Portland, Part II

I got up at 5:00 a.m. to get ready & walk to the MAX to ride downtown. Thankfully it was only 3 blocks from the hotel & it only took me 6 minutes to walk there. Unfortunately it wouldn't take my credit card (but I later found out it was user error...) and I started to have a bit of a panic attack imagining various scenarios of calling Bob & having him bring the children, trying to make it back to the hotel and then back again and and and....

Back to the thankfully - there was an older gentleman decked out in his race gear who was also having technical difficulties. His response to the whole issue? "Let's just get on. And if they ask we will just tell them it wouldn't work!" Ummmmmm....sounds good to me. And as I was about to discover, there were so many people that got on between our stop & downtown (there finally wasn't room for anymore people) no one could have asked us even if they wanted to!

Andrea and I ended up running the entire way together. There is just something about running with someone else that makes it that much easier. And let me tell you what. When I got to mile 6 I was SO THANKFUL that I only had 7 miles to go - not 20!! I may do another marathon someday, but not anytime soon.

We crossed the finish line together at 2 hours and 22 minutes. Not too bad. The amount of food at the finish was staggering. Puts all other events that I have run in to shame. But since I felt like throwing up at the mere sight of food I just gathered some goodies for the girls, got my rose, sapling (which is now planted in our backyard), pendant & charm, and long-sleeved shirt and met my support crew.

We re-boarded the "train" (by far Etta's favorite part of the entire weekend) and headed back to the hotel for a shower before leaving town. Next time, part III.

Andrea and I posing for our post-race shot. Mae was dead set on using my finisher's medal as a teething toy. Boy, she really went to town on it!