVE!) Also, there have been so many good write-ups done already (everyone but me and Jank) that I’m afraid mine won’t measure up. Plus, well, I really, really want to post my splits…and I’m afraid I’ll come across as a braggart (nice word) or that I’m full of myself. Maybe I’ll post them, maybe I won’t. In any event, here goes nothing:

In a previous post, I briefly describe the night before the race: So MUCH fun! Excpet for this one guy from Michigan, the RBFers I hadn’t met before turned out to be quite wonderful people (see Jon, an attempt at humor and sarcasm). It really felt like a group of old friends meeting at a favorite hang-out, chillin’ like old times. We dined, laughed, over-hydrated (Sarah), laughed, de-hydrated (and is there an adjustment calculator for “number of beers consumed?”), dined some more…and then really, just kept eating more! We departed with a few pictures and comments on missing those who couldn’t make it down for the dinner.

So, race report: I awoke after a fitful night of sleep…bizarre dreams of my mother scolding me for cutting-up the fish wrong (no idea where that came from) and my father trying to get a refund for tickets purchased for an amusement park ride (again, who knows). I ate my regular breakfast of English muffin with peanut butter, drank my 2 cups of coffee and then started with the water (maybe we’ll see where this leads to). I gathered up the remaining cookies and piled everything into the car. I caravanned to New Haven behind David, Lara and Susan…I cranked my music and sang out loud, consuming water between songs. We arrived in New Haven, struggled (?) to find parking…I was getting nervous about the time, and continued to keep guzzling water (I know, I know). We parked, I kept panicking…do I need to feed the meter quarters (oh, just ask the policemen) , how much time do we have before the race, should I bring my sweatshirt or leave it, on and on went my mind-blabber. We gathered-up the gear and headed to our pre-determined meeting point.

But, before we arrived at our site, I quickly darted into line for the porta-potty (now, on regular basis, I drink a lot of water, so my bladder can likely hold more volume than the gas tank in my husband’s Honda…seriously). It took longer than expected to ah, “finish my bidness,” (TMI alert: my nerves stop me up) and I was getting embarrassed, since everyone KNOWS what goes on when someone is in the bathroom for a long time. Finally a success! Hopped out and headed over to the rest of the gang.

-----End Part I-----

More about the actual race in another post...just creating dramatic effect, okay?