Friday, September 30, 2011

Friday Mishmash - Beach Palooza Endnotes

Thanks for all of your patience during this week of palooza posts.  I promise, this is the end.  But really, if I hadn't been posting all of the crazy pictures, I would have just been whining about my upcoming surgery.  So see?  I saved you from that.  P.S.  Come back Monday for the whine. ;)

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Speaking of that race (oh, WERE we???), I saw on the BP facebook page that one runner had videoed the race as he ran it (In a ridiculously fast time of 27 minutes. Seriously?!?  I have no hope of ever running a regular 5K in 27 minutes, much less one with obstacles!  Poor guy, he definitely didn't get his money's worth, either.  Slow and steady, dude.) - I guess he strapped the camera to his chest.  Anyway, even though he speeds up the boring running parts, it's a little long, but if you want to see the race as it happens (and the obstacles that we didn't manage to photograph), here are the You Tube links:

Part 1 - Around the 3 minute mark he hits the platforms.  Pause it and look how far it is from one to the next.  Nevermind how easy he makes it look. ;)
Part 2 - Must have been a waterproof camera, as you'll see when he goes in for the icy swim!

After the race we hung around and watched other runners jump over fire.  It was really fun to cheer them on - I felt a strong kinship whenever an overweight woman did it.  Yes!!!  You GO, ladies!!!  Love that they were brave enough to get out there and do this - I wouldn't have had the nerve 100 pounds (or even 50) ago!  Then we went out for a late lunch - we were all STARVING.  When we walked into the restaurant, Jeff immediately notified me that he wasn't splitting a burger with me - he wanted a whole one.  So fine, I made the sacrifice and managed to eat one all by myself.  We did get a huge cookie to split:
This picture cracks me up because Kelly is dispensing Motrin from her gigantic bottle to all of us - she poured a handful and we were all "two please" and "four please" - well, maybe you had to be there.  We weren't going to let a little pain stop us from enjoying the rest of the day!

And speaking of pain - yes, my ankle hurt more than normal.  But not enough to stop me during the race, luckily.  So I guess it's a good thing I'll be having that surgery on Tuesday.

Later on, after we finally got cleaned up, we hurried to the Strand, where our favorite places were:  Fit to Run and La King's Confectionery.  Unfortunately, Fit to Run was closed!  Sad faces:
 My favorite running store!  We went back on Sunday and got to shop and chat with the owners - they run the USAFit Galveston program and do a lot of runs from the store.  Except for the occasional hurricanes, Galveston would be a really fun place to live!

Since we couldn't get our running store fix, we went for the next best thing - ice cream at La King's!  Kelly and I posed while Jeff took our picture:
Notice the man making creepy eyes in the window?  Chuck slipped into the store and managed to get in the picture and make us laugh when we realized what he'd done!  As you can tell, we had a good time. :)

Oh, and finally - the best ice cream in the world:
Now THAT'S what I call a race reward!

I know you are probably Palooza'd out, and I thank anyone who is still reading after this week.  I have to tell you that this was such a fun race to do, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  To paraphrase what Anne wrote in one of the comments this week, "obstacles" became "confidence builders" and that is so true - I felt about 10 feet tall when I finished this race.  Loved every minute of it!
My medal - this was a fun one to earn!

Have a great weekend!

20 comments:

  1. It all looks and sounds like soooo much fun!
    And a cool medal. Love it all!

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  2. Ive loooved the posts and seeing your friendship online/visually too.

    kinda coveting,

    Carla

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  3. It has been a fun week! You guys really did have a good time.

    I'll be back for the whine....

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  4. What a great day you guys had. You look SO happy!

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  5. I have loved every post this week! You deserve all the extra treats this week!

    Hugs, have a great weekend!

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  6. What I noticed most this past week in your posts is that you look so happy on all the pics. You have such a great smile.

    Again I enjoyed every post of it.

    Good luck next week, I'll be checking your blog and facebook on updates on you. I'm thinking of you and send positive vibes your way.

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  7. You know what I love about Texas running? Ya'll give out medals for everything. Around here, sometimes even half marathons don't give out medals (as evidenced by the race I ran last winter...)

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  8. Wait, no comments about the cookie and the ice cream? What's wrong with these people LOL. Anyway, what a fun weekend. It was kind of like the best playground in the world, only made for adults. Plus the added bonus of having fun with friends. Thanks for sharing it with us.

    And how fun to get a medal to remember such a great day by.

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  9. This post made me laugh!! We really had a great time!! I have to say this was my favorite race I've ever run.
    Hanging out and laughing with you guys, the beach, the food, the race, conquering mental and physical obstacles, cheering for people, giving shout outs to people on the streets, the medal.....it was just perfect. Definitely want to do it again next year!!!

    See you Monday!!!

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  10. I like the medal - it's pretty.

    Good luck with your upcoming surgery. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is what your body needs to get you running again. :)

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  11. Thanks for the recap - it looked like so much fun!

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  12. I enjoyed every single post and every picture! What an amazing race to run. Such a cool medal too. Good luck with your surgery Shelley, I will be thinking about you :-)

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  13. Love all the pictures Shelley! And what a great medal to put on your rack in your office! :0)

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  14. You are too cute. All the wrap-up pictures are adorable.
    Why would that guy run the race in 27 minutes? He probably didn't enjoy those beach balls at all! I feel sorry for him. :)

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  15. Cool medal. That's why you did this race, I'm pretty sure.

    Haha, the pic of Chuck peeking! I didn't even notice until you mentioned. (duh) He made me think of Paco, though, ha...all wanting to be in every photo, showing up somehow. :)

    Chrissy

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  16. I remember reading this when you first posted it and thinking "that would be fun". Now I'm trying to psych myself up to do the St Pete one in November....not so sure about those cargo nets to climb and jumping across the big round pedestal things! Thanks for the detailed account and the photos, I'll probably review them a half dozen more times before I make the plunge, lol.

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    1. Sherrie, do it - you will have a blast!!! I love the cargo nets; the pedestals, not so much. I wouldn't have done them with out Jeff's help...but you can skip any obstacle you don't feel comfortable doing. I hope you go ahead and sign up, and I look forward to reading YOUR recap! :)

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