"Expo" Day and a Wonderful Evening

There are many keys to a successful marathon as there are many keys to a disastrous marathon. Yes, my first marathon would be a “disaster” in my book and the last time I was in Arizona to run a marathon was another disaster and I do want to redeem myself. This morning one of the keys to success was accomplished with a good night’s sleep. The night before a marathon is not the night to get a good rest because I know my mind is turning and I am concerned about getting up in the morning so the onus becomes the night before (last night). As long as I can get a restful sleep two nights before the marathon I know everything is going to be alright. This is one of the reasons I wanted to drive in on Friday as opposed to Saturday. I didn’t want to sit in a car for nearly 6 hours the day before the marathon and I wanted that good night’s sleep. I did get that good night’s sleep and everyone was happy to be in Phoenix.

This morning we leisurely woke up and headed down to the lobby for breakfast. As is always the case the “guys” in the family were ahead of the “gals” so my son and I made our way downstairs for the breakfast. I am a big fan of these hotels that supply breakfast as an amenity. It can get costly to feed a family of four and this morning we didn’t have to worry about the prices because the breakfast was already included. These breakfasts have come a long way over the years because I can remember when I used to travel regularly for business that there wasn’t much for me to eat at these breakfasts. However; now I am able to get the “healthy” options and my son can get his favorite which is in the unhealthy category; bacon.

The “gals” did make their way downstairs before the breakfast was closed. We had a very enjoyable breakfast and we were ready to go back to the room so everyone could get ready to make our way over the Expo for the marathon. I believe this is my wife’s favorite part of the marathon because each marathon has their own version of the Expo. It is a flea market for runners along with weekend days at Costco where they give out many free samples. My wife is not a runner but she does enjoy shopping and believe it or not she doesn’t even have to buy anything in order to have a good time shopping. I think this is why she really enjoys the Expos.

Today was unusual because I actually had to purchase some items and this made my wife “concentrate” even more during the Expo. She knew what I needed and would do her best to find those items. Unfortunately I am not as attuned as my wife when it comes to shopping and I am the kind of person where I find what I need and move on whereas my wife consternates obsessively when looking for items. I do have to give her credit she does find some real bargains. There really weren’t any real bargains to be had today but we were able to find the items I needed. Invariably I tend to forget at least one item and today that item was the belt I use to hold my water bottle. This isn’t a necessity on short runs but it is a necessity for a marathon so my wife was able to find one that worked.

Our bag was bulging with all the free samples and I think everyone had a good time. There was a booth that was giving away free bread but to obtain the free bread each person had to spin a way. Of course I refused to spin the wheel because in my mind that is gambling. This could be construed as a bit extreme or even militant and even my wife looked at me as if I were crazy. The outcome was sort of predetermined so in the strictest sense this would not be gambling as everyone was sort of given the free loaf of bread but I didn’t want to have anything to do with the spinning of the wheel. I still cringe at the remotest sight of gambling and this is all part of my recovery. Page 17 of the Gamblers Anonymous Combo Book clearly states; “Don’t gamble for anything”, and I take this literally. I am serious about my recovery and clearly this is the reason my life is incredible because without recovery my life would be non-existent.

After the Expo we went back to the hotel so the children could go swimming. Oh yes, the temperature was in the low 80’s and I do feel a little guilty knowing the vast majority of this country is having an Arctic Blast; however; not guilty enough to just enjoy the warm temperatures. The children had a great time and another benefit of recovery is having so many wonderful people associated. This evening we were going to visit one of these wonderful people who live about 40 minutes from our hotel. This wonderful person is a true example how well life works in recovery and because of recovery their life is indeed wonderful.

We took the drive and met this dear friend in their new house and a very nice town. We were given a tour of the house and knowing this person’s story I had chills looking around the beautiful home. Then we were given a tour of the town which looks very much where we live in California and we treated for a very lovely dinner. The evening was a great deal of fun and once again the blessings of recovery were very evident all day long.