Thursday, August 18, 2011

Chapter 2 page 409 - Who's MOA?

A question many of you have been wondering is "who did I do this race with?"  The answer is my new bestie . . . MOA!  Here's a little background (fun photos to follow):
-MOA (MO = Missouri; A= her first initial  = MOA)

-MOA has been a loyal reader of my blog for about a year (give or take) and was a frequent commenter.
-She had asked some questions about training and running and that began our email friendship.

-Over the past 9 months or so, we've emailed HUNDREDS of times and discussed everything from training to just plain ol' life.  She ALWAYS cracked me up.  This was definitely a girl I wanted to meet!

-Back in the beginning of April, "C" and I signed up for the Rock n Roll St. Louis so that we could come down to meet MOA and run a half marathon together.  Fun - that was the plan!

-In the meantime, MOA was training for her first half marathon which was suppose to be on 8/14 and was to be just outside of Las Vegas. 

-After training for her first half marathon, she received word in late June that her friend wasn't going to be able to go with her to Vegas . . . . huge bummer.

-MOA asked if I would do Chicago with her since she had been doing all the training and now wasn't going to be able to do the race she intended.  And so . . .I registered for Chicago!

-We met up on Friday 8/12 for lunch and instantly hit it off.  She's as hilarious in real life as she was in her emails.  With the hundreds of emails exchanged it felt like I had always known her.  We had a blast and definitely rocked Chicago.

-MOA decided to take the train and brought her mom as a travel companion and race cheerleader.  Her mom was a HOOT and a real trooper especially since the weather was less than optimal for spectating!

Here are some photos of MOA and her mom . .  such fun folks!!!!  Can't wait to meet up with them again in St. Louis in October!!!!
Fortune teller at the expo.

I loved her spirit - she really enjoyed the expo even though she wasn't there to run.

HUGE Reese's cups at the Hershy's store - YUM! 

Aren't they adorable!!!!

Post race fountain photo - Notice the sun is starting to come out . . . finally!

6 comments:

  1. I am so glad you had a good time with MOA! I look forward to meeting her in October as well - thanks again for letting me tag along for the RnR! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @ Jenn - girl, it's gonna be a PARTY!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. what a great friend! Congrats on your race PR! That is FABULOUS!!

    did I ever send you a bumper sticker? I have a couple left if you want one : )

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dang. This MOA stuf was under wraps like Watergate! LOL.

    Good to hear you made another bloggy friend.

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Holly - it wasn't that it was so much of a secret, but rather it was just a little complicated . . . essentially it would have been like this "a girl who commented on my blog became my email friend and we agreed to run together" - that seems ODD to me so . . . I thought it would be easier this way. She ran ahead of me so we didn't run together - just a weekend meet up :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete