6.7 miles

Check out this loot! I'd been led to believe that the goody bag for the 3M Half Marathon and Relay was the best on the running circuit in Austin and I must say that I was not led astray. The bag was a glory to behold as each item pulled out resulted in another "oooh!" or "looky! more Post-its!" from my giddy self. The girl at RunTex seemed to be just as excited for us, "It's like going to The Container Store!". Tape, glue, flexible fabric bandaids, earplugs, Post-its of every shape, color and size. Oh, and a cool shirt. Worth the training and effort RIGHT THERE.


I was less excited when I had to get up and venture into the cold at 5:30 am. Happy though that I wasn't having to coordinate a helmet, swim cap, tri-suit, etc...So easy. Get dressed. Make a PBJ for breakfast. Leave.


Wait for an hour at the relay exchange point. Indoors - heated, and with friends. CCC looked like she could have gone the whole distance when she dashed up and sent CC and me on our way. We whiled away the time avoiding slippery banana peels (who planned that one?), maneuvering among the herd of people, and wondering why folks need to carry their own personal 4 water bottles when water/gatorade is offered every 2 miles? There were mariachis, bagpipers (in kilts! but that was on the first leg...lucky CCC!), people with cow bells to complete the feeling of being in a herd, lots of encouraging supporters, and accordian players in lederhosen. What fun!

It was a bit disappointing that the relayers didn't rate a medal at the end. They could've given out a medal that looked like those friendship charms with the zigzag cutout down the middle with "Re" on one side and "Lay" on the other. But I suppose I wouldn't want the side that says "Lay". People might get the wrong idea.


I liked the running. Maybe more than the bike ride. Guess I'll just have to do some more of both to figure out which I like better.