Thank you for all your sweet and supportive comments on yesterday’s post. They mean so much to me!

I woke up in a kind of gloomy mood this morning.

I think it had something to do with this gorgeous weather we are having. I guess it is trying to get me prepped for the winter.

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It is no joke in Erie during the winter months we can go 2-3 weeks and never see the sun. It is pretty annoying.

Oh, did I mention we will moving in 8-9 months?! Yep this should be our LAST winter in this hell! 🙂

This month I will be taking on a role that I haven’t been in for a while – race spectator/cheerleader.

Last year during the Chicago Marathon I ran it along with my husband, so the preparation and purpose of the trip was a little different.  This year I am there purely as support and his personal cheerleader.

I have spectated and cheered on my husband in many marathon’s previously, and thought I would share some of my spectating advice.

1. Let them do their thing. My husband as you know is a pretty competitive runner. The morning of the marathon he is very focused.  He wakes up, eats his bagel, gets dressed, puts his headphones in, and completely zones out.

Getting Focused

I used to make the mistake of trying to chat his head off. I have learned that he has his pre-race rituals that he likes to follow and the best thing to do is to let him do his thing.

Of course, I am always there to take lots of pictures!

2. Plan a meet up spot. In every marathon Wes has run we have always planned a meet up spot ahead of time.

After Marathon Meet Up

Some of the marathons our family will travel with us and sometimes it is just the two of us. Either way this helps to alleviate some of the worry about finding him afterwards and I know right where I need to be.

Fun story, in 2010 Wes ran his first Boston Marathon.  We had planned a meet up after the race at the designated meet up area.  I finally found him and he dropped down on one knee and proposed. Boston will always mean so much to us. More to come on that in the near future.

3. Plan transportation. I cannot stress this enough. The marathon’s that Wes runs are often the bigger ones (Chicago, Marine Corps, New York, and Boston).  We usually either don’t have our car or the city is too big and closed off due to the marathon to drive.

BEFORE race day plan out how you are going to get home from the marathon after you are done.

Another fun story, last year at Marine Corps we didn’t think we needed to do this. We had done the marathon so many times we thought we knew how to get around. We forgot the fact that we were saying at a new hotel.  Long story short, Wes and I had to walk/jog (AFTER he had finished the marathon) almost 5 miles to the hotel.  Then we had to go back and get his parents (his dad also ran). 

The runners don’t want to think about how they are going to get back after they have just run 26.2 miles, so have the plan ready and help them out!

4. Make fun/obnoxious signs. I actually havn’t done this in a few years because I have so much to carry for Wes now, but in the first 3-4 marathons he ran I always made him a fun sign.

Marathon Signs

This made it easier for him to find me in the crowd and I like to embarrass him a little. 😉

5. Let them enjoy every moment. Every marathon no matter how many times you do them is special. Let your runner enjoy every single minute whether it be walking around the expo before hand or getting a much needed massage or beer after!

Enjoy the Marathon

I always love to watch Wes at the expo. He is like a kid in a candy store and I love seeing him so happy.

Runners work so hard to get there, the marathon itself is just the icing on the cake so I make sure to always take a back seat and let him enjoy every part.

Thank you to all those that entered my FlipBelt giveaway!! Don’t forget if you still want to purchase your own you can use the coupon code LOTR and receive 10% off!

The winner of the FlipBelt is………….

Winner Winner

 

Congrats Kristy!! I will be contacting you shortly with details!

What is your favorite things about race spectating? 

Do you prefer to run or watch a race? I obviously love running but there is nothing better than being my husband’s cheerleader!

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