A1A Half Marathon

"HALF" ... what a lame name for a pretty substantial race (13.1 miles, already!)

Since 2005 I have finished more than a dozen marathons and I loved every one. But the truth is, half marathons are fun.

We who ran the half marathon last weekend, had the same glorious experience as the marathoners of running into the Florida sunrise.


I stepped through the spectators to get another shot of the sunrise, now sort of wishing I had taken a picture of the spectators, too.


The entrance to a park, a shady portion of the race (picture taken the day before as we drove the race course).


Although potties were nearly not there at all: a total of 4 in the first 5 miles,
Water stops were great!


"We ran here" is one of our favorite expressions.
And we did run here... right down the A1A highway, with a panorama view of the Atlantic.
We ran here!


This runner always manages to look fabulous at the end of a marathon.



The last hour was warmer than I like for running... but what a great race it was!
In spite of the lame name, this "half" marathon gave me not one aching muscle.
That strange ever-present pain in my hip had been bothering me with every step... even walking.. and continued to even in the race. But good stretching after the half took care of all the muscle pains.

Sweet Pea and I enjoyed the day.
The race was FUN!!

Fort Lauderdale Signs

Posted by Sweet Pea

A1A Marathon / Half - Fort Lauderdale

A quick trip to Fort Lauderdale for the races last Sunday: Don's great report of his running of the marathon is on his Masterpiece blog.

Sweet Pea and I ran the half marathon together. Living in Minnesota, running outdoors in February, in a short sleeved shirt and shorts, is bliss.
The race started a 6am and the first 3 hours were delightful for running.

We ran into the sunrise!

Bethel University Field House 2/14/10

Ready to race: runners gathered for one of half a dozen distances (plus race walking).


Still on Pomalidomide, but no longer on DEX, Don was pleased with his time.


The littlest runner


Two small boys had a football. On the right, notice the littlest observer


But then he recovered the football, and he was all smiles.


Daisies and roses, our Valentine flowers for Sweet Pea



Sweet Pea ran one of the races, too. I walked the whole time, enjoying being indoors. My right knee still hurts some when I run and lately my left hip has been hurting too. Spring will cheer me up considerably.

Frost & Fog / Valentine Flowers

Fog advisory until noon today
Frost came with it.

These pictures were taken at 1:00 in the afternoon.
That's snow on the tree in the lower center of the picture; the remainder of the white in the picture is FROST.
(You may click on pictures to enlarge.)

More frost



Valentine flowers from my Sweet Guy: tulips are one of my favorites.

Eating healthy! Pepperoni from Applegate Farms, organic sauce and jalapenos and cheese on a whole grain gluten-free crust.

PS Yes, we are keeping on running on indoor tracks.

Not a typical week

We are getting our running indoors. Some guy at the athletic club bubble today suggested, probably in light of the blizzard news from the east, that God may have promised never to destroy the world with another flood... but didn't say anything about SNOW.

When the ordered the shirts for the Frigid 5, run last Sunday, they may have assumed the Vikings would be playing in (winning??) the Super Bowl.

My aunt's funeral was this week. She was the last of her generation on my mother's side. Sigh. I miss her, and grief for my mother is all fresh again.

Our Christmas cactus is flowering again.

Our Christmas amaryllis is flowering again.

Temperature was about 20 degrees at race time. Race is a double loop on the Fair Grounds. In spite of snows this week, streets were clear and mostly dry. We three all ran the Five K. It felt good to be in a race.
Pictures of runners gathering at the start:



View on the way home from the race: sunshine on fresh snow on the Minnesota State Capitol dome

Mall Walker Cross Training .. AGAIN !

4:40 (four hours and forty minutes, yes!) actually walking today at Mall of America

We were there for 5 hours (20 minutes for latte and potty stops), with no shopping at all this time.

On Sweet Pea's pedometer: 16,014 steps

Lots of mall walkers, mostly in pairs, but a few in groups of 3,
And we saw one fast walker, probably moving at 10 minute miles, looking very much like an athlete in training... mall walking!

Cyclamen plants (even the leaves are lovely) there at a memorial

The memorial explanation (You may click to enlarge.)


The memorial



A couple of fountains at the Mall



Security on a Segway


The roads were greasy due to the snow that fell while we were indoors walking.
On the drive home we saw this hearty runner along the Mississippi.