Savannah - Day One - 11/2/12
/Tearing up just thinking of last weekend... So sorry for the delay on the Rock 'n' Roll Savannah Marathon weekend recap! Emotions and life have come in the way of getting this post done sooner.
But here goes Day One!!
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We headed to the airport at 4:30am. So yes this story starts wicked early in the morning.
I think I look pretty put together for that early in the day ... and representin' the blog with my Sweatybands headband!
And of course I was giving my wife the "Oh really" face that she loves so much. :P
After getting my final Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee of the weekend, it was time to chillax at the gate.
How cruel putting us right next to Harpoon IPA when it was closed.
RUDE!
We had two flights to get to Savannah - layover in Atlanta. In a truly "small world" moment, I spotted a Weight Watchers Leader I knew on each flight. One sitting across the aisle from me as she headed to the Dominican Republic.
I want to thank the second flight's Flight Attendants and Pilots for giving a special shout-out to all the runners on the plane!
We landed in Savannah and headed straight to the hotel. After immediately unpacking my clothes for the next day's marathon
It was time to hit the hotel gym for a quick 2-mile run (to shake out the legs after the long morning flights)!
Boy was it weird running on a treadmill - I hadn't done it in AGES.
Finally, it was time to check out the local cuisine (we hit up Wild Wing Cafe - delicious) and then headed to the John P. Rousakis Riverfront to catch the ferry to the Expo.
It was the first Rock 'n' Roll expo where there was a Half Marathon and a Marathon happening so the wife and I headed to separate areas to collect our numbers.
Of course, I made her take my standard "Countdown" pic!
I had read that KT Tape was going to be at the Expo and since I missed them at the RnR Chicago Expo I was determined to finally try them out at this time.
After picking up some Sport Jelly Beans since I of course forgot mine at home, we headed to the KT Tape booth.
I had to choose blue. I was really hoping it would help my knee, which had been sore for the previous two weeks. Thankfully nothing sharp, but a more dull constant pain.
After checking out the locations/dates for the RnR races in 2013, we think we are going to try and hit up the Rock 'n' Roll Los Angeles Half around Halloween. It is time to check out some new cities. :)
We got back in what seemed like the never-ending line to reboard the ferry and head back to downtown Savannah.
I will say RnR did a great job keeping the ferries moving so people didn't lose too much time standing in lines to board.
We arrived back to Savannah's famous River Street and did a little carboloading with a local brew from The Warehouse...
... and enjoyed Savannah's lack of an open container law.
Can I just say how odd yet awesome it was walking around with my beer? You don't want to chug or leave your beer behind - restaurants/bars give you a To-Go cup. My kind of city!
As we wandered back to our hotel, we set out to find the Start Line for the following morning and check out the historic Bay St.
We made it back to the hotel to settle in before our friend Michelle and my dad both landed/met us for dinner.
We went to Molly Macpherson's Scottish Pub & Grill for dinner. Why you may ask? They had a nice spaghetti dinner going on for runners.
It was great having everyone in one place the night before the race so we could come up with a game plan for the next morning: pre and post race meetups.
I also loved how almost every bar and restaurant in Savannah were so welcoming and supportive of the runners in town.
After getting back to the hotel, it was time for a little compression time with Zensah...
... before doing my #plankaday and setting the alarms for the morning!
