Eugene Marathon Weekend: Day 1

The hubby, girls and I drove down to Eugene Saturday morning. I had every intention of leaving the house at 7 am but then life interferes and you find yourself triple checking everything you packed, so we didn't get out the door until shortly after 8. It's a 5 hour road trip for us, but Portland is just about 3 hours away so I planned to drive to Portland and then hit up the Woodburn Outlets about 20 miles past Portland. We could get out and stretch out legs, take bathroom breaks, and of course take advantage of shopping with no tax. Our tax rate at home is 8.6% - it really adds up! We hit up Under Armour first but I didn't find any deals that I just couldn't pass us. James did find one pair of shorts so he took those to the register and they had a sign for military discount. Score. Outlet prices, no tax AND a 10% discount = SOLD! After Under Armour we hit up the Nike Outlet and I definitely found a lot that I wanted in there. I ended up getting another pair of running capris, a shirt that says "Get off your A$$" but the $ = running shoes with wings. I saw this shirt online a few weeks ago and thought I was cute so I was happy the outlet had it. Then I grabbed a 3 pack of socks and a short

sleeve tech t that is just plain pink. Again, they had a military discount, SCORE! Maybe James and I can take a roadtrip in the fall and load up on jackets and warmer gear :) We hit up Jamba Juice, and I made a quick stop at Carters for clothes for the girls and then headed back on our way. We did have a minor incident at the car, KK tripped over her own feet and the bottom of her Jamaba Juice cup split open so a pink pool of slush now decorated the black pavement. Thankfully Bailey is pretty willing to share so no fights erupted.

We got to Eugene a little after 2 in the afternoon. The sun was shining, it was 70+ degrees and again I was hit with the beauty of this city. Trees line the streets of developments, there are parks every where you turn, the Willamette River rushing along side you, and people are out biking in full force. It's such an active and happy city. We hit up the expo first thing so I could get my bib, shirt, and load up on free samples. KK and I had split up from James and Bailey because I was waiting in a long line to get my bib. Every other line was short and moving quickly- go figure I got the long slow one. KK was getting super whiney and wanting me to hold her. I have no idea what her deal was, she's normally not like that, but she was quickly draining my patience. After I finally got my bib I walked into the main part of the expo and realized James and I

didn't have a plan to meet up. Ugh. We don't have cell phones so I was irritated knowing that I was going to walking around aimlessly searching for him. I went to the Picky Bars display because I read about it online while researching the Expo. Lauren Fleshman,(track and field star with 2 USA titles) is one of the creators and these babies are a 4:1 carbs to protein ratio, perfect for athletes, gluten free, dairy free, and 200 calories or less. I was curious to taste them. WOW they were GOOD, like REALLY good. It was $2/bar or 6/$10. I spent the $10 and got a mix of smooth caffeinators and all in almond bars because they were my favorite. I actually ate one race morning for part of my breakfast. Not traditionally a good idea to try new foods the "morning of" but my stomach is fairly tough and they are packed with good nutrients.


I continued through the expo and found the sign dedicating the race to Boston in light of the recent tragedy at the Boston Marathon. It was powerful to see all those named crammed onto that banner, I had a hard time finding a spot. What I did find at the table was James and the little one. Search over. I had him go back to the tiger trail exhibit to try a rolling massager out. I don't have a foam roller (gasp) and I've been meaning to get one but this little baby sucked me in. You can find more info on them here: Tiger Tail. So we bought one, $25 and we both can use it. Plus if there was a weekend I needed one, this would probably be it right?


After the expo we headed to the hotel to get checked in. It was 4 pm and we had until 7 to kill time. My aunt was hosting us for dinner at her house but she worked until 6. My mom, sister and niece were already in town and staying at my aunts house so we invited them over to the hotel so all the girls could play in the pool. That lasted about 30 minutes. Bailey loved being the water but I of course had to be right next to her. KK just wanted to sit in the hot tub. I tried to pull her in the pool one time and she was screaming bloody murder. So we let them splash around a little then decided to head to Alton Barker Park and try to find Pre's Trail. After a few U-turns and crazy hand signals we followed my mom and sister to the park and there it was. Pre's Trail. Eugene really is Track Town USA, they take such pride in running here.


After spending a short time here we headed to my aunt's house for some delicious grub. She was so cute pointing out different foods, "I've got your protein covered, and your carbs." It was tasty and just nice to spend time hanging out with her, my uncle, and two cousins- I don't get to see them often enough any more. It was after nine by the time we headed back to the hotel. I still had to finish updating my ipod playlist, make sure my garmin was charged, lay out my outfit and TRY to get some sleep :)