Off to the Races!

O.k. So we fell asleep to pixie-dust dreams, but both Larissa and I slept like it was the night before the big test. The alarm went off at 4:15, and though I'd set an alarm for a five minute snooze, there wasn't going to be any snoozing this morning. I dragged off the covers and made a b-line for the coffee pot. My brain was in high-gear, but my body wasn't moving fast. I hoped that would change before the race gun popped at 6:30.

At 5:00, we met the Team-in-Training Group in the Lobby, enjoyed a light breakfast, and took lots of pictures. I got my first stretch in, because I was really worried that I would FORGET to stretch in all the excitement. Around 5:30, we all boarded a shuttle that took us to the starting line.

I have never seen anything like what I saw when I got off that bus. There were people everywhere, and the air was laced with excitement. I walked over to the bag check with another runner named Lucy. She was with TNT, and she was also doing her first half marathon just like me. After bag check, Cathy, Easterlan, and I exchanged good luck wishes and headed to our separate starting lines.

The next fifteen minutes were super-charged. People were prancing in the chill air, getting in last minutes stretches, glancing at their watches. Finally, the countdown to the starting cannon came. In a moment, thousands of sneakers launched forward, finally released to do what they had come to do.