Senior Games #2

I trained for the running road races leading up to the Senior Games. The 5-K race was Thursday morning, scheduled to begin at 7 am. When Ray woke up, I asked him the time of day, and he replied that it was a few minutes after six o’clock. The alarm hadn’t sounded, and we had about a 30-minute drive to the venue. We had less than an hour before the gun sounded for the beginning of the race. We dressed quickly, grabbed an orange and hard-boiled eggs, and arrived at the site with minutes to spare. 

The course was a beautiful paved beach boardwalk. Heavy white clouds blotted out the morning sunshine for a good portion of the race. With the temperature hovering around 70 degrees, it was a perfect start. According to the list of registered runners, I was one of thirteen in my age division. I had no idea where I would rank. I finished just under 40 minutes for 8th place. The Senior Games gives awards through 8th place, so I came away with a beautiful ribbon to add to my power walk medals. These runners were more competitive compared to the power walkers.

8th place in the 5-K Road Race

In the afternoon, we discovered a small botanical garden and then walked across the road where we found an abandoned golf club. Fortunately, we had an umbrella to keep us dry during a light rain shower. I suppose this golf club was successful years ago, but it was sad to see it in disrepair. 

A display at the Ilene Lieberman
Botanical Gardens

What kind of tree is this?

Close-up of the blossoms.

The next day was free, with no competitions. After a relaxing morning, we headed to the  Bonnett House Museum & Gardens. The day was pleasant, and we chose tickets to wander the grounds. Built in 1920 as a winter residence for its owners, the house is surrounded by 35 acres. We walked through the paths and then returned to our room. 

Enjoying a respite.

The view from our bench.

After checking the geocache website, I noticed several geocache sites nearby, and we visited three or four spots but could not locate the cache at any of them. I was disappointed as I wanted to add “Florida” to my list of finds.

A beautiful tree that we passed by on our
walk to find a geocache.

We passed by the entrance to Cooper City
many times on our way to our Airbnb room.

We rose early Saturday morning to pack our bags and prepare for the 10-K race at 7:30. The venue was a short drive away. We arrived with plenty of time to spare. The organizers had banners and flags at the start line! I had a successful race, running faster than in my training runs. I finished in 4th place after traversing the two loops and an extra dog-leg of the course. 

Waiting for the start.

I placed 4th Place in the 10-K Road Race.
The gold medalist is the woman in blue. 
She's tiny but a powerful runner.

After the awards ceremony, we were on our way north and spent overnight in Georgia. We arrived home Sunday evening. We spent many hours in the car, but I enjoyed listening to two recorded books on tape to help pass the time. 

Senior Games

On Monday, we had breakfast at a nearby restaurant and stopped at a Publix grocery store to purchase a few items for breakfast and lunch for the coming few days.

Athlete registration opened at 4 pm, so we found our way to the Broward County Convention Center and were in the first wave to get my credential. Next, I took part in the SAFE screening (Senior Athlete Fitness Exam). I've participated in the SAFE screenings in past senior games. When I reviewed the results, I realized my fitness had deteriorated. I guess that's not surprising since I'm getting older, but there are some areas I can improve.

I had my first race, a 1500-meter power walk, Tuesday morning, competing against three other women in my age group. The race was on a 400-meter track with all women 70 and above walking together. I didn't know how I would compare to the other walkers, and I was happy to get the gold medal.

We returned to our room for a shower and lunch and then decided to visit the Fort Lauderdale Museum. The museum was built as a hotel in 1905 on the New River. We spent time looking at the displays and then explored the river walk. The area is lovely with plantings and a view of some big yachts. There were restaurants to choose from, but we decided it was too early for our evening meal. We headed back to our room and picked up some food for our supper.

My second race was a 5K power walk on Wednesday morning. When we started the drive to the venue, the temperature was a delightful 69. The course was a 1000-meter loop course that we traversed five times. This time I only had one competitor and again came home with a gold medal.

I have two more races. More later.

Traveling to the Senior Games

 We arrived at the Airbnb In Cooper City, Florida, a few minutes before 8 pm last evening. Our trip began early Saturday morning for our drive to the Fort Lauderdale area, where the National Senior Games begin on May 10. After driving all day Saturday, we stopped about 70 miles shy of the Florida border for an overnight stay. By 8:30 Sunday morning, we were on the highway again after a strange breakfast at the hotel. There were no other travelers having breakfast. The tables and chairs stacked in the corner weren't accessible, but there was food, and I had a bowl of cereal and Ray a waffle and coffee. In the car, I listened to Concordia’s streaming church service.

When we neared Fort Lauderdale, cell service was intermittent, possibly caused by rain in the area. We took one of the eight exits, hoping we could find our way without hassle. At a convenience store, Ray asked a local who was leaving if he could direct us to Cooper City. I called him an angel since he took the time to write directions, and we were on our way. We found the street address but learned that it wasn't an Airbnb. Fortunately, the young couple realized the place we were looking for was another street almost behind their house. We had the wrong address and probably will never know why that happened. We hadn't planned on all the delays and searching for the correct address, but we finally got into our room. A few minutes later, we began a prearranged Zoom call with Bart and Persephone. 

After a good night's sleep, we found our way to a local restaurant for breakfast and a stop at Publix for a few groceries.

Improvements to Our Neighborhood

A month ago, we heard that street repairs near our house were imminent. We had rain on the planned date, and several weeks passed until the work finally began last Tuesday. There aren't any small children living near us, but I'm sure they would have enjoyed watching the heavy equipment. 

Notice the orange line in front of our driveway.
The repairs began here and went just past the
second white car in the background.

First, the workers tore up the old pavement starting at the edge of our driveway. 

Tearing up the old asphalt.

Laying new asphalt and rolling it smooth.

Sweeping asphalt remnants to finish the job. 

New asphalt was laid and rolled, and by 4 p.m., all the equipment and workers were gone. The repair was done to only a few hundred feet of our street. The rest of the neighborhood's streets didn't get repaired as they are in good condition. 

On Saturday morning, our LWML Zone held its spring meeting. We started off with a choice of delicious breakfast casseroles. The Prayer Service portion had us singing lots of familiar hymns. To finish off the morning, we had a choice of servant projects. Along with a friend from my church, I was involved in preparing fleece blankets to tie for Phil's Friends. Diane purchased fleece to make 12 blankets. We met earlier in the week to cut approximately 1-inch wide strips x 4 inches deep on each side of the nearly square blankets. (I should have taken a photo or two of the color blankets.) Each blanket has two pieces placed back-to-back and tied together with the cut strips. We finished tying all but one blanket before it was time to go home. Other ladies cut crosses for prison ministry and some colored cards.

We'll be leaving for Fort Lauderdale in a few days to participate in the National Senior Games. I'm the only one competing. Ray is cheering and offering whatever support is needed. I'd like to post from Florida, but I'm not sure if that will be easy.