2008 Detroit Marathon - Part One

I am officially a marathoner!! See?











I’ve spent the last three days analyzing my performance and the outcome. I am thrilled that I got through it, INJURY FREE no less, but I do feel like I could have done better had I properly trained myself. That being said, I am anxious for the next marathon, and if there was one nearby this weekend or next, I would most likely be running it. I can say this today, Wednesday, because I am actually able to walk without pain. Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday – not so much.

The Hotel
We arrived in Detroit on Saturday afternoon and checked into our hotel right away. We stayed at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, which was literally two blocks from the starting line. This was the view from our hotel window.













I didn’t think to request a room with this view so we really lucked out. The hotel was very nice…it had just opened on October 8th after a massive renovation. It was clean, luxurious, and in the perfect spot for the marathon. I only have two complaints:

1) The bellhop didn’t know where the nearest People Mover
station was. From my research, I was fairly certain there was one about a block away on Michigan Avenue, but he insisted that the nearest station was Greektown. The valet attendant and a homeless man also knew nothing about a People Mover station. Seriously people? Do you not live here?? Work here every day??? So we took a cab to the expo instead, and it worked out. Later on we phoned the front desk and they confirmed my research…the station IS just a block away. In the end we didn’t even end up using the People Mover, but it was still ridiculous that the bellhop didn’t know where the station was.
2) The hotel features the Heavenly Bedding and it looked like we would be sleeping on a bed of heavenly feathers. Yeahhhh, not so much. When I finally went to bed around 11:30pm, I soon realized that the sheets and comforter were ITCHY. Like, crazy itchy. Like, I had-to-get-a-towel-from-the-bathroom-to-sleep-on itchy. Not cool when you have to get up in 6 hours to run 26.2 miles.

The Expo
This is the first race expo that I have ever been to so I didn’t really know what to expect. That being said, it was kind of a downer. A lot of the freebies were already gone by the time we got there Saturday afternoon. There were plenty of vendors and I did pick up some Sport Beans and BodyGlide (I forgot mine at home) but other than that, there wasn’t anything special to see. The New Balance Detroit Marathon jackets
were pretty cool, but I really couldn’t justify spending $100 on one. We were probably there for an hour total and then walked back to the hotel.

Dinner & Casino
After getting a drink at the hotel bar, we headed to Greektown to get dinner and gamble. We went to the BEST Greek restaurant ever for dinner. I can’t recall the name of it, but there are 5 different dining levels. I love chicken fettuccine alfredo so I ordered that, while Matt, DJ, and Rachel (husband, brother-in-law, sister-in-law) ordered what seemed like everything in sight!

Matt and me, waiting for our dinner table (his eyes are always closed in pictures!!):













The funniest part of the dinner was when the a$$ at the table next to us hailed the manager like a taxi and said that his service had been terrible. He was complaining about not getting new drinks when their existing drinks were still half full! Anyway a few minutes later I stopped that same manager as he walked by and told him that we were receiving EXCELLENT service. Which was true. Later on, after our meal was finished, we received four of the best complimentary desserts I’ve ever had. See, it pays to be nice! Take that, jerk at the next table. ;)

We stayed in Greektown for a little bit and then headed off to the MGM Casino. Everyone lost money, but we had fun doing it! Around 10:30 or so Matt and I decided to head back to the hotel. When we got there I got all of my stuff laid out for the next morning:













Matt's way of helping:













We settled into our itchy bed just in time to catch Sarah Palin on SNL. I don’t intend to get political here…but this woman does not belong in the White House! Anyway I tried to go to sleep but was still awake at 1am when DJ and Rachel got back from the casino. I don’t think I slept an hour straight the whole night due to the combination of nerves and that bed.

Part Two to follow...