Lead-up to CIM, in iPhone Photos

california international marathon alarm

I woke to this message on Friday, November 30th and smiled. I was just hours away from a weekend of fun with my younger brother. A weekend that would end with both of us running a marathon.

sleeping toddler

I looked at my little angel, gave her so many hugs and kisses as she slept, shed a few tears, and left the house.

empty airplane seats

I boarded my plane, from ROC–>ORD and was shocked to see people sitting in full rows all around me and the cabin doors closed with me in an empty row. How did I get so lucky? Beside me, across the aisle, was a tall dude who was sitting scrunched up by a mom, dad, and child-on-lap. I let him take the window seat in my row. I’m nice, but not nice enough to give him my aisle!

empty row on plane

On my flight from ORD–>SMF, another miracle. On this “completely full” flight, my row had an open middle seat. Can you even believe this luck?!

supershuttle pic

After some “moderate to severe turbulence” according to the captain, I was on the ground and reuniting with my brother, Jason! Supershuttle pic! We were laughing so hard in the shuttle, giddy to be together again, that we had the dude beside us cracking up, even though he had no idea what we were talking about. Good times!

old spaghetti Factory

Dinner the first night was carbtastic – The Old Spaghetti Factory. I was strictly cutting out dairy, heavily consuming my favorite thing in the world – carbs, and hydrating all day.

smiley face with water

That night, as I was brushing my teeth, I looked down into the sink. Do you see what I saw? I called Jason into the bathroom. He saw it right away too. Sign #1 this was going to be a great weekend!

We went to bed by 7pm (10pm for us!) and I slept around 10 hours. That hasn’t happened in… hmmm… ever? At least in my whole life as a parent, and my whole pregnancy…

We were up and at ’em around 5am and went for our pre-race run. We had some great sibling discussions!

black coffee and creamer coffee

After the run we enjoyed a $20 hotel buffet breakfast and we definitely got our money’s worth. Runners can EAT. We threw down plateful after plateful and stayed for quite some time. Jason took his coffee 1/3 cream, 1/3 sugar, 1/3 actual coffee (HA) and I took mine black as usual. A few funny things happened at breakfast, but for the sake of not embarrassing Jason or myself (anymore than I already do on this blog), my lips are sealed. More belly laughs.

After breakfast, Jason and I went to meet my friend Mason to talk marathon strategy and then hit up the expo. I had to take a mirror shot of us outside the elevator.

Sacramento

At the expo I was able to meet up with some Oiselle ladies who were also running! It was SO NICE to meet a few new teammates and see some who I haven’t seen for awhile! I didn’t bring my camera, so no picture but I wanted to mention it here. After the expo, I went to the elite suite to hang for awhile. This was the view of Sacramento from the suite on the 26th floor. 2622 to be exact.

elite marathoner food

We snacked a bit up in room 2622.

elite suite alcohol

We did not partake in the liquor, wine or case upon case of beer that was just waiting to be consumed.

special needs CIM

I dropped off my “special needs” or Nuun bottles to be placed on the “elite” tables. I can tell you that it’s really nice to have your fuel-of-choice waiting on a table for you on race day. I can also tell you it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. It’s much nicer, for me, to be able to grab fuel and fluids from a volunteer’s hand, than try to grab my bottle in the midst of 30+ others. Even if yours are unique (mine definitely were), the process of going to the table, searching for my own, and grabbing it without knocking over anyone else’s is somewhat stressful for me. Plus, I only take sips at a time so I feel wasteful. Big thanks to Nuun for the race day hydration!

Multifunctional gaiter

How sweet and innocent do I look here? This is the “microfiber, wicking and breathable, seamless, multifunctional headband/neck gaiter” (their words, not mine) given out to marathoners at packet pickup. I was going to wear this to the restaurant the night before the race, but Jason vetoed that one.

the old spaghetti factory

And we went back to The Old Spaghetti Factory for our pre-race dinner on Saturday night. It was really crowded already at 4:30pm so we ordered the food as takeout and enjoyed a nice dinner in the hotel room, on our beds, and watched some football. By 7:30pm it was lights out, and we fell asleep shortly after.

For all the curious minds out there, I think there will be another “iPhone photos” post showing race morning and another post where I tell you all the details about the race. Until then…

Tell me about some cool things that have happened to you before a race (the smiley face in my sink water is my favorite unexpected detail from the weekend). How often do people really get a whole row to themselves on an airplane these days? Do you like the window, middle, or aisle seat (who’s going to say middle, right?)

9 thoughts on “Lead-up to CIM, in iPhone Photos

  1. Window all that way. Aisle is ok, but then you have people bumping into you. And on a full plane, I always make sure I put down the arm rest immediately and take ownership of it. I think some people get excited when they see that they will be sitting next to a skinny runner, like, ooh I get to take up part of their seat too. I’m still cracking up about your “special needs”… And also your little bro is so adorable. I always wanted a brother, but having two sisters is pretty cool too.

    • Haha, you are cracking me up Mollie! I also immediately slam down the arm rest immediately to claim my space.

  2. I LOVE the pictures. Can I just tell you how jealous I am that your whole family runs? I would love to be able to share my love for running with my sisters…It’s so awesome that you were able to share the whole weekend with your brother – destination marathon + sibling get together is a win-win in my book =)
    My choice of seating depends on who I am traveling with. When my little guy was young (and still nursing), I opted for the window to help hide myself while he was nursing…Now that he is older, it’s aisle all the way so he has some freedom to get up and walk. I haven’t flown anywhere alone in 2 years but I was always a fan of the window so I could sleep =)

    • Thanks Michele! I feel lucky to have a running family! I know we will always understand each other in that aspect of life if nothing else! :)

  3. Aisle!!

    Before races the coolest thing that has happened to me is running into someone I wasn’t expecting to run into at the race :)

  4. I’m definitely an aisle seat girl- hello, i need easy access to the potty! I do agree with Mollie though about getting bumped into on the aisle. I usually travel with my hubs so that means he gets stuck with a middle seat on “real” planes (we do a lot of shorter flights so get regional jets with only 2 seats on the side). When we book, we usually book the aisle for me and window for him. If the flight isn’t full, it usually gives us a whole row to ourselves! (of course, that rarely happens anymore)

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