Miami - Friends, Family and Racing.

Miami, FL. 1.29.10 to 2.1.10. What a great vacation! Warm weather, a great friend, family, a race, good food, and relaxation.

Friday: I left Cleveland, 14 Degrees with 2 fresh inches of snow. A special thank you to Toni for waking up early and giving me a lift. The brilliant people at Continental Airlines confused the first 4 letters of my last name with Gold frequent flyer status and upgraded me to first class. The short flight landed in Miami – temp 75 and sunny.

I was [eventually] greeted by a disheveled and hung over Jill Brenner, booze seeping out her pours with a lingering hint of a Cheerios aroma. Oye. Quickly realizing that her sunglasses were not just for fashion, but part of a medical cure for headaches - my only choice was to demand that we go to the beach immediately where we could consume mass quantities of greasy seafood. This was followed with the Health expo and Race number pick up.

Friday night was full of drinks, good company, and tons of live music. Including the restaurant Dexter frequently eats at and a dueling piano bar that plays covers of pop songs. Bitchin.’ Little did I know, but every bar we went to I would later recognize on my 26.2 mile tour of town.

Saturday, we went back to the beach before checking out Skully's Tavern, from Diners - Drive-ins and Dives. My review is GREAT food, but quite lacking in the drink menu. No joke, the beer selection was 100% Miller or Budweiser. Drink disappointment aside, I had escargot for the first time. It's also worth mentioning that Jill and my dining preferences work together famously. In all, we had the Beef and Barley soup, Escargot, Dolphin spread, Blue Cheese encrusted lamb, broccoli, fingerling potatoes. I was eneveitably rolled out of the joint.

Following Skully's, Jill decided to kick my ass in backgammon a few times at a wine bar that was more like a wine vending machine. I was truly at her mercy. We called it a night early knowing that we had to wake up at O-dark-hundred hours.

Sunday morning. Marathon day. Given that some bars close right around the time that the race was starting - there were quite a few confused yuppies in dresses and suits stumbling about as I made my way to the starting line.

If I were to describe the Marathon in 1000 words, I would still only use one: Painful. Maybe two: Painful and stupid. Painfully stupid. I went through the half around 1:48. Then stopped sweating (dehydration) around mile 14 and everything went south. I cramped up and collapsed around mile 21. An angel pretending to be a running in the race stopped above me and poured magical fairy dust in my mouth and I was reborn at least to the point of jog/walking.

The main thing that kept me going was the fact that my brother and sister in law had come down to watch me. I kept thinking to myself, if they can drive hours to see me, I owe it to them to make them wait however long it takes to finish, dangit! In the end, my time was not notable (4:40) but I FINISHED!

Sunday night there were two football games going on, I made the right choice of which to attend. There was the pro-bowl for all the has-been losers. And there was a Miami U Coed IM flag football game full of action, carnage and amazing feats of athleticism.

Monday morning I had to say goodbye to Miami. The city decided to show me off in style with rain. Leaving 75 and rainy, I boarded a plane and sat down in my 3 emergency row seats. Why they were unoccupied, I haven’t a clue, but again thank you continental. Arriving back to Cleveland, a sunny 20 degrees.