Half Marathon Bahama Mama

Our first night in Nassau we decided to walk down to eat dinner on the ocean.

This is a photo from the highest point on the island at one of the forts near the Queen's staircase.

A view from our room.

This was perfect as the races started right outside our door.

After I finished the half marathon, I walked down to the beach to do a little leg soaking in some cool, salty water to ease the pain of not training. Then I went back to the hotel room, got cleaned up and came back to sit on the beach waiting Doug's arrival in from the marathon. Not a bad place to hang out if I must say myself.

Doug just steps away from the finish line.

Great job babe on yet another marathon!

Why, yes, I think I would like a fruity drink. How about two, please?

Our bartender on the beach.

Drink up...

I thought I might just get by without seeing any hair braiding, but no...

A good time was had by all at Senor Frogs...balloon hats (you'll have to visit Doug's blog for that picture)...free shots...I think Doug had an equivelent of three shots at one pouring...dancing...we even met some people from Ogden, Utah. One of our favorite marathon destinations. It just so happened that one of the guys we met helps put together the marathon. Small world.

This guy is making up some ceviche for us. Yumm...it was delish.

Just hanging out...

Ahhh...warm sun...palm trees...the ocean...

Ohh...so to the race then...

It was put on really well. I think this was their 3rd year and I was rather impressed. It was a small field, not a crazy amount of people. Water stops were handled very nicely. The volunteers were great. The course was almost all along the beach (at least for the half marathon). The best part was Doug running the first 9 miles with me before the half marathon course split from the marathon course.

And...they had drawings. You had to be present to win, so as I sat on the beach soaking in the sun, talking to new friends I'd made, I heard them state they were drawing for the grand prize...a two night stay to Atlantis and dinner for two at Bobby Flay's restaurant. Might you guess whose number was drawn?
Mine!
Whoot! Whoot!

I Don't Know...

I don't know what beach this is...

I don't know what day this is...

I don't know if I've packed enough clothes to wear...

And I don't care.

The words I'll be singing later this week as Doug and I head to...the Bahamas!

The Kansas weather has been outstanding thus far this year and we've been very fortunate. However, I'll be happy to trade the barren trees, brown grass and dry itchy skin for some sand between my toes, palm trees and the taste of salt water on my tongue from the ocean breeze.

We signed up for the marathon months ago, thinking that would kick start my running. Why, oh why, don't I learn my lesson? It didn't work. Days...weeks...months came and went. And...nothing. So...I'm going to run to the half.

I don't know how...And I don't care!

Here's to sun...sand...surf...and running

A New Year

What better way is there to ring in the New Year than with great friends and the love of your life? How about meandering home early after the New Year rings in to grab a couple hours of Zzz's in order to wake up to a beautiful, sunny, 39 degree morning.

To. Go. For. A. Run.

Very refreshing.

A cleanse.

Exactly what this girl needed to start anew.

I've always thought it was somewhat hokey to 'start fresh' on New Year's. Why not have started it last week or a month ago? Well...for whatever reason, I haven't been able to get my booty in gear for running. I think about it every day. Every day. But didn't have the 'umph' to get myself out the door. I am praying, after today's run, that has changed.

Waking up to the sun shining. Doug by my side. The two pups sprawled all over our king size bed, obviously needing more room, made me smile as I crawled out from under the covers, feeling excitement and ready to start the day. A new year.

The parking lot is packed as we pull in to the parking lot for the New Year's Run. How fun! There were over 250 people out to run this morning...the die hards, mom's with their strollers, the peeps you see at every race you attend, new faces, families and friends. Along with the sun beaming down, warming my face, seeing everyone out today warmed my heart.

Everyone takes off to travel their own distance at their own pace. This isn't a race, just a fun run. Laughter and chatter fill the sun kissed air. The smiles, head nods, hello's, the sweat, the burn, the sun...makes me crave another mile.

I love this.

I love this.

I really love this.

St. Patrick's 4 Mile Run

What a great run!
A 10 am start.
We were even able to sleep in.
The weather was perfect. Blue skies, cool 50 degree start.
We ran into a few of Doug's running group at the start of the race.
Look at all of us in our Five Trails Half Marathon shirts.

I've been feeling like dooty lately with a cold that really brought me down.
Even at the start I was still debating on running. I decided, why not.
I could run it.
Or walk it.
Or crawl it.
Whatever it was going to take.
And I did.
And it was fun.
Really...It was a blast!

There were around 4 thousand people that ran this morning.
Soooo many silly costumes.
There were teams chained together 5 and 6 people deep running as centipedes.
It was great to hear people laughing, singing and cheering people on.
I saw a girl throwing out candy to children-as if she was in a parade. Just good times all the way around.
This was my first year running this event and I would love to run it again.

Some of Doug's team pre-race

Oscar the Grouch. Yes...he was really there!

Doug...post-race at McCoy's standing proud, letting everyone know HE is the coach of the Five Trails Half Marathon program.

And the best thing to do after a race. Eat!

McCoy's macncheese and to wash it down...Ginger Shandy and Bloody Mary's. Whoot!

Diva Dash 5K

You know you have a best friend when:

You call her up the day before a race and ask her if she wants to run it with you.

And she says YES!

You are fully aware it's going to be freezing outside.

And she still says YES!

She had a smile on her face the whole race.

And you can't even feel your face cuz it is so stinkin' frozen.

That is the kinda best friend I have.

I am so lucky.

Look at the blue sky and that smile. You would never guess the windchill was 9 degrees and the wind was craziness! The smile froze on Karen's face.

The best part about our Diva Dash...breakfast afterwards where we were able to catch up on girl and best friend things.

Poor Karen. I asked her to a 5K where they had cute shirts and look at the cute medals below!

However, I signed us up too late. They have to re-order shirts as they ran out. And we were gabbing too much to care about our time, by the time we crossed the finish line, they had run out of cute medals. No worries, they are ordering more of those too.

Breakfast. Yumm...Biscuts and gravy. Egg wrap and potatoes. The best part though...warm doughnut holes with strawberries and pineapple on top.

YES...I'm aware it was a 5K. This wasn't simply just my breakfast, Karen and I split. Even at that, I'm certain we consumed more calories than we burned. Oh well! It was worth every bite.

RunFolio

Doug and I collect a lot of things from our runs:

*Beer Glasses from the race itself or from a local brewery

*Medals

*Race Numbers

And we have **way** too many of each considering there are two of everything.

Beer glasses are stored away downstairs in the bar.

Medals are displayed nicely downstairs.

Race numbers are stored in a messy drawer.

Until Now!

I made a nice little RunFolio to display our bibs.

Now...I am not a crafty winch.

At All.

In any way shape or form.

But...I honestly think I did a pretty darn good job considering I suck at any kind of crafts.

The hardest part was sorting the bibs...Doug's from mine. Then sorting out when/where/what race the bib was from. Some are easy cuz they have your name/race/date. Some have zilcho-just a number. We have a few stragglers but for the most part they are properly in place.

Take a look at my masterpieces:

This is mine...

This is Amanda's. She is the one that started me thinking about this...

This is Doug's...
These are the bib numbers inside...

So now when we come home for a race, we just need to add each bib to it's proper RunFolio. Easy!

I'm so proud of myself. I'm such a big dork!

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.