A weekend with Olympians

It was a fun weekend hanging out with some real Olympians.  To start I got to meet four time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman Friday night.  He was at Pacers in Old Town Alexandria giving autographs. 

It was nice to meet him and inform him that my sister couldn't be there as she was in Philadelphia to run the marathon on Sunday.  His response, "Tell her good luck for me.  I too need to get ready for my marathon in a couple weeks."  In the end we're all runners.  He was a real nice guy.

Saturday I drove to Philadelphia to hang with another Olympian .. my sister.  Carla ran the FULL marathon yesterday finishing in 4:26:27.  She PR'd!  She was amazing finishing strong with an injured leg.  She's been tending to it for a while now and it started to hurt around mile eight.  Being the rock star that she is she pushed through the full 26.2.

Congrats to my sister! I'm real proud of her.

With four time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman

Early morning in Philly walking Carla to the start

She's ready

And excited!

Sun coming up in Philly

Waiting for the runners

The elites!

And here come the runners

Can you see Carla?  She's right there.

Walking to the finish

Finished 26.2 miles!

Family love and support

Heading home

Georgia last day

I couldn't leave Savannah without visiting the spot where Forrest sat telling the story of his life.  It's located in Chippewa Square but unfortunately the bench has been replaced with a flower bed.  The original bench is now in a museum in Savannah.

Afterwards I headed over to the Colonial Cemetery where many patriots of the Revolutionary War are buried.  I really enjoy seeing this part of history (Revolutionary and Civil War era) so this was great.

I sit here now at the airport ready to fly back to DC.  Georgia marks race 26 and my last for 2013.  I will be posting my 2013 calendar soon once I get logistics figured out.  I am charting to hit most of the Midwest and South.  It's going to be another great year.

Setting of the infamous Forrest Gump bench (now a flower bed)

Colonial Cemetery

Georgia race day

A gorgeous day for a marathon.  I felt good when I woke up and had cool temps to accompany me.  The course was relatively flat and the crowds were great.  It may have been all of these factors in addition to my increased training that helped me get back into the 1:30s.

My finish time was 1:39:10.  I ran a 7:34 pace finishing 339 out of 11,390 overall.  I'm very happy with these results as the 1:30s have evaded me for quite some time.  I only hope I can keep this pace if not improve upon it.  I also had a nice surprise at the end of my race when I received an email that a Heavy Medal was waiting for me to pick up.  I went to the medals tent and picked up my ROCK STAR medal.  This is for completing five Rock n Roll Series half marathons in 2013.

Afterwards I went to the hotel to clean up before heading to B. Matthews for brunch.  From there I did a walking tour of the squares in the historic district.  I wish I could caption the photos that follow better as to which square you are seeing.  But, to be honest I just snapped photos as I walked.  The squares, cobble stone streets, and colonial architecture were simply beautiful.

I later caught a trolley to take me around sites of Savannah before dinner at Sweet Potatoes.  The food was classic southern and delicious.  After dinner it was time to catch the the Ghosts & Gravestones tour.  A little cheesy but still fun as Savannah is known as the most haunted city in the U.S.

Tomorrow I'll be visiting the Colonial Park Cemetery before brunch at The Pirates House.

And of course the final stop before heading to the airport will be the actual spot where Forrest Gump sat as he told the story of his life.

B Matthews for brunch

Beginning of my walking tour

Dinner time

Flank steak with sweet potato biscuit and roasted brussels sprouts