great day at the beach

My sister (Laura) and I slept until we woke up on our own (no alarm clocks), got dressed, had breakfast and then went to "The Loop" at Wrightsville Beach, NC, for an easy 2 mile run. We ran two sides of the triangle of "The Loop", then walked the third side on the beach. Great, relaxing run followed by an even more relaxing walk along the beach, barefoot. I wish my friend Kim were in town this weekend to share this with. She lives in Wrightsville Beach and is the one that told me about this marathon and had registered for the half-marathon. But earlier this week she sent me an email saying she's out of town on a work project and won't be able to participate after all. bummer.  Laura and I went shopping after our run/walk; picking up souveniers for the kids and I was so excited to find 100% cocoa butter for an exema remedy ingredient for Kyra that another friend had told us about!

After shopping, we returned to the hotel for showers. Then we went to lunch at Elijah's. We sat on the deck at the resturant overlooking the Cape Fear River. The weather was sunny and in the 60s; georgous day and view! Afterwards, we headed to the race Expo. The Expo was cramped into a tiny space, with lots of people, and I felt a little claustrophobic. I couldn't stay in there long. Laura bought me a small purse (that I picked out) for my early birthday present (my birthday is next week). I was so thrilled that we received cotton "goodie bags" instead of the usual plastic ones that most races provide. Way to be green! I will definitely re-use this bag!

Then we went to the beach for about an hour. It was warm this morning, but was cool this afternoon. We had our bathing suits on under our clothes, but I was too cold to remove my shirt and shorts. I was very tempted to return to the car and get my jacket! But I was too lazy and laid on the beach reading a magazine instead, while Laura just chilled. As you can tell from this picture, most people were fully clothed on the beach this afternoon. After about an hour, we were both too cold to stay any longer and returned to the hotel for dinner.

The hotel had a pasta buffet, especially for the marathon. It tasted marvelous! But immediately after eating, I had to return to the room to use the restroom. Unfortunately, I had an upset tummy the rest of the evening and prayed that it would be all out of my system by morning. Between trips to the bathroom, I laid out my clothes and gels for race morning, pinned my race number to my shirt, tied the timing chip to my shoe, painted my nails to match my Team 65ROSES shirt, and mentally prepared for the race. Keeping my fingers crossed that this tummy issue resolves before the race!