Hello from Florida!!
I’m still here on the other side of the world from CA and loving it. (Even though I lovelovelove California. 3 loves.)
Since this is meant to be a chill vacation there isn’t much to do so I’ve been running a lot (and eating a lot). I decided to do my long run as 2 back to back runs because somehow that is easier for me.
Yesterday: 16 miles
Today: 15 miles
I need a rest day at some point, but I’ll be sitting on a plane for all of tomorrow and I’ll be lazy then.
Today’s Dunkin Donuts run included a donut. I actually don’t think DD has great baked goods, but I love their egg sandwiches. Next time.
Food has been a lot of junk, a lot of salads and a lot of champagne.
I know. Weird, but good.
We had a Fah-ancy dinner last night – lobster! I never have made lobster at home, so I was pretty excited about this.
All the food has been amazing this week, but I failed in choosing the dessert. I had to have this Scotchy Scotch Ben & Jerry’s ice cream inspired by Anchorman, but it wasn’t very good. It’s supposed to be butterscotch and I just don’t dig it (but I’m not a caramel person, more chocolate).
Since I failed at dessert the group made me do this in Walmart. That, or I begged someone to take a picture of me and they were super embarrassed.
Now, I have to tell you about how I almost DIED this weekend…
Peace from Heaven:
We went canoeing at Fisheating Creek. I had never been canoeing, just kayaking so I was focused on not tipping and wasn’t paying attention to what was ahead of me.
Then, someone suddenly yelled “There is an alligator right in front of you!” Yes. There was real, live, hungry (I’m assuming because I’m always hungry) GATOR!
And I freaked the f out.
Luckily, that scared him and he moved away (I’m also assuming it was a boy because I’m the one telling this story so I get to assign parts).
We ended up seeing a few more alligators and it was scary! I survived, but it was touch and go there for a bit. Whew.
Fun fact: I had to wear Ben’s shoes because I didn’t want to risk getting my running shoes wet or eaten by the gators.
The end.
Question: Have you ever seen an alligator in nature?
salad and champagne sounds like a good diet to me!!
salad and champagne sounds like a good diet to me!!
you are so lucky seeing that alligator!! I was in Florida the week of Christmas and took my family on a hunt for alligators at a state park….we did not see ONE stinkin’ gator! I was so pissed! True story.
We’re actually Florida right now, getting ready to leave, and when we went for a trail walk with my Dad this morning, I WAS really nervous about gators. 🙂
eeps! Scary! I did a boat trip down a river in Costa Rica and we saw alligators, monkeys, sloths…it was all very surreal but it was a boat with a motor so I felt fairly safe…in a canoe? No thank you
I am not a fan of anything that can eat me.
Ha ha I live in Florida see gators on a daily basis and thinki nothing of it but that being said I would be scared $hitless if I was in the water with one. Did you ever see the show Gator boys? That guy is a nut!!
I saw an alligator near my hotel when I was visiting Florida. They’re so big and creepy!
My parents totally judged me a little bit over the holiday when they watched some of the salad/bowl concoctions I put together. The weirder, the better. But hey, my greens are better than yours fam!
OMG! I don’t think you could even get me in the canoe knowing there were alligators out there!!
I’ve never seen an alligator but my grandmother (who lives in Florida) said she chases them off the golf course all of the time. Whaaaaaa!?
Ahh!! That is so scary! That lobster looks DE-licious!
This post was awesome for a number of reasons! I went to school at UNiversity of Florida and they have a couple of little ponds and then one big lake… Definitely not uncommon to just walk by a gator on the way to class… There is also a place called paines prairie that you can walk/bike the trail, and those are where the big old gators chill, just sitting on the trail… So next time you come to FL you should check it out! (Or avoid it…haha)
We watched 60 Minutes the other night and there was a segment about river gators who attack…Anderson Cooper went scuba diving with them. He had a little stick to protect himself. I was practically hyperventilating watching that and I was safe and secure on my couch!
When do gators attack?? Would it have been possible for them to come up and take a snap at you. Oh my goodness this makes me nervous just thinking about it. The canoeing part sounds fun!
That sounds so scary! That’s one of my fears when I go to Florida! You are making me miss it so much though, and I’m pretty sure that I am going to run the Wine & Dine Half in November or next year’s Marathon in January. My life-time goal is to run a race in every state (besides Alaska and Hawaii).
That is my biggest fear with open water…..I think the minute my foot in the water I would freak out that I was going to get eaten!
I went on a trip to Gambia a couple years ago and we got to go to an alligator zoo place. Everyone got a chance to touch a sleeping alligator, it was totally konked out though so it was pretty much like touching a rock. still cool though 🙂
I’ve only seen alligators in Florida, we don’t have them in Vermont. We went on an airboat ride and saw one and then on our drive across southern FL we stopped and saw some so close in the river. I was scared I stayed in the car, but my husband got out and was so close. He’s crazy!
Oh god I would freak too!!!
Being from Florida…I have def seen gators. And they terrify me every time. A few months ago my father and I stumbled upon a nest of gators and that they were not happy about. I honestly thought we were going to die. I do my best to avoid gators!
I read so many blog posts where people casually drop in their writing about how they ran past an alligator…it makes me very glad to live in the UK. The scariest thing we have is a grass snake. And by the time you’ve screamed they’ve disappeared.
OK, Anchorman 2 was bad enough, did they have to name an ice cream flavor after it??? No wonder why it didn’t taste very good!
I did see an alligator really close to me; one time when I was visiting a plantation in SC, there was an alligator at the end of a pond right next to the walking path we were on. I was scared as HELL, and everyone else was walking right past it! Since everyone else in my family abandoned me and walked right past it, I had to suck it up and walk by it as quickly as possible.
I saw an alligator when we were tube rafting down a river. At the point I was swimming and my husband was floating in the tube, and you better believe I was out of the water in a hot second and made him swim.
Very scary indeed!
I had no idea they made that kind of ice cream. YUM! The name is hilarious. If I saw an alligator, I’d probably freak the heck out and run away immediately.
That is s-c-a-r-y! I would have freaked the F out too. We are vacationing in hawaii right now and there have been a bunch of shark attacks on Maui this year and I have major anxiety every time I dip toe in the ocean. Animal attacks is not how I want to go out one day.
Wow, scary! I would have freaked the f out too! Glad all turned out OK!
Love the lobstah pic. We have been to Florida many times and have seen gators up close. I don’t like them.
You almost died.
I’m more chicken than anyone else…I won’t even get into the canoe if I knew there were alligators in the water!
Oh my gosh so brave. I would have had a panic attack and turned around and canoed right home. I don’t even like seeing fish, aquariums make me nervous.
Living in Louisiana, we see them all the time while in the boat fishing in the bayous around our house. My husband thinks I’m crazy, but alligators in the water freak me out too!
Lobster + Salads + Champagne + Running = A perfect vacation! Alligators, however, would not be invited… I totally would have freaked and probably tipped the canoe and died. Way to keep your calm 😉
Way to sacrifice his shoes. I would have done the same. I always go back to chocolate ice cream, but I always have to try the new stuff.
I know Fisheating Creek! It’s right by my hometown! Gators scare me and I see them often. I was even chased by one when I was little!
That is awesome (about the creek, not about the alligator chasing you).
Hahaha amazing story. Definitely a he.
I have never seen an alligator but then again we really don’t live in an area that has many alligators around! Glad you are OK! 🙂
I went on a night-spying alligator trip through the Everglades in grad school for biology a few years ago – it was so scary & awesome! We used Large spotlights to light up the water below bridges/walkways & even got to hold a baby gator @ an alligator reserve! Glad you’re having fun in FLA. Happy New Year!
NO…and I am positive I would freak out!!!! Can’t they jump into/push up to/ or catapult their bodies into tippy canoes???? I think I have seen that on tv. (Or in a dream or something)
Wow! I remember my first alligator sighting in the Everglades. I love FL. Never been to Cali, but I’m sure I’d love it too. Weird or not, your diet must be doing something right because your body is amazing. Do u do upper body work too? You have great guns and shoulders.
I do a lot of curling food up to my mouth 🙂
Lol! Not the least bit helpful RER!
Ha! #Fail
I’m actually going to start sharing strength exercises in 2014! Stay tuned.
Great. I need all the help I can get in the upper body strength department. Then you can be run, lift, eat, repeat.
Happy New Year!
I saw an alligator once when I was on a walk in Mexico. It was just a baby alligator but I still freaked out!! Luckily I’ve never seen one when I’ve gone kayaking in Florida, somehow I feel like being on the water is worse..
I don’t think I could go in the water even on a boat if I knew there were alligators. I’m a wuss when it comes to those.
Yeah, I think the group knew there were gators and they didn’t tell me because I would not have went.
I cannot go in water where there may be alligators. If the boat didn’t go fast enough I would probably jump in the water and swim. I’m get so freaked out around them no one could beat them.