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Two Week Run Down: 2.8.21-2.21.21: I’m Baaack!!


Well, I left frigid, snowy Upstate New York for FOUR gloriously sunny warm days in Florida.

Sunshine is the best medicine

with no SNOW

I took lots of walks, saw sunrises on the ocean, explored the nearby sights, took boat rides, visited with my friends and ran a half marathon. I felt renewed (and even safe from COVID.)

Now this week, back to reality….

2.8.21-2.14.21:

  • Monday – #nevermissamonday. The temps dropped again and it was in the teens.  Still had to get it done and ran during lunch (in the ‘hood to save time).

Thanks to sunshine, Bernie and an awesome rock playlist, it wasn’t too painful

After work, I headed out to meet a friend for a walk.

Then I rushed home because my Mah Jongg group had a Book Club ZOOM.  We all read The Vanishing Half.  And I hadn’t seen them in forever. (They play online on Friday evenings. I am waiting until we can play in person again.)

I am liking wearing my glasses now instead of contacts.

  • Tuesday – One day of sunshine. That was it. I woke up to snow. I wondered if it would stop in time for me to run during lunch. Nope, it continued snowing all morning. I thought about skipping the run. But Wednesday and Thursday would be too busy to fit in a run so I just threw on my trail shoes and off I slid, I mean ran. And running in the fresh snow was actually fun.  Not even as slippery as I thought. As always, I was glad that I didn’t chicken out and stay inside.

I veered off onto the main road for a bit but kept getting hit with slush as cars passed me by (that’s was the worst)

However, the highlight of my day was that:

so relieved to have it over…

Later I met friends for a long walk before dinner.

  • Wednesday – I was nervous that I would get a reaction to my shot but all I felt was a slightly sore arm (even less sore than shot #1). Relieved, for sure.

No time for running but I did get in a bike ride during lunch.

  • Thursday – Early morning flight to Fort Lauderdale. I was shocked when I landed, the pilot said that it was 88 degrees. I rented a car and drove to my hotel in North Boca Raton. I quickly changed my clothes and headed off to meet two college friends for dinner in Deerfield Beach. We had great food and view of the ocean. It was so much fun catching up.

Barbara (in blue) was my college roommate and she winters in Fla. Patty was vacationing there for a few weeks. All three of us spent our junior year of college in France together.

  • Friday – I got up early to catch the sunrise. It was about a 10 minute drive and it was lovely but too cloudy to see the sun.

I decided to stay there to do my last run before my race (and to get acclimated to the Florida heat and humidity.) I was illegally parked so I split up my run.

I finished up on a trail outside my hotel.

It was really nice. I wished that I had more time…

Afterward, my friend Barbara picked me up and we spent several hours on the beach. Hot but heavenly.

I obviously packed a lot of activities into my day.  Again I had to rush back to my hotel to change and meet my friend Fonda (sister of a tennis friend) at Morikami Gardens. I had never been there even though I come to this area most winters.

so pretty and relaxing

Our next stop was my favorite bird sanctuary, Wakodahatchee. And it did not disappoint except for no alligators this time.

We ended the day with dinner at a restaurant with outdoor dining – shrimp tacos and key lime pie (my 2 Fla favorites).

  • Saturday – Another morning drive for an ocean sunrise. Again it was cloudy but still worth the drive.

This morning, I had plans to hang out with my friend, Michelle, whom I had taught French with many years ago.  We met at another Bird Sanctuary (Green Cay) and chatted away the time.

After our meet-up, I checked out of my hotel and headed south toward Fort Lauderdale. I decided to stop on the way in Pompano Beach and visit Hillsboro Lighthouse (by boat). They only offer tours once a month and today was the day.  I arrived at 11:30 and there was ONE seat left on the last tour boat – 3 pm. I took it but that meant I had to re-arrange my plans and check into my hotel after and go to the expo first to pick up my race stuff. It was held at a mall in a former Neiman Marcus store…well organized and lots of booths and samples.  The only thing I bought was another pair of Goodrs (cuz I don’t have that many lol) but I did a lot of food and drink sampling (all done safely with bars and cans/bottle etc)

Valentine’s Day theme shirt

Then I headed back to Pompano for my boat tour. It was awesome and of course, I climbed the 195 steps to the top of the light house. (I think it’s my 4th Florida Light House).

I still had time left on my parking meter so I decided to have dinner there at an outdoor restaurant overlooking the ocean and the pier.

I had shrimp and grits (another Fla favorite) instead of my usual pre-race pizza and then walked along the pier.

Finally, I arrived in Fort Lauderdale to check into my hotel. It was an early night, getting my #flatme ready and preparing to get up around 3 am.

ready or not

  • Sunday – Race Day.  The race started at 5:45 am (ouch) but they recommended that you arrive at 4:30 am.  When I got up, it was already 78 degrees with 95% humidity.  This made me a little nervous to say the least.  Not much I could do. Since I had gotten a discount on the race, I decided to purchase VIP (hotel) parking just to make things smoother. I got there probably too early but had lots of time to walk around (use the hotel restrooms) and chat with other runners. There was a staggered start and you wore a mask until you passed the start and then tossed it in the trash. Everything felt safe and was well organized. It was a pretty course with ocean views throughout (though I guess it was a lot nicer in previous years with more variety). It was VERY hard.  My feet hurt. It was really hot and humid but I finished. No regrets. You were given another mask when you crossed the finish line. I sat for a while, met more runners and finally headed into the ocean to cool off.

yes, I got my first sunrise without clouds around mile 4.

After a hot shower and change of clothes, I met friends for an airboat ride on the Everglades. (Glad it was a boat ride not a hike cuz my feet were not happy with me). We were disappointed not to see any alligators (too hot and sunny, I guess) but we still had loads of fun.

On the way home, we stopped for dinner at a Greek restaurant (We ate outside and the food was delish.)

Last Week:

  • Monday – Last day in Florida and I tried to make the most of it. My legs felt pretty good however I decided not to run but to instead explore a nearby nature preserve.

Afterward, I had reservations for a boat ride on the New River/Intercoastal.  It was a 1 1/2 hour narrated tour…so interesting to hear and see where the millionaires live and boat.

still hot and sunny and I was loving every minute of it

I had lunch along the water and then headed back to eventually check out of my hotel and return my car.  Unfortunately, my perfect vacation hit a snag.  My second flight that evening got cancelled. That meant that I would be stuck in Charlotte NC for the night and would have to fly home the next morning.  (This type of flight drama is something that I experience often.)

  • Tuesday – I had luckily taken the day off from work to recover from my vacation. Instead I had to still fly home.  It all worked out. It was cold, icy and dreary at home. I decided to stay in and do laundry. Starting my Quarantine. Not much of a problem since I work at home.  It just meant that my walks and runs would be solo until it’s over.
  • Wednesday – Back to work and back to squeezing a run in during lunch.

very cold and windy … my body was in shock

Sad to not be able to join anyone for a walk, I walked around my neighborhood before dinner.

  • Thursday – Another solo run during lunch

didn’t feel like “a glazed donut” but like a popsicle…it was cold and NO sun

And a lonely walk after work.

  • Friday – Snow. Snow. Glad it was a scheduled rest day. I renewed my relationship with George during lunch. I’m weaning myself off Peleton and watched TV instead.
Image result for bridgerton

I didn’t like it at first but now I’m hooked.

and got out for a snowy walk after work.  Snow is much prettier if it doesn’t impact your runs lol

  • Saturday – Being in Quarantine does have its advantages. I was able to join my Blogger friends for a ZOOM bike ride this morning instead of doing my usual Saturday long run with friends.

I took a drive in the afternoon in search of waterfalls. And I did find two.

Buttermilk Falls (top) and Cohoes Falls (bottom)

  • Sunday – A sunnier and less windy day so I postponed my run until today. Running alone is not much fun but I did get it done. (Funny thing was that the temp was 21 degrees and the date 2/21/21 but no, I didn’t even consider running 21 miles but 2.1 did enter my mind lol.)

The sun helped but still hard. I may have shed a few tears as Becs crossed the finish line. I also listened to a podcast as well to pass the time.

Too nice a day to stay indoors so I decided to explore some new trails.

Grafton State Park – 25 miles of trails – need to come back here!

This Coming Week – 

  • Monday –  run, walk
  • Tuesday – rest day, bike, walk with friends
  • Wednesday – run, walk with BFF
  • Thursday – run, walk with friends
  • Friday – rest day, bike, walk
  • Saturday –  LONG RUN
  • Sunday – rest day, bike, walk/hike

I am linking up with Kim and Deborah for

I encourage you to do the same. Grab the graphic, drop your link on the host blogs and play along! Please be sure to always comment on the HOST’s blogs, as well as visit and comment on as many other blogs as you can.

Happy Running! How is your running going? Doing any virtual races? Any in-person races planned? Any warm weather vacations on your schedule? What is your preference, running in a snowstorm or running in humidity? Please share.

40 thoughts on “Two Week Run Down: 2.8.21-2.21.21: I’m Baaack!!”

  1. Oh, wow, what a wonderful getaway! I’m so jealous of that sunshine and warmth, though I’m sure it was a tough adjustment to run a half in, coming from the cold! Great job completing it. Thanks for sharing all the lovely pictures!

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  2. Glad you were able to escape the cold for a few days! I’m sure it was a tough adjustment to run in that warmer weather. I think if I had to choose between a snowstorm and humidity I would run in humidity, just because I get nervous I will fall if its slippery out.

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    • That’s the way I do it when I’m only away for a few days. If it were longer, I would have relaxed more.

      Thanks….why are they so hard??

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  6. I probably wouldn’t run in a snowstorm (only lightly falling snow) and not a fan of heat & humidity — have done far too many hot & humid races, too.

    We hope to go somewhere in the fall. Dreaming of when we can eat outside somewhere here . . . maybe in July. 🙂

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  8. I’m so glad you enjoyed your long race weekend in FL. Hot, humid race conditions aside, isn’t it glorious to feel the sunshine and warm breezes? We have alligators hanging out in the lake behind our house and I’m not thrilled the Caveman takes the dog out there every morning and evening to see them.

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  9. Glad you enjoyed my neck of the woods! You definitely got a hot week- the weather for that race was brutal. I hate to tell you this but it was about 20 degrees cooler today than it was last Sunday! Oh well… sounds like you had a great time.

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  11. THe contrast between your first snowy pictures and the Florida beach pictures! I’m glad you got to go, but the race itself sounds rough – especially when you’re not acclimated to that weather!

    So fun riding with you!

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  12. Aw man, FL looks gorgeous. And up here in the north of course it’s not. Congrats on getting the vaccine, for being able to get out of town, and for your race!

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  14. A vacation at the beach with friends and an in-person race sounds about perfect to me right now! I’m thinking about taking my teenage daughter to Florida for her spring break next month but haven’t reserved anything yet. It would be a 2 hour direct flight so I’m not worried about that and Florida doesn’t have a quarantine-upon-arrival rule like some states, plus I get tested weekly.
    Great job on the race! Hot races are tough!

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  15. I am so glad you had a wonderful time! That medal is fabulous – I do love me some dolphins. I’m also glad you felt safe and comfortable.

    It was hot down there last weekend! My friend went to go see the manatees and they had a ll abandoned the springs for cooler water!

    I’m not a fan of delayed and canceled flights, although I’m sure you would have prepared to stay in the warmth than back in the cold and snow.

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    • Yes I was hoping to stay longer and I probably should have…just wasn’t sure when I could get back with our crazy weather.

      I heard that the weather was perfect for running the Sunday before and after my race. Still glad to have some sunshine and warmth for a few days…lucky you!!

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  16. What a lovely escape! It looks like a different world with being in the sun and standing close to friends. We’ve just discovered we’re not allowed to travel internationally until June or something, sigh. Will have to make the best of it. Hope your quarantine continues to go well and well done on getting your real live race done!

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