Fogged In

After I awoke this morning and looked out the window, I assumed I was having another nightmare about flying. I hate flying. I thought I was probably dreaming I was again in the airplane, freaking out, heading into clouds, on my way to Jamaica.

Not so.

I couldn't see a thing out my bedroom window. It looked as if our home had been placed inside a marshmallow; all white and thick.

It was too early for the newscasts to show if Big Lake had a late start or cancelation, so I just prepared for the work day per usual. Before I awoke the boys, however, the notice was there: 2 hour late start for Big Lake. Awesome!

I cleaned house, finished up laundry and checked the news before I went to wake the boys: Big Lake Cancelled. Woohoo! No school.

We received a little gift from Mother Nature! A Fog Day.

I and Topaz headed for the trail. I could not see a thing the way over there; just drove slowly and made sure my lights were on.

The trail is in awesome condition. The snow and ice is all gone, I was running on lovely grass and dirt. It is not even muddy, which is very strange.

10 miles later, the sun had burned off the fog..it's going to be an awesome day :)

No Problem, Man

Or, I suppose it is Mon. I hear that phrase over and over again in Jamaica. It has to be the country phrase. "No Problem, Mon" and there is no problem.

Jamaica was again, simply paradise. We stayed at Beaches Negril, in Negril, Jamaica. It is located right on the Seven Mile Beach. It is white sand for as long as you can see. It is simply awesome.

I ran along the beach each day for 7 miles at least..sometimes I headed out for an evening run to watch the sunset as Steve and the boys walked along. It was paradise.

The food was fabulous. I ate more fresh asparagus, beans, tomato, cantalope,watermelon, pineapple and other fruits and veggies than I can even list. Everything is prepared with minimal oil; they don't add whipping cream to fruit salads; just a bit of walnut, golden raisin and chopped up apple is wonderful. We had grilled prawns, halibut, snapper, lobster, jamaican goat, jerk chicken, jerk pork, jerk beef; zillions of wonderful choices for each meal.

Steve drank the Red Strip Beer; I and the boys had Mickey Mouses, Pina Colada, Sweet Sixteen and Strawberry Daquari. There were 27 non-alcoholic cold fruit drinks to choose from. Splendid.

The boys loved the self serve ice cream cone maker on the beach. It was inclusive; eat 24-7.

And I lost 3 pounds! With all of the wonderful choices I didn't feel the need to stuff myself with the cakes and pies available.

We snorkeled, parasailed, kayaked, river rafted and went cliff diving. Crazy.

It's good to be home though.

This morning I and Topaz headed out for the trail for a run. The snow is just about gone. I think Spring may have arrived.

McNaughton is 3 weeks out. I guess my training is in the bank. I'll run a marathon or 50K out at Zumbro River Bottoms next Saturday and then cut back again on mileage. Before I know it, Pekin, IL...here we come!