Defeated.....in every way

I wish I could put up cute pictures of me in my running gear/tutu. I wish I could show off my new tiara princess medal that I've wanted for years......I wish I could say I never had a DNF. Unfortunately......I cant. The training was done.Vacation time locked down. Babysitter booked. Hotel paid for. A race to be ran.........

But as I sit here in freezing Cleveland, Ohio, I'm sad to report that I never made it to Florida. Someone....somewhere did NOT want me to run this race. Yesterday my Mom picked me up for the airport at 5:50am in a total white out blizzard. I get there and find out that my flight has been cancelled (shocking!). They rebook me for a flight later that afternoon. I return home for a few hours and take a quick nap while the baby is down. My phone rings.... flight has been canceled and they have scheduled me something for Saturday afternoon. I look outside at the blistery weather and think "theres no way I'm staying in this hell hole until tomorrow!". I call Delta and demand that they find a different flight to help me escape this mess. Success!!! A 5:00pm flight that re-directs through NYC and lands in Orlando at 11pm. ANYTHING to get me out of here. I show up to the airport around 3:30 and am waiting in line to check in. After 40 minutes of waiting.....I realize that flight has been canceled as well. Exhausted....I walk over to the ticket agents and they start typing a hundred miles an hour.


"Sorry...the soonest we can get you to Orlando is Sunday"

Well that simply wont work..the race is Sunday morning at 5:45 am!

"Can you drive to Detroit?"

OMG...if Cleveland wasn't bad enough....

After lots of back and forth and checking this and that....a spot opened up for a Saturday morning flight!!! SUCCESS!!! She plugged me in real quick (meanwhile they were telling the guy next to me he would have to fly stand by for that same flight). She printed my boarding passes...said I was already checked in..and just to arrive an hour early because all I had to do was go through security and walk to my gate. Easy enough right?

3:40 am my alarm clock goes off. I thrust myself out of bed and get ready. I hop into the car and off I go. I arrive at the airport with plenty of time and decided not to check any of my bags. I used bags that could smoosh into the cabin storage and figured it would be cheaper and easier just to carry my gear with me. I get to the security check point to find that there is only 1 agent.....ONE!...and the line is wrapped all the way around and up the stairs. After 25 minutes of waiting..I start getting nervous. I look down and see that I have a first class ticket and I can bypass most of the line!!! SUCCESS!!! I get through security and they tell me my flight is gate D. Without checking twice I start heading that way (knowing D is about 3 buildings away and the furthest gate and I only have about 15 minutes now). I start sprinting as fast as I can with both bags.....Gate D to the right....Gate D to the left.....Gate D up these escalators...Gate D down these escalators...Gate D to this way...etc. I'm running as fast I can with both bags bouncing up and down on my back. I get over to Gate D and its like a deserted island. Not a soul to be found. WTF?????

I turn around and start sprinting back when I hear "Last call for flight 2069 to Atlanta...paging Christine Moore...last call" I quickly find a worker and ask where the Delta gate is and he says oh...its gate A! At this point I am sprinting as fast as I possibly can and keep repeating in my head "you trained for this...you got this!" However the only thing that was coming out of my mouth was "f$ck you! f$ck you!" You should have seen people dodging to get out of my way. I'm pretty sure I just took the terrorist alert from orange to red. I could already feel lactic acid building up in my legs as I pushed them faster and faster and faster. I get to gate A and all I see is American Airlines planes. I finally find a screen and look up my flight.....its at gate B. I look down at my watch....it left 10 minutes ago. I'm standing at concourse A with sweat pouring out of me. My shirt is soaked, my jacket is soaked, and now I can feel the tears coming on as well. My legs are shaking..my heart is pounding..and I'm pretty sure my cardiac enzymes were elevated and may have suffered a slight heart attack. I knew at this point I was done...I was not meant to run this race.

I sit down to gather myself and take a couple deep breaths. (Figured my ischemic heart needed a little oxygen before anymore activity). I walked over to the ticketing agent and they confirmed that every flight is booked solid..theres no way I can get to Florida until Sunday unless I start driving now. I'm standing there wondering if I really have the strength to walk back into my house and put away all the summer clothes I had packed.


So now....I plan to go buy a blow up palm tree and sit it here next to my recliner. I'm going to lay here all day with my sunglasses on and the fire going....and instruct the babysitter to pretend like I'm not here. I might even go tanning........

and just maybe...I'll set my alarm for 4:00am tomorrow and get up and run 13.1 miles in 23 degrees!!




not likely!