The Road to Richmond.

So the last time I wrote about running (and not leaves), was over a month ago. So this entry will be the road leading up to Richmond.

On Wednesday, 11/5 (or maybe it was Thursday), I went to the gym.  Nothing exciting...a 3 mile run. I may have been aiming for 4, but something about the run felt off.  My groin hurt.  Of course I finished the run, because it was "just" 3 miles.  The next few days I hobbled.

Saturday, D and I went to the Silver Comet for the last short-long run of 10 miles.  True to form, I had trouble in Mile 9-10.  And my groin hurt in Miles 1-3.  But it warmed up after the first 3 miles.  I finally didn't have to see any more leaves.  I felt comfortable with my time.  3 more small training runs and I'd be ready.  So later in the day, my groin really hurt.  We took Scuttlebutt out for some beers (us not him) to celebrate the Life of Porter, and I got some Honey Waffle things at the running store.  At one restaurant, I could barely get out of the chair, and when waiting for the bathroom, the manager told me about one upstairs, and I just laughed.

Scuttlebutt at The Square Pub

Me and SB at Twain's

D and SB at Twain's

None of those small runs happened.  Wearing compression pants, and going through a 200 count bottle of Advil did.

So Friday, 11/14 we drove up to Richmond. I had stopped talking about my leg, in hopes the pain would go away.  It was rather a boring 8 hour drive.  And I have to say that South Virginia is one of the worst offenders of leaves.  You are separated by a median of trees with huge trees on both side of you with cops every few hundred feet hiding.  Yeah, yeah.

Probably the most exciting thing on the drive to Richmond (this is Gaffney, SC)

D and I finally made it to Richmond.  We were meeting our friend V there.  She decided to take a bus tour of the route. When we got to our hotel (we stayed at 2 different ones), D and I couldn't park so we just went to the Expo.  It was packed.  The layout was odd.  You got your number up front. Then you had to go to the other end of the Arthur Ashe Center to get your shirt.  I only noticed this because of my leg.  We debated whether to get D a throwaway hat, but we couldn't find one that wasn't pink, or said, "I run like a girl," or one that didn't cost $30.  He said he would be fine, so we wandered a little more.  We found the Kentucky Derby Marathon Table and got a code to sign up for that with a discount.  Then we left, because it was so crowded.

V was now at her hotel, so we offered to pick her up and go get dinner.  All together now, we went to dinner.  Now D and I had eaten pizza for 30 weeks every Friday, so we were in a ritual.  V eats Eggplant Parm with spaghetti prior to a race. She's in a ritual.  We had found a restaurant prior to leaving our respective homes/states, and that's where we went.  D dropped us off and went to park.  On the way into the restaurant, I told V that she was not to comment on the way I was walking. I was in a lot of pain.  I told V not to order anything, because this didn't seem to be the place (I didn't see her Eggplant Parm).  The place told us the sit-down restaurant was next door.  We go over.  The guy was nice enough, and we were at the right place.  V orders a wine and D and I order beer.  The guy hands us a menu. There is no pizza or Eggplant Parm on the menu.  Again, I look at the website.  Really?  We ask the man, and they had changed to another type of restaurant (not Italian).  But you have PIZZA in your name.  Where is it?  We paid for our drinks and left (after D found another place).  We got there and it was packed but they had pizza and eggplant parm.  It was across the street from Mellow Mushroom.  The pizza was delicious.  The beer was delicious. (The delicious beer, pizza, and eggplant parm place was Mary Angela's.)

Pre-Race Ritual of Guinness and Pizza (and Eggplant Parm)

We finished eating, packed up a to-go box, dropped V off (with some beer we brought her) and checked into our hotel.  We got ready for the race (with me not knowing what to wear (and not knowing if I could run)), and went to bed at about 830.