Blue Coast... Really?

As many of you readers may already know, I ran a half-marathon a little while ago. This being my first half-marathon, I didn't really know what to expect and I was really nervous I wasn't going to do very well. The course was extremely hilly and heaven knows I am not a hill runner! So, here I am cruising along, thinking of all the hills I have to conquer before the end. I hit the first hill-- the biggest of them all. When I FINALLY get to the top, there is a water station and all these volunteers yelling, "blue coast!" as they hand out the water. I take my water, gulp it down, and sigh with relief as I run DOWN HILL for about a mile. I thought to myself, "Gez, that's nice of the volunteers to tell us a down hill was ahead." You see, they were saying blue coast and I so logically figured that was some kind of catchy new phrase they coined for coasting down hills.

Then, off in the horizon I see the second hill. Not bad compared to the first but it IS about six miles in to the race, and I have another seven to go. Again, at the top of the hill, another water station. And you guessed it, more volunteers yelling, "blue coast" as they hand out the water. But the strange thing was there was no down hill. I mean the smallest decline, maybe, but nothing to give me a rest like the first "blue coast." This happened about three other times and I was starting to get frustrated because I was getting myself all jacked up for a bit of a break but the breaks never came. Now, I get to another water station and grab some water from one of the volunteers who is yelling "blue coast" and I'm thinking to myself, "yeah right, I'll believe it when I see it." I put the water up to my lips and instantly spit it out thinking how gross that water tasted. And then I realize it wasn't water... It was some kind of sugar water. I don't know how many of you have seen Friends, but there is an episode where Chandler gets a glass out of the fridge at Monica's and thinks it's cider when it's really fat. Well, if you've seen it, my reaction to the sugar water was similar to his... I wasn't expecting it.

Just then, I look to my side and see a sign that says Gluekos! Half the volunteers were giving out water and the others were giving out gluekos. No one was saying blue coast... they were saying Gluekos! Needless to say, I laughed at my idiocracy. I mean, who hears blue coast and instantly thinks, "Ah, yes. Just as I suspected. There must be a down hill coming up!" Leave it up to me and my selective hearing to get blue coast and gluekos mixed up! I finished the race a little slower than expected but I still finished... And who knows, maybe if there were BLUE COASTS I might have actually finished in my estimated time!