Fun in the sun

Went to Tampa, fl for the weekend. I graduated with my 2nd bachelors degree on Friday night and had loads of time to have fun and eat and drink until my flight on Sunday night.





(cool statue birds in the TPA)




(me at the beautiful campus of Saint Leo University- my new Alma mata)




Yay!




Celebration dinner @ Leroy Selmon's restaurant. Pulled pork and corn bread pudding. Heaven on earth.





Went for a few runs in new Tampa. It was 85 outside, something I'm not used to since I've been training mostly in sub 40 degree temps lately.




But it felt good to go out and sweat instead of packing on the layers to run in the cold. And the scenery was nice. I miss Tampa a little, but prefer the big city life.




Even got to meet the belladog. She is a very sweet pup and has adjusted well to her life in Florida.







Got to the Rays vs angels game too!



The "trop"




No chance of this game being rained out!!



More cowbell!!



And the rays won! Yay! I was happy to see a baseball game after my Cubbies got rained out earlier in the week.



Portobello Swiss burger and chili cheese fries from steak n shake.

I would not recommend eating that at midnight the night before a run or walk of any length unless you want to see what you're made of.

I ran 3 miles the next morning in 24:28 and felt like I was going to die half way through. The combo of the food and the heat were awesome if you wanted to test how well you can run while having GI issues, lesson learned.





It was a great weekend. Got to show my wonderful, wonderful Tampa and got to hang with my dad and the belladog. (and graduate!) and drink too much beer, and eat too much delicious food.

Glad to be back home and to see my precious CB later.


Congrats to everyone who raced last weekend!!

YAY!

Bella made it to Tampa with her tail wagging.

Both were very happy to see each other again!!!! Too bad the weather in Florida has been so crappy the past few days- Im sure Bella cannot wait to explore Florida when it finally dries off and there are no threats of twisters..



As you can see she is already making herself comfortable.

Welcome home beautiful girl! Can't wait to meet you in a few weeks!

A bad 1st impression

I was held by Bill Rodgers in 1983.


When my Daad found out I was running the Boston marathon this year (he ruined the surprise by accidentally finding me in the entrant list. We have the same last name) he sent me this photo.




My dad writes:
"Char was about 14 mths old. Bill Rodgers had already won 4 Boston Marathons and 4 New York City Marathons. This was taken at the Cayman Islands 10K. Char was not happy to have Boston Billy holding her !

Tom Fleming. another world-class marathoner at that time is on the far right hand side of the picture in the white t-shirt. He won the NYC Marathon twice and finished in 2nd place behind Rodgers twice in Boston."




Look at me! This is embarrassing! Clearly I did not appreciate his accomplishments or care who he was at the time.

Hopefully I can see Bill in Boston and apologize for this meeting 28 years ago.





The race was actually 9/18/1983.

Daad found it through a company that specialized in destination races.

My daad was pretty fast back then!

Update:




Belladog has made it to Houston and is waiting for her flight to Tampa this afternoon!


-Xaar

Run to overcome

Was really excited this arrived in the mail today. (along with a few other running-inspirational books)

I was so excited that I started reading it as soon as I got home. I read a quarter the way through and had to pry myself away from it to go do my evening run. (I woke up early and did some morning miles today!) 8 miles for the day! Whoo hoo!!!

After getting a quarter of the way through I would highly recommend it to everyone. It is truly the story of the American dream and how it is still alive.

I met Meb after the 2009 rock n roll san Jose half. He took 1st. It was his comeback race from a bad injury. He won the NYC marathon a few months later. He was super nice to take photos with people after the awards ceremony. I practically spilled my beer on him. He laughed at it. He seems like a really humble and hard working guy. I am inspired by him and his work ethic.

On an unrelated note, please send good thoughts/ prayers for this beautiful dog.






Her name is Bella and she is flying from Mexico to The USA tomorrow to be with her Dad (my dad too!). She is from Mexico and was dumped off at the evolucion animal sanctuary and saved from a life on the streets because her "owners" were divorcing and both didnt want her- something like that. Her history is clouded. She was infested with ticks and had several illnesses and now thanks to my dad, she is in perfect health. My dad volunteers at the sanctuary when he is living in Merida for a few months at a time during the year. He was walking her and for both of them it was love at first sight. Her tail was wagging energetically the whole way home back to her new place. It was as if she knew she would be very happy living with my dad- she is exactly what he needed in his life, and he was exactly what she needed in hers.


I am praying that she has safe flights, and a smooth transition to the United states tomorrow.




I'm sure she will enjoy sniffing all the new smells America has to offer! And I know that she will be super happy to see my dad again- it's been a few weeks since they have been apart. (the process for flying a dog out of Mexico is VERY complicated because the TSA thinks people will smuggle drugs inside dogs- which im sure happens, but things have changed A LOT since I flew my CB out after living there a few years)





I can't wait to meet her in a few weeks!!










-Xaar