The Day I Almost Killed JL

What a fantabuloso weekend even if it ended on Saturday morning. My friend Ray was having a birthday party down at the beach. I wasn't going to go, because Corpus Christi (actually, it was on Mustang Island in Port Aransas) can be a drive and I didn't think I could stay the whole weekend. But I decided to just go since I get to see my friends, skydive on the beach, and let my dogs get crazy.

I got there late on Thursday night, but wasn't sure if I would leave Friday night or Saturday morning. JL had already asked me if I wanted to run on Friday morning on the beach and I couldn't say no. Ever since my 5K in Galveston, I have been really loving and craving a run on the beach. I think it's because it really is harder than the road, which gives me that euphoric bad ass feeling like I accomplished something tough. Then, I get to yell at those road runners what wusses they are for not being on the sand. Okay, I don't really do that, but I could. Well, Saturday morning came around and who was the one getting things going? Yup, that's right, it was me, waking up the zombie sometimes referred to as JL. I spanked her butt and forced her awake to go running with me. One of the guys saw us getting ready to run and asked if he could join us. Of course he could, but I didn't have the heart to tell him we were not fast runners.

JL and I taking the traditional before shot. You can see the RV in the background.

Our plan was to run to the condos that looked to be about a mile away, with the option to run to the pier.

Nick running ahead of us. The big rectangle on the far left of the picture were the condos for our planned turnaround point.

A closeup of the pier that we had as the option

Our run started off weird since we had 3 different speed types:  JL was the slow one, I was a middle speed (close to slow), and Nick was super fast (running with no shoes or even Vibrams...who did he think he was, a Kenyan?). But I slowed for JL, because she was new to running and sometimes, Nick would stop to let us catch up. I have only run on the beach at night, so this was the first time I have ever ran in the early morning. It was cool and the sun rising and reflecting off the ocean was just so tranquil. I honestly didn't even care that I didn't have my ipod.

Who wouldn't love running on the beach with a view like this?

At this point, JL is suffering (and consequently where I got the name for this post), but she kept pushing through. She didn't want to stop. And we hadn't made it to the condos yet. She finally yelled at me that I was trying to kill her and I said that I would name this post that just for her. I kept telling her that she can walk at anytime, to not be worried about me if she was tired. She just kept going. Damn competitive women. 

On a side note, I realized that I have to get new running glasses or fix my Gatorz. JL is greedy and selfish and would not just give me her 3rd pair of Gatorz. Pish Posh.

What a girl running in the morning with a hangover.

Nick trying to be a Kenyan Competitve Runner

This is one of my favorite shots of JL. She's pushing herself so hard to run with us. She's focused. She's a bad ass.



Whoops! I cut out JL. It's not easy running and trying to get a picture. Seriously, JL, Christmas is coming and I want those pair of Gatorz.



Much better, even though it's blurry. But look at that determination and focus in JL.

Nick running as slow as he can to stay with us.

We finally reached the condos and stopped to walk. We discussed going to the pier and finally decided to go for it. It was only 2 miles away...or so we thought. JL was all for it, but she had to walk more. I was okay with this decision. I didn't want her to die. Our conversation was crazy and since we were walking alot, all 3 of us were together. I found out that Nick has an obsession and appreciation for midgets as do I. If you were an outsider listening to our conversation, you probably would be appalled, but it made the run so much fun. Also, Nick is working on breaking out of his shell by talking to people and he did. Everybody we passed got a good morning, hello, and well, we almost had to hold him back when the girl was doing yoga (in downward facing dog) on the beach in her bikini. Oh and on that note, I knew the poses that she was doing. It made me sound so smart. That was cool. There was only 1 couple that didn't say anything back and I wanted to throw sand in their face.

Finally, it's time to walk.

It's not everyday you get to see a heron on your run. I think it was a heron.

 

JL said a couple of times to run and we did. We high-fived eachother after each run. The pier was getting bigger and bigger and she kept on going. We discussed getting beer or anything at the store, but we didn't have money. Finally, the pier was within 20ft and we quickly sprinted to the pier...well, Nick and I did. But JL kept up the run. And then we made it! I could've kissed that pier. This was such an accomplishment, because as I was running, I realized that the pier was not 2 miles away if that; it was farther. I was actually starting to think it was closer to 3 miles away. So, I was so proud of JL for doing it and me since my legs were even burning. We then asked these nice ladies to take our picture.  

JL, Nick, and I making it to the pier. Look at that smile on JL. Priceless.

With all the excitement of making it to the pier, we forgot that we had to make it back somehow. I mean you couldn't even see the RV from where we were. So, then we discussed just calling Ray to come pick us up. I mean I had my phone with me (didn't want to miss these momumnetal photo captures of our run). But we decided to stick it out and walk back, with a few runs thrown in there. It usually started with Nick saying, "Hey, let's run to the trash can or the fat man (who turned out to be a woman) sitting on the chair, or the hot yoga girl." We did a few when I noticed that JL was really struggling not like before. I mean this was her first time running and she went more than a mile and on sand. I told him that we (JL and I) are going to walk the rest of the way. JL is a super competitive, tough girl like me. She won't say no, because she doesn't want to be a wuss. I know this feeling and I knew what she was going through, so I told her we were not going to run anymore. Later on, she thanked me for saving her life and that the blog should be called the day that Nick tried to kill her. I know, St. Kristi to the rescue. I should really start charging people. We saw this couple on the way back who we saw on our run to the pier and they said that they were tired just looking at us. So, we got our first beach compliments. I will take it. I love compliments.



JL and I in our after shot. I was so proud of her. And really, look at that smile.

Later on, Nick and I drove the beach to see how much distance we really ran. The condos were exactly 1.1 miles and the pier was 2.25 miles. So, we freaking ran 4.5 miles. That is the most that I have done in a LONG time. High-five for me.

The rest of the weekend was just so chill. Well, except for Thursday night when Tropical Storm (JL says it was a hurricane) Ray came through almost blowing away our campsite. The poor dogs freaked out when the thundering and lightening came in and I was in charge of getting them inside. It was not easy.

We fished in the Gulf on Friday, but I only caught a bait fish. I also got really burnt. And then we skydived later on that evening. JL and I only did one skydive together, because we were ready to drink. Quite frankly, JL and I are bad influences on eachother. We will be the ones that are easily convinced to drink instead of continuing to skydive. And the fact that we ran in the morning and waited until almost 5 to drink (so we could skydive) was a big day for us. Plus, JL caught 2 fishys. Later that evening, the dropzone came over to party at our camp sight and we fried up the fish that was caught from the day. Thankfully, Nick bought some hushpuppies and we made those, too. As you can see, I ended up staying the night and left on Saturday morning. Too bad my dogs didn't want to leave. I mean Lady just looked at me as I'm yelling at her to come back to get in the car and then headed in to the water. Naturally, Remington had to help her.

These are some great pictures of the weekend that didn't have anything to do with running.


JL's first caught fish. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of my catch. I don't care if it went in to the bait fish pile, I still caught it. I think she gets special attention, because of her tats.

My dog Lady on Friday night all dead from partying, eating, and swimming.

  

Remington and Hobie, BFFs



JL and Ray's big dog named Nikko passed out on the couch. If he wasn't there, he was taking up the bed.



That's me about to land. JL is on her downwind base at the top right corner. She has the same canopy as me, same pattern as me, and same landing spot as me. Copycat.

After our funny jump, but I'm so proud of JL for getting the sit down (the first time).