Pre race

So... about 3.5 weeks ago Alex asked... "What is your next race going to be?" It shocked me. I had no plans for after the marathon in Myrtle Beach. It got me thinking. I had to have another goal. I thought.... why not another marathon. So I did a lot of research, listened to my body, and signed up for the Wrightsville Beach Marathon. That was about 14 days ago.
I had a great long run (16 miles) but terrible shorter runs until my last short run. I was so thankful that my last short run (4 miles) on Thursday was great. I got my mindset back, focused, and was preparing mentally for the big day.
I finished packing on Friday (yes big shock since Im normally prepared weeks in advance) and we headed out on Saturday am at 730. Bags packed, car packed, Val and Diane came over to my house and we were on the road right at 730, not a minute late. We ended up stopping at Sheetz for a breakfast english muffin and then back to the road because we had BIG plans. We stopped at the Duplin Winery in Rose Hill on the way down. Our server was great. His name was Ronnie and he had amazing tales of dinner parties and I asked if we could all come over for dinner (I was joking!) Anyways, we tried many different types of wine. Most I liked but some were not too awesome. We learned a lot from him. He had great knowledge about all sorts of things.
Afterwards, we were going to eat there (we packed a lunch) but we were not hungry so we just kind of munched a little bit. We got to Wrighsville at 1, just like we planned and found the expo. To say I was disappointed, that would be a true statement. There were just people there selling sports drinks, protein powder, etc. BUT I did get a pretty nifty cool pair of teal and yellow tube socks that say 26.2 on the side and a super cute and soft tshrit that says the marathon on it.
After leaving the expo we went to Harris Teeter to get some icecream. This next part was a VERY bad idea. We ended up finding some icecream cones on closeout and I had a coupon so it made them 20 cents each. We all had 2 each. What a deal! UNTIL.... we found out it contained splenda and we all had terrible repercussions from this. NO COMMENT!
Lets just say none of us will be eating those anymore. :)
After our little icecream run, we met Matt (friend from High School) at Chickfila and well all sat outside for a little while and caught up with him. I also ended up getting sunburned. O well.
After leaving, it was past 3 so we could check in at the hotel. I first wanted to go and drive by where the race start would be. I knew what it looked like because Alex was there in previous races, but it just helps calm my nerves.
So well all went to the hotel after driving around and all were doubled over in pain but still made a great effort to go out shopping and ended up at Marshals. I found some running shorts and debated on wearing them the next day but I did hear a little bird in my head say "don't do it".
After Marshals, we went to get pizza for dinner at Costco and then back to the hotel to meet Alex, Ron, and Rosalie for dinner there. Ron and Rosalie stayed until 8 and Alex stayed until a bit before 10. I wanted to be in bed at 10 and pretty much was. Lights out!