North Carolina Makes 15

Another state checked off my list. This past weekend I had the pleasure and the pain of completing the Skirtchaser 5k in Raleigh, North Carolina. My traveling partner-in-crime was Karen. She had the good (mis)fortune of experiencing the kind of heat and humidity that people from our neck of the woods rarely, if ever, feel. While waiting for the race to begin we sweated enough fluids to require another hydration attempt! We lunched at the Hibernian Pub before checking into our hotel. Arrived at the race with enough time to check in, change into the little racing skirts, ditch our stuff and line up in the corral. It was hotter than Hades! I had read somewhere that the body feels it's 10-15 degrees warmer than temps reflect once you're running. It was 85-87 at the start - you do the sweltering math! The first 2 miles were uphill (I was soooo wrong when I thought Raleigh was flat). There was no water stops on the course - just Gatorade at the 1.5 mark and only 2 volunteers so we waited for a drink. And wait I did! I had this horrible sinus infection/head cold and couldn't breathe through my nose, which left my mouth as dry as the sahara. We both finished with what we felt were respectable times, grabbed our free beer, a slice of watermelon, a 2" jimmy john sample size sub, then made our way to grab a quick dinner somewhere that didn't have a dress code. The best part of the evening was coming across Helios Cafe which had fantastic caps and lattes and dreamy red velvet cupcakes! Early to bed because I felt like crap from the head cold from hell, then back to Cleveland the next morning. Thanks, Karen, I look forward to our next adventure!