Maura
6:15-7:45 AM: In and out of sleep, determined to sleep in. I optimistically set my alarm for 8:28 AM.
7:45 AM: I’m officially up and reading in bed because no one else is ready to be up yet. In a bit of a reading funk these days since I came back from my trip.
8:15 AM: I’m finally ready to face the day (kinda). I took Aoife (pictured) outside to do her business. She mostly wants to eat sticks and grass. I checked on my little veggie garden and something dug up and ate my little beets. Cowabummer! At least the zucchini still looks okay.
8:19 AM: Time to prepare Aoife’s breakfast. She gets a concoction of kibble, vet-prescribed probiotics, Metamucil, and water. As expected, it takes some time to put together, so she runs laps around the kitchen island huffing at me the entire time.
9:51 AM: Matt and I head out for a little shake out run ahead of the Broad Street Run tomorrow. I think the last time I ran 10 miles was the Love Run… The legs are still a little (read: very) fried after last week in Utah. I gotta say it didn’t feel fantastic. The hill coming up Silverwood never gets easier. Thought this route would be 3 miles but sometimes it is what it is and it’s good enough.
10:17 AM: Starting the process of showering, making breakfast (brunch?), getting ready for the day (again).
11:34 AM: En route to the Convention Center for packet pickup for tomorrow’s 10 miler. Google Maps gave us a weird route but I guess it knows best. Either way we’re still going to sit in traffic on 76.
12:09 PM: Finally arrived at the expo! There are a lot of people in costume here. I’m pretty sure we aren’t here for the same event. Expos always stress me out a little bit because they’re always so busy and everyone is on a Mission™️. I want to like expos. Everything after getting the bib and shirt feels like walking through the gift shop at the end of an amusement park ride. I don’t really want or need any of this, yet here I am.
1:22 PM: Arrived at REI after the loooooong journey from the Convention Center. Mentally Conshohocken doesn’t feel that far away until I really think about actually getting there and back. Thankfully, REI’s return process is easy, but makes the trek out here that much harder. 99% of the time is spent driving. Might as well do other errands while I’m already out.
1:55 PM: I made one last stop on the way home at CVS to pick up some odds and ends. Why are all greeting cards here a little funky?
3:00 PM: Matt and I FaceTimed his parents. Aoife really wanted to be included, so she sat front and center in the frame. She doesn’t seem to care that she’s almost always directly on top of one or both of us. God forbid she’d be uncomfortable.
3:48 PM: After the call we spent some time sorting through emails and responding to different venues. I fear we may have set ourselves up for a busy week, but I think it could be fun all the same.
4:23 PM: Aoife wanted to go outside and play. Once we got out and she realized it was raining she wanted to go right back in. I swear it only rains on the weekend! It’ll be beautiful and sunny all week, then the second the weekend rolls around it’s gray and damp.
6:18 PM: My day winds down pretty early with an early wake up tomorrow. We have an easy dinner, clean the kitchen, and figure out our plans for getting to the start line. After we have our plans sorted out I spend some time updating my to do list for the coming week. I may be many things, but at the core I am a List Girlie.
Maura spent the first 22 years of her life in PA before returning in 2023. You can usually find her running, gardening, or dreaming about retirement. She has been known to enjoy bopping around, and the Mad Max: Fury Road soundtrack always ends up in her Spotify wrapped.
