Pre-race

We had an uneventful flight ✈️ here.  We dropped off our bags at the hotel and then walked to lunch at a dim-sum/noodle shop.  The noodles 🍜 and dumplings 🥟 were decent.  They were a bit thick, but tasted fresh.  Their sesame ball was so-so.  The dough was too thick and the sesame seeds were too big.  The worst was the wait 😳 We waited over 30 minutes for our food.  The whole line, including those after us, got their food before us.  When we finally got our food, they forgot to put the pork in Ryan’s noodles.  He went up to get it, and they gave him cold meat 🤦🏻‍♀️

We then walked around a bit.  There is not much downtown.  There are blocks of abandoned buildings.  We toured the Vogel Sculpture Gardens.  That was a pleasant walk around.  We also toured the Old State House. That was unexpectedly interesting. 

We had dinner at Sonny Williams Steakhouse.  The famous lamb chops were quite tasty 😋 The steak was good, but still not Del Frisco quality.  The bread pudding was to die for 💕 I would go back just for that.  It tasted like a perfect, thick cinnamon roll with a delicious whiskey crème anglaise. 

I had a very hard time sleeping from getting nervous and excited about the race.  It is a bigger race than I thought.  The medal🏅this year supposedly weighs over 3 pounds!  I am a little nervous that more people are following me this race… I can’t focus on that and just have to run my race.  I know I can do it!  I’m feeling good about it.

Post-race

I did it!!!  🤗  Another one is in the books!  The course was tougher than I expected.  From past reviews, the majority of the hills were in the beginning.  Halfway through, I thought, “This is not too bad.”  Well… I was in for a treat the second half.  Mile 15 to 17 was an uphill climb 😰  I kept telling myself… what goes up, must come down.  I started counting down from mile 16, and really had to mentally push the last 5 miles.  I kept thinking that my friend ran his first marathon, and did not walk at all.  I was not going to let myself walk.  My hands got tingly, and I was certain my toenail had fallen off.  I hit “the wall” ⛰ at mile 25.5.  Who puts a steep hill there?!?!  I kept visualizing the finish line 🏁 to get me over the hill. And now it’s done 😊  The local newspaper 🗞 interviewed me. I felt like a mini-celebrity.  My proudest moment… I placed FIRST 🥇 for my age group 🤗 🥳

The medal is ridiculously HUGE as advertised.  It weighs 3-4 pounds.  It hurt my neck when it was placed around me.  

Dinner was a bit of an adventure.  It turns out that most restaurants are closed on Sundays.  We finally found one open… Benihana. I haven’t been to a Benihana since high school. Benihana was a happening spot.  It was much busier than the steakhouse we had gone to last night.  The sushi 🍣 was surprisingly decent.  We had a very nice meal. 

All-in-all, it was a great trip.