Weekend debacle

So...my trip to Washington to run the marathon certainly didn't start out "easy". First issue - flight cancellation (keep in mind - with frequent flyer miles, my sweet husband wanted to treat me to a first class ticket!) - so I was on stand-by for the next flight out - 2 1/2 hours later. I was the LAST person on the aircraft as they had a no-show. Back of the plane, middle seat - not all that easy for someone 6'1".

Arrived in Seattle, rented a car and headed out. Spent a great night with my dear friends the McKeowns, then drove up to Yakima to participate in the marathon the next day. The marathon went great - goal was to walk it in 5 hours 30 minutes, I did it in 5 hours and 31 minutes!

Shortly after the end of the marathon I got on the road to start the journey back to Seattle. That's where the "fun" began. About 30 minutes into my travel, it started to snow. Now I'm not talking just a little snow - snow so bad that I couldn't see 10 feet in front of me. Pretty soon the snow started sticking. Uh oh! About 5 miles later and the roads were shut down to cars without a 4 wheel drive and snow tires. So...I had to back track 10 miles to the closest town and purchase chains - being in a rental after all, there were NO chains. Chains purchased I continued back in the RIGHT direction for about 5 miles, and cars were pulled over putting their chains on. Now - keep in mind - I live in Honduras and don't own a SINGLE warm thing! So in the middle of a HUGE snow storm I'm on the side of the freeway in my capris, sandals, and short-sleeved shirt putting on snow chains. The snow was so bad, that I could barely see cars driving by because it's also night by this time. However, in the time it took me to put the chains on, two semi-trucks had driven by and sprayed snow all over me - so now I'm literally covered from head to toe in snow, soaking wet, and numb - shivering so badly my teeth were chattering so hard they hurt! I still wasn't feeling sorry for myself until I jumped up, ran to open my drivers side door when another semi drove by while my door was open, covered my entire body in snow plus the inside of the car - from the drivers side seat, to the steering wheel, all up on the dash board, etc. I jumped in the car - at this point shivering so hard, unable to feel either my hands or my feet, I started the car back up and drove 35 miles in the snow, at 30 miles an hour (maximum speed for my car with chains) - my hair was soaked, my clothes were soaked, my feet ached so badly from the cold - and I could barely hold the steering wheel because my hands were numb. I was officially feeling sorry for myself at this time. I had just run a marathon after all - my body still ached - I could barely kneel down to get the chains on because my body was rebelling from just having gone 26.2 miles! In the mean time I had been keeping Mike posted, my friends in Seattle posted, and my dear friend Mindy - so they could all be praying for me, and trying to keep my spirits up while I'm dealing with this by myself. After about 4 hours I finally was to a point I had gone down in elevation and the hard snow turned to a hard rain. Chains off, I continued the rest of my time into town and arrived at my friends house at 10:30pm. WAY later than anticipated. I was exhausted, starving, irritated, freezing cold (in my still soaked clothing) and all but ready to hit the sack.

So that...in a nutshell...was my CRAZY marathon day! Believe it or not - there's even MORE to the story - but that's for another post...Sigh...