Amanda's race weekend report, part 2!

Saturday, May 16: Packing, pasta, pictures and posies!

Even though we're just going up to a hotel for one night, it seems like there are carloads of stuff I want to take. My jersey and shoes, of course, Marathoning for Mortals, several pairs of socks and skivvies, hat, sunglasses, throwaway start-line wear...it goes on and on. I'm terrified I'll forget something critical. There wasn't time to sit down and make a list, so I'm basically trying to think my way through chronologically and hope that works. I can't believe the race is less than 24 hours away!

By the time we have everything in a big pile, ready to go, my dad takes one look at it and says, "I think we're going to need a car just for the stuff." However, we manage to get everything in the trunk and hit the road at about 3:00 PM. We arrive at our very nice hotel in downtown Cleveland in plenty of time, and I immediately set about unpacking and laying things out. The desk is transformed into a snack bar replete with Clif bars, bagels, bananas, peanut butter, chocolate-chip cookies, and water, and I lay out all my race-day gear on the edge of my bed. (We have two beds so my husband won't wake me up every time he turns over. A girl needs her sleep the night before a race!)

From the top down, we have visor, sunglasses (in their badass case), bra and jersey, throwaway zip-up sweatshirt, fifty-cent cotton gardening gloves (also throwaway), and shorts with pocket accoutrements: kleenex, salt packets (wrapped in aluminum foil so they don't get damp from sweat), and four, yes, count 'em, FOUR gels. I figure I will probably only use three, but luck favors the prepared. The socks and race-day shoes are on the floor below.

This part of my plan is a little dicey, but I set up the toaster oven and griddle in the bathroom so I can eat my usual race-day breakfast: two scrambled eggs and half a toasted buttered bagel. Yep, I'm going to cook the whole shebang right there on the marble countertop. The eggs and butter are carefully wrapped up in a cooler full of ice--which will probably come in very handy after the race. I just pray that I won't set off the smoke detector with my illicit cooking.

I shower and almost immediately bump into something I forgot to pack: a hairbrush! My husband packed the toiletries and he's more of a finger-comber, so I stalk down to the front desk looking like Medusa with my unruly hair and come back with a simple black comb that gets the job done. I hope that's the only item I've forgotten.

Soon it's time to go downstairs to the Team in Training Pre-Race Pasta Party with my husband. My mom and dad should be back from the expo soon. After listening to my dad wax ecstatic about his new shoes and how much better his feet felt, my mom really wanted to get her feet assessed too.

The elevator is full, and when it opens on our floor, we hear this cacophony of cheering and clapping and whoo-hooing off in the distance. Everyone exchanges looks. "Wow, someone's having fun," says the teenage girl standing next to us.

We exit the elevator, walk down a long hallway, make a turn, and...

...it's our own little cheering section! They're waving signs and hooting and hollering and shaking noisemakers, and for such a small group, they can really make some NOISE! They give us a hero's welcome as we walk through and into the room where we're having the dinner.

Do you even recognize these people?? Who knew they'd clean up so well? That's Angela, Lindsey, and Carie from left to right. Angela and Lindsey explain that they came straight from a baby shower in Warren.

I look a little shabby sandwiched between the two of them!

Of course, my mentors Kelli and Amy (officially, it's Kelli, but Amy has become like a second mentor to me!) and Coach Rob and Coach Paul (and Paul's wife Kim) are there. Kelli and Amy gave each of us mentees a gift bag! Awwwww!

My gift bag has the coolest stuff in it! There's a hand-painted photo frame with my name (and my TNT nickname, "Negative Splits") on it, Dove chocolate (YUM!), a granola bar and fruit candies, pretzels (very handy aprés-race!), a terrific card from Amy, and a beautiful handwritten note from Kelli. It's a good thing I waited until I got back to my room to open the cards, because I probably would have cried all over my pasta if I'd opened them downstairs!

I have to explain this picture a bit. Of course, you know Brittany, Kelli, and Liz, but the funny part is that Kelli and Brittany never actually met during the season. Every time one of them came to a group run, the other one wasn't there, and Brittany had volleyball on Tuesday nights, so she couldn't make any of our informal weeknight runs. Kelli nicknamed Brittany "The Phantom." But now they've finally met, so Kelli will just have to come up with something else to call her.

We sat at just the right table to hit the jackpot--we were in the back corner, so the waiters had us go to the buffet line first. There were rolls (carbs), veggies (carbs), noodles in marinara sauce (carbs), and brownies and humongous cookies for dessert (shocker, more carbs!!).

I was sitting with Mike on one side and my husband on the other, and when my parents hadn't shown up halfway through the meal, I slipped into worrywart mode. Had some punk mugged my dad for his camera on the way back from the expo? Had my mom succumbed to exhaustion from the four-block walk? Were they in the back of an ambulance even as I sat there inhaling ziti?

Nope. They were fine.

My mom waltzed in with brand new hot pink shoes on her tootsies! Also Adidas, but I don't know what kind. Apparently she was also told she was a stability-bordering-on-motion-control type. That scares me a little. Will I be wearing motion control shoes in 25 years?

My parents settled into their dinner as the rest of us finished up. That's Mike with the cookie.

After we'd had our fill, Andy from the LLS office officially welcomed us all (there were at least a hundred people there) and told us that as a group, we had raised over $104,000 to beat the snot out of blood cancers!! Isn't that something?! He then named the top five fundraisers for Northern Ohio, and guess what--at $4,060 total, I was #2!!! I knew I had done well, but I didn't realize just how well! So thank you again to my many, many donors who helped make that happen!

Now, let's get serious for a second. You know Brittany on the left, but let me tell you about that guy on the right. His name is Chris. He ran the full marathon. He looks like a healthy young guy, right? Well, he is--now. Last year, he found out he had Hodgkin's Lymphoma after having terrible back pain and some paralysis in his legs. He has only been in remission since last October, and he decided he was going to repay everyone's kindness and support by doing a full marathon with Team in Training. He was our first speaker at the dinner. He stood at the podium and told us his story, and the whole room grew hushed and respectful listening to him. There were more than a few sniffles by the time he finished. What an amazing person. He raced very well, by the way, finishing his first-ever full marathon in 4:36. Way to go, Chris!!

The adorable little girl trying to grab the mike is Ryley. She is 3 1/2 now and has been battling ALL since she was diagnosed at 18 months of age. After Chris spoke, Ryley's mom told us her story, and about how heartrending it is when it is your baby girl who is fighting cancer. Ryley is the Spring 2010 TNT Honored Patient, the person we are all officially dedicating our efforts to. Fortunately, not everyone has a mom with lymphoma, so some of the runners had Ryley on their minds all season long instead. She is such an adorable child. I hope with all my heart that she stays in remission and is declared cured.

Ryley was out there cheering us on during the race! How could you not run faster when you see that??

All of the tables were decorated with these cute little TNT signs. Mom and I took a few to use for cheering purposes on race day.

I was so excited that Mom could finally meet everyone I've been blogging about all season, and that the team could finally meet the mom I've been telling them about for five months! Here we are with Coach Rob and Coach Paul.

Melissa continues to live up to her rep as the best-dressed Team in Training member. She brought an entourage with her to the dinner, all dressed in matching shirts to support her!! That's her husband Scott to her right.

A family portrait: me, my husband, Mom and Dad

Runners have amazing complexions! Look at all those rosy cheeks! In the front we have Mike, Renee, me, Lindsey, and Angela, and in the back, that's Amy, Kelli, Carie, Brittany, and Liz. What a great bunch of people!! The only ones missing are Melissa and Brad.

What an exciting day! We left the party and went back to my parents' room to discuss race-day logistics. Here's Mom chillaxin' on the armchair in her room.

My husband has always been so supportive!

I have to be in the hotel lobby at 5:30 Sunday morning to meet up with my teammates. My parents and Roland decide they will meet up at 6:15 to walk over to the start line, see me off, and then get a proper breakfast. Nothing is open early Sunday morning, not even the hotel's own restaurant. My parents come up to my room with me to get some of my snack-bar food from the desk. That should tide them over until they can sit down to a real meal.

I come inside my room to see a huge arrangement of flowers on my desk!! I rip open the card to find out who they're from:

I just start crying right in front of my whole family when I read the card. I mean--can you THINK of anything nicer that someone could possibly do for you the night before a race? It was a total surprise and I just couldn't believe it. There was even a small box with Mom's name on it -- containing a matching CORSAGE! Amanda (my friend Amanda M, not me) even got my mom a corsage! Can you say "Awwwwwwwwwwww"?!

Seriously, can you believe this? Easily one of the ten nicest things anyone has ever done for me.

(Will Amanda manage to get any sleep before the race? Will she burn down the hotel trying to make her race-morning scrambled eggs? Will she collapse in a horrid heap at Mile 12 and have to be dragged over the finish line??? All of these questions will be answered in Part 3! Stay tuned...)