On the road again, and a tribute to Sherry

Here we are, in yet another hotel.  Again.  Marriott and Hilton are beginning to love us, I do believe!  Hubby is on a work trip in his hometown, so the kids and I decided to hitch a ride.  We got into town last night, ate dinner with my in-laws, and came back to swim in the hotel pool.  Now we're relaxing after a large continental breakfast, getting ready to swim more and meet a friend and the neighboring McDonald's Playland.  Yep, we're classy, be jealous.

Aside from seeing family this weekend, another awesome thing coming out of it is that I planned an impromptu half marathon!  I registered two days ago, and I'll run the Strawberry Plains Half Marathon this Saturday morning.  I'm really excited to be able to just jump into such a long distance without fear.  In fact, I almost got a bit cocky about it.  Of course, once I got my confidence up on Tuesday to register for it, I felt both of my shins retaliate against me on Wednesday.  I switched my stride to forefoot because of all of the recent studies, and I think my shins are still recovering from the upped mileage for marathon training.  So, despite my urge to go downstairs to the hotel gym and run on a fancy treadmill, I'm forcing myself to take it easy until Saturday.  Thanks to my sweet hubby, I even got to sit in the hot tub last night and put the jets on my inner shins.  Amazing!

So working against me Saturday already are my shins, and now maybe my wardrobe.  I've been in over the moon running in NC/SC climates lately, and I'm often the only runner out there in shorts and short sleeves.  In the 40's, I'm in heaven!  So I packed my outfit for Saturday with short sleeves and an option of compression shorts or capris.  Well, now there is a freak storm coming in and they're calling for snow flurries.  And weather in the upper 20's.  Awesome.  I see a trip to Marshall's activewear sale racks in my very near future.

But even with my shins and the damn cold, I will finish my race proudly.  Right after I registered and the odds started stacking against me, I got invited to run a virtual race on Saturday morning (at the same time as my race starts) for Sherry Arnold.  If you don't know about her, she is a runner who got abducted less than a mile from her home last month.  It's a heartbreaking story, and it has shaken women runners nation wide.  And on Saturday, we'll run for her.  I thought karma was telling me Wednesday that I shouldn't have gotten my confidence up so high, but really it was telling me that I had something more important to do at that race.  So no matter how much I hurt or how cold I get, it'll be totally worth it.  And that is what running is all about.

If you want to run for Sherry this weekend (Saturday is the virtual race, but I'm sure Sunday will be just as awesome), you can learn more about it on her cousin's blog Shut Up + Run. 

Now, I'm off to find my swimsuit and get in a bit of splash time before our classy McDonald's lunch date.  That is, if the kids will stop playing with the hotel phones....