A Floridian Girls "Winter" Morning

I live in Florida, SOUTH Florida, and as a South Floridian I'm not use to it being below 65 (at night). We do get our "winter" down here. Usually a few weeks of low 50s high 40s (at night)...this is where we are right now. 

The awesome part is the AC is off for the month (maybe two) & we get to air out the house, plus my dog LOVES it (when he has his jacket on - spoiled mutt).

Last night it dropped into the low 40s this morning. After my morning walk with the dog, I was convinced I'd permanently lost feeling in my extremities. In my excitement to get warm, I decide to I burned the FUCK outta my mouth. 

Well that's not exactly how it happened. Bloody tea!! What was I thinking was, "oh, this feels nice in my hands. They are warming up slowly & regaining feeling, I should warm my insides up" 

Nope scorching agony as I scold the inside of my mouth & esophagus as I try to spit it out & swollow it at the same time. Anything to stop the pain. 

Now the I side off my mouth is swollen & I have taken up mumbling to communicate to the world. Oh joy. 

The Floridian's Winter

So what I love about Florida, well I guess there are so few things that it is pretty easy to guess. Yup you got it in one THE WEATHER! 

 That is right, these past few weeks while the rest of the US has been in negative temperatures and under like 10 feet of snow, I have been relaxing in a nice 80's. The fact that last weekend I got a TAN doing a race in January :)  that is why I moved here, and that is why I stay.

 It has actually just gotten cold today with a frosty 55! eeek!

But you can always tell the tourist this time of year. On a day like today, locals (people who have lived here long enough for their blood to thin) are dressed like they are in the arctic, gloves, scarfs, hats, thick coats with the fur around the hood, boots, wool socks...the works...it is 50 outside folks...don't forget. 

And I am not mocking them, no I am dressed just like them! I have thick pants on, even slipper socks on while at work under my heels. I wore 2 sweaters today to work plus a jumper! Nope, I am just like them...although I don't have the thick coat with the fur around the hood...I just can't bring myself to buy one when we only have about 5 days a year we could wear it and not look like a complete  idiot.

 Tourists on the other had are walking around in shorts, flip flops and shirts packing their coolers before heading off to the beach for an afternoon of 'catching some rays'. Just looking at them makes me cold! I am over here debating if I should buy a cheap space heater from Walmart and they are buying beach towels. 

We are not built for cold. Heck, there are places down here that doesn't even have heat! Even my dog wouldn't go outside this morning without his little coat on. He walked outside when I put his leash on and turned right back around and went in the house. He gave me this look that basically said "HELL NO bitch it is cold out there, I need my jacket!"

 Then I get to work and see some girls walking through the lobby in short short short shorts and summer light weight shirts with sandals.

 I am convinced that our blood just thins living down here, because even as I type this, my fingers have gone numb...and I have to go get tea so I can hold my cup and warm them up!

 But that is us Floridians.....

AllState Fort Lauderdale Half Marathon

Last year this race was my first half marathon ever, and this year it was on of my friends. After bugging her for months she finally agreed to try a half marathon.

There were originally suppose to be a bigger group, but in the end just the two of us stood ready at the start line. 

The one thing about these long runs is the start time. 6:30 am suxs, I don't care who you are. It's not something I've gotten use to over time, I still have to force myself outta bed when the alarm blares at 5 am. 

But this race was exciting, I had one of my best friend & running partner there with me & the new Dan Brown book set in my iTunes. 

The race starts & I know I am not going to set a new PR or anything, but I'm still feeling pretty good, I zone out and fall into fantasy land (my book), until I am jerked back into reality as I hear my name being called from somewhere.

Passing my friends boyfriend...mile 8. It's great to get cheered on, but I honestly think if have gone all 13 miles zoned out if I hadn't been snapped back into reality. 

Now every mile ticked by & when my pgs told me I had hit 13 miles I couldn't seen the finish line! No the finish line was hidden around the distant corner .72 miles away. 

Let me just say that a half marathon is suppose to be 13.1 NOT 13.72 miles & those last .62 miles sux because you know you should be done right now, letting your sweaty sand covered body dry, downing water & shoveling food into your mouth. 

By the time I finally crossed the finish line I could have eaten a small animal. My stomach had turned itself inside out. I need to bring food with me on these long runs! Burning around 1600 calories in under 2 hours...food is a must! 

But it was a good race & you can't pass up on the free beer afterwards :-) 

This year I'm doing 4 of the 5 in the Storm Series...this was #1. Next up, Miami ING.

The only reason I'm not doing all 5 is the one in West Palm Beach doesn't have race day packet pick-up. That's too much gas money to drive back & forth 2 days & staying over night, then I have the hotel & to pay for a dog sitter, I'm already doing that for Sarasota...one is enough! 

SuperHero Scramble

I'm getting I the point with these obstacle races were they just aren't fun anymore. I seem to spend more time in line waiting to do an obstacle then anything & since the event is being timed...it totally throws off my results. Frustration.

Last year, I did the night wave & it was awesome, no waiting in queues to do the obstacle, no waiting in queues to pick up the packet & I flew through the course...even meet a new friend on the way (still in contact & of course see him at other races all the time.)

So this year...they had a living social deal, let's be honest, I'm not gonna pay $85+ to wait in line. The special was for $45 so I decided why the hell not, but once you add in the $15 insurance & $10 parking (also had to sit in a long ass queue just to park!) it was still a $70 investment!

So here is basically how this day of waiting in queues went. 

Queue to get into the park & find a spot

Queue to pick up your bib & timer

Queue to start

Queue at EVERY obstacle

Queue to get water after

Queue to get your picture taken

Queue to get the free beer

Queue to LEAVE the park

Jesus! I spent more time waiting around then I did actually leaping, running & frolicking along the course and being happy.

Let's be honest NOBODY enjoys waiting in queues. 

So they were behind a half hour on the waves, but that didn't matter, we (like I'm sure everyobe else did) jumped into whatever wave was preparing to go once we got out stuff. Honestly, I don't know why they even bother with waves. 

We set off. The course is pretty nice, around a lake, into some bike trails. It's nicely marked & for a change multiple volunteers at every obstacle. 

But about 3 miles into the course we come to the first water station...which is out of water (surprise) and the next one isn't for a good 3 miles. I was fine, but there were people there that looked like they needed water, yet there is none and they are miles from the start/finish line. 

Now I went to the race with my girl & we usually run together, since I knew this was going to be a pretty shitty times race I pretty much stayed with her until I saw a (more than slightly overweight) girl drop like a sack of potatoes up ahead. I ran up to see if she was OK. She was dehydrated & and honestly in no condition to take on a 9+ mile obstacle course. Even between my friend & I, we would not have been strong enough to carry her out of the bike trails. I asked is she was able to walk & we would help her, she said no. Knowing I was closer to the next obstacle, I told her I would go let someone know & headed on leaving my friend as I picked up the pace to get to help sooner. 

Once I did get to the next obstacle, I explained the situation to one of the volunteers & he called it in. Knowing there was nothing more I could do for her, I went ahead. 

I have no idea if or how they got that girl out, but in all honesty she should not have been out there, especially without active water stations. It was extreamly dangerous & she could have hurt much worse. Some people don't realize how long & challenging a 9 mile race can be & although I LOVE seeing people getting active & healthy, they need to be aware of their personal fitness & health level to avoid situations like this. 

Although it was fun to go with my friends, I regretted not signing up for the 18 mile challenge. I don't plan on doing many more obstacle races (for the reasons above) unless it's in a elite or competitive wave - and those are outta my budget even though I'd love to experience the real challenge these races can offer. 

Next (and maybe last) OCR is the Spartan in April. 

OCRs are just becoming over priced, over saturated & just not challenging (having to wait in line at every stop) 

Davie Road Run 5K

For some reason I feel like they are doing more & more races on Sundays...which sucks because my girl works Sundays. 

So this race I signed up for alone. No big, I've learnt that if I wait around for others...I'll never do all the races I want. 

I had seen the Davie Road Run promoted last year, but for some reason I didn't sign up. Prob a conflicting date or I was set to do a race the day before. Whatever the reason I knew I wanted to do it this year. The race is literally 6 mikes from my house, how could I not. 

I was expecting a ton of people & honestly I was not expecting to do very well, considering Jake (my lovable mutt) & I had both been up the majority of the night w/ upset tummies...but I persevered. And dragged my butt up at the crack of dawn to run. 

I couldn't help but remember the awesome 9:30 stay in the UK...compared to the 7 am start here. But our Florida weather doesn't like that. 

I wasn't sure what to expect, so when I pulled into the local Rodeo grounds (yes, I live in the country) it was different.  Not a lot of people & everything was set up in the booth. They had already run out of small shirts (why have ppl request sizes if you are just gonna give them whatever) so I ended up with a medium, better than nothing. 

Well the race started: 2 of them. A 5K & a 10K. I had no idea there was a 10K & I had no idea the 10K offered prize $$! Or I woulda been right there! LOL. 

But I was doing the 5K. I started off strong, but my body was just tired. I had that sleep deprived headache set in before the 2nd mile was out. It's all good, I still managed to drag myself into a dirty 2nd place overall female. 

I look back and kick myself...shoulda pushed harder, but it's always easier to say that after the fact. But then again, I didn't feel like throwing up afterwards....so...coulda pushed harder. Lol. 

The Fall of Facebook

I remember when Facebook came out, I was already on MySpace (oh yes MySpace), I was in college and social media was just amazing!! So new, awesome posts, awesome updates, a great place to express yourself,  people would post the funniest things and I would check it constantly....

As I got older my step mum joined...and my aunts and uncles...and then my grandparents and they all wanted to friend me. Dear GOD we are family, isn't that enough. But you can't ignore them forever, they would ask "why haven't you accepted my friend request yet" and I realized...ummm this may not be the place I want to go to post things about my personal life anymore.

I did eventually friend them and put them ALL into a restricted group, along with my co-workers and the random people that I would run into a few times at the bar and become acquaintances with. I block them from pretty much everything, and for a while Facebook went back to being a fun way to keep up with my friends.

And then companies wanted to know your social media profiles and they began to use it as a way to dig into your personal life and cross over that line between work and personal. Thankfully my privacy walls were already up full force thanks to the family invasion that had happened earlier

A few more year pass and Facebook, and probably myself and my friends become lame (they get married, have kids, no more wild parts and hilarious weekend extravaganza posts) and I slow began to lose interest.  

Now I get on Facebook about once a day, just in the hopes that someone posted something good. I scroll down the news feed for about 3 minutes while I take my morning crap and then I am done for the day....at least with my personal page. 

 Lucky me, I get to go to work and handle the social media for my job, which is kinda cool...considering how much Facebook (and so many other social media sites) have either given up, fallen victim or just sold out the the business world. 

 Sadly, No one posts anything relevant...just pictures of their pathetic kids (and lets get real people, no one cares about your kids...only you and your parents) or re-posts from other pages, and not other peoples pages, but other promotional pages, news pages, celebrity pages, fitness pages, TV show pages, etc. Lets be real, We ALL hate those re-posts of other sites. It seems that is all people do all the time. Every time I see one I just think to myself. If I wanted to see that shit, I would follow that page...come up with something original or don't post at all. And then I log out of Facebook and onto something else. 

Sadly, this isn't Facebooks fault. it is the people on Facebook. They actually think that you are going to like something and NOT already be following it and it suddenly becomes their obligation to shove it down your throat! WHAT JOY!

So that is how I have seen Facebook fall since I joined way, way, way back in College.