The Race

We headed down to the expo on Saturday to pick up our bibs, race shirt and goodie bag. We looked at a lot of running gear but didn't buy anything. I must admit I was tempted at the shoe stop but I just bought a new pair of shoes so passed it by.

After the expo we checked in to the hotel. Jenny and I were spending the night in St. Pete's so we didn't have to get up so early. As luck had it I woke at 2:30, go figure. Our cheering crew would be driving down in the morning. Seven in the morning and the race has started, lots of pink shirts. Our crew was there but we did not see them.

We are half way done and connected with our cheering squad. The temperature was warm and it was humid out, but we had a plan for this race and that was to have no plan. There was no Garmin strapped to our wrist. We were just having an awesome time being together and enjoying the race. Jenny said she was a bit nervous when I started to complain about the heat at mile two.

We are nearing the finish line, just down hill and around the corner. Once again this was a great race to do. Jenny even did a cartwheel in Tropicana stadium.

We got our medal and I had the charm put on a cord. It's time to rest and eat some food and then head back to Jenny's house. A big thanks to our cheering squad, Tom, Allie, Mark, Andy and Tom, who got up early and drove down to cheer us on and take pictures and wait for us to finish.

Race Time

We're leaving today to head for Florida and the Women's Half Marathon in St. Pete's. Last year I walked this race with my sister for her 70th birthday celebration, this year I am going to be running with my daughter Jenny. We'll celebrate the time together.
I have trained for this but still not sure I trained enough. I've packed my gels, shoes, hat, socks. shorts and top, all though I might buy a new top at the expo, so I'm ready to go!

What's Still Blooming

The bougainvillea plants are in full bloom, you'd never guess it was the middle of November.

The tomatoes are going to be a bumper crop, there are two other plants that I did not show. Guess we will be eating fried green tomatoes!

I counted 17 lemons on the tree, they're not quite ready to pick but when they are my husband requested a lemon meringue pie.
It has been extremely warm here, Sunday we missed the record high by 1 degree, it was 84. I went out to do a run this morning and the heat and humidity were hard to deal with. I guess I'm getting a taste of Florida weather so I'll be ready to race on Sunday.

Big Thank You

This morning I had a long run on the schedule and was not looking forward to it. I was stiff from the race yesterday and it was already warm out. I asked Christy if she'd like to go part of it with me, figuring she'd say no but it never hurts to ask, and she said yes. What a trooper, she ran a race yesterday and then went to work for 8 hours, plus she works today for 8 hours. She stuck with me for over 5 miles and then turned back for home. I continued on with out a Garmin trying to guesstimate how much more I had to do. I don't think I would have gone 10 miles if I had been on my own the whole time, so thank you Christy for coming along.

Race Report

On November 16, 2004, former Town of Flower Mound employee Dorothy Walkup lost her battle with Multiple Sclerosis. Dorothy is missed but not forgotten as a friend, mentor, and shoulder to lean on to all who had the good fortune to know her. Her strength and courage were never more evident than during her seven-year fight against MS. The Town of Flower Mound sponsors "Dorothy's Dash" to honor her memory, share her example with others who may suffer this terrible disease, and to raise funds to combat Multiple Sclerosis.
Christy and I had heard a lot about this race from the gals at the gym, so we decided to run it this year.

We met up with Shayla and her group from TUF. It's always nice to see some friendly faces at the races.

Christy and I wore the gym shirts to help support and advertise for Shayla.

I had a hard time finding my name in the results because they had put me in with the 50-59 year old bracket. See, racing can make you young!

We thought this dog looked so cute in his shirt. I asked if we could take a picture and found out that this was Dorothy's granddog. That makes the picture more special.

I finished the race with a time of 39:58.

Remember

Weekend Friends

Usually on the weekends I take the path past the municipal center, it winds past a field that is occupied by some goats, geese and a donkey. They are sweet animals and will come up to the fence if you offer them a leaf.

This morning Christy and i went for a long walk. My legs were feeling heavy and I didn't want to run. I grabbed the camera as we left the house so I could get some pictures of my weekend friends.

Fall Back

Don't forget, tonight we turn the clocks back. That means it'll be light in the mornings for running. I'm looking forward to that, I hate getting up and it's dark out.
I went to do my run and the Garmin was making strange noises like it was possessed. I couldn't get it to do anything so put it back in the charger and went out with out it. Running without the
Garmin feels weird.
No pace to check, no distance and no time. I had to do a route that I knew what the miles were. It was kind of freeing not to have it on my wrist and always checking the numbers.

Rushing

Somehow I always feel like retail is always rushing the holidays in before it's time. I think Nordstroms is about the only one that waits until after Thanksgiving to put up their Christmas decorations. Now that the men are through fixing my furnace I'm going to rush out and get my run in for today.

November Already

Well here we are into November already, even the weather has taken a turn and not only gotten cooler but also windier. I went out this morning after waiting for it to warm up a bit and was glad I had a jacket on. The nice thing about the weather is it's easier to run when it is cool.
In 17 days I have the Women's Half Marathon to run in Florida, I did this last year with my sister and daughters. I don't know if I'm ready but will just do my best.