How Sweet It Is...

This is the first in a short series of entries regarding the marathon last weekend. Naturally, I'll start with the events leading up to the event. The first thing is the HUGE surprise I received on Friday afternoon. While working with students in my office, someone brought me a big fruit bouquet! It looked so delicious; I wanted to eat it right then and there. It was full of cantaloupe and honeydew slices, strawberries (both with and without chocolate), pineapples, and grapes. When I looked at the attached note, I was thrilled to see it came from my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. They wanted to make sure I carbo-loaded in style! When I got it home, I took these photos (click on them to see larger versions). What they don't show well is how large this thing is...or how heavy. It was at least 2 feet tall and the fruit spikes were stuck into a head of lettuce. We had to take it apart to get it into the fridge. It took 3 storage containers! By the way, the fruit was delicious!!

Later that evening, we went to pick up my registration stuff (bib, shirt, goodie bag, etc.). That was pretty fun and not as difficult as I thought it would be. No waiting in line. Later, we drove to the airport to pick up my parents, who came out to lend their support...more on my support crew in another blog in this series.

Saturday, we enjoyed spending time together as a family and preparing for the marathon the next day. The support crew worked on their signs, which would come in very handy (a little foreshadowing for a later entry). I also received an email from my South Dakota support crew. My very talented 17 month-old nephew sent me his first email and this photo to show his support. He said I was going to be the "bestest runner."


More on the support crew and Marathon Day coming soon...

Christopher