Another (and Almost Definitely Last) Peachtree Road Race.....

Last year on the 4th of July I wrote about participating in my first ever Peachtree Road Race, item #19 on my 50 Things to Do list.

I don't have a good explanation of why I chose to do it this year. Perhaps it's because when the race lottery is posted in March, the 4th of July seems forever away and all things seem possible. It could also be due to the psychological factor of "winning" the lottery to get in the race.

(Seriously? We WON something? Then why do I feel as though someone BEAT me?)

Because my friend Sara, the one who participated with me last year, gave birth on May 18th of this year, I talked Katydid into doing the race with me. We agreed to walk, not run, just so she could enjoy suffer endure the experience. And get the t-shirt. It's all about the t-shirt.

(I chose NOT to model the t-shirt. You can thank me later.) I wasn't crazy about the color, either off-white or cream. I like the colorful logo, but the background color was underwhelming.

The ubiquitous porta-potties.

This isn't at the race start. It isn't even at the race pre-start staging area. This is just walking TOWARD the race and looking for our start wave.

Huge American flag at the start line. With the view blemished by: A) the crane holding it up; B) the wind blowing the flag; C) the street signs; and D) the STOP/WALK sign held by a volunteer letting the group know when to move from one cattle pen staging area to the next. 

Waiting for the race to start. They suggest getting to the start line an hour before your start wave. There's a lot of waiting. And walking.

The race rules specifically state that participants are not to wear costumes, but how do you police that? I know the guy in this shot in the American flag costume had to be miserably hot. I was assigned to start wave "N," but Katydid was in "P." You can move DOWN, but not UP, so I left with the "P" group.

Another attempt at getting a shot of Old Glory in all her ... glory. Almost all the flaws of the previous shot, with the addition of shooting into the sun, which I realize is a photography no-no. And I'm not even capable of yes-yes shots, so I should have known better than to take this one. Just to show you the real me, warts and all as my mother would say.

I am really bummed about the picture above. This was my favorite sign all day long, and the words don't show up. I not only laughed out loud, I turned around and went BACK to take this (admittedly crappy) photo. The sign said, "Worst Parade Ever." Love it.

This was also a favorite. (Am I allowed to have two favorites? I hope so, because like children, I really don't want to have to choose.)

I don't know why the race hurt so much more this year than last, but I have a few theories.

• Last year I had done several 5K races, and I had run in the park a few times. This year, because my hips got so sore last year, I haven't run ANY, and I've only done a couple of 5Ks, both months ago. I've continued to cycle and walk in the park, but perhaps I need some occasional running if I am to do a 10K race. Which I probably won't be doing anymore anyway.
• I wore the same shoes as last year, which means they've got quite a few miles on them, and that means they are pretty much broken down and someone with a college education should know better than to walk 6.2 miles in them. But I've got a painful corn between two of my toes (sorry for the less-than-pleasant image), and my other two good pairs of shoes are very uncomfortable on that toe. 
• This might be a stretch, but perhaps WALKING the race was worse on my body than RUNNING. Sure it was less impact, but it also made the overall experience significantly longer. 
• The weather was warmer than last year, although it eased somewhat from the dangerously high temperatures in the 100's that we had last week. Race conditions started at a "moderate" level, but they were changed to "high" during the race, meaning heat-related incidents were more likely to occur.

Something else was different from last year, and I'm going to have to do some research to verify it. After the race ended today, signs directed us back to the MARTA train station. I'm pretty sure it was AT LEAST another 4 miles that we walked, and I'm pretty sure Sara and I didn't walk that far last year. Maybe she and I found a different station last year, and this year Katydid and I simply followed the signs. That walk back to the train station was more painful than the whole rest of the race put together.

And I think I'm done with Peachtree Road Races. It's not like I'm going to take up running on a regular basis, and doing this one race a year isn't worth it. It means I miss most of the 4th of July festivities with the family (even if it IS Hubby's family), and like I told Sweet Girl, I don't have the energy to take up another obsession. I'll stick with BRAG and other cycling events and leave the Peachtree Road Race to the youngsters.

And the Kenyans and Ethiopians.

Random Pre-4th of July Thoughts....

Blogging from the iPad, so it will be short. You're welcome.

I think the guy who does the Ford commercials is sexy.

It has poured rain in our area today, and I am thrilled.

I made a 7-letter word in Words with Friends today. ("reimaged")

I have to use HTML code to put line breaks in blog posts on the iPad. I hate HTML code. I'm not even sure it works yet.

I got Jezebel back from the bike shop yesterday. I've never been so happy to see an inanimate object in my life. I celebrated by taking a 40-mile ride today.

Katydid and I are "running" in the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta tomorrow, along with 60,000 other folks.

I prefer for Chipper Jones to chew gum instead of having that wad of ... whatever ... in his cheek.

I left the shopping for tomorrow's celebration up to Hubby since A) they're HIS family; and B) I won't even be there until after the pool party starts. He bought three different kinds of chips, a box of crackers, and some cubed cheese.

If I had realized the bike ride in Wisconsin would be the same week as the Olympic Games, I might have put off riding in that one to next year. For once I will be glad Hubby insists on taking the satellite dish in the RV.

Goodnight!

Two More Things......

I omitted two important items from yesterday's mid-year review:

• I'm about one-third of the way finished with the baby afghan for Sweet Girl's friend. I'm way ahead of schedule on that.

• I finally made it through the castle after World 8-3 in Mario Brothers. I know y'all were wondering about that. 

I was thinking earlier about some memorable July 4th holidays.

One year I was supposed to get married that day. It was on a Saturday, and he had ONE job: find someone to perform the ceremony. I didn't care if it was a preacher, a justice of the peace, or a defrocked convicted felon. Well maybe I would have cared about that last one. All our friends knew we were getting married that day. When did he start looking for someone to marry us? At 2:00. That day. Someone please, please, please, please, please tell me why I still married him at the courthouse two days later. Never mind. Just shoot me. Better yet, shoot HIM. For those who are relatively new to my blog: I am NOT referring to my current Hubby in that story.

In my FIRST marriage, we thought about going to the Braves' game on July 4th in 1985. We eventually decided not to go, which is probably a good thing, since it went 19 innings and wasn't over until 4:00 AM. I'm sure my then-husband had to work the next day. Oh wait.... I wasn't a teacher then. I'm sure I had to work the next day too. Imagine the surprise of the people who lived near the stadium, when the powers-that-be decided the post-game fireworks would go on as scheduled. Only it was 4:00 AM the next day.

More recently, in this marriage (2003 or 2004 I think), Weesa and her boyfriend had bought a boat, and all of us went to Lake Lanier to watch the fireworks on the lake. On the way down to the dam, I asked Hubby, "How do we get back?" He started pointing out landmarks to me, things to notice on the trip down that would help guide us back. I didn't say anything, but I was thinking, "But it'll be DARK." Sure enough, after the fireworks were over, we had no idea how to get back to where we had parked. Weesa's boyfriend went through a no-wake zone too fast, and the boat police stopped us. Good thing they did, or we would STILL be wandering around Lake Lanier. They didn't give us a ticket, and they led us back to our car. We never went back out on the boat again.

One year Sweet Girl, Hubby and I drove up to a popular spot for July 4th fireworks. It is near the interstate at a winery, and tons of people used to go see the fireworks there. We were pleasantly surprised when we drove up and there was plenty of parking. In fact, we had the parking lot all to ourselves. The fireworks display had been presented the night before.

Happy Independence Day Eve!

Please say a prayer for me tomorrow morning, as I join approximately 60,000 other people in the Peachtree Road Race. I've never done a 10K before. I don't expect a good finishing time; I just want to live through it.

The INDEPENDENCE Day That Almost Was......

Twenty-two years ago today, I ALMOST made the best decision of my life.

I had lost my mind and decided to marry a jerk, a tyrant, an @$$hole, all wrapped up in one. Please just shoot me now rather than make me remember this.

Nothing big, just a civil ceremony.

He had one job. ONE. That was to find someone to marry us.

At around 2:00 in the afternoon of the 4th, he started calling random preachers he had heard of in passing. Along with a redneck dude who called himself the "Mayor of Struggleville" and had been a justice of the peace, but could no longer perform marriage ceremonies.

I told him to get his %*!$ out of my car, my house, and my life.

But our "friends" were at our local hangout, and they were expecting us to get married that day.

So I relented, and we even pretended that we HAD gotten married that day. We went to the courthouse on Monday instead. It was two weeks later when I finally told my mother.

God, will I forever wish I had stuck to my guns on that Fourth of July.

May all your Fourth of July memories be happy ones. Mine have been, ever since 1997.