My flight out of San Diego was Friday morning. Ryan wasn't too thrilled about the early morning wake up call (we had to leave the house about 4:15am for my 6am flight), but he played the role of the amazing husband (like always) and dropped me off for the weekend.
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| Gotta wear ALL THE BRIGHT COLORS, right?! |
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| Leaving the rain in SoCal because I packed the sun for Eugene! |
I had a brief layover in San Francisco on my way up to Oregon. The plane we ended up taking to Eugene was pretty small, so obviously I had to snap a quick picture before getting on.
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| This man looks like a GIANT next to our plane... |
Thankfully the flights were uneventful and my puddle-jumper got me to where I needed to be with no issues. After my friend and her roommate picked me up from the airport we made our way back to their place. We relaxed for a little bit and then she showed me around the University of Oregon's campus - talk about green and beautiful! (And OBVIOUSLY we HAD to stop by Hayward Field... I mean DUH!)
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| Look at the GREEN grass! Waiting for Shelby and Jessica to grab me from the airport. |
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| A river running through campus?! SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! |
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| Running in the footsteps of LEGENDS! |
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| The story of the track |
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| Excuse the crazy faces (lack of sleep, excitement, and attempt #3 using a selfie stick and THIS is what you get ;) |
We grabbed dinner at Cornucopia Bar & Burgers (I got the Vo Vo Voom Swiss & Shroom Vurger - love the veggie and vegan options up there). DELISH!
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| Sometimes you just need to go big or go home... And I was in no mood to go home... |
Saturday we had a couple things on tap - the expo, a shakeout run, grabbing Voodoo Doughnuts, and hopefully putting our feet up a bit to relax for the big dance the following morning.
The expo was fairly small (but then again there were less than 1,500 runners who finished the full marathon on Sunday so I shouldn't have been expecting anything huge). I was able to grab a character picture (we weren't at Disneyland for the Tinker Bell Races, so you better believe any funny thing I saw I grabbed my picture with). Obviously I had to make a stop at the Pro Compression booth and chat with Eric (the owner) for a few minutes.
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| WE'RE HERE! |
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| Shoot doggy! GIVE ME THAT BIB! |
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| Bib number search - 1952! |
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| Bib pick up in the lobby area and then the vendors in a larger room. |
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| The Krusteaz pancake! Character stop FO SHO! |
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| Posted on Pro Compression's Instagram and then REPOSTED by the Eugene Marathon - HOW COOL?! |
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| Shelby and I needed to try out the TrackTown USA photo booth! |
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| Working on our selfie game! |
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| And then the TrackTown USA employee caught us in our selfie action :) |
After the Expo we rode the bus downtown to pick up some Voodoo Doughnuts (it was one of Ryan's few requests for the trip... BRING HIM HOME ONE). The spot did NOT disappoint. I think I stood at the rotating counter for at least 10 minutes trying to figure out which doughnuts he would like best (and trying not to drool all over the glass). In the end I picked the Old Dirty Bastard (doughnut covered in Oreo pieces and peanut butter sauce), the Voodoo Doll (doughnut shaped like a voodoo doll, complete with jelly filling and a pretzel for poking), and the Loop (doughnut covered in Fruit Loops, because one can never have too much sugar when it comes to doughnuts, right?!).
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| Some ladies think good things come in blue boxes, but my hubby will DEFINITELY agree with the pink ones! |
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| The glare was kind of a pain on the window, but I think we got the shot! |
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| Scary good... |
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| I don't know, but I guess we will consider it another character stop ;) |
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| SCRUM-DIDILY-UMPTIOUS! |
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| The three I ended up getting for Ryan... Hope they are as yummy as they smelled! |
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| The magic is in the hole... |
We made it back to the apartment to drop off our precious cargo and change so we could meet up with another friend and head out for a quick shakeout run. Pre's Trail is right near where Shelby lives so it was the perfect spot to meet up and try to get rid of a few of the nerves in our legs. The path is absolutely beautiful (I would be totally jealous that she gets to run there daily if Eugene didn't get so much darn rain); woodchip trail covered by lush green trees. The company wasn't too bad either ;)
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| Just about PERFECTION! |
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| Autzen Stadium (the Ducks football field) |
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| Run local?! YOU BET! |
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| Lauren caught this picture of me... HOLY HEEL STRIKE! |
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| I told the girls it was like FernGully. |
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| Wow, I have some pretty bad form, eh? |
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| Beautiful trails, right?! |
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| The trail was opened 4 months after Pre's tragic death in 1975. |
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| Not too shabby for a shake out run... |
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| Don't ask... It looks like I want to eat the camera?! |
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| YEP... TOTALLY ME... EVERY TIME... Source |
Sure, I guess you could say it was an active day before the race, but sometimes it just has to be done (I mean this was my first trip to Eugene and with so many awesome things to see, you've just gotta fit them all in somehow). Finally it was time to lay our my Flat Carlee and turn in for the night.
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| Two Sparkle Athletic Skirts (gunmetal and green), Brooks Ghost 6 (including Lock Laces and a Momentum Jewelry FootNote "be the change"), a DIY tank (the base was from Run With Perseverance), Pro Compression Two Pair Don't Care (marathon yellow and electric green), Handful Sports Bra, Sparkle Athletic Visor (with felt mustache attached), Garmin Forerunner 110 (still waiting for my new 220 to arrive in the mail), Endurance SPIbelt, RoadID, Momentum Wrap Bracelet ("no excuses"), PROBAR Strawberry BOLT, and a fake mustache. |
Do you take race-cations (race + vacation)? If so, where did you go last? If not, would you ever consider one?
