Adventures in Walking From the Couch to 5K - Chapter 20

AJ looks once again at the email that Angela sent out with the times that everyone is going to be at the expo. She sees that Vicki and Angela are going to be there at 2:00 pm, and she looks at her fitness watch to see what time it is. Yes, almost time for her to go. AJ thinks to herself I am really excited about going to my first expo and the great thing is I get to do it with my group.

It is time to go, AJ gets her shoes on and into her truck. She drives over to the University to meet everyone. Parking is a bit of a challenge, even though it is a Sunday because there are so many people that are there for the expo. After a few minutes she finds a parking spot and walks over to the Recreation Center. The expo is downstairs on the basketball courts, and she walks down the stairs. AJ finds Vicki and Angela and as she is walking up to them Kim and Denese walk up.

Angela advises them, “We are going to walk through and get our bib number and goodie bag first and then we will go through the vendors. Again, I advise that you do not drink or eat anything new. Clothing that you purchase today should not be worn the morning of the race. Let’s go get our stuff ladies.”

“Let’s go!” they all shout.

The ladies walk through the maze of vendors to get to where the list of race participants are posted on a wall. They each find their name on the long list and see what their bib number is. AJ’s number is 83070. They get into the 5K line and pick up their bib number. The 5K walk line isn’t nearly as long as the half-marathon line.

Vicki says, “It doesn’t really matter how long the lines are because we get to enjoy each other’s company.”

“Once we get our bib number and shirt we’ll meet over at the Oakland Races table.” Angela says to the group.

AJ finally gets her bib number, goodie bag and t-shirt and goes over to the table. She and Vicki wait for the rest of the group. They are looking at all of the Oakland races merchandise.

AJ says, “I am getting a mug and a 5K sticker.”

Vicki comments, “I’ll get a 5K sticker as well.”

The rest of the group joins them.

“I like the mugs. I’ll take one,” says Denese.

“I am going to be different and get a jacket,” Kim adds.

Angela says to Jenni, the lady working the table for the Oakland Races, “I do believe that I already get a mug for being a group leader and I would also like a hat.”

“Yes, you do get a mug. Thanks for being a group leader. Here’s your hat,” Jenni replies.

They all walk over to the free massage booth. Stephania says, “Hi ladies, who would like a massage?”

AJ speaks up first, “I will. This will be my first ever chair massage.”

As she is sitting there she thinks to herself I need to figure out how to work massages into my schedule and budget. There are 6 chairs for the chair massages, and they all get massages at the same time.

After their massages the ladies walk along to the booth for the Detroit races which has race fliers for the marathon and the Thanksgiving race. AJ and Vicki pick up a flier for the Thanksgiving race. “I could do this,” says AJ.

Vicki replies “Yes, you can and I can do it with you.”

The group continues along to a booth with all kinds of running and walking jewelry. There are charms, beads, pendants, rings, bracelets, necklaces and earrings. AJ finds a silver snake chain necklace, “I like this and I will also get these the rectangular charm that says “Keep Moving” on one side and “Don’t Stop”, the running shoe charm, the bead that says “WALK” on it, the circular 5K charm and three charm spacers.”

Vicki says, “I will get the pink Swarovski round faceted crystal charm that is accented with a small sterling silver daisy.”

Angela reminds the group again, “I highly recommend not taking samples of something you have never tried before. You don’t know how your body will react to it,” as they pass by a booth that is handing out samples of some new energy red energy drink in small bathroom size paper cups.

The booth right after it is a local running store and the ladies walk around looking at all the deals on sports bras, running shorts, tank tops, jelly beans, Gu, and various other running and walking accessories.

Next booth that is along the path through the expo is for the local parks system and AJ picks up all the maps that they have available. She thinks to herself I like finding some new places to take the boys to so that I can walk, and they can ride their bikes.

A local grocery store has the next booth that the ladies go to and they all pick up bottles of water and chewy granola bars. There are also 3” x 5” cards with recipes on the table for them to pick up. AJ takes one of each recipe.

There are quite a few booths with samples of various drinks and snacks, which the group of ladies walk right past. They are at the start of the expo path and Angela says, “Is there any booth that anyone wants to go back to?”

“No,” everyone responds.

“Alright, everyone that wants to join me, I am going to the Coney Island over on Livernois. We can talk about any of your concerns about the race,” Angela invites the group.

AJ says, “I’ll go.”

Vicki responds, “I’m game and it’s right near home for me.”

Kim and Denese look at each other and then say, “We’ll meet you over there.”

The ladies all go to their vehicles and drive over to the Coney Island. The hostess says, “Welcome, how many?”

“Five, can we have a round table?” Angela replies.

Cindi, the waitress brings them all red plastic glasses of ice water, “are you ready to order?”

“Yes, I will have two coney dogs with no onions or mustard plus fries,” says AJ.

Vicki orders, “I will have a Greek salad.”

Kim says, “I will have a chicken gyro sandwich with rice.”

Denese orders, “I will have a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich with fries.”

Lastly, Angela says, “I will have a chicken Caesar wrap.”

“Thank you, I will get these orders in,” says Cindi, and she walks away towards the kitchen.

“Now that we have all of the food ordered I wanted to ask you ladies if you have any questions about the race coming up on Wednesday,” Angela says to the group.

“How will we line up for the race?” asks AJ.

“When it’s time for us to line up we will go to the color of the flag that matches our bib color. Once in that corral we will go towards the back of it,” Angela replies.

“Will there be bathrooms at the start/finish line?” asks Vicki.

Angela replies, “Yes there will be lots of port-a-johns around the start/finish line. There will be a row on each side of the sponsor tent.”

Denese asks, “What will be available to eat after the race, post race goodie wise?”

“There will be fruit and salty snacks in the finish line area such as bananas, apples and various flavors of chips. Plus there will be water in the finish line area. In the post race celebration tent there will be a cash bar. On your race bib there are two tear off tickets at the bottom, one is for beer or pop and the other is for pizza. There are also a few local restaurants that will have food available for purchase. So, lots to eat and drink available after the race. Be sure to put some cash in a baggy in your waist pack,” Angela informs them.

Their food arrives and the ladies are busy eating and not talking. After they are done eating the waitress comes and takes away all the dishes. “Any more questions?” asks Angela.

“Will there be a place for my boys to see me start and finish?” inquires AJ.

“Yes, there will be a set of bleachers right by the start/finish line that they can sit on. It’s near where we will be standing to cheer on the races that go out ahead of us,” replies Angela.

She then asks, “Anything else?” No one says anything, but they all shake their heads no.

“Ok, so we will meet at 6:00 am in the parking lot of the grocery store that is facing the University. After everyone arrives we will walk over to the pharmacy and use their restrooms before we cross the road and walk over to the start/finish area. We are arriving early because they shut down many of the roads that would lead us to great parking a few minutes before the start of the half marathon. After the 10K race goes out we will walk to our corral for the 5K. We will stay together as a group during the race, actually I think our paces will keep us all pretty close together anyway. After the race we will go into the post race celebration tent to get our free food and beverage and any other food and beverages we want.” Angela informs the group.

Cindi brings their individual bills. The ladies all get up, walk over to the cash register, check out and go to their vehicles. AJ gets into her truck and drives home. Michael has the boys for a few more hours, so she goes in her townhouse and goes through her stretches in front of the TV.

Continue Reading - Chapter 21