MIAMI MARATHON - 01/27/2013

I set a PR for least amount of potty breaks during a race!  Now I know this is the last thing you would expect me to start this post off with, but if you remember last year’s restroom debacle (you may need to go back and revisit), this was quite an accomplishment.

In many ways, the ING Miami Marathon reminds me of WrestleMania.  The hype for this race starts a year out, as most of my running buddies register that far in advance (they offer a tremendous savings on the entry fee if you are one of the first 200 to register).  With Pam, Jen, Robin, and Lisa jumping on that special, it was an absolute go for all of us (Sharon would later register as well).  In addition, it is the one time that the Ocala Turtles make the trek down to South Florida and spend the weekend with me.  With that being said, I consider the Miami Marathon the “Granddaddy of Them All.”

With both Jen and Pam having the day off on Friday, I took the day off as well.  They left early that morning, and the plan was to go to the expo as soon as they arrived at my house (in hopes of avoiding the big crowd on Saturday).  The other Turtles would be leaving later that day, and spending the night at the home of Robin’s friend in West Palm Beach.  We made it to the Miami Beach Convention Center around 2pm, and were pleased to see that the expo was pretty empty.  We shopped for a few hours, and made it out of Miami right before the 5pm rush hour traffic began.  After meeting up with Glenda and Rachel for supper at Sweet Tomatoes, I then spent most of the evening providing technical support to the ladies (they both brought their laptops down south with them).  We slept in as much as we could on Saturday (8am) and spent most of the day shopping at the Sawgrass Mills Mall.  Lisa, Sharon and Robin went to the expo, and we all met up at my house when they got back.  We did a somewhat early supper at Tijuana Taxi Co., as we would be leaving for the race on Sunday morning earlier than usual.  Documenting my races in this blog allows me the luxury of going back to see the “game plan” from prior races.  Last year, we left my house at 3:15am, and arrived at the American Airlines Arena at 4am with no problems at all.  Under the category of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” that would be our strategy this year.

Although getting up über early for a race this large is not my favorite thing in life to do, it does have its advantages.  There’s virtually no traffic on the road at 3am, and parking is literally no issue.  This is certainly helpful when driving into Miami for an event of this size.  It’s always interesting seeing people at Bayside that early in the morning first leaving the clubs; their day is coming to an end, and our day is just beginning.  I don’t know which of us had a more puzzled look on our face as we stared at each other, wondering why we were up and about at 4am.  There were 19,952 participants in the race, with 16,039 running the half and 3,913 taking on the full.  Getting to our corral was a mission, but we were in place about an hour before the start of the race.

Once the gun sounded it only took us 19 minutes to get to the starting line.  I say only 19 minutes because last year it took us well over 40 minutes.  I took my first of what would be only two potty breaks right away, and we were off to a good start (it's always breathtaking to see Biscayne Bay as the sun rises in the morning).

Since Pam and I were running the full, we stuck together the entire race.  Lisa was also participating in the full, but she is way out of our league in terms of speed (she had qualified for the Boston Marathon just a few weeks ago; I qualified for the Boston Marathon in my dreams).  The temperature was already 72 degrees when the race began; we could only hope for lots of cloud cover throughout our time on the course.

One of the cool things about running a race more than once is that it lets you relive memories from years past.  As we passed certain landmarks along the way, it reminded us of what was taking place last year (mostly stopping and going to the bathroom).  We ran a fairly consistent pace for the first 13.1 miles, and only stopped to snap a few photos along the way.

The sun stayed behind the clouds, and we were both running very strong.  During the second part of the race, Pam started to develop blisters on her foot.  She was in obvious discomfort, and wasn’t really sure at the time why she was hurting.  I started to get a little tired during the last four miles, but I met up with the "Man of Steel" at mile marker 22 to give me some inspiration to finish up strong.

By the time we hit the Rickenbacker Causeway, the sun was out in full force.  Determined to finish strong, we struck up a conversation with a couple from Canada, who were competing in their first marathon.  When we told them how many marathons we had completed, they told us what an inspiration we were to them…now that’s pressure!

Crossing the finish line, we could see ourselves on the big screen to our left.  Although I have been on television countless times, I must admit it was pretty exciting.  The finisher medals were outstanding (as always), and we met up with the rest of the gang at the car (no dead batteries this year).  Glenda was gracious enough to order pizza for us; after a shower and a change of clothes, my buddies were on the road back to Ocala.  I’ve already registered for the race next year, and was happy when Elaine text me to say she had registered as well.

Some great friends, beautiful weather, a picturesque course, and seven women staying at my house.  What more could a dude ask for?

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OCALA MARATHON - 01/20/2013

“A lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine.”  These are words that I could have said to myself during one of my many internal conversations, especially once I realized that the Ocala Marathon was the week before the Miami Marathon.

After doing my four marathons in five weeks last year, I vowed to check when these races were taking place.  Not so much to see if I want to participate, but rather to better plan my training schedule.  That being said, I really had no intention on running the full marathon in Ocala this year.  This was mostly because I didn’t think anyone else would want to run the full with me.  During the Mt. Dora Half Marathon, Elaine and I discussed what the plans would be for Ocala.  I was surprised that she was considering doing the full, especially since she and Pam would be participating in the Goofy Challenge the week before.  I really like this race, but I was kind of taking a break from full marathons this year; whatever she decided would be just fine with me.  When she told me that the “check was in the mail” for the Ocala full, I knew that I would have to accelerate my training.

Besides the fact that my lower back has been really sore for the past month, I felt totally unprepared to run a full marathon.  Maybe that’s something that comes with the territory, but doing a 20 mile training run the week before the race (instead of tapering) made matters worse.  Magically, my back started to feel much better, and I was now brimming with confidence and excitement for my first marathon in eleven months.

I left for Ocala early Saturday morning and drove right to the expo, which was once again held in the Paddock Mall.  Jen was meeting me there, and we were going to drive to Gainesville to visit Lindsey (and a trip to Trader Joe’s).  As much as I love the Ocala Marathon, I’m sorry to say that calling this expo pathetic would actually be showing them too much kindness.  To make matters worse, they did not have my registration (I mailed it in, as opposed to registering on line).  To their credit, they did not give me a hard time at all.  They took my information, and said they would contact me if they needed me to mail out another check (southern hospitality at its finest).  After looking around as much as we could, Jen and I went to Gainesville for the rest of the day.

Elaine was gracious enough to invite me to stay with her on Saturday night, since she and I were the only two entered into the race.  Jen, Pam, Robin, Sharon and Lisa were coming down to run the Miami Marathon the next week, so they decided to sit this one out.  Rather than going out for supper, Elaine prepared pasta and salad, and invited Pam (and Joe) and Jen (and Dan) over as well.  In maybe one of the worst kept secrets of all time, Pam told me she would be running the full Ocala Marathon, as she signed up earlier in the day.  I was very excited to hear the news (I kind of knew already), and was really looking forward for the race to begin.  I was just hoping that my back would hold out.

We got to the Paddock Mall (where the race would start and finish) around 6:30am.  509 entrants (111 for the full marathon, 262 for the half marathon and 136 for the 5K) would be participating this morning.  Each event starts at a different time, as to not create a major stampede (insert sarcasm here).  Eddie would once again be running with us (as he does every year we do this race), but he is not on Facebook; we can never tag him in any of our photos.  Once the horn sounded, we were off and running!  Of course, we had to stop after two miles to take a photo at my favorite landmark.

You could not ask for more pleasant race conditions.  It was around 60 degrees at the start of the race, with total cloud cover.  I ran with a short sleeve shirt and took off my compression sleeves after about three miles.  I was feeling very good, with minimal back pain.  Unlike most races, the time seemed to fly by pretty quick.  When we reached the ten mile mark, it felt as if we had only ran five miles.  The volunteers who work the water stations in this race are always friendly, enthusiastic, and hard working.  The Ocala Turtles were volunteering at mile markers 11 & 19, and of course gave us the kind of reception that actually wants you to keep running.  Naturally, we had to stop and take our obligatory picture at mile marker 20 (I don’t know why).

It did start to get a little warm towards the end of the race, but I’m pretty sure the temperature never got hotter than 73 degrees.  As we crossed the finish line, I don’t think I’ve ever felt better (physically speaking) after any marathon.  Our times were not the best, but at least there was food still left for us to eat (and the cones had not been picked up from the course).  As we made our way to the car, the awards ceremony was still taking place.  Elaine and I stood in shock as we heard Pam’s name called out as the second place finisher in her age group.  Dumbfounded, Pam had to run back to the stage to collect her award.  To think she made up her mind to sign up for the race the day before.

With nothing but positives from this race, I am really looking forward to Miami.

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MOUNT DORA HALF MARATHON - 12/16/2012

“Where the heck is Mount Dora?”  These were the first words I uttered when Elaine sent me the link for this race back in June.  For the record, Mount Dora is north of Orlando and east of Leesburg.  This was the inaugural running of the race, and it wasn’t very expensive to enter.  Elaine, Pam and Jen were all interested in participating, so we made the executive decision to sign up.  Jen offered to pay for my entry fee as a thank you for all the help and wisdom I had provided as she obtained her Master’s Degree (a very sweet gesture on her part).  We would later learn that quite a few of the Ocala Turtles had signed up for the race as well, including Robin.  I had originally signed up to do the full marathon; after discovering everyone else had entered the half, I decided to “downsize” and run with all of my friends.

Glenda originally entertained the idea of going with me to watch us run, but Rachel and her middle school band was playing in the parade at Universal Studios on Friday.  Glenda volunteered to chaperone the trip, so they left early Friday morning.  Lindsey came home Friday night from UF after taking her last final, so I decided to hang out with her and leave early Saturday morning.  The plan was to stay at Jen’s house, and drive to Mount Dora Sunday morning.  Jen lives about an hour north of Mount Dora, so I would take my car to the race and head home after that.  Jen and Robin would hitch a ride back with Pam and Elaine, who were running a half marathon in Palm Coast on Saturday night.  I got to Jen’s house around noon, and we spent the day shopping.  This was highlighted by a trip to Trader Joe's in Gainesville, which had just opened earlier in the week.

We woke up our usual early time and Jen made us both a fruit juice smoothie for the trip.  Robin arrived at Jen’s house around 5am, and we were ready to hit the road.  It was an easy drive to Mount Dora, but both Jen and I started to feel sick along the way.  I had to pull over to the side of the road and take care of some magical unplanned business in the woods.  Robin pointed out that there was a gas station across the street, but I figured the bushes would have some cleaner facilities (and I would be "one with nature").  When we parked the car, it was now Jen’s turn to “release the hounds,” as she threw up for a few minutes.  This clearly appeared to be smoothie related. With these pre-race festivities now out of the way, it was time to get our bibs and race shirts.

The starting line was at the Lakeside Inn, which opened in 1883, and has entertained President Calvin Coolidge, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and President Dwight D. Eisenhower.  There were 201 entrants in the full marathon, and 479 running the half.  298 runners will hit the pavement for a 5K later that morning. As we met up with Elaine and Pam, both Jen and I felt much better.

Having never been to Mount Dora, the scenery far exceeded my expectations.  It was a little hilly for the first few miles, but nothing compared to Gainesville.  I ran with Elaine; Jen, Pam and Robin ran together at a little slower pace.  It was very quiet and extremely peaceful.  The people were very friendly, and I was totally digging this race.  It was shady during the first eight miles, but it got pretty hot after that.  It may have been very challenging to complete the full marathon, as the temperature climbed into the mid 80’s by the end of the race.  We had a chance to run through some beautiful neighborhoods, with lots of spectators cheering us on.  We even spotted some of the other Turtles competing in the race, including Awesome Amy.

As we made the final turn to “bring it on home,” you couldn’t see the finish line.  This was because there was a pretty big downhill drop for the last tenth of the race.  This was way cool, as you had no choice but to sprint past the finish line!  The finisher medal (and race shirt) was very nice, and we later had a privilege to take a picture with former Boston & NYC Marathon winner Bill Rogers. 

After grabbing a victory breakfast at Perkins, it was time for me to make my three hours (plus) drive home.  This was a truly enjoyable race; one that I would welcome entering again.

Now comes the fun part…training for the Miami Marathon on January 27th.

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The 15th ANNUAL WESTON RUN FOR TOMORROW HALF MARATHON - 11/09/2012

As I was to embark in my second consecutive half marathon, it actually seemed weird not getting in the car to drive for many hours.  The city of Weston is only about 15 miles from my house, but the running gods got even with me and started the race at 6:20am!  I’ve participated in this event three previous times, but for some strange reason, I have one extra medal.  I’ve searched my memory (as well as my photos); the only conclusion I can come up with is that someone out there is sadly missing a medal from a past race. 

The Weston Run For Tomorrow may arguably be the most boring half marathon I’ve ever participated in.  The course starts out at the Weston Town Center.  After that, you run west on Royal Palm Blvd. for four miles; then east on Royal Palm Blvd. for four miles.  You then head north on Bonaventure Blvd. for a few miles; then south on Bonaventure Blvd. to the finish line.  Having said that, I have been critical of those who don’t support their local races; it would be hypocritical of me not to be out there…running!  Maybe it is because I mostly run “lone wolf” style all of the time, and drive many hours to run a race with my friends, but I don’t get why someone would pass up a race right in their own backyard.

I left my house at 5am and got to the Weston Town Center around 5:20.  This is a really pretty shopping area, with a lot of specialty stores.  I found a parking spot right next to the bathrooms, which would prove to be convenient before the race began.  Similar to the Tom Walker Half Marathon last week, this was a very low budget race.  With an entry fee of only 40 dollars, my expectations regarding the shirt and the finishers’ medal were modest at best.  The race shirt was exactly the same as in previous years: long sleeve and cotton.

As I made my way to the starting line, it was still pretty dark outside.  I decided to try a 5-Hour Energy shot to see if it would enhance my running experience; in truth, I was praying that it would not make me hurl.  There were 417 participants in the half marathon, with 274 entered in the 5K.  Despite the predictability of the course, it was very flat with no real incline to speak of. The temperature was around 78 degrees when the gun sounded and very humid.  Thankfully, we were in complete shade for most of the race.  I had good energy during the entire run, but my finishing time was a few minutes off last week’s race.  After crossing the finish line (and grabbing my bogus medal), I walked around the expo for a little while and grabbed some chow before I made my way home.  I didn’t get much sleep the night before, and crashed out on the couch while watching football.

I take to the road next week, as I participate in my third half marathon in as many weeks.  Mount Dora, here I come!

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TOM WALKER MEMORIAL HALF MARATHON - 12/01/2012

Now that racing season is in full swing, this would be the first of three consecutive half marathons I have scheduled.  The Tom Walker Memorial Half Marathon is a race that is put on by the Florida Track Club and takes place in Bowlware Springs Park, Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail.  I’ve had this race on my radar for a few years now, even though it’s not the most glamorous race out there.  However, (a): it was only 35 dollars to enter, (b): it was in Gainesville, and (c): Jen was willing to run with me; what other motivation was necessary?

Since the Blue Moon Half Marathon last month, I did sneak in the Tamarac Turkey Trot, which of course is the race that started it all for me.  This is an annual Thanksgiving Day tradition, and Rachel and I once again met up with Doug and his two daughters to run this 5K.  In breaking traditions somewhat, Doug was driving to Cocoa Beach to do Thanksgiving with his sister and his parents right after the race; the post-race celebration would have to take place at a later date.

The Tom Walker Memorial Half Marathon was scheduled for a Saturday (as opposed to Sunday), so I left for Jen’s house right after work on Friday.  The original plan was to meet up with Lindsey right after the race and spend the day with her, but my cousin Fern was in South Florida for business (I have not seen her in over 16 years, since she lives in L.A.).  I decided to drive home right after the race, since Saturday night was probably the only time she would be free.

The start time for the race was 8am, which is kind of late for a half marathon.  Since Jen lives about an hour away from Gainesville, I still had to get up at 5am to make sure we were out the door by 6.  We got to the park around 7, and the temperature was 46 degrees.  I knew it would warm up during the run, so I wore a short sleeve shirt with compression sleeves. There were only 236 entrants in this race, and the shirt they gave us was as ugly as it gets (you win some; you lose some). 

The course itself was a paved trail that went through the park.  It was pretty much an out-and-back course, with not a huge amount of scenery.  There was a great deal of changes of elevation (not really hills per se), but it does kind of take you by surprise when you are used to running on flat terrain in South Florida.

I did make an astute observation during the race, which I shared with a fellow runner.  During the out-and-back portion of the race where you had runners going in both directions, it appeared as if those runners who were on their way back felt a sense of entitlement to more of the road, compared to us slower folks.  It was all I could do to stay out of harm’s way, even though I was all the way to the right.  The guy I mentioned this to just laughed, because he said he was just thinking the same thing.  Since I’m bigger than most people, the other runners would probably take more of the brunt of any contact if we were to collide.

The race itself was very pleasant and extremely peaceful.  It started to get warm about three miles into the run, so I removed the compression sleeves. My back had been bothering me all week, but it felt good throughout most of the race.  My finishing time was not as good as Blue Moon, but I didn’t run as hard as I did for that race.  Jen’s finishing time was better than both Blue Moon and Space Coast (which she ran the week before), so she was very encouraged.  We didn’t stick around for too long after the race, as I needed to hit the road, and Jen had a baby shower to go to.

In which may unfortunately become a reoccurring race theme, the battery in Jen’s car had died (Pam wasn’t around so we couldn’t blame her).  Fortunately, the first people we approached had cables, and we were on the road in a matter of minutes.

I enjoyed the race, but I don’t know if I would pencil it on my calendar in the future.  It was a long way to drive for a race so low budget, but I would definitely run it every year if I lived up in the area.

Next week, only a 15 minute drive to the Weston “Run for Tomorrow” Half Marathon.

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BLUE MOON HALF MARATHON - 11/04/2012

I have to admit…running has changed for me since my “Four Marathons in Five Weeks” adventure earlier this year.  I don’t quite know how to explain it, but it seems as if I have totally lost my mojo.  I’ve been training just as hard, but it’s been more of a chore than something I enjoy.  I don’t know if the five marathons I did this past running season burned me out, but I definitely have not embraced my running since the last marathon in February.  The obvious exceptions are the times I run with Jen, Pam and Elaine.  Once football season started, I’ve had the opportunity to run with them on the weekends.  Elaine and Pam had been in training for the New York City Marathon, and I joined them for a “casual” 20-mile training run a few weeks ago.  I’ve even run through the “mean streets” of Belleview with Jen at 4am, which was both exciting and scary at the same time.  It became obvious what was missing…I needed to start racing again! 

It’s been a long layoff between races, with the only motivation during the dog days of summer is to keep you in race condition.  That only carries so much weight, as you drag yourself out of bed at 4am to bang out 15 miles in 85-degree heat (even before the sun comes up).  As Jen, Elaine, Pam and I planned out our race schedules, it seemed as if December would be the target month for me.  I really wanted something sooner, and Jen made a couple of great suggestions.  The first was obvious: The Tom Walker Half Marathon.  This run takes place in Micanopy, which is on the outskirts of Gainesville.  The second was even more intriguing: The Blue Moon Half Marathon.

The Blue Moon Half Marathon takes place in Palm Harbor, which is in the general vicinity of Clearwater.  Since the race was on the same weekend as a Gators football game against Missouri, we could drive from Jen’s house early Sunday morning, which would only be two hours away.  Jen had participated in this race before, and the entry fee was very reasonable.  My only sacrifice to enter this race and the Tom Walker Half Marathon (from a financial standpoint) was to give up the Florida/Georgia game in Jacksonville, which turned out to be a good decision.  Since I run at least 13.1 miles every weekend, I’m always trained for a half marathon; all systems were a go!

This would turn out to be a weekend that everything seemed to fall into place.  For starters, the Gators game started at noon (thanks to a loss to Georgia the week before).  This combined with Daylight Savings Time ending (spring forward; fall back), we would at least be guaranteed a decent amount of sleep.  We started tailgating around 8am on Saturday morning, and after enduring another poor performance by the orange and blue, we hung out at Lindsey’s apartment for a little while.  We got back to Jen’s house around 7:30, and I was asleep by 10.

My alarm was set for 3am, but I was already awake when it went off.  We were out the door by 4am and on our way to Palm Harbor.  I woke up with a really bad tension headache, which was probably due to sitting in the sun during a noon football game without a hat (the Ibuprofen and coffee didn’t seem to help).  The fog was really thick the whole drive to Palm Harbor and it seemed as if we were the only car on the highway.  We arrived around 6am in one piece, without a single deer crossing the road.

Since we could not pick up our race packets until 6:30, we stood in line and watched the race volunteers set up their tables.  There were a total of 641 participants (293 for the half marathon and 348 for the 5K), but you would have thought they were preparing for the Boston Marathon.  Can you say overkill?  When we finally got our race packets, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was arguably the nicest race shirt I’ve ever received.  After some pre-race photos, it was now time to start the half marathon.

Jen’s back had been bothering her to the point of having to see a doctor earlier in the week.  I tried to slow down my pace to stay with her, but she told me not to worry and just take off.  The course was very pretty, as we ran through some very nice neighborhoods.  We also ran on a running/bicycle trail, but apparently no one told the bikers that there was a race that day…awkward!  The course also took us along the water a little bit, which always makes it that much more scenic.  I was really feeling it, and my pace was very strong and consistent.  I started getting a little tired around the nine-mile mark, but I refused to let myself slow down.  I caught a second-wind after that, and I was impressed on just how many runners I passed in the last three miles.  In fact, I passed two runners in the last one-tenth of the race.

As I crossed the finish line, I was really proud of my performance.  I did not PR the race, but I did have a negative split.  As I waited for Jen to “bring it on home,” I realized that my mojo was now back.  Nine months without any kind of race (even a 5K) was way too long.  I’ve also decided that I may concentrate more on half marathons instead of full marathons, as the training is not as intense.  My next marathon is Mt. Dora, but I may downgrade the race to the half.  That being said, I’ve been known to change my mind, especially when the adrenaline is flowing.

Racing season has officially started!

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THE OCALA MR. SALTY INVITATIONAL 4/08/2012

I’ve often told my children that a nickname is something that is usually bestowed upon you; sometimes for very disconcerting reasons. I’ve told them is very difficult to fight off a nickname, so the best thing to do is to embrace it. Although I consider my nickname to be “Jbone,” another nickname has surfaced and is gaining even more popularity, especially among the running community.

It started on April 3, 2010, which was the day I ran my first (and only) Ultra marathon (read my post “Ultra Marathon, Ultra Disaster”). Because of the dehydration I suffered during the race, I crossed the finish line with my shirt covered in salt. Thanks to Elaine and Pam, “Mr. Salty” was officially conceived.

Although this salt episode was an isolated incident, the nickname has grown in popularity to the point of my friend Jen calling me “Salty,” her husband Dan creating lyrics for me (“I’m Salty and I Know It”), as well as the entire Turtle Running Club of Ocala affectionately referring to me as “Mr. Salty.” I have really learned to embrace the nickname, and try to use it as much as possible. My usual 13.1 mile run on Saturday mornings is now officially known as the “Mr. Salty Half Marathon.”

It was time to get my spring fix of Gators football by going up to Gainesville to watch the Orange & Blue Debut. This is the spring practice game the University of Florida plays where the first team offense goes against the first team defense. The game takes place in the Swamp and is open to the public. Most major universities put on an event like this, which hopefully fills you with optimism for the upcoming college football season. Jen and her husband Dan graciously offered to let us stay with them, and we planned to do a run on Sunday morning with Pam, Elaine and any of the other Turtles that would be willing to come out. This would not be any ordinary run; this would be the inaugural “Ocala Mr. Salty Invitational.”

Glenda, Rachel and I drove up to Gainesville über early Saturday morning. The game was scheduled for 1 pm, but Friday night was the first night of Passover, and you know how that goes. We got to Gainesville around 9:30 am, did some shopping, and met up with Lindsey before going into the stadium. Our close friends Paula and Bill always get us tickets in the Champions Club, which means food and air conditioning. The game itself was mildly entertaining, but it’s the tradition and the company that makes it exciting.

After the game was over (an even more shopping), we said our goodbyes to Lindsey and made our way down south to Jen’s house (which is about an hour away from Gainesville). We decided to have dinner at The Villages, since Glenda had never been there before. Pam and her husband Joe would join us, but Elaine and her husband Joe could not make it. We had dinner at Lighthouse Point Bar & Grille, walked around for a bit, and then drove back to Jen & Dan’s house. We made the executive decision to start our run at 6 am instead of 5 am, based on the amount of alcohol consumed at dinner that evening. Pam had earlier suggested that we run in her development, since Elaine lived there as well. Pam kind of lives out in the boondocks, but I was just happy to be running with my friends, and was looking forward to the new scenery.

Since Jen lives almost 30 minutes from Pam’s house, we left around 5:30 am. It was way cooler than I expected, with the temperature around 60 degrees. In true tradition, I was not prepared for the colder weather, and I was underdressed compared to everyone else. Besides Jen, Pam and Elaine, Joe (Elaine’s husband) and their friend Danielle joined us for the inaugural “Ocala Mr. Salty Invitational.” As chilly as it might have been, I was not cold at all, and was really pumped to run with my friends. As is always the case when we all run together, our pace is typically very slow. This is due in part to excessive talking, laughing and urinating. We took a very extensive guided tour of the neighborhood, complete with commentary from Elaine and Pam. Danielle left us at the four mile mark, and Jen took a different route at that point as well (she wasn’t sure if she wanted to run the full 12 miles as planned). After eight miles, we decided to cut the run down to ten miles, since we all agreed that it felt as if we were running all morning long.

Jen met us back at Pam’s house, where Joe (Pam’s husband) gave me a crash course on cleaning my Keurig coffee maker. We then headed back down to Jen’s house where we met up with Glenda and Rachel. After a quick breakfast and shower, we made our way back home to South Florida.

This may have been the first of the "Mr. Salty Invitational" runs, but I’m certain it won’t be the last.

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