February in Florida

The following entries are notes I made about Florida during our second and third week there, up until when I left to go run the Disney Princess Half Marathon.

Monday February 10

This is a recovery day for me, after the 10k yesterday. I decide to take a Pilates class. Yikes! This class was core core core. I could keep up, but only to a point. My abs were burning! But it was good; a strong core helps everything, running, back pains etc. I’ll do it again but whew, that was hard.

Later in the afternoon I go back to the spa and do a mineral bath. Ahhhhh, it felt great. I get eucalyptus and lavender scented bubbles and relax for 30 minutes. Now that’s recovery!

Tuesday February 11

Speedwork today. 5x1000m @ 5k pace. It’s not hot, but wow is it humid. My heart rate climbs. I can’t go as fast as I did last time I did this workout, but I do pretty good, well within the pace ranges.

I run the cool down part of this workout along the bay. I see a roseate spoonbill and a heron on the boardwalk, and on a whim I decide to jog out to the end of the pier and I get to see a manatee! I stop and start making a video but he never reappears.

Later in the afternoon I go to the nail salon a couple blocks away on Main Street. It’s just a little Vietnamese salon, with the ladies chattering away in their language but they do great work and now my toes look more Floridian.

Wednesday February 12th

My eye is not better. I finished the antibiotic eye drops, but the lid is still red and bulging. So I went back to a Walk-in Medical Clinic. There was a long wait, but I didn’t have much choice so I played with my phone and tried to stay chill. When it was finally my turn the nurses aide was pretty funny. “Wash your hands and don’t touch anything. This place is full of sick people!” 

So I have something called a chalazion. It’s a plugged oil duct along the rim of the eyelid. Pretty sure this is what I had last time, when I ended up needing surgery. This time they gave me an oral antibiotic and instructions to massage the lid 3 times a day, use a warm compress 3 times a day, and use lid wipes. I’ll try to stay hopeful that I can get this to go away on its own.

Note: As of March 10th the lump is much better, but it’s still there. I stopped taking the antibiotics because they were making me nauseous and I wasn’t seeing any improvement from them. It’s not completely gone, however. I’ll probably go to our doctor when we get home.

We ride our bikes to Crooked Thumb for a late afternoon beer. Lee gets his usual ipa and I try something called $7 Milkshake. It DOES taste like a milkshake! Strange but I like it. Next week they have Girl Scout Cookie beers. Definitely need to go get some of those!

Thursday February 13th

I do a progression run. It’s terribly humid so I get up super early to get it done. I take a headlamp and decide to run on the Reim Wilson trail. It’s really really dark in spots. I’m not afraid of people but I am nervous that some wild animal is going to pop out of the bushes.

The progression run is hard. I warm up for 1 mile, then run 6 miles getting slightly faster each mile. The first 3 miles go well, with me changing the run/walk intervals each mile to include 15 more seconds of running. Mile 4 and 5 include hills, and I’m tiring so they kind of go to hell, but mile 6 redeems itself and it’s my fastest.

I’m kind of shot for the rest of the day though. I mostly sit around until it’s time to go out to eat at Parts of Paris. We’re doing our v-day dinner a day early because I waited too long to get a reservation on the 14th. This is actually good. The restaurant isn’t crowded or busy and we can sit wherever we want.

We choose to sit outside. It’s pleasant. We split a salad, then I get the mussels and Lee gets the duck confit. We both eat more than we thought we would and walk back satisfied.

Friday February 14th.

Happy Vday! Lee gets me a cool gift, pint glasses for the NYC, Marine Corp and Philly Marathons. Each glass has a map of the course, the date it started, and the gps coordinates of the finish line. I’m charmed. I got him a box that looks like it has chocolate in it but it’s really jerky. I think he likes it, although we were just talking about how he needs to reduce the meat, especially red meat, in his diet!

I run 6 miles but I start late and it’s still very humid. I’m still feeling it from yesterday. Later in the afternoon I go buy some Gatorade and guzzle a bunch of it. I think that helps.

Joanne is visiting this week. She got here yesterday and we ate out on the Lanai last night. Shrimp, rice and beans and a corn relish. 

Sunday February 16

This morning I went for a 10 mile run. Beautiful sunrise, nice weather but my right hip is bothering me so I don’t push it. Later we get Cuban sandwiches from the gas station on Phillippe Parkway and then go to the park to eat them. We watch the boats on the water, the people walking their dogs and playing with their kids, the old men fishing. 

Monday February 17

We eat a lot of leftovers today, trying to get rid of the glut of food we’ve accumulated. No running, just PT exercises and I go to the spa to lift weights.

Tuesday February 18

I head to the track for 1 mile repeats. It’s close to 70 and humid. I can feel it but I hang tough and stay very close to my goal pace.

We walk to Whistlestop for lunch. Joanne and Lee get burgers I get the egg roll of the day which is done like a middle eastern gyro. It’s good but a lot of fried food, especially since I eat most of Lee’s sweet potato fries!

Thursday February 20

Massage day! Joanne and I go to the spa for massages. I want a sports massage so they assign me to a guy who says he used to be the massage therapist for the Phoenix Suns! He’s tough but it’s not that bad. His technique is a little different from what I’ve done before. He does work on my poor glutes and I think it helps.

We were going to hang out at the pool after but the weather is cloudy and chilly so no. Joanne even went out and bought a swimsuit for it, oh well.

In the evening we walk over to Marker 39 for dinner. I like that restaurant, I always seem to enjoy whatever I end up getting. I got the jerk seared chicken confit and it was delicious.

Friday February 21

I spend the majority of my time packing for Disney. This seems to be a complicated process, with a race and a variety of weather possibilities to pack for. In the afternoon I go pick up my rental car. First I have to wait a little because it’s not ready. It’s freezing, 50’s and windy. When the car is ready we have to walk around and verify any existing damage (a few scratches). But she has trouble checking the car in to me, so I go back inside. She can finally do it by scanning the vin number and then I’m good.