We got back from the Austin Marathon on Monday and I was exhausted so I showered, ate and went straight to bed. The next day at work a co-worker and I had to drive downtown to our new Data Center. I volunteered to drive…big mistake. When we opened my car door the reeking stench of the weekend adventure poured out. My co-worker, Sean, squinted his eyes and said in disgust, “Did a homeless man sleep in your car last night?”. Too embarrassed to respond at first I thought to myself, “Well…kinda.”

We left Friday morning for Austin, Texas. There were the three of us. Me, my Daughter Danielle and her Husband Adam. We had a 21 hour drive ahead of us but I figured we could all share driving time. To say the words, “21 hours of driving” doesn’t really do justice to actually driving 21 hours. It’s a long, long, long way. We went through the entire state Utah, part of Colorado, all of New Mexico and half of Texas. I saw more roadkill skunks, deer, coyotes, armadillo’s, and assorted other forms of wildlife than I would have imagined possible. We left Utah at 10:00am on Friday and arrived at the Austin Marathon Expo at around 10:00am on Saturday. We stopped and slept in the parking lot of some random gas station in New Mexico for about 4 hours. I slept sitting up in the front seat while Adam and Danielle laid down in the back. Just in case you’re wondering it was a miserable sleep.

The parking at the Expo was $7.00 and let’s face it, I am way too cheap to cough up $7.00 to park for an hour or two so we drove around close to the parking lot and looked for a free parking spot. There was a ‘Peter Pans Mini Golf’ right next door so we pulled into their parking lot and walked over to the Expo. We went inside the Arena and I picked up my running packet and bib number. I had a brush with greatness when I shook  hands with Lance Armstrong. He was one of the sponsors for the race.

We got a room for the night then grabbed a quick bite at the local Italian restaurant then off to bed. The next morning at 5:00am I got up and Danielle drove me to the starting line. The course was very hilly and the humidity was about 200% so I did not remain dry for very long. Five minutes into the race I was drenched in my own sweat and stayed that way for all 26 miles. Adam and Danielle were waiting for me at the finish line. As soon as I crossed the line and received my medal and t-shirt I jumped in the car for the 21 hour drive back home. They had checked out of the hotel so there was no shower for me to clean up in. I’m not sure if the locker room smell will ever come out of my car. I wonder if they sell industrial strength Fabreeze?