let's go...GNO

so yeah, i was completely dreading this half that i hadn't done a lick of training for.  bah.

BUT - i still managed to find things about it to be excited for.  like, since it was the costume party run, that meant i'd get to put on something silly that would distract me from the inevitable agony i'd be in for 13.1 miles.  although i didn't want to go crazy - i couldn't afford to be uncomfortable on top of everything else.  and so i went the super easy route and put this together:

plus, with the run being in san diego, that meant i finally had the chance to visit my friend kelley and her family at their new place down in beautiful solana beach.  and because she's awesome, she was more than willing to let me crash there for the night.  not to mention, i managed to talk her into doing the 5K, so it was like we were running buddies again.  yay!

after hastily throwing shit into an overnight bag, kissing my family goodbye and grabbing a starbucks for the road, i hopped into the car and made my way down to san diego.  i wanted to get to packet pick-up so that i didn't have to worry about grabbing our bibs in the morning, and the navigation told me that i'd make it to the venue in plenty of time.  

while i did hit some traffic along the way, i turned up the music and had a solo dance party in the car as i sipped my iced espresso and drove merrily along.  and i made it to the giant running store with plenty of time to spare:

when i got to kelley's, she was relaxing after leaving her husband and kid at a family party that was guaranteed to be raging for hours.  we sat on the couch and chatted and caught up on each other's lives for a bit before deciding to head out in search of some pre-race grub.

oh - and how sweet is this?  not only did her kid happily give up his room for the night, but he helped her pick up a few things to make me feel at home.  i smile every time i think about this:

after driving up the coast for a bit and going over the various options for dinner, we decided to avoid the crowds and headed to a local place that they visit often as a family:

she was so funny, apologizing over and over for not bringing me somewhere really cool on the beach, but i didn't care.  the menu looked great, we were seated immediately, and the service was great.  we started out with the burrata and prosciutto appetizer.  so delicious.

i opted for something that would fill me up and hopefully give me plenty of fuel for the morning - the braised short ribs with whipped potatoes.  uh, YUM.

kelley decided to play it super safe and went with a cup of soup and this fabulous-looking caesar salad with grilled chicken.

and then we capped it all off with a scoop of gelato - chocolate hazelnut for me, fresh mint for her.

we spent some more time back at her place gabbing and sipping on water, got ready for bed, and hit the pillows fairly early.  

hey, even if i was completely terrified of running the race, at least i got to enjoy myself the night before, yes?