Jacksonville Marathon- December 19, 2010

Well, another marathon is done.  This makes 5 in 5 different states- Maine, Vermont, Alabama, Louisiana and now Florida.  Weather conditions called for light drizzle near the start time of 7am but then clearing but a bit windy and staying on the cool side- 40-50's.  Night before photo laying everything out-getting the number on the race belt, putting name on the shirt, getting gel packets ready, charging watch, etc.  The plan was to leave by 4:45am to give us time to get there and park and find the starting line, etc.  We left a bit before that so right on schedule.

And of course in the right hand side of the photo is the glide, safety pins, and baby aspirin.

Parking was a nightmare but we finally found a spot on a side road.  I wanted to keep my long sleeve shirt on because of the cold and then I snagged Bruce's hooded sweatshirt while awaiting the starting gun.  Edie and I decided to get the watches started about 15 minutes til the gun- my mind did go back to new Orleans when at that point I discovered that my watch had NOT charged the night before.  Hence, it was just added weight during the race!

Here we are:

The first 8 miles or so was chilly and I started to feel that my legs were heavy-didn't think I could manage the pace for the entire 26.2 miles.  Mentally I was exhausted right then and each quarter mile from there until 13 was tough.  I decided to turn on the music and that helped tremendously!  I started to pick up the pace from 13-19 and then just couldn't wait to see the mile 20 marker!

The last 6 though was some of the slowest but I knew that each step was bringing me closer to the finish line! They had run out of space blankets by the time I got there- although there were supposedly at least 800 more behind me! I guess they didn't order enough.

Here is the video that Bruce shot of the race.

To Share or Not to Share- that is the ?

Ok friends, family, and all right perhaps the world wide web, sharing my personal web blog is a little bit scary I have to say.  But what am I keeping all these posts and pictures and discussions to myself for? And don't I have several bloggers that I follow and that I enjoy reading about?! So I am going to do it!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

December is here! So much to do!

I know, I know, it has been awhile since the last post.  Saying I was busy should not be an excuse at all.  I can certainly pick up this netbook, open it up and create a post!

So with that said...here is what has been happening.  I went on a cruise to Cozumel out of Mobile.  Friends Anne and Steve flew in from Maine and we went out on Nov 11-Nov 15.

I had a rough time on board the ship again-a bit queasy until I changed medicine. I think I need to keep my feet on solid ground.  We ate at a great Mexican restaurant called Pancho's Backyard. It had awesome Mango Margaritas.

Then I headed out to San Antonio, Texas on Nov. 17 to meet some friends who now live in Austin. We stayed at a Holiday Inn that used to be a jail.

I saw some great tennis and walked to the Riverwalk almost every day.  It was very nice to see Pam and Kristen again as well as get to see the rest of the team.