Sarasota Half Marathon

It seems these days that whenever I travel, I always bring tumultuous weather, and I am not sure if that is a sign of the energy I am bringing to wherever I go, or if it is just bad luck. What are the chances of a tropical depression and four days of windy, cloudy, rainy weather in Sarasota? VERY VERY VERY rare, but we did not let the weather rain on this adventure. The weather is never in our control, so why would I let it ruin my time with my best friend, her family, the pups, and a chance to explore a new place? My “Positive Patty Pants” were on! We made the most of it and it was everything that I needed and wanted. Plus, HUGE high fives to Domenica and her husband, because there aren’t many people who would take me, Lucy, and Penny into their home for 4 days. We are quite the pack of fun filled chaos!

This trip was quite the adventure and just the beginning of amazing things to come in 2024! Let’s break it down and talk about ALL THE THINGS, because that is what I do here in this space!

HALF MARATHON

This race was ALL mental and it was as soon as I woke up until I crossed the finish line! Besides one of my ear buds not working, just as I lined up to start, the rain, the wind blowing in every direction possible, the abnormal cooler temperatures, the monotonous course, I finished FIRST in my age group and 53rd out of 253 individuals, so I am pretty proud of myself and honestly this is just the beginning and I am ready! And sometimes races like this humble us and inspire us and keep us going…at least it does for me…

PHYSICALLY I felt pretty damn good! I followed my training plan. I tapered the week leading up and I believe that the horrible weather actually kept my antsy ass from doing much, so it was a blessing in disguise. The only movement I did before the race on Sunday was an hour walk with the dogs on Friday, otherwise it was movement that involved retail therapy and chasing around two dogs. Throughout the race I felt strong and steady, it was just the damn weather that really put a damper on things. Wind was against me almost the entire time, so I can thank the StepKill and The Works for keeping this body strong and allowing me to push through. It also helped that I paced for a good portion of the race with two experienced male runners and one badass female, because there were points that the race was lonely and I was running alone and there weren’t many spectators because of the weather. THANK GOD for Domenica, because after she ran the 5K she found me on the course halfway through and then at the finish line. I was so happy to see her both times!

MENTALLY this was definitely one of the harder races I have run! The weather was the biggest culprit and took up a lot of my energy even leading up to the race. It is hard not to think about the weather, when they are predicting tornadoes, rain, wind, no sun for days…It was dark at the start line and with one of my earbuds not working, my mind started to shift and I knew it was going to be tough. I talked to myself a lot. I was counting down the miles. The weather never really let up. I am just grateful that my legs wanted to go and I just let them run. Again THANK GOD for Domenica and the men I was running with, otherwise this would have been an even harder race! I had good music blaring out of one ear bud (note to self that it is time to buy an iWatch). I felt fueled. I felt strong. I kept telling myself that I can do REALY HARD THINGS and that this was only a snippet of my life, my day, the weekend. I learned a lot from this race and I hope that crappy weather is not going to make an appearance on my next one, because that would be fantastic.

TRAVELING WITH TWO DOGS

It went a lot smoother than I anticipated. They both traveled really well in the car ride down and the car ride home. We rented a big Tahoe, so there was plenty of room for them in the back. I kept Penny in the crate, because she’s still not a fan of the car, but I think being in her cave really helped and she slept the entire time. Lucy is a pro at traveling, so she was easy too. This was a good first test to see how they travel on long distances and I will give them a 10/10. WOOT WOOT!

The first day at Domenica’s was a lot. Both dogs were exhausted, as was I, they were in a new environment, with new people, and two kids, so at times I could tell they were stressed and I was nervous, but after a solid night of sleep, the next day was much better and everyone was acclimated. It was non-stop action and the dogs got so much love, FOOD (the girls LOVED to feed them all their snacks), walks, and naps. It was great to acclimate Penny to little humans and for Domenica’s girls to see what it is like to have a dog. Lots of lessons learned, lots of laughter, squeals, zoomies, and memories that will last forever. Dogs RULE!

SARASOTA

Despite the icky weather, Domenica was the hostess with the mostess! We have known each other since freshman year in college, so things just flow, work, and it’s a whole vibe and it is beautiful and easy. We talk almost every day, we send a plethora of text messages and voice texts, it is basically like we live in the same state. It' is hard to put into words how badass of a woman she is, but I will just say this…The two of us have been through a lot since our freshmen year…You name it, we have dealt with it, but our friendship has only gotten stronger and stronger over the years. We are the real deal…We talk about the shitty things, the beautiful things, ALL THE THINGS! We know when we fuck up. We know when to say sorry. We know when to lean on each other, when we need space. We laugh, cry, scream, we do it all and there is no other woman I would want by my side as I look forward to this next chapter of truly coming into myself. She gets me. I get her. She is my ride or die!

Maybe next time when I come down, I can bring down some sunny weather…

Time to start planning my next advneture!

xoxo