Remlinger Farms

Today I we went to Church and then headed to the country for a bike ride went the parents. We went to Carnation. It was a fun ride (a bit smelly at times from all the horses and cows : ). We stopped at Remlinger Farms (http://www.remlingerfarms.com) for some pie. That evening we went to Best for Vietnamese food.

Smallwood.....O'Brien

Today I went to Café Flora with my mom and dad for breakfast. I got the harvest scramble, muffin bread, and cheesy grits. We also tried some interesting tea. My mom’s yam breakfast quesadilla was interesting also. It was dipped in egg so the outside of it was like an omelet and then the inside was the tortilla and veggies. My dad got the French Toast with sour plumb compote (and a lot of coffee obviously : ). Café Flora is my favorite breakfast place- it is an all vegetarian place in Madison Park (the place I used to say I wanted to live)- it’s a cute neighborhood right next to the arboretum and downtown Seattle (best of both worlds-city, nature, and convenience). The restaurant is cool because it is kind of like a green house- all glass with potted plants.

After that we went to this place called Banya (http://www.banya5.com/). It was really neat. You get yourself ridiculously hot and then ridiculously cold to clean the toxins out of your body. So first we went into this room that is 120 degrees and then when we got really hot we would go into the cold plunge. There was also the steam room, hot tub, cold showers, and salt pool. The salt pool was awesome because you could just float in it and it was a comfortable temperature. After the spa we went home and had a quick bit to eat and went to Seward Park to take a walk in the woods. I said I get into the woods since that was something I missed in Chicago. Then I went back and got ready for the wedding.

Caitlin’s wedding was very nice! I will just show some pictures because I am getting tired of writing. It was very Caitlin- reception in the country style Manor- getting sent off in a truck….very fun.

Lab Tour on Prosthetics

The next morning we had breakfast together and then I took the bus home. It was raining. I had lunch with my mom and helped her with her pillows and then headed to the University of Washington to get a lab tour of the Neuro Prosthetic lab. It was fascinating! http://neurobotics.cs.washington.edu/projects.html My mom made stuffed squash for dinner. Yummy.

Party for Caitlin

I left work early today to catch a 4pm flight to Seattle for my good friend Caitlin’s Bacheloret party. We had a really great time. We spent the night in a fancy hotel in Bellevue and played games, had dinner together, and just celebrated our awesome friend Caitlin’s happiness!

massage

Today I used my hour long massage gift card. It was a real treat!

Lunch with Lynn, foot massage

Today I had breakfast with Lynn and then headed to work. Apparently one of my bosses looked up how I did and announced it in the Leadership Monday Morning Meeting so all day people were stopping by to ask about the race. I had to find a quite room for a little while so I could get work done : ). I met Lynn for lunch and then showed her the Palmer House, the park, and my office. It was fun. I felt bad that I had to work when she was in Chicago but it worked out well. She went for a run in the morning and did homework in the afternoon. Her train back to Purdue left at 5PM. She was getting very good at using the Public Transit. I bought her a day pass and she got her moneys worth : ) !

After work I got a free foot massage and treats from BRASH (Brookes Running Athlete Support Hospitality). It was a nice long foot massage. I ran into my friend Holly who I hadn’t seen in forever. She had gone to the church retreat which was the same weekend as the marathon and said it was very good.

Marathon

The next day I woke up bright and early. I ate an English muffin with a lot or Peanut butter and headed to my friend Beth’s to get a ride to the start line. Since I was in the top 100 we had a nice heated tent to wait in until we were escorted to the start. I was so over whelmed with the amount of people. There is a bridge that goes over Columbus drive and the whole thing was stuffed with people watching the start of the race. When I looked behind me all I could see was a sea of humanity. I was also amazing at how people don’t have any manors when nervously waiting for the start of a marathon. A guy just squatted down next to me and took a dump. I was thinking- all those 40,000 people behind our start corral are going to trample through that! When the gun went off I stayed behind my friend Beth. I was told I was going to go out too fast so I thought I better stay behind her since she is experienced in the marathon. Our first mile was too slow- oh well- we have 25 more miles to make up the lost time : ). The whole race was exciting. We went through all different neighborhoods and I was so distracted by everything around me that the race went by so fast. At mile 20 I felt great. The last 6 were the best because I was passing people like crazy. However, once I crossed the finish line and started walking. It didn’t feel good at all. I dropped my banana that someone handed me and when I tried to bend down to pick it up I fell over. Everything just felt like it was cramping up. I then realized I was extremely cold. I was with my friend Lydia and she was freezing also. Lydia couldn’t handle the terrible cold feeling. The wind made it even worse. I lost her some how and found out latter that she was taken by the medical tent because they thought she was delirious. I didn’t stop shaking even with my clothes. Once I had said hi to everyone I walked to the train with Lynn and Anne with all 3 coats I had brought and was still shaking from the cold. I took a warm shower after that I was fine. We then went to a Japanese restaurant that I picked out and I felt like splurging-I got an appetizer, 3 different sushi’, 2 noodle dishes, and dessert. It hit the spot. I was one happy camper eating with my buddies after a great race in a great city with a great since of accomplishment hanging over me, and a great since of thankfulness that God had kept me safe when a lot of things could have gone wrong in a 26 mile race.

Later that evening I went over to Mel’s house and hung out with Jenny, Tyler, Lisa, Jesse, Lynn, Lydia, and Kyle.

I then went home and crashed. That was my in my top three favorite races of my life. My favorite race of my life was my Junior year cross country nationals running in the mud- yes I am weird but that race was awesome! That was so much fun sliding across it- being all American for the first time- Jeff surprising me (at that time my soon to be boyfriend)- my dad being there- putting on Diemer’s Olympian Leather Jacket (a tradition that he allows you to put on his special jacket given to him when he got the bronze when you become an all America)..ect. But this first marathon was right behind that cross country race. FUN TIMES