Expo & Bayfest

Boy did I have a busy weekend!  It was a great idea to take Monday off from work because it acted as my weekend day for getting things done.  Saturday started bright and early, Angela met me at my front door at 7am on the dot.  We wanted to get up to the Broad St Run Expo early so that we wouldn't have to battle too many crowds or too much traffic.  We stopped at the Harley Dawn Diner on the way for breakfast.

We got up to Lincoln Financial field (where the Eagles play) in Philly around 9am and it was already pretty packed.  I can't imagine what other people ran into later in the afternoon.

We found parking pretty easily and made our way up to get our bibs for the race.  Security was letting people in a little at a time; I'm guessing for crowd control which I can respect.  Except that they had us waiting in line in the shade so it was a cold & windy wait.  To add insult to injury the Dunkin Donuts truck was only offering iced coffee!  Angela took a picture of me being miserable & posted it on her blog.  When we finally made it inside we were greeted by a LOT of people.  Luckily the race folks were very organized so it didn't take too long to get our bibs and free (bright yellow) t-shirts.  We did some shopping, I got a new sweat wicking top, a few new flavors of GU, two sweat wicking head bands and a running belt to hold my phone on short runs where I won't need the water belt.

As you can see we ran into Swoop (the Eagles mascot), Angela was registering for the Rock & Roll 1/2 Marathon so I killed some time hanging out with him.  She & Amanda are both planning to do 1/2s in the fall and keep suggesting I join them but I just don't enjoy long runs that much, I'm thinking I may just stick to 5 & 10 ks for a while.  We came across a booth that sells these "sneakers" that are supposed to be great because they're like running barefoot.  I don't really get the draw of them, I like my running shoes to be super padded so these just don't appeal to me but Angela was intrigued so she tried some on.

I was excited to stop at Plato's closet on the way home from the Expo in hopes of selling off some of my clothes that don't fit anymore.  I went in with a huge box full (see Angela's blog for photographic evidence) of summer clothes and figured I'd leave with at least $50.  Well that's not what happened, they only took 2 pairs of shorts and offered me $4!  I was so annoyed, I had items in that box that I saw hanging on their racks and they didn't take them!  Oh well, it was worth a try but I guess now I'm going to have to try ebay.  I'm thinking if I offer items in lots they might sell better.  Like "5 pairs of size 12 Old Navy shorts" with a starting bid of $10...

I hadn't realized that the store is literally next to Vic & Tammy's development!  We stopped in and said hello for a few minutes before our hunger got the best of us and we moved on to lunch.  Angela noticed a Chick-fil-a nearby and convinced me to gothere since we haven't eaten at one in a long time, they closed the store in our area years ago.  It was just as yummy as I remembered from when I was a kid.

We got back to the house around 1pm and soon thereafter Shana came over so we could take a walk down to Bayfest.  It was good to chat with my sister and get some exercise on a nice day.  Bayfest was just as packed if not more so then the run expo.

Bayfest is a totally different experience when you aren't drinking.  I wasn't as rushed or annoyed as previous years.  Plus there that whole part where I didn't fall on my face & break a tooth...  We weren't planning to hang out too long, we made a pit stop at the bar everyone congregates at so we could buy Kelli's sister a beer for her 21st birthday. 

Once we had our fill of the Anchorage parking lot we headed over to Nicole's jewelry booth.

We hung out for a little while but it was almost closing time.  In an effort to make packing up easier for her & Lou we offered to take Jack home with us.  They jumped at the chance to have an extra hand or two and we grabbed the stroller and headed home.  We experienced an unexplainable pull towards Dairy Queen as we walked up Maryland Ave so we stopped for mini-blizzards.  I went with the Butterfinger flavor and it was just the right amount of ice cream.  I normally end up giving Joe 1/2 of mine when I order a small so this worked out nicely.

The rest of my evening was pretty boring because I was trying to relax before the race Sunday morning.  I watched some tv and went to bed nice and early.  My food choices were pretty terrible but I within my limits because I never got hungry for dinner and I burned a lot of calories with all my walking.