6 Miles with my New Running Buddy 1,350 Miles Away

Before my trip to Florida, I put a call out on the Running Diva Mom Facebook Page (HERE), to see anyone out there would like to meet up with me for a run. Many of my "virtual friends" said that they were in Florida and were interested in meeting up. Yeah! Unfortunately, many of you that I connected with were either located hours north or on the wrong coast. Bummer!

I was happy, however, to connect with the sweet mommy of two, Jenny, from Run Hot Mama (HERE). Jenny lived about a half hour drive from my resort in St. Petersburg and was interested in meeting up with me for a run, half-way through my trip.

(Jenny is just starting to regularly post to her blog ... please stop by and say "hi"!)

We met up on Tuesday morning. She was going to be kid-free that morning and it was goin to be WARM! My dad drove me in our rental car up to John's Pass (HERE) and I met Jenny half way in between our locations. I had already visited John's Pass earlier in our trip and was familiar with the scenic area. I was excited to explore on foot.

Jenny and I posed for a quick photo before we were off for three miles out and three miles back. We ran along Gulf Road and some of the busy, touristy areas, then into a quieter residential area ... before we turned around and headed back. We detoured towards the ocean, where there was a nice pedestrian path. It was perfect, because you were running near the ocean, had the view, but didn't need to run in the sand.

The sun was beating down. It was SUPER hot, super humid, and there was little shade. We stopped once to get some water and use the restroom and opted for a couple of necessary walking breaks. The salt was in my eyes (mascara not smeared!), my eyes were burning.

We headed up the bridge to John's Pass, to finish our run. It was completely crazy how steep those bridges are ... very deceiving. Jenny asked if my area was hilly at home. She joked that in flat Florida, runners use the bridges and overpasses for hill work. I can believe it!

Jenny and I covered a lot of ground and conversation during our one hour run. It's amazing to me, how I didn't know her a bit and we were covering everything from all-female races to open school enrollment to bikini waxing on our six-ish mile run. It just goes to prove: If you're a woman, a mother, a runner ... you WILL always have something to talk about. I love how womanhood bonds us. I love how motherhood connects us. I love how running brings it all together.