undesignated deer crossing

You will not believe what I am about to tell you...

I think they may need to invest in a few of these for next year...

Today was the Minnetonka 1/2 Marathon and despite the wicked wind and bitter temperature, we rocked it! That may be hard to believe as well, but the crazier thing was what happened around mile 3.  We were just making our right-hand turn onto Orono Orchard Rd. from highway 15 and all of a sudden a guy was tackled to the ground, a runner screamed, and spectators along the turn jumped in various directions.  Three deer ran across our path and completely took down a male runner! A fricken deer tackled a runner! The poor guy (the runner that is) completely taken back, slowly rose to his feet and looked around puzzled, wondering what just happened! I guarantee when he went to bed last night, he did not dream of being sniped by a deer before he got to mile 4. Sadly, he was unable to finish the race. The deer, too, rose to its feet and ran off. 1 point deer, 0 points runner. I hope the poor guy gets a refund... oh, and the story doesn't end there!  As I was running alongside the lake in between miles 9 and 10, I heard a bunch of hustling in the grassy area that separated the lake from the road and all of a sudden from behind the tall wooden fence, three more deer jumped over and cut right in front of me!! My strong disliking for deer only deepened after the second encounter. Fricken deer.

I averaged 8:38 miles and finished in 1:53:00.  Apparently, March weather on a May day and wild deer out for blood combine for great motivation to race to the finish line as fast as you can.  I highly suggest it to any deer lover out there but I will say, I am going to stick to urban races from here on out. :) It was really fun running around my hometown - it has been a long time since I've been in that area of town and I was flooded with memories as each mile passed - my grandparents' house, the park where we took prom pictures, old friends' homes, even friends and teammates from high school who were also running.  It made for an interesting day of reflection.

After the race, my dad and I had a great lunch at Jake's. We ate and then I headed home to spend some quality time with Mikey after a long weekend of the NFL draft. He spent more than 50 hours working this weekend so it was great to be home together! He did a wonderful job covering the draft and had a great time hanging out with their first round draft pick, Christian Ponder. We had our 3-on-3 intramural basketball games tonight and I am happy to report our team remains undefeated! Woop, woop! I am done moving for the day - it's time to watch our movie. Thanks for a wonderful weekend.

A special thank you to my wonderful friends Kerin & Denny for coming to watch today. I appreciate your support and LOVED seeing you both! :)

ps. no passing out today - I felt great :)