Thye P.F> Expo is a chance ofr 36,000 runners to get their reace numbers and timing chips, as well as to sell them a whole lot of stuff. Set up at the Phoenix Convention Center, it can be a wonderful festival or a pain in the neck, depending on your social orientation.
For me today, ti was pretty much an in and out operation. My tips and bits….
The parking around the convention center is mayhem, with all those cars circling to drop off or try and get in the closest garages. Plus, downtown Phoenix is chock full of construction (it’s been almost a year since I was there, wow the giant hole where half of the old Convention Center used to sit!). My trick is to park about 3 blocks north at the Arizona Center; it cost me only $2.
It helped this year to know the steps and the process for getting through the Expo. My line to check in had no wait, I grabbed a timing chip (last year was the first time I had even seen one and spent a lot of time learning how to attach it). The next gauntlet is getting the t-shirt (they are colorful this year), the “goodie bag”, a giant plastic sling full of brochures (mostly recycled when I got home) and other stuff- there was some useful things this year, that my wife and I split (actually she got first dibs, leaving me with just the breath mist, but she put up with a lot of Saturdays devoted to run times).
And then it is getting through the maze of “official merchandise”– I’m not into souveniers, though last year I did by a nice fleece jacket there (and was even wearing it today, it’s COLD). The main floor is one human traffic jam of running gear, other marathon ads, food giveaways, beer giveaways, free massages, tourist info, car stuff (?), and more. I actually did splurge on The Stick when I saw the sore calves sign — it’s a massaging thingy. The demo I got in the booth felt great, and the guy hit a real sore knot in the back outer part of my calf.
I stopped by the Team-D booth, said hi, and scooted out.
How did I spend day before run day? Today’s paper had things listed by accomplished runners like eating weird yogurt or floating in a spa… I spent about 3 hours in the yard taking down the Christmas lights, raking up leaves, and turning the compost bin.
From 4-6 pm was a great pasta carb loading dinner for Team-D at Scottsdale Community College; the participating was grown from 40 some last year to almost 70 this year, and as a whole, we raised over $100,000 for diabetes. Way to go! This is pretty impressive as Phoenix os the only chapter in the US that still runs this program. We’re small potatoes compared to some of the other charity teams, but we’re committed!
With that, it’s just too hard to get to sleep, after organizing all the stuff for an early departure tomorrow, the coffee machine set to start brewing at 4:30, 2 clocks set, extra clothes laid out or put in the bag. Last year, the parking for the bus shuttles at ASU was really mayhem, and took much longer than I had anticipated, so I plan to head out earlier, and try to come in on Rio Salado Parkway rather than Scottsdale Road.
And we just went outside to cover the vegetable gardne since there is a freeze warning tonight. The thermometer on the back of the house is already at 38 degrees. This will be a big difference form last year when it was actually hot right after the start of the run.
The leg is just uncertain. It began to tighten up walking to the Expo (maybe I am allergic to this event) and is still feeling knotted in the calf. I am hoping for a reprieve just to run a bit of the half marathon tomorrow.
And that, will be the rest of the story.
name: Alan Levine
Talkin Back