So my adventure in Florida begins in Jacksonville where I visit Episcopal High. I visited The Golden Eagles the day before the FLRunners Invite. They were doing an easy run to shake out before the race, so I jumped in not worrying about the fact that the run I had done by myself the day before ended very poorly (Note, if you have lived in the Northeast your whole life and just started running with long sleeve shirts don't expect your first run in hot and humid Florida to be a walk in the park, even if you actually end up walking through a park. Which I didn't, but still, it is a fair analogy.) Anyways, the girls and I went for a 2 mile jog and then did some stretching and some strides. It was great. Afterwards we hung out around the truck and watched some videos and talked some trivia, with a little bit of show and tell to go along with it. The team was great and they seemed really pumped for the rest of the season.

That night, after practice I got to drive over to Orlando to prepare for the next two days of races. FLRunners was the first 2 day meet I have done, and I was a bit nervous about such a spectacle. What I wasn't nervous about was working with my first athlete of the season. Anna Willard, US Steeple Champion, is not only an awesome runner but also an awesome person and was exceptionally easy to work with. The night after the first day FLRunners and Nike put on a presentation where our Pacer, Jason 8.0, gave a talk about Nike and innovation followed by a Q and A session with Anna. It was great to see kids responses when Anna said she runs upwards of 90 miles a week and that she was "only" a 5:15ish miler in high school. She preached that hard work and belief in yourself can go along way, and clearly in her case she was right.

Day two of the meet allowed Anna to sign some autographs and she was such a hit with the kids that she actually ran out of posters to sign and had to start signing bibs and shirts and shoes, and all sorts of other stuff. It was great to see the kids reaction as they got their picture taken or got an autograph with Anna. The meet itself was great too with several exceptionally close finishes and some very fast times. All in all my first 2 day meet was even better then I had expected going in, and thats saying something. Several thousand kids plus a great few days plus a great course plus a lot of Nike cowbells equals a good time in most places, and Orlando was no exception.