MORE TO REPORT

MORE TO COME
We are having a blast visiting with family. Canada is beautiful in the summer. I cannot remember the last time that I came up in the summer. I believe it was about 18 years ago. My family lives in Southern Ontario which has many farms. They are pristine and beautiful, and it is fun seeing all the beginning of the crops; baby corn is the cutest.


The Scenery:
Niagara-on-the-Lake (NOTL) is wine country and has numerous vineyards and fancy places to stay and visit. We ran on the Niagara Parkway, a bike/run path that is many many miles long. This race also hosted an Ultra Marathon of 33 miles that turned around at the falls. We ran along the river the whole way. The race started at the lake and them went upstream.

• Rain: It rained for 22 miles of the 26.2. Other than the weight, it really did not mess with me. It made me laugh because it was hard to see and read my watch. You kind of get to the point where you are like, it is what it is. I want to improve my time and that's it. Running a marathon is intense, no matter the speed. You cannot always factor in the uncontrollables to your time or experience. It all makes it fun to me.

• The first 5 miles featured the lake and the beautiful homes and yachts. Just as we arrived at mile 5, the scene opened up to a beautiful bridge in the mist.
• Mile 6-8 were uphill in the forest and past a butterfly sanctuary
• Mile 9-13 were right on the river. The Niagara River is powerful. I heard a roar below and to my left was huge gorge. I peered way down and there was the river....oh, my, it was rushing. I wondered what level these rapids were and then thought they were probably not rated and no one was allowed on them. It was awesome. The power lines ran up the gorge to a huge building covered in ivy. It was so beautiful.
• TURN AROUND: I was so excited to reach the turn around! I love out and back style races. Plus, I knew several miles of it would be downhill, because what goes up must come down. YES.
• 13-21: Easiest miles of the whole race. What...did not expect this. I was listening to my inspirational talk and also waiting to see the great scenery that I had experience at mile 5. The anticipation made these 7 fly by.
• 21-23: I was checking my time and realizing that I was off. No prob...because I was smiling. It was difficult to keep track of all of it in the rain and difficult to gage speed.
• 23: Bonita an Savannah caught me and said hello! I gave Savannah a flower (picked it while running). She asked me to get her one at the race.
• 24-26: Music came back on....and finished the race with 2 playings of SURVIVOR by Destiny's Child. God knew what I needed to hear.
• 26: Ran fast and bounded into the finish....no slumped over flop for me.