500 FESTIVAL MINI MARATHON: THE TRIP

Beer run Friday early afternoon. Bonnie, Hilary, Jerry, Me, Cat, Nancy, and Paige!

There is no way to fit my whole entire weekend into one post so I'm going to make two: one about the race and one about the rest of the trip with my Solemates. This post will be the later about our shenanigans while in Indianapolis.

As I mentioned in my previous post, this race weekend really snuck up on me. Luckily I was able to get packed without incident the night before and my flight to Indianapolis on Thursday went off without a hitch with a quick layover in Minneapolis. I didn't get into Indianapolis until 8pm but a few of my teammates were there to great me at the airport including Hilary, Cat, Katie, and Jerry (Katie's husband). After a quick ride back to the hotel to meet everyone else it was off to Chipotle for a late dinner.

Hilary, me, and Martha! This is post-race, the pictures aren't
necessarily going to be in order.

It was so great to see everyone again! Most of us hadn't seen each other for over a year since Ragnar SoCal but we didn't miss a beat. Having the Facebook group really helps us all stay in touch and it was awesome to actually see everyone again. Unfortunately there were a few that couldn't make it, but overall we got an appearance from 8 out of 12 Solemates. It wasn't just Solemates though, Rik and his wife Cynthia (from the Fat to Finish Line documentary) were there, Nancy (close with a couple Solemates), Katie's sister Jeanie and sister in law Becky (along with some of their friends)... I think that's it? Needless to say, we had a pretty big group overall!

Friday was pretty low key by design. I slept in late, had some breakfast my teammies had saved for me, then joined everyone on a beer run. There was a liquor store not too far away that had a good selection of beers, so after some hemming and hawing, we were headed back to the hotel with our beer. After that it was time to hit up the Mini Marathon Expo to pick up our bibs and packets. Been to one, been to them all. Nothing too special to note.

After that it was time for dinner at Buca Di Beppo. Enormous dishes of food we ordered and we all shared. It was REALLY good! I ate too much (of course), but luckily it was an early dinner and I had time to digest. After that, we waddled back to the hotel, had a drink at happy hour, then retired to our hotel rooms. I ended up going to the bathroom around this time, which was really exciting. I did not want to run with three days of food choices still in me. Anyways, that greatly improved my outlook on the race the next day. We went to bed at 11 but I tossed and turned until 3am. I don't travel to the East Coast well.

The gang at Buca Di Beppo!

Morning was race time! More on that in another post! After I was done I cheered for the rest of the group to finish. We then split up, some of us going to the new Avengers movie (including me) and others going on a journey to eat some frozen yogurt with copious toppings. Those were concluded by 4pm or so, and the rest of the night was spent drinking and socializing. Dean made his surprise appearance which was super awesome. We played Cards Against Humanity before everyone was too tired and went to bed.

The next morning most everyone left (sad panda) but I still had another day and a half on my trip. I rode back with Katie and Jerry to their place. I had a direct flight out of Detroit Monday night, so in the meantime they showed me around their neck of the woods a little. I was able to meet Katie's pets and kids, which are basically mini-celebrities themselves after reading about them on the blog for so many years. For dinner we went out to a local bar called The Point which had some really good chicken wings. We also got to play with their dog Joey in a pretty marsh near their house. It was a fun, low key night.

Post race Jerry faces!

Monday morning I woke up to donuts from a local bakery. They were really good! After that we went to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn. That was really interesting. It wasn't just about cars, it had all sorts of historical items from furniture to planes to toys. Unfortunately Jerry had to leave to go pick up the kids from school. I thought that was the last I'd see of him, but a text that afternoon would alter things a little bit. My flight was going to be two hours late. Why, oh why, does my flight home always get delayed? I think that's four vacations in a row!

Fortunately, I wasn't too bummed about this one. It'd get me home later than I wanted at 12:30am, but meant that I'd get to experience a few more things in Michigan. After the museum we went to La Pita, which Katie has made famous on her blog, and it did not disappoint. The garlic sauce there was to die for! I ate a bunch of it and became a fire breathing garlic dragon. Sorry everyone in my vicinity during the next 24 hours. The food was really good but I also ate too much, which is kind of a theme, leaving me feeling a little queasy for an hour or so.

After the meal we met back up with Jerry, who brought the kids, and went to Speedway to play miniature golf and race go karts. That was a lot of fun and it was nice to play a mini-golf course that wasn't the three around here I've played 89 million times. Next was go karts, which was also fun, although they all seemed to go the exact same speed so I didn't get to pass anyone or have anyone try to pass me. Their "track" was way better than Malibu or Bullwinkle's here though.

Margaritas on Saturday night. Yum!

The night was not over yet! Jerry took the kids back home and Katie and I made a quick stop at a bar on the way to the airport. It is owned by some old childhood friends of hers and it was fun to meet the guy working there (his name escapes me). Anyways, after an hour or so, it was onto the airport. The flight home was without a hitch, other than the previously mentioned delay. It is pretty cool you can hop on a plane in Detroit, Michigan and be home in Portland, Oregon in four hours. Air travel is pretty neat!

Overall, a very fun trip. It was great to see all my Solemates again and also meet all my new friends. I cannot wait until the next reunion!