Day before the Spinx Run Fest Marathon

Friday... The day started out as a typical commute back to Atlanta from Wilmington normally does. However, I arrived at the airport to find out my flight would be delayed because of thunderstorms. Thankfully, it was only an hour delay... I left the airport around 2:45 and debated about stopping by the house to pick up some long sleeve shirts and a wind/rain jacket, but decided I should probably head straight to Greenville instead. I wanted to get there in time to pick up my race packet, have a decent dinner, and go to bed early. But... traffic was HORRIBLE! It was very slow for miles, and then came to a complete stop at the I-85/I-985 split. I was able to merge over and get on I-985 north and was so greatful that I've got GPS in my car. I went several miles out of the way to get around the accident that I had heard on the radio was at the hamilton mill road exit. By now it was after 5 p.m. and I was getting really worried that I wouldn't make it to Greenville by 8, when the packet pick-up/expo ended. I picked up a burger and fries and ate while stressing. Then I ended up on 2-lane roads to get back to I-85, above the accident exit. But for quite a stretch, this road was very slow moving too. I called my sister's house to ask her to look on the internet to see if I could pick up my race packet in the morning. If not, I was seriously considering turning around and going back home. I left a message and a little while later her husband called me back saying that he looked it up and I could pick up the race packet in the morning starting at 6 a.m. So I continued travelling... Once I got back on I-85, traffic flowed smoothly to Greenville. It was raining lightly. I pulled into a parking spot at Fluor field at 7:30 p.m. I picked up my race number, t-shirt, timing chip, etc. and then browsed the goods for sale. It was cool and still raining lightly. They had light-weight wind/rain jackets on sale. The smallest size was a men's medium, which was too big for me, but I bought it anyway. I also bought two clif bars and then left to find the hotel. An expo worker told me that the hotel was just a half-mile away and pointed in the direction that I needed to go. However, it took me a long time to find it. It only had a tiny sign and the entrance was on Camperdown although the address said Riverplace. I had driven up and down the nearby River St many times and couldn't find it. But I eventually did. I checked in and went to the room. The room was nice, but I was disappointed that there wasn't a tub, only a shower. I like to soak in the tub after long runs... I almost came to the conclusion that too many things had gone wrong and that I shouldn't run tomorrow. I was exhausted and couldn't think straight. I then forced myself to change my mental attitude, go to bed, and mentally prepare for a great race.