Miami Half Marathon...Warming the Soul

As I look outside my window today at blizzard conditions while sitting in my flannel p.j.'s and enjoying my warm coffee as I take a snow day from work, I look back at where I was just yesterday.

Ahhhh...

I met Amanda at KCI before the butt crack of dawn Friday morning as we boarded a plane to Miami. Once there, we rolled down the windows in the car, wind blowing through our hair as we headed to the expo to pick up our packets and peruse the goodies.

Below we are working on our form for race day.

There was no clubbing this trip. But we did party it up by laying at the pool several times, practicing outdoor yoga, headed to bed by 9pm every night, stopping off at the beach and my favorite...seeing a couple manatees!

Amanda striking a pose at our outdoor yoga class. Absolutely amazing. The weather could not have been more perfect. The blue sky, a slight breeze and 72 degrees.

I've never been to a yoga class where they played anything but zen type music. Here they played music from 'Let's Get It On' by Marvin Gaye to 'Rock With You' by Michael Jackson. It was so so so so awesome, especially since 'Rock with You' is one of my all time favorite songs.

Besides the fact that I haven't practiced yoga in like, ummm...ummm...three months...I knew I was in a world of hurt. But the pain didn't set in until they told us we were going to do 108...YES...108 Sun Salutations! OMG! Hello! I am supposed to be running a half marathon the next day. Well, at least I have something to blame my time on, eh?

After yoga, we replenished ourselves with some coconut water and headed upstairs for a nice view where we saw, yet, another manatee.

Now...for race day. It was the perfect morning. Low 50's, low hummidity. The sun. The ocean. Not sure what more I could have asked for!
I took my camera this year, hoping to see my tranvestite friends cheering me on again this year. But no luck with that.

However, I did have some luck.

I finished!

Oh...and I found a $20 bill in the middle of the race course! Whoot! With airlines miles to get to and fro, with a free place to stay AND a free race entry, I MADE money on this baby!

Post race. With our awesome spinning race medals and my lucky $20.

Again...working on form...

After the race, we headed to brunch where I had the best O.J ever. So fresh. So orange. So delish. Then again...to the pool to soak up some warm rays.
What a great weekend!
Great friends. Thanks Amanda and David! You two are too kind!

As this blizzard continues to rage, I'm going to go grab a blanket, curl up with the pup and my coffee, close my eyes and dream of the sun, fun and friends that warmed my soul to the core.