Austin Marathon & Half Marathon Expo

Well, I was supposed to work a double shift last night, but when I arrived for my second shift, I was told I wasn't even on the schedule...not that I was extra...but that I wasn't even on the schedule.  What?  They better pay me for my minimum 2 hours for showing up since I was told last week by these supervisors that I was working last night.  Good thing I still have the email stating that!  2 hours isn't as nice as 8 hours on the paycheck, but it's better than no hours.

So, since I didn't work the double I was expecting to work last night, I got to sleep last night.  This is really good because all the experts say that it's not the sleep you get the night before a race that is most important, it's the sleep you get 2 nights before the race.  Most people don't sleep well the night before a race anyway due to race jitters and general excitement about the race.  I usually don't have a problem sleeping the night before a race, but why not be as well prepared as possible, right?

Since I didn't have to work until 6 this morning, that meant I got a fairly normal night's sleep.  I just let myself wake up when my body said it was fully rested...which was at about 9:45.  I got up and got ready and headed to the expo.  I had budgeted myself $100 to spend at the expo.  I went hoping to find a set of arm warmers and that Hippie Runner would have a booth so I could buy a couple more expandable gear belts.  I found a set of solid pink arm warmers for $10.  I could have gotten some One More Mile arm warmers with funny quotes on them, but they were almost twice as much, so I just went with the cheaper ones.  Hippie Runner did not have a booth, so I didn't get any new gear belts.  Boo.  I stopped into the Brooks/Luke's Locker area and perused their clothing racks.  I found a Nike running shirt and an Anue tank that I really liked.  They were both on the clearance rack, so they were already about half price, plus, everything in the store area was an additional 20% off.  So, both the shirt and tank were $26 after tax.  Nice.

BondiBand was there and, as many of you may know, I have a bunch of BondiBand headbands.  I didn't know that they made balaclavas!!!  Well, they don't call them balaclavas, I think the lady just called it a neck warmer, but it's the same thing.  Theirs seemed to be more insulating than the one I bought at Gander Mtn the other day, so I bought one.  It needs a wash though, the fabric smells funny.  Haha!

I love stars!!!

I also bought a new headband (ha, like I really needed anymore!!!).  It's sparkly pink cheetah print!  Love it!

There were 2 booths that had running related stickers for sale, however, neither one had a "couch" sticker.  One had a 0.0 sticker, but that's not as funny as one that says "couch."  I'll have to see if I can find one on the internet somewhere. 

I've gotten myself all messed up here.  The first thing I did when I arrived at the expo was pick up my race packet.  That way, I'd have a bag to put my purchases in.  I arrive at the packet pickup area and you stand in line based on your bib number.  There was a sign telling you what website to go to look up your bib number.  the half marathon numbers went from 6000 to 15,000.  I looked up my number and it was 7241.  Pretty low...and then I remembered that when I registered, I did it within the first 24 hours AND I was one of the first 1000 people to register, so, yea, my number is gonna be low.  Nice.  The bibs are very attractive and this is the first time I've had a bib that had my name on it!!!  I feel all fancy! 

At the expo, I only spent about $65, which was $35 less than I had budgeted for....SCORE!  So, I ran by Academy afterward to grab a couple new sports bras.  When I got home, I put together my outfit for tomorrow.  I'm feelin' the pink for this one!  Yellow would have been fun, but pink it is!

you can see my new sparkly pink cheetah print headband

Oh, and I ran into a coworker at the expo...while I was waiting for the dressing rooms to try on the shirt and tank to make sure they looked good on me before buying them.  He's run this race before so he warned me that it's hilly and hard, but he said I would do just fine.  It was really cool to run into him!  When he and I worked the same shift like 9.5 years ago, we used to workout on our lunch hours together. 

One of the freebie things I received at the expo was a 2013-2014 race schedule.  Obviously this isn't going to have EVERY race out there, just the ones that pay to be in it, probably.  Anyway, I've said I have plans to run my first full marathon at the RNR Las Vegas this year (Nov 16).  I've also said that if I can't financially make the trip, then I will run the full at either the Dallas Marathon or the RNR San Antonio in December.  Well, I know what day the Dallas Marathon is on now: MY BIRTHDAY!!!  If I can't make the RNRLV, I am *definitely* doing the Dallas Marathon.  What better birthday present to myself than to do my first full marathon?  I can't think of a better one.  So, now I'm kind of hoping I can't afford the trip to Vegas (sorry Kim!).  If I do that, I still want to run the full in Vegas, so maybe I'd do it next year if I don't do it this year.  Oh, and the Army Marathon happens here in Texas in March.  It's way too soon for me to run it this year, but maybe I can do it next year?