My marathon weekend, which just so happened to be my birthday weekend was a whirlwind and it started with this…

Yes, that is a picture of my car being towed away.  I had just picked up the CIM (California International Marathon) booth gear from Sacramento and was on my way to Roseville to drop off the daughter when all of the sudden my check engine light went off.  I was rounding a roundabout, so I was braking.  When I tried to press on the gas pedal to accelerate, nothing happened.  Yes, nothing.

To make a long story short, I ended up calling the Mercedes Benz service department and they sent a tow truck my way. I rode in the tow truck and my husband met me at the service department to give me a ride home.  We ended up getting home at about 8:30pm.  I still had to pack and prepare for my weekend away to Modesto.  I ended up getting to bed at about 10:30pm.

Saturday

My parents are amazing!  Since they knew I had a marathon to get to, they drove over one of their cars for me to borrow.  By 6:15am, I was in the borrowed car making my way to Modesto.

I arrived to the expo in Modesto at 8:30am.  This gave me an hour and a half to set up the CIM booth before that expo started at 10am.  I had never set up the CIM booth before, nor even remembered seeing a picture of it set up before, so I really had no clue what I was doing.  Fortunately, these wonderful volunteers jumped to my aid!  Such a blessing!

The doors opened up at 10am and it was a blur from that point on!  I talked with hundreds of people, passed out my CIM discount code (RUNSTRONG10), and tried to hydrate as much as possible.  One of my first highlights at the CIM booth was meeting Daniell (IG:daniellvecchione) in person! We, of course, were both rocking our Pro Compression socks!

Another one of my highlights from the day came by way of Chris Koch.  It’s people such as him who inspire me to keep on moving forward, to give back, and to make the most of what life throws your way!  See that skateboard of his?  It’s that same skateboard that propels him to complete marathons in under 4 and a half hours!

By about noon, my stomach started growling.  I picked up my purse to go out and try to find food when all of the sudden a gentleman came by with a menu and said, “Here’s our menu.  We’re delivering food to the booths.”  It was like he read my mind!  I perused the menu, found a vegetarian / vegan section, and opted for the vegan BBQ “pork” sandwich (it was actually shredded jack fruit).

Before I knew it, my food was delivered directly to my booth.  It was the most delicious sandwich I have ever eaten!  The pickled cabbage, the soft vegan bun, the tasty “meat”… it was all amazing!  If you’re ever in the Modesto area, you need to check out Ralston’s Goat.

Even though I just commented on how delicious the sandwich was, it was actually quite difficult to fully enjoy it since I was trying to nonchalantly eat it in the corner of the booth.  I didn’t want to miss anyone coming up to get information about CIM, so I would take a bite and then talk to some people.  After a few minutes, I’d take another bite and then talk to some more people.  This is how it continued for about an hour, if not more.

Later in the afternoon, I decided to go explore some of the expo area.  I, of course, just HAD to get a jumping pic while holding my bib!

When I returned back to the CIM booth, this gentleman stopped by and right away I said, “Hey!  Nice shirt!”  Once I found out that we share the same birthday, I just had to get a pre-birthday picture.  (We were both running the Modesto Marathon the next day on our birthday.)

While I was talking to my birthday twin, two more gentlemen walked up rocking their CIM shirts!  Again, I just HAD to get a pic.  😉

At about 4pm, Kelly arrived at the Modesto Marathon.  It was so great to see her!  We grabbed our bibs and snapped a picture.

I was at the Modesto Marathon expo from 10am – 5pm.  It was incredibly fun, but also incredibly exhausting!  I was ready to check in to the hotel, grab dinner, and put my feet up.  Fortunately, CIM booth tear-down proved to be a whole lot easier than set-up. I was packed up and ready to go within 15 minutes!

Kelly and I checked into our hotel room and made out way to Olas Mexicali Grill.  If there’s one type of food that I could eat everyday for the rest of my life, it’d be Mexican food.  I’m always in the mood for Mexican food!  This taco salad from Olas Mexicali Grill was amazing and their chips were perfectly salted with just the right crispiness!

As Kelly and I were driving back to our hotel after dinner, we saw a Chevy Camaro Limousine parked in the parking lot.  I said, “Come on Kelly, let’s get a picture!”  I pulled over, we jumped out, talked with the limousine driver, and got our picture.  I sent my husband the picture and said, “Look!  I ride in style.”  He actually believed me!  It wasn’t until the next day that I told him the truth about the limo.

Before heading back to our hotel, we stopped by CVS to purchase some bottled water. While there, Kelly also purchased me a “cake” by way of birthday cake Oreos.  Yum!

We laid out our gear for the next morning, snapped a picture, waited for the noise of the dance party to end at 10pm, and then went to bed.  My alarm was set for 5am and I knew Sunday was going to be another jam-packed  day!

*This is part one of my Modesto Marathon weekend.  Part two, race day, is coming soon.