The Miami marathon

Well,

I do feel good about completing this 1/2 mara.

I couldn't sleep the night before, because I was so nervous about it. (And we had to be at the starting point by 5:30 AM - which was 2:30 AM pacific standard time.)

I've decided it's really all worth it, tho, even if

I still do have my doubts around mile 8. Saying to myself : " What do you think you are doing - you're not a runner." This is where my good  mantras come in and I have to be stronger than my weak mind.

There are always those very lean runner types that make me think - I shouldn't be here.  But then, there are really all types of runners and I'm so thankful to see those that have a little meat on their bones!

There were around 22,000 runners in this race. So it was fun to be with such a big group and see so much variety, even though I do prefer a smaller group.

The scenery was the best on this run: Palm trees swaying, blue skies, beach, big huge cruise ships sitting at the dock, and the tall sky scrapers of Miami's downtown.

Well, I didn't do my best time this time, but I was just happy to be there.  I waited for Rocky to complete his mara, but I was getting sick standing in the hot sun- sweating and trying to find him.  So I just about gave up and decided to go back to the car, when I happened to catch a glimpse of him. That was good, because then we got the pics that I posted above.

We both felt pretty good.....so we went back to the hotel and ordered a pizza.  And the minute the pizza arrived, we both felt ill. We had bad headaches and started throwing up.  I think it was a delayed reaction to the Sun. (heatstroke) We weren't used to the heat. Just two days earlier I was in the freezing temps of the Northwest.  Well, to make a long story shorter: we felt much better the next day and ate all the cold pizza.

Then Jay came and we had a great week together. We really enjoyed the warmth. The guys played golf and I just took it easy. We drove down to Key West and stayed a night there. On our last day, we took a ferry out to an Island. (Tortuga) It was 70 miles out and  had an old Fort on it.(Fort Jefferson).  What a history it had......I really enjoyed hearing it. I guess I don't have time to tell it all here.

Anyways, we did do some snorkeling, but the water was pretty cold. I didn't stay in very long. It was much more fun to just lay on the beach and take in the beautiful scenery.  It all seems like a dream now.