RUN, Don't Walk

Wendy had signed up and was training for a 5 mile run only to discover that it would take place on a day she would be in FL.  She decided to do the run here, while her friends were running in NH.  Bill and I scoped out a couple of possible routes, but they both took her across streets, which wasn't ideal.  As an alternative, we suggested she run on the bridge which connects Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda and has a nice protected section for pedestrians.

From one side to the other is about 1.25 miles, which meant she would run over and back, over and back.  She thought it was perfect, although it does rise in the middle, meaning four uphill stretches.  Undeterred, she chose the bridge route, while her friends in NH would be running along a route on the quite flat old Pease Air Force Base.

We planned to leave around 9:00 so the temperature would still be cool and lucked out since Daylight Savings Time occurred overnight.  Technically, we left at 8:00!  The plan was for Bill and I to walk Titan to the hospital and back, while Wendy did her run.  It would take about an hour for each route.  We watched as Wendy stretched and headed over the bridge, then headed in the opposite direction.

We arrived back at the parking area within an hour but didn't see Wendy yet.  Of course, I was worried and thought I should start over the bridge and make sure she was okay.  Bill said he thought he saw her pink top and sure enough, there she came, running along, under the one hour limit she had set for herself.  Her exact time was 54:57.  I met her with some water and a big hug.  I was extremely proud of her!!!  I think it's a lot harder to run alone, rather than with a group and I never suspected that she would be a runner.  She was proud of herself, too which made me really happy.

Wendy and the bridge

WAY.TO.GO.WENDY!  You made us very proud!

After lunch we drove to Venice, about 45 minutes north.  We wanted to spend a little time on the beach, but neither Wendy nor I wanted to get covered in sunscreen so we didn't change into our suits.  We could see rain in the distance but since there was an off shore wind, it didn't concern us much.  Wendy read, Bill listened to music and I did some people watching.

Venice Beach 2010

In as little as 30 minutes, the wind turned on shore and the big rain cloud over the ocean was now heading our direction!  We quickly made the decision to pick up our stuff, leave the beach and go into the historic downtown area.  In our haste to leave before it started to pour rain, Bill unknowingly dropped his watch.  He discovered it was missing when we got to the car, which wasn't very far away, so we went right back to the beach and looked for it but we didn't find it.  Someone is wearing a nice Relic watch that doesn't belong to them!

We did a little window shopping, had a nice gelato (Italian ice cream)

stock photo, not our gelato

wandered through a couple of stores (Bill waited outside) and came out to see this...

RAIN!  Unacceptable!!!

Only a passing shower (probably the one that chased us off the beach).  We did a little more sightseeing, then headed home and had a great dinner at the Icehouse Pub.

More on that next time.

Thanks for stopping by...

;o)