Get Over It--The Bridge That Is

Growing up in Charleston, there's one thing that has always been the iconic image of this city in my mind and that's the Cooper River Bridge. While most of my childhood there were two bridges, one of which still gives me nightmares about driving over it, the Charleston skyline is nothing without it/them. Somehow I have never done the popular Cooper River Bridge Run, so it seemed fitting that now that I'm back in my beloved city I would celebrate by crossing the CRBR off my bucket list. And to make it more fun, I got 7 of my closest friends to come run it with me.

Everyone got in late Friday evening, and we spent the night loading up on carbs, carbs, and more carbs (I may have had wayyyyy too much food) and catching up. Before we knew it, we had only 5 hours before we had to be up and getting out the door to get to the race. Don't get me wrong, I love races, but I really hate how early they require you to function.

Fast forward a few hours and a trip on a bus, and we were in our corral and ready to go. The weather was perfect. We did have to sit for about 2 hours waiting for the race to start so I'm glad I had the crew with me. 

Finally at 8:45 it was our turn to cross the start line and off we went.

I'm not sure this was my race. (Here is where I start to whine just a bit.) The 10k distance is not my favorite because I've 1. not run enough of them and 2. I can't seem to figure out my pacing for them. This one also includes one large hass bridge in the middle of it. 

 

After having to wait for so long before starting, I was STARVING by the time the race began. Within half a mile, I was already cramping. Boo Hiss Blah. Thankfully, my never fail breathing technique to get rid of cramps worked and I carried on, but still... not a good way to go out the gate. 

Then there were the woggers. Now I have nothing against run-walkers at all. I often am one. However, they were everywhere. EVERYWHERERERREEE. I spent the whole race weaving in and out and around and through walkers 5+ wide. (I told you I was going to whine...) It's one thing if you want to walk some or all of the race, but I've never been around so many people who clearly have never heard of race etiquette. #endrant 

I love my city. I love that bridge. And the race course was really cool. All and all, it was what it was. Still have mixed feelings about it. Maybe if I do it again, I'll do it without any goal in mind other than just to finish it and enjoy the view. 

The rest of the weekend was spent eating, hanging out, eating, hanging out, and eating. Can't complain about that! 

A Weekend Away

It's been over a month now that we've been in the new house. Every weekend thus far has been spent unpacking, painting, doing maintenance, etc etc. When Nate told me that he was going on a bachelor party weekend, I first cried at the thought of riding solo for the.entire.weekend. but then rejoiced when I realized I could take the kids on a small trip to see some of my good friends (Emily and Jeff.) A weekend without home improvement stores?! Yes please! I then quickly invited myself over to stay with them.

Sometimes, though, I get a little too brave for my own good. (Preface: the trip overall was fantastic... now I continue.) I kinda sorta maybe didn't think about the fact that 3.5 hours alone with two kids in a car is not always... how shall we say it... pleasant. But I decided upon the perfect plan--playdate in the morning and then leave right at Clare's afternoon nap time. Brilliant. Both kiddos will be tired and pass out, and I can drive in peace.

Fail. So much fail.

Damian was too excited to see his BFF Jeff that he "bounced" happily in his car seat almost the whole way there. Clare was a good little angel for the first part, even when we got stuck in stand still traffic only 40 miles into the trip. Thanks to the traffic (and my poorly planned gas station fill-up,) Clare woke up right as we hit rush hour traffic in Columbia. After listening to Clare scream as we slowly made our way through the city, I decided to stop and feed her. Damian and I jammed to some Raffi Pandora Station while I nursed Clare. We had only 1.5 hours to go, I was hoping a full belly and smooth sailing would cause her to zonk out. But no. Sweet girl decided she was done and cried for an hour before finally passing out... Hopefully this isn't a CIO preview...ugh. However, lulled to sleep by the soothing sounds of 4 month old's cries, Damian promptly fell asleep.

Soooo basically, the last 30 minutes of my trip as I made my way through the beautiful middle of nowhere upstate SC was very peaceful. However, I was more than sad that I had given up alcohol for Lent by the time we arrived.

The rest of the weekend was great. It was so nice to be fed delicious home cooked meals and just enjoy quality time catching up with friends. 

Damian and Clare got to stay up past their bed times so I was hoping that meant a nice sleeping in Saturday, but Mr. Rise and Shine was up and at'em right at 6:30 am. I tried to convince him to hop in the bed with Clare and I and snuggle, but he took me a little too literally and bounced on our heads for an hour before I finally gave up. Somehow Clare was able to sleep through all that excitement. 

We spent most of the day in downtown Greenville. It was a beautiful day and Damian was in a good mood, so everyone was happy. Three is a fun age, but, well, you know how it can go. I'd say Clare was in a good mood too but that's just plain redundant. This girl is always laid back and happy. (oh teenage years, please be gentle to us.) 

First stop was a model train exhibit.

 Damian's little boy heart leapt for joy, and I was a little worried he wouldn't ever let us leave. 

Apparently the promise of brunch was a good enough compromise. We also learned an interesting fact from Damian when he loudly proclaimed "I LOVE BACON SOOO MUCH!"  Noted child.

After lunch we walked around Falls Park.

Damian enjoyed running over the bridges, not colliding with other, slower pedestrians, and finding ducks. 

We topped the adventure off with ice cream. I'm fairly certain Damian proclaimed it to be The Best Day Ever! 

My trip back home on Sunday was equally adventurous as the way there, just with less baby screaming and a helluva lot more rain, getting lost, ending up in the middle of nowhere SC twice, and finding a gas station was not only not pay at the pump but also not pay before you pump. Somewhere in this world there is still a much higher level of trust and/or right and wrong. Who knew? 

Not I.

Anyway, that's the story of our weekend away. It was amazingly refreshing considering I was "alone" and traveling with two kids. If you've made it this far, I will leave you with this guy... who we found on our walk through the park, which made me think of this video.

you're welcome.