Hi and Happy Monday.
What a weekend! I’m exhausted….physically and emotionally spent but smiling and optimistic and that’s the moral here.
On Saturday morning I dropped of the doodle and then picked up Mr. SOTSS to drive down to Atlantic City where my friend Barbara was getting married. We had a few hours to clean up and look fancy before the wedding started. 
After being misdirected to the reception location we arrived at the correct ceremony location a couple of minutes late and there was Barbara with her mom about to walk down the aisle! Luckily there was a secret side door that we were directed to and managed to get situated just before they entered. A lovely (and quick!) ceremony that got right to the point. Remember our loved ones not here,sand unity thingy, do everything with love, rings, i do, kiss done! Love you Barbara! Congratulations to you and Drew. 
I had been quite anxious about wearing heels for the wedding because of the toe injury.
The shoes are Naturalizer!
But thankfully I managed to get through the night and only felt pain when I danced more than 2 songs straight….so I took frequent breaks.
The “wolf pack”
It was great to see my “wolf pack” again and enjoy such a lovely evening that kept me from thinking about the NJ Half Marathon the next day that I knew I’d be DNS’ing.
Cake always helps too
Since I wasn’t running I told Mr. SOTSS I’d drive to the start of the race so he could catch a few extra winks of sleep. We got home from the wedding late and probably didn’t fall asleep until midnight and then were on the road at 5:15am the next morning.
We drove about an hour and a half to get to the race. It was 7:09am when we arrived and the race begins at 7:30 so I dropped Mr. SOTSS off at the entrance and then went to park. I met up with him on the Port-a-potty line and when we realized how long it would take him to finally get his turn I took his gear bag and ran it over to the gear trucks to get transported to the finish.
I was crying a lot just being there and knowing I wasn’t running. Then I saw a cute goldendoodle and started loving on him. As I started walking back toward the potties I realized I had misplaced my spectator cheer signage! I started to panic. Luckily I found them on the floor by the gear trucks. Whew!
I used my customized emojis to create the perfect cheer signage!
By the time Mr. SOTSS got out of the bathrooms the first few waves had already began and he was forced to start in the last corral with slower runners and walkers. But he was happy to have an empty bladder. Unfortunately this meant a lot of bobbing and weaving for him which may or may not have been the reason he was about 6 minutes slower than usual overall. (Yes! He is so consistent….this was his 8th half marathon and most of them are about 1:50 finish time….)
After the last runner was off I hopped on a shuttle bus that takes you to the finish area and from there I walked a few blocks to a spot on the course between miles 9 and 10. I had about a half hour alone before meeting up with the rest of Mr. SOTSS’ family. I was there early enough to see the fast runners including the first and second place male winners for the half…
This was the winner. He finished in 1:08!
And the second place winner wore a suit!
At about 8:40am Mr. SOTSS’ mom, stepdad and two daughters arrived with their team spirit and signs in tow and together we all welcomed Mr. SOTSS at his arrival to mile 9 (ish) just 15 minutes later. 
He was so happy to see us and I had the most beautiful moment snapping photos one by one as he kissed each daughter and then his mom….and then me. 
Being injured can cause me to be….well…no really polite way of saying this….selfish and cranky. I tend to get absorbed into the whole “woe is me” scenario and forget about all the good things that are going on right in front of my face. One of my favorite sayings says to be grateful when you’re up and graceful when you’re down. So why is it so hard for me to be graceful? #workinprogress. Anyway, there I was just filled with emotion seeing the smiling faces of his mom and daughters. After he passed we made our way toward the finish where I was able to record a little video of Mr. SOTSS running the last 100 feet to the finish. Hearing the girls screaming “go daddy go!” was awesome.
The entire day was awesome….despite my emotional outpour of sadness at first. We all reconnected in the evening for a celebratory dinner also celebrating Mr. SOTSS’ birthday which is coming up this week.
So this morning my feet and legs ache but that’s because of the dancing/walking in heels and then walking so much yesterday along the race course. But I’m really excited because my friend Roseann has convinced me to try a yoga class. She’s been going a while and loves it and I figured this may just be the time for me to try it. I’m a true yoga class virgin. Never been to one.
And my next mini goal is getting back to my Wednesday night hikes this week.
So running and the Brooklyn Half marathon on 5/20 are still question marks for now but I’m definitely seeing the light at the end of the injury tunnel and feeling grateful for the movement I can do now.
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