13.1 Miles

Warning! This is a long post with no pictures!

This past weekend was the Charlottesville Marathon and Half Marathon, so Friday evening we loaded up the car and headed to Charlottesville. I drove, so no knitting on the way down. We arrived around 9pm (after taking a wrong turn) and had a very mediocre dinner at the hotel. Then it was off to bed so we would be well-rested for the run (Just for the record? I didn't run; I knitted.) Around 1am, Tom and I woke up out of a sound sleep. It sounded like there were people talking in our room. Or maybe outside our room. Nope, it was a small party going on in the room next door. They didn't quiet down until after 2. It was very annoying and I could feel the tension rising in me because I knew that Tom really needed to sleep well. We turned on the air conditioner, which helped drown out the voices somewhat and managed to get back to sleep.

Race day dawned sunny and not nearly as cold as expected. The race started at 7:30. The walk to the start was nice and after standing around a little bit, the runners were off. I watched Tom run out sight and headed back to the hotel for some breakfast and a little knitting before meeting Tom at the finish line. He had said that he would finish in a minimum of 2 hours and probably longer. I thought it would be nice to walk the route the runners were taking and then I could run with Tom to the finish line. I watched runner after runner pass me. No Tom. I got to the finish line at 2:03 and watched more runners come in. No Tom. The time is now 2:11. Still no Tom. I was beginning to get anxious, thinking he had a really, really bad run. Then I turned around and there he was. He finished in under 2 hours! His official time was 1:59:something (the results page appears to be down right now). What an awesome time, especially considering that he felt his training was bad. I was sooo happy for him! And sooo bummed that I wasn't there to see him finish.

After a brief recovery period, we hit the pedestrian mall. My main goal was to visit The Needle Lady for some stash enhancement. I think the store is set up well; it feels spacious and light. The people there are extremely helpful; one woman spent quite a bit of time helping me find just the right sock pattern for Tom and then the man in the store helped with choosing yarn. I also bought some Noro yarn in the most gorgeous color and have earmarked that for a hat. The one thing that I didn't like about store was the feeling of being rushed. After I selected the sock yarn, they were ready to ring up the sale. I said I wanted to look around some more. Tom saw a hat that knitted in chenille and like it. After being persuaded to not purchase the chenille yarn (it stretches a lot) and picking the Noro for a hat, they were ready to ring up the sale again. But...but...Look at all the yarn! Look at all the cool patterns and books! I could have spent hours looking around. As I recall, I think the same thing happened last year. Oh, well. I'm happy with my yarn purchases. I need more time synthesize everything. I am a Libran, after all. Decision-making, especially when presented with a myriad of choices, is not my strong suit.

The rest of the day was spent eating, wandering around, sitting in a park swatching the new sock yarn (even though I'm working on a perfectly fine sock), eating some more, wandering around, and eating some more. We visited Splendora's for some absolutely fabulous gelato. I got vanilla and chocolate, and oh my...what a rich, dark chocolate it was. Tom got raspberry and something that was chocolate with hazelnuts. I can't remember the name; it was in Italian. It did begin with a "g."

We met some friends at the Blue Light Grill for cocktails and oysters before dinner (yum yum!). Dinner was at Fellini's #9, just off the mall and it was quite tasty. I had a salad of grilled romaine with anchovies (marinated, not canned) and an onion relish. Dinner with baked trout on polenta with a pepperocini sauce. We had a yummy Zinfandel (whose name I can't remember) and cannoli for dessert(the filling was made with sweetened ricotta, not mascarpone).

And that was that! Back home on Sunday to yardwork and laundry. I made good progress on the sock on the drive back and should be able to finish it next weekend. Funny, didn't I say I was going to finish the sock this past weekend? And maybe finish two socks? Ha! I lied!