Well, it's not the most exciting race to recap, but I'll give the overview.
My Mom came down for the race, which was much appreciated. Meredith's parents picked us up a little over an hour before the start, and we all headed downtown together. While last year in Chicago, we were shivering and wearing gloves, long sleeves, and trash bags to keep in the heat, this year a long sleeve pullover was plenty to stay warm before the race. After we met up with our friends downtown, we all walked over to the start line together. In our short sleeves and shorts. Not feeling cold at all. While that's nice for any normal day, it's not a good start to a marathon.
My plan was to run with the four hour pace group for the entire race, and try to break that mark at the end. I fell a little behind during mile 1, just due to the general mayhem with different paces at the start of the race. Also, while there were about 3300 people running the marathon, another 6000+ were there running the half marathon, which ran the same roads for the majority of its course, and started at the same time.
I picked up the pace (maybe a little too much, around an 8:40 mile) during mile 2, and caught the pace group. For the next 3 miles or so, I ran with them pretty comfortably. After that, though, I knew something wasn't right. My stomach began to feel...not so good, and my legs felt numb, like I had already run 20 miles. Seven miles into a marathon, that's not a good feeling to have. I was able to still hang with the pace leader, but it felt like I was expending far too much energy to do it.
Mile 10 took us back through downtown, and past our moms' cheering section, which was a nice pick-up. After that, we did about a three mile loop down through German Village, which has some nice crowd support, and then began the long climb up High Street. I crossed the halfway point at 2:00:52, almost exactly on pace, but extremely tired and feeling dehydrated. While we climbed up High Street for the next four miles, I would look up, and each time, the pace group was gaining on me more and more. That was the most discouraging part of the race, and the part where I seriously considered just turning around and walking back.
But, I decided that I'd rather have a slow time than waste all my training just to quit, so I kept going. By mile 16, my body was already exhausted, and I had to start walking some significant stretches. That would become a theme, as I never ran another complete mile. I started getting cramps in my stomach, and at one point in my hamstring that forced me off the side of the road. Thank goodness it never completely balled up, but it felt like it was about to do so. The second half of the race is also almost completely in the sun, and I certainly wasn't the only one suffering - at some points, there were more people in my view walking than running.
Rather than beat myself up about it, I tried to just enjoy the rest of the race as much as I could. On this day, I realized that it wasn't about not training hard enough, or not preparing well. I hydrated well, other than missing one early water stop due to crowds. I took my gel packs at the appropriate times. I think my body just didn't react well to the heat, and that there's not much I could have done about it.
I ended up with a 4:39, which was disappointing given the amount of training I did, but is still my second best time. Judgment on when/whether another marathon will happen is reserved until my body recovers from this one.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Monday, October 01, 2007
NBHCMTS 20 Miler
Quite the acronym, no?
Anyhow, this 20 miler was the last tune-up before tapering down to the Columbus marathon in a few weeks. It's mostly an out-and-back race, with a few hilly miles more on the out.
I was fortunate enough to strike up a conversation with a couple other guys around mile 5, and we ran together until around mile 13, when I turned up the speed a little bit. My goal was to be somewhere between a 9:30 and 10:00 pace, so as not to burn myself out too much before the real goal in three weeks.
After New Hampshire, the hill toward the end of the race didn't seem nearly so steep this year, and I cruised across the finish line at 3:15:39, a 9:46 pace. I was pretty happy that I was able to pace myself well on a long race, and never walked. Last year, I had run a 3:11, which surprised me when I looked back today. For only a four minute difference, I ran much more in control and comfortably this year, and I wasn't even trying to run my fastest. Makes me think the training is going pretty well...or at least I will convince myself that's what it means. :)
Now it's time to taper down the miles and get ready for the big finish to fall training!
Anyhow, this 20 miler was the last tune-up before tapering down to the Columbus marathon in a few weeks. It's mostly an out-and-back race, with a few hilly miles more on the out.
I was fortunate enough to strike up a conversation with a couple other guys around mile 5, and we ran together until around mile 13, when I turned up the speed a little bit. My goal was to be somewhere between a 9:30 and 10:00 pace, so as not to burn myself out too much before the real goal in three weeks.
After New Hampshire, the hill toward the end of the race didn't seem nearly so steep this year, and I cruised across the finish line at 3:15:39, a 9:46 pace. I was pretty happy that I was able to pace myself well on a long race, and never walked. Last year, I had run a 3:11, which surprised me when I looked back today. For only a four minute difference, I ran much more in control and comfortably this year, and I wasn't even trying to run my fastest. Makes me think the training is going pretty well...or at least I will convince myself that's what it means. :)
Now it's time to taper down the miles and get ready for the big finish to fall training!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Reach the Beach 2007
The road can be awfully lonely when you're all by yourself in the rain at 3:30 AM. But we'll get to that later.
We took off early Thursday morning for New Hampshire, meeting in Portsmouth to begin our trek up to the mountains. Checking into our hotel early in the afternoon, our team got a chance to drive out to the top of Mt. Washington, which was a spectacular (if sometimes a bit nerve-wracking) journey. After returning, we attended the pasta dinner at Cannon Mountain, the starting point of the race. Kudos to the event for what I thought was quite a nice meal.
The butterflies began fluttering a bit in my stomach the next morning, as the impending race became more real. While the first teams left the start line at 7:00 AM, we were expected to be one of the faster teams, and thus weren't scheduled to leave until 2:30 PM. It was a long morning of sitting around, but finally we set off around noon for Cannon Mountain. Following a quick lunch at the ski resort there, we watched our first runner set off on the beginning of our long journey to the coast.
Meredith ran the second leg of the race, which was a fairly long leg. (A theme for her this year) She did a great job with it. I was leg five, so I had to wait a couple more hours as our team ran pretty much over the top of a 1500 foot peak. My first leg took us down the final few miles of the mountain, and flattened out at the base.
My adrenaline was rushing pretty hard as I took the handoff and began down the steep hill. It was hard to keep my legs in check on the decline, so I let them run. Our vans soon went by, offering encouragement. Unfortunately, we were the last team on the course at this point, so I was running pretty much by myself.
Fifteen minutes into the run, I passed our vans and grabbed some water. They informed me that I had run about two miles. I winced, as that meant I was doing 7:30 miles, a pace I certainly couldn't maintain. Sure enough, the pace caught up to me by the end, and I finished the 4.8 miles in an 8:14 pace, still much better than expected.
We followed our sixth runner to the end of his leg, then handed off to the runners in the other van so we could get some much needed nourishment at Subway. Proceeding to the next transition area, we parked and some of us caught a catnap while waiting. This was about the area that we began to realize we were being recognized as "That team 333 that's still out there". We were gaining time on a lot of teams, but we had started so late that we weren't catching anyone.
Our van's second string of legs began late Friday evening. By the time it rolled around to me again, it was almost 3:00 AM, and had started to rain heavily. Fortunately for me, the rain tailed off to a steady drizzle by the time I took the handoff.
My 7.4 mile course took me up out of the town of Meredith, NH. Climbing about 400 feet in the first couple miles, I would descend almost back to my starting elevation, then climb it again before descending to the finish. Though it wasn't an easy run, I found myself able to keep the pace somewhere under a 9:00 pace, even on the hills. With two miles left in the run, my van went ahead to the transition area to prepare the next runner.
As I descended a long hill, I saw a traffic light ahead that I thought I recognized from the course instructions. Looking for course markers, I saw one pointing straight ahead past the intersection. The light turned at precisely the right time, and I coasted through, just a few minutes before my estimated arrival time on my watch. However, as I continued on, I started to get confused. There was one fairly well lit parking lot to the right, but no markers there. I kept going for 15-20 minutes, getting more nervous as I went. I knew something was awry, but I didn't know whether to turn back and risk not reaching the end, or continue on and risk wasting more time if I was wrong.
After thinking briefly about knocking on the nearby sheriff's office, I finally found another team's van to flag down. They informed me that I had missed my turn, nearly two miles back.
With some resignation, I thanked them, and began moving as fast as I could back up the hill I had just descended. My team van had been out searching for me, and eventually found me coming back up the hill. I made it back to the transition area, and handed off to our next runner. I had cost us about 40 minutes, but everyone seemed to just be happy that I was safe. In all the confusion, I never stopped my watch, so I don't know a time or even a distance for that leg. We picked up our sixth runner after his leg and headed to the next van exchange, where we all managed to get at least a little sleep.
The morning brought somewhat better weather, though it was chilly and still a little wet. It also brought the news that we had actually begun to catch some teams during the night, which brightened the mood as well. The race staff seemed impressed that we were making up that much time, and we heard multiple surprised comments when people heard that team 333 was no longer the last one on the course.
My third and final leg of the race was theoretically my easiest. It was 4.7 miles of rolling terrain, but no hills as steep as either of my other legs. I also made sure to memorize the road names on this leg so I wasn't dependent on seeing the arrows marking the course. Even the rolling hills were a challenge after the previous day, but I managed to keep my legs moving in some semblance of a run throughout the leg. I arrived at the school marking the next handoff having run an 8:16 pace.
However, my van wasn't there. Our second van was present, but not my van carrying our next runner! In confusion, the second van called my cell phone, and informed my van that they were in the wrong place. One of the signs had turned, and they had gone down the next leg of the course instead. While I was waiting, two more runners arrived without their vans as well.
About ten minutes passed, and my van showed up to drop off our next runner. Handing off the bracelet, I had finished my portion of the course. Happily, I changed into some dry clothes. I never did see another runner on the course in any of my legs, which was a little disappointing, but also somewhat inevitable given our starting time.
As the final legs wound down, our team passed more runners, though we still ended up being one of the last teams to the beach. When our last runner came into sight, we all got to run (or hobble) across the finish line together, which was really nice. Afterward, we got together for a celebratory pizza dinner before flying back the next morning.
All in all, I had a really good time at the race. Without the course mistakes, I think I would have beaten my goal times significantly on all my legs. Perhaps next year I'll get the opportunity to best them again!
We took off early Thursday morning for New Hampshire, meeting in Portsmouth to begin our trek up to the mountains. Checking into our hotel early in the afternoon, our team got a chance to drive out to the top of Mt. Washington, which was a spectacular (if sometimes a bit nerve-wracking) journey. After returning, we attended the pasta dinner at Cannon Mountain, the starting point of the race. Kudos to the event for what I thought was quite a nice meal.
The butterflies began fluttering a bit in my stomach the next morning, as the impending race became more real. While the first teams left the start line at 7:00 AM, we were expected to be one of the faster teams, and thus weren't scheduled to leave until 2:30 PM. It was a long morning of sitting around, but finally we set off around noon for Cannon Mountain. Following a quick lunch at the ski resort there, we watched our first runner set off on the beginning of our long journey to the coast.
Meredith ran the second leg of the race, which was a fairly long leg. (A theme for her this year) She did a great job with it. I was leg five, so I had to wait a couple more hours as our team ran pretty much over the top of a 1500 foot peak. My first leg took us down the final few miles of the mountain, and flattened out at the base.
My adrenaline was rushing pretty hard as I took the handoff and began down the steep hill. It was hard to keep my legs in check on the decline, so I let them run. Our vans soon went by, offering encouragement. Unfortunately, we were the last team on the course at this point, so I was running pretty much by myself.
Fifteen minutes into the run, I passed our vans and grabbed some water. They informed me that I had run about two miles. I winced, as that meant I was doing 7:30 miles, a pace I certainly couldn't maintain. Sure enough, the pace caught up to me by the end, and I finished the 4.8 miles in an 8:14 pace, still much better than expected.
We followed our sixth runner to the end of his leg, then handed off to the runners in the other van so we could get some much needed nourishment at Subway. Proceeding to the next transition area, we parked and some of us caught a catnap while waiting. This was about the area that we began to realize we were being recognized as "That team 333 that's still out there". We were gaining time on a lot of teams, but we had started so late that we weren't catching anyone.
Our van's second string of legs began late Friday evening. By the time it rolled around to me again, it was almost 3:00 AM, and had started to rain heavily. Fortunately for me, the rain tailed off to a steady drizzle by the time I took the handoff.
My 7.4 mile course took me up out of the town of Meredith, NH. Climbing about 400 feet in the first couple miles, I would descend almost back to my starting elevation, then climb it again before descending to the finish. Though it wasn't an easy run, I found myself able to keep the pace somewhere under a 9:00 pace, even on the hills. With two miles left in the run, my van went ahead to the transition area to prepare the next runner.
As I descended a long hill, I saw a traffic light ahead that I thought I recognized from the course instructions. Looking for course markers, I saw one pointing straight ahead past the intersection. The light turned at precisely the right time, and I coasted through, just a few minutes before my estimated arrival time on my watch. However, as I continued on, I started to get confused. There was one fairly well lit parking lot to the right, but no markers there. I kept going for 15-20 minutes, getting more nervous as I went. I knew something was awry, but I didn't know whether to turn back and risk not reaching the end, or continue on and risk wasting more time if I was wrong.
After thinking briefly about knocking on the nearby sheriff's office, I finally found another team's van to flag down. They informed me that I had missed my turn, nearly two miles back.
With some resignation, I thanked them, and began moving as fast as I could back up the hill I had just descended. My team van had been out searching for me, and eventually found me coming back up the hill. I made it back to the transition area, and handed off to our next runner. I had cost us about 40 minutes, but everyone seemed to just be happy that I was safe. In all the confusion, I never stopped my watch, so I don't know a time or even a distance for that leg. We picked up our sixth runner after his leg and headed to the next van exchange, where we all managed to get at least a little sleep.
The morning brought somewhat better weather, though it was chilly and still a little wet. It also brought the news that we had actually begun to catch some teams during the night, which brightened the mood as well. The race staff seemed impressed that we were making up that much time, and we heard multiple surprised comments when people heard that team 333 was no longer the last one on the course.
My third and final leg of the race was theoretically my easiest. It was 4.7 miles of rolling terrain, but no hills as steep as either of my other legs. I also made sure to memorize the road names on this leg so I wasn't dependent on seeing the arrows marking the course. Even the rolling hills were a challenge after the previous day, but I managed to keep my legs moving in some semblance of a run throughout the leg. I arrived at the school marking the next handoff having run an 8:16 pace.
However, my van wasn't there. Our second van was present, but not my van carrying our next runner! In confusion, the second van called my cell phone, and informed my van that they were in the wrong place. One of the signs had turned, and they had gone down the next leg of the course instead. While I was waiting, two more runners arrived without their vans as well.
About ten minutes passed, and my van showed up to drop off our next runner. Handing off the bracelet, I had finished my portion of the course. Happily, I changed into some dry clothes. I never did see another runner on the course in any of my legs, which was a little disappointing, but also somewhat inevitable given our starting time.
As the final legs wound down, our team passed more runners, though we still ended up being one of the last teams to the beach. When our last runner came into sight, we all got to run (or hobble) across the finish line together, which was really nice. Afterward, we got together for a celebratory pizza dinner before flying back the next morning.
All in all, I had a really good time at the race. Without the course mistakes, I think I would have beaten my goal times significantly on all my legs. Perhaps next year I'll get the opportunity to best them again!
Monday, September 10, 2007
What Have I Gotten Myself Into?
Every year, Meredith runs a relay race in New Hampshire called Reach the Beach. It's a 24+ hour race, which covers most of the length of the state. Unfortunately, one of their runners went down with an injury this week, and they were scrambling to find a replacement. That's where I come in.
If things go as planned, I'll be running three legs of the race: 4.8, 7.4, and 4.7 miles. I'm not sure what time of day (or night) they'll be.
Should be interesting...
If things go as planned, I'll be running three legs of the race: 4.8, 7.4, and 4.7 miles. I'm not sure what time of day (or night) they'll be.
Should be interesting...
Friday, September 07, 2007
Of Kermits and Keltrafs
One of my favorite shows to watch when I was growing up was the Muppet Show. I had a tape of some of the best sketches that I would watch quite often. Yesterday I was poking around the web and found a song I hadn't seen before. I thought you all might enjoy it as well.
Yesterday afternoon brought a very difficult 5 mile run. Not so much because it was tough on its own, but more because of the combined effect of the half marathon and sprints this week. My legs felt like lead weights. So, I coined a new term.
A fartlek run is one where you run a comfortable pace, and then pick stretches of the run to increase your speed. It's not a structured sprint workout, just sort of a fun way to get some speed work in. Yesterday's run was a keltraf. I ran a comfortable pace, and then picked stretches to slow down, sometimes even to a walk. I'm pretty sure that's an effective way to work out, right?
With under one mile left, the playlist I was listening to on my iPod ran out, and I debated starting a new one. Instead, I just hit "Shuffle Songs". Out of the 400+ songs on there, what was the very first one that came up?
Artist: Harry Connick Jr.
Album: Come By Me
Song: "Danny Boy"
I laughed all the way home.
Yesterday afternoon brought a very difficult 5 mile run. Not so much because it was tough on its own, but more because of the combined effect of the half marathon and sprints this week. My legs felt like lead weights. So, I coined a new term.
A fartlek run is one where you run a comfortable pace, and then pick stretches of the run to increase your speed. It's not a structured sprint workout, just sort of a fun way to get some speed work in. Yesterday's run was a keltraf. I ran a comfortable pace, and then picked stretches to slow down, sometimes even to a walk. I'm pretty sure that's an effective way to work out, right?
With under one mile left, the playlist I was listening to on my iPod ran out, and I debated starting a new one. Instead, I just hit "Shuffle Songs". Out of the 400+ songs on there, what was the very first one that came up?
Artist: Harry Connick Jr.
Album: Come By Me
Song: "Danny Boy"
I laughed all the way home.
Thursday, September 06, 2007
9-5 Sprint Report
Wednesday was sprint day this week. I decided to really see what I had and do a sprint ladder:
4x100
3x200
2x400
1x800
1x1600
1x800
2x400
3x200
4x100
I held a pretty good pace for most of it - couldn't quite hold my 1600 at 5K pace, but wasn't too far off. My second set of 200s were pretty slow, but my legs were feeling really heavy at that point of the workout. In a perfect world, those times should have been in the same range as the first set.
On another gnote (er...note), Meredith and I have discovered our love for gnocchi. She had a dish of it at a Sicilian-style restaurant in Venice which was amazingly good, and now we keep an eye out for it. I had a really good dish of it last night after the run, and get leftovers for lunch. :)
4x100
3x200
2x400
1x800
1x1600
1x800
2x400
3x200
4x100
I held a pretty good pace for most of it - couldn't quite hold my 1600 at 5K pace, but wasn't too far off. My second set of 200s were pretty slow, but my legs were feeling really heavy at that point of the workout. In a perfect world, those times should have been in the same range as the first set.
On another gnote (er...note), Meredith and I have discovered our love for gnocchi. She had a dish of it at a Sicilian-style restaurant in Venice which was amazingly good, and now we keep an eye out for it. I had a really good dish of it last night after the run, and get leftovers for lunch. :)
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
2007 Mount Carmel Fitness Challenge 1/2 Marathon
For the last three years, I've trained for fall marathons. In both marathons, my first half time was under two hours (9:09 per mile), yet for some reason, I've been unable to run a half marathon in that time.
That changed on Monday.
I hadn't run any races since beginning my marathon training; my last race was a 5K in May. I did set a personal best in that race, but I wasn't sure how much that meant for 13 mile distance. So, I came into Monday's race feeling good about my training, but unsure about where I stood in running at a goal pace.
The race began at a local high school, and started out with a downhill stretch. I kept a fairly fast pace for the first couple miles, and hit the first turnaround well ahead of my target. However, we soon had to climb back up the hill, and I gave back about 20 seconds in that mile.
Passing the school again, we headed down the other side of the hill. I managed to run something close to a 7:30 minute pace during this mile, which almost certainly is my best mile in any race longer than a 5K. Again, we had a climb after the downhill stretch, but this time I managed to keep my pace around 9:00, which meant I didn't lose any time to my goal. During this mile, I began passing people who had slowed down on the hill.
For much of the remainder of the race, the course wound through neighborhoods with rolling hills. My pace was fairly consistent, slightly under 9 minutes per mile. I continued passing people, especially in water stops, where many people stopped or walked. During this section, I was doing math in my head to figure out what time I would need to reach certain miles to give myself a good chance to break my time, and gained some confidence when I continually hit the targets. I hit mile 10 under 1:30, and I was fairly sure I would break two hours, barring a complete collapse or injury.
Finally, we turned onto a bike path for most of the last two miles or so. It was a nice change of pace, and was mostly shaded. Emerging from the path onto the sidewalk, we had one last tough climb up to the school. I kept telling myself that this was why I run sprints, and to just keep my legs moving. I caught one last person near the crest of the hill. We coasted down across the school parking lot, and around the track one time to the finish line. I saw Meredith on the way into the stadium, and could happily raise a fist, knowing that I was going to break my goal by quite a bit. I was surprised to see just how much, as I came across the line in 1:52:30.
The rule of thumb I've heard for a marathon is to take your half-marathon time, double it, and add 10 minutes. That would get me across the line in 3:54, so I'll cross my fingers and keep training for that four hour goal!
That changed on Monday.
I hadn't run any races since beginning my marathon training; my last race was a 5K in May. I did set a personal best in that race, but I wasn't sure how much that meant for 13 mile distance. So, I came into Monday's race feeling good about my training, but unsure about where I stood in running at a goal pace.
The race began at a local high school, and started out with a downhill stretch. I kept a fairly fast pace for the first couple miles, and hit the first turnaround well ahead of my target. However, we soon had to climb back up the hill, and I gave back about 20 seconds in that mile.
Passing the school again, we headed down the other side of the hill. I managed to run something close to a 7:30 minute pace during this mile, which almost certainly is my best mile in any race longer than a 5K. Again, we had a climb after the downhill stretch, but this time I managed to keep my pace around 9:00, which meant I didn't lose any time to my goal. During this mile, I began passing people who had slowed down on the hill.
For much of the remainder of the race, the course wound through neighborhoods with rolling hills. My pace was fairly consistent, slightly under 9 minutes per mile. I continued passing people, especially in water stops, where many people stopped or walked. During this section, I was doing math in my head to figure out what time I would need to reach certain miles to give myself a good chance to break my time, and gained some confidence when I continually hit the targets. I hit mile 10 under 1:30, and I was fairly sure I would break two hours, barring a complete collapse or injury.
Finally, we turned onto a bike path for most of the last two miles or so. It was a nice change of pace, and was mostly shaded. Emerging from the path onto the sidewalk, we had one last tough climb up to the school. I kept telling myself that this was why I run sprints, and to just keep my legs moving. I caught one last person near the crest of the hill. We coasted down across the school parking lot, and around the track one time to the finish line. I saw Meredith on the way into the stadium, and could happily raise a fist, knowing that I was going to break my goal by quite a bit. I was surprised to see just how much, as I came across the line in 1:52:30.
The rule of thumb I've heard for a marathon is to take your half-marathon time, double it, and add 10 minutes. That would get me across the line in 3:54, so I'll cross my fingers and keep training for that four hour goal!
Friday, February 16, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Burnin' Down The House
Just a quick public service announcement:
Hot pads, though good at repelling heat, do have their limits. For example, let's say you were cooking some hypothetical ravioli, and hadn't turned off the burner the water was on. Now, let's say you took some garlic bread out of the oven, and set the cookie sheet on a hot pad on said burner.
The result, sadly, is a fair amount of smoke, a burnt smell through half the house that lasts a few days, and a very blackened, unusable hot pad.
Next time we're getting one made of asbestos.
Hot pads, though good at repelling heat, do have their limits. For example, let's say you were cooking some hypothetical ravioli, and hadn't turned off the burner the water was on. Now, let's say you took some garlic bread out of the oven, and set the cookie sheet on a hot pad on said burner.
The result, sadly, is a fair amount of smoke, a burnt smell through half the house that lasts a few days, and a very blackened, unusable hot pad.
Next time we're getting one made of asbestos.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
A Wii-ly Long Story
(aka, the legend of the back-up gift)
In a world where Christmas gifts were impossible to find...
So, my original Christmas gift idea for Meredith fell through. I can't say what it is, because I may try it again for her birthday in April. However, she had commented that the new Nintendo Wii looked really fun. I sprang into action (2 weeks before Christmas) to try and find one. I registered on inventory tracking sites, called every store within literally 100 miles, and had no luck at all.
About three days before Christmas, I found out the Wal-Mart near my work had been receiving a couple per day around noon. So, one day I took my lunch to stalk the electronics department. They notified me that I wasn't allowed to form a line - I'd have to wander the store. After reading the back of every DVD in their store, the shipment finally arrived. No Wii.
That was the last real chance to find one by Christmas, though I kept trying. My back-up-back-up gift became a new vacuum cleaner, which did go over well. But the search had not ended. I did get Meredith a game for it that I could wrap for Christmas, so she would at least know I tried.
Since Christmas, I've been tracking sites and calling almost every day, with no luck. One day, I called Wal-Mart again, only to hear that they sold the last one half an hour before my call.
Yesterday, I saw a rumor that an EB Games store nearby had a handful in stock. I called and talked to an employee there, who said they never have them in the mornings. Sadly, I turned back to my work for a few hours. But during my lunch, I saw another posting that someone had bought one at an EB. I called the same store back, and was told that they had gotten a shipment, but were out already. All this happened in a span of four hours.
Frantically, I called down the list of EB/GameStop stores all around town, only to hear: "No", "No", "No", "No". And then "Yeah, I've got two left." I didn't know what to say, other than "Can you hold one for me?". That got me another "No." So, I plugged the address into Google Maps and found that the store in question was only 2 miles or so from where I work. I told my coworkers I needed to run an errand, dashed down to my car, and flew out of the parking lot.
Red light. Okay, turning left onto a main road. Red light. I'm generally a very patient driver, but not this time. I tried to see around the vans in front of me, to no avail. Without thinking clearly enough to realize there was a much faster way, I had no choice but to go through light after light after light. Finally, I came to the area in which the store was supposed to be located. Frantically looking around, I pulled into the biggest strip mall I could find, in hopes that it was hidden there somewhere. My efforts were rewarded as I turned into the parking lot...
Only to find myself behind a bus. I waited for it to turn, then found my way across the lot to the store. I grabbed a nearby parking spot, locked my doors and jogged to the store, and the door was held for me by a nice gentleman. Holding a bag. Containing a Wii.
I looked to the worker - the two of us the only people now in the store. "Tell me that wasn't the last one", I begged. He nodded sadly. "Yeah, I think it was." All I could say was "You're kidding me!"
Within twenty minutes of my phone call, the store had sold out. I became convinced I would never find one at that moment.
"Hold on", the store employee said. "Let me double check."
He walked to the back room of the store as I waited nervously. He came back out, shielded by racks of games so I couldn't see his arms.
"This is your lucky day."
I broke out in a smile. "Thank you so much!", I said happily.
"How much are you willing to pay for it?", he asked.
I froze, so nervous that I didn't even realize he was kidding for a few seconds. He rang up my sale, and my search was at an end.
In a world where Christmas gifts were impossible to find...
So, my original Christmas gift idea for Meredith fell through. I can't say what it is, because I may try it again for her birthday in April. However, she had commented that the new Nintendo Wii looked really fun. I sprang into action (2 weeks before Christmas) to try and find one. I registered on inventory tracking sites, called every store within literally 100 miles, and had no luck at all.
About three days before Christmas, I found out the Wal-Mart near my work had been receiving a couple per day around noon. So, one day I took my lunch to stalk the electronics department. They notified me that I wasn't allowed to form a line - I'd have to wander the store. After reading the back of every DVD in their store, the shipment finally arrived. No Wii.
That was the last real chance to find one by Christmas, though I kept trying. My back-up-back-up gift became a new vacuum cleaner, which did go over well. But the search had not ended. I did get Meredith a game for it that I could wrap for Christmas, so she would at least know I tried.
Since Christmas, I've been tracking sites and calling almost every day, with no luck. One day, I called Wal-Mart again, only to hear that they sold the last one half an hour before my call.
Yesterday, I saw a rumor that an EB Games store nearby had a handful in stock. I called and talked to an employee there, who said they never have them in the mornings. Sadly, I turned back to my work for a few hours. But during my lunch, I saw another posting that someone had bought one at an EB. I called the same store back, and was told that they had gotten a shipment, but were out already. All this happened in a span of four hours.
Frantically, I called down the list of EB/GameStop stores all around town, only to hear: "No", "No", "No", "No". And then "Yeah, I've got two left." I didn't know what to say, other than "Can you hold one for me?". That got me another "No." So, I plugged the address into Google Maps and found that the store in question was only 2 miles or so from where I work. I told my coworkers I needed to run an errand, dashed down to my car, and flew out of the parking lot.
Red light. Okay, turning left onto a main road. Red light. I'm generally a very patient driver, but not this time. I tried to see around the vans in front of me, to no avail. Without thinking clearly enough to realize there was a much faster way, I had no choice but to go through light after light after light. Finally, I came to the area in which the store was supposed to be located. Frantically looking around, I pulled into the biggest strip mall I could find, in hopes that it was hidden there somewhere. My efforts were rewarded as I turned into the parking lot...
Only to find myself behind a bus. I waited for it to turn, then found my way across the lot to the store. I grabbed a nearby parking spot, locked my doors and jogged to the store, and the door was held for me by a nice gentleman. Holding a bag. Containing a Wii.
I looked to the worker - the two of us the only people now in the store. "Tell me that wasn't the last one", I begged. He nodded sadly. "Yeah, I think it was." All I could say was "You're kidding me!"
Within twenty minutes of my phone call, the store had sold out. I became convinced I would never find one at that moment.
"Hold on", the store employee said. "Let me double check."
He walked to the back room of the store as I waited nervously. He came back out, shielded by racks of games so I couldn't see his arms.
"This is your lucky day."
I broke out in a smile. "Thank you so much!", I said happily.
"How much are you willing to pay for it?", he asked.
I froze, so nervous that I didn't even realize he was kidding for a few seconds. He rang up my sale, and my search was at an end.
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