Half Mara Madness

On your marks...

Staying strong at mile 5...

   The final hill (2 miles long, but who's counting?!) Please, no pictures...

Kickin' in to the finish line... With a time of 2:03:01.

   It was humbling to be running with awesome first-timers (Cat & Erin), to be cheered on by a bestie who inspired me by recently completing her first half (Allyson)--not to mention several Ironmen (Greg, Becky & Ray). And it was amazing to be there with Talva, who passed me twice and looked impossibly strong as she completed the full marathon in about 3:31, achieving Cheetah status (running a mara in under 4:00 in all 50 states). What an incredible day!

   I laid around and did nothing for the balance of it, in case you were wondering. ;)

Expert photographer and cheerer-onner, Greg:

The incredible Allyson. She always makes my day!

With superstar Cat:

Ray & Becky:

Relaxing at the finish...

Thanksgiving Day Race

   Allyson, Scott & I ran the Ward Parkway Thanksgiving Day 5k together. Not my best time, but I did come away with a huge pumpkin pie from Costco & a gallon of Gatorade concentrate with my registration. Makes 8 gallons. Anyone need some Gatorade?

Catching up on Omaha!

   I took a quick weekend trip up to Omaha July 6-8 with Allyson and Scott—my first time at the Henry Doorly zoo! I was shooting with my brand-new Canon EOS Rebel t4i (which, admittedly, I don't even know how to use yet), and Scott borrowed my Sony HX1. We both got some great shots, and I'm working on posting them now. Scroll down to the "blog archive" pulldown menu on the right and select the appropriate date range to see what we captured.

Omaha Zoo: Flocks of Birds

Peacock in hiding

His adorable family! (ARGH! My photo is blurry!!!)  :(

Scott gives Ms. Peacock a wide berth

Stork, sans baby

Flamingo quarrel

Meanwhile, a sweet moment between ibis

Watching from under the bridge

Spoonbill storks and their gangly, pink babies

A very serious-looking snowy egret

Omaha Zoo: Big Cats

Big, beautiful tiger

IT'S SO... FREAKING...HOT...

Zzzz...

white tiger

lion

leopard

jaguar

   But how do you tell the difference between a leopard and a jaguar? I cheated and used this chart, just to be sure.

serval

Omaha Zoo: Bear vs. Bear

   The polar bear. Handsome, charming, and a delight to all, with those big, furry paws and charming backstroke.

   And then there's the Malayan sun bear. I'm sure he has a... uh... nice personality.

Omaha: Desert Dome

   Omaha zoo has some very cool exhibits and many unusual animals that you don't see at every zoo. The Desert dome was a favorite for sure, full of foxes, bats, and black-footed cats; thick-kneed birds, finches, meercats, and hyrax.

the handsome thick-kneed bird

the incredible & incredibly charming klipspringer

I need to research what the dark spot is at the corner of their eyes

saying hello to a beetle

they can fit all 4 hooves on a spot of cliff the size of a Canadian dollar

kookaburra

a grouchy-looking yet adorable burrowing owl

a sleepy and not-so-swift swift fox

Omaha: Primates

   Ah, Omaha... home of King Kong burgers, and equally impressive real primates.

   Check out these big boys from the zoo. They gave me a good chance to try out my new DSLR camera.

   HEY, MONKEY! Aren't you supposed to be holding up a giant hamburger?!

Flipping me off, eh?

Well, let's move on to the orangutan then...

More fun than a bucket of monkey!