ILLINOIS!!! HOT AUGUST, NUMBER 6!!!

Well...this one just about didn't happen! Brian got tapped to go to China and only had 24 hours to pack a bag and git! The project in China went so poorly that he had to stay longer...or so he thought. He booked his flight home on 08/23/2013, flew through the night and arrived in the driveway by limo on 08/24 at 4 pm. I had already signed up for the race the next day but wasn't sure if he felt up to it...but he did, so an hour after he rolled up we rolled out to Batavia to stay with his parents for the night and get up and do the race at 7 am. Brian's sister Laurie picked up my race packet that afternoon and we were able to see her and her 2 new foster puppies (Henry and Gordon) before we went off to bed. Now Brian's parents are in their 80's and they keep their house HOT!!! I slept for a couple of hours, but it was just too hot to really sleep. I don't usually sleep much before a race because, I'm like a 6 year old, just too excited to sleep! I got up, showered, woke Brian, he had a little breakfast and we headed out. We found a good parking spot and went to the bathroom a couple of times. It was hot, but I was prepared. I didn't eat breakfast, not enough time to digest, just ate a Larabar 30 minutes before. And...I was off. I drank all my water, but had placed Brian on the course by his sister's house (that we ran right by) with extra bottles at mile 10. I almost ran by Brian because I was in the zone, then I saw Laurie doing jumping jacks and trying to give away puppies, pulled over, got my water and kept going. This course had a lot of variety. It had some streets, sidewalks, prairie path along the river and even wooden bridges. The only thing I didn't like is when they wound us up hills and around tight curves at the end and I couldn't really kick in the after burners because I had no space.