JoJo's Miami Blog by sjlinley

Yesterday I had the WORST run EVER!  It was miserable!  But before I get to that, here's the set-up...

Victor and I had a fantastic morning. He met me at the beach at 6:30 a.m. and we chatted with a few friends and then took a deep breath and went forth into the somewhat choppy Biscayne Bay bathwater - at least that's what it felt like!  The beach is not very pleasant - lots of debris and seaweed, and the water is lukewarm and shallow.  But after a few feet, it gets a little deeper and you can swim out to the first buoy.  From there, we swam 6 buoys - supposedly the equivalent of a half mile.  The sun was gradually getting higher in the sky, and as we swam further out and the sun shone through the water, we could see all the huge schools of tiny fish, and the seagrass beneath us.  Victor's a confident swimmer having spent a lot of time in the pool over the past year or so, but I'm not.  So he had us stop at every buoy so I could regroup.  The current was against us, and the waves were spashing in my face as I tried to look up to stay in a straight(ish) line, and they kept knocking my goggles so I got leaks.  With the mouthfuls of salt water burning the back of my throat and the salt stinging my eyes, I was not making much headway.  But I did get my breathing down pretty well.  We turned back and it was much easier with the current carrying us and the waves behind us.  And all of a sudden, I was about to take a stroke and beneath me swam a stingray!!!  It was so close that if I had reached out I would have touched it - and it probably would have stung me!  It was beautiful - big and black with white spots, just wafting through the water.  So that was the highlight of the morning!  We finished the swim, and drifted back to shore, rinsed off, and met up again at noon to look at triathlon bikes (another story entirely).

So, now to the AWFUL RUN.  One of the groups I belong to decided to run a "make-up" Miami Marathon.  The runner who wanted to do this, decided to start at 8 pm and run two laps of a half-marathon course, with the turnaround being at the top of our "big" bridge.  So, not wanting him to run alone, a group of us decided to join him.  Usually, with Miami being so hot and humid, we run very early in the morning (pre-dawn starts) and make sure we're finished by 8 am because it gets too hot otherwise.  We thought starting at 8 pm would change things up a bit - and it did, but not in a good way.  I was already drenched in sweat by the time we all gathered to start - and I hadn't run a step!  By the time I had run a few steps, I realized that water was going to be critical to making it through this run.  We always carry water/gatorade with us, but last night I couldn't get enough in me to keep me going.  I stopped at every water fountain and cooler along the way.  Eventually, after 5 miles, I had to walk extra just to cool down my core temperature.  Then, on the way back, my shirt felt so heavy with sweat that I took it off and had to wring out the extra liquid!  It was disgusting!  The guys were so sweet - they would run ahead and then wait for me to catch up.  I eventually finished, having walked the last mile (slowly), and decided to pass on the pizza and beer in favor of a cold shower and ice-cubes with my legs propped up against the wall to drain the fluid.  My fingers were so swollen I could barely hold the steering wheel on the drive home.  So, NEVER AGAIN am I running at night in July in Miami! 

My father came out for the start and took a photo of me, Victor and our running buddy Martha B., so I'll post it when I get a copy.  In the meantime, stay tuned for this weeks adventures because my sister (Fiona) and my 2 nephews (ages 7 & 8) are coming to stay for 11 days!  There should be lots to report.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  JoJo