Special Thanks, Vacation Update, NRC Goes International

Before I begin, I have to give a HUGE thanks to Amy Klotz for keeping everyone updated regarding the weekly NRC running schedule.  She did such a good job that I have officially named her the NRC Director of Communication 🙂  Seriously, thanks Amy and I hope that everyone had a great week.

As for Kelli and I, we arrived back home Saturday afternoon after a great vacation.  We arrived last Friday in Miami and spent the afternoon checking out the city.  My first priority upon checking into the hotel was to find a running route for Kelli and I.  After all, we had a 16 mile run that we needed to get in on Saturday morning before we departed on the Carnival Liberty for the next seven days.  We discovered a small island  that was a 1.1 mile loop.  Not exactly the way that anyone wants to run 16 miles but we determined that running by the water would not be so bad.  When we started our run at 5:30 am we immediately realized that the heat of Miami was going to be a factor.  About an hour into our run we saw our home for the next seven days (the Carnival Liberty) pulling into the dock (picture below).  The excitement helped to eliminate some of the misery of running around a 1.1 mile loop over and over in 90 degree weather!!  Fortunately, a rain shower (and a nearby Burger King that we used every 5 miles to refill our water bottles) helped us get through our long (and monotonous) training run!!

Our trip will forever be remembered as the one that was altered by tropical storm Irene.  We found out on Monday that we would not be traveling to St. Thomas and San Juan due to the storm’s path.  That was the bad news.  The good news is that we would be traveling to Cozumel for an entire day!!  While in Cozumel, I wanted to spread the word about NRC so I decided to sport one of our new shirts (picture below).  While on our zip-line excursion with dad, Ryne, and Matthew, I met a couple from Australia who commented on how great my shirt looked!!  Turns out, they were runners as well so we spent the next hour or so talking about…what else….running!!  Needless to say, I told them all about NRC and invited them to join  us if they are ever in Nolensville.  I know…the odds are slim but you never know!!!!

After spending the week running in circles (it took 9 laps on the boat’s track to equal a mile!!), we are both looking forward to running with all of our NRC friends this Wednesday.  Thanks again to Amy for keeping things going and to Christi Beth and Fleet Feet for bringing goodies to our Wednesday evening run!!

See you soon!