Over and Under Tunnel Run 5k and Fun Run

Jaime and Julian ran in a local road race yesterday and did quite well. The American Heart Association sponsored the race here. There were far fewer people running than I thought there would be considering the size of Houma. In the 5k there were about 100 people and the kids race had about 50 or so kids; some running with parents and some alone. Jaime tagged along with Julian and ran to motivate him. As it was Julian came in about 5th overall which was awesome! The kids all got medals and they had activities for the kids to do in the one hour between that race and the adult race. They had a bounce house, a playground, and a craft tent. If I had known it was all gated off and had all these activities for kids I would have ran too but as it was I was the cheering section. The adult race went over an overpass and through the tunnel creating a couple of inclines in the race. (Otherwise running here is pretty flat.) Jaime said the tunnel was the hardest part of the race because it goes below the intracoastal waterway. The hill coming out is a bit steep and the air down there is thick with humidity. It didn't help that it was a hot and humid day. Jaime ended up finishing 22:43 and Julian finished his "1 mile" race in 5:50. We are not sure of the exact length of the race but it was a bit less than one mile. It is still a great time for the distance that he ran. Jaime ran into a guy with a Reach the Beach Relay t-shirt on. That particular race starts in the White Mountains of NH and ends up at the beach. Teams relay all night until the distance is complete. He has done several races in NH including that one, the Mount Washington Running Race and the Timberman Triathlon. Small world! We met a couple of other runners who encouraged us to continue running while in Houma. We just need to find our running ground and keep motiviated. There should be plenty of races here and in New Orleans to keep us in shape.

The funniest thing about the whole day was this man warming up for the race. They had a woman teaching aerobics to warm people up. OK, going back...have you ever watched The Jerk with Steve Martin? It is an old movie with Steve Martin as the only white man in a black family. He thinks he is the natural born child of this family. The beginning of the movie is the funniest part, with a scene of the whole family dancing and playing music. Everyone is really into the beat and dancing smoothly, with rhythm, except Steve Martin who is just all over the place. He can't keep a beat and looks worse than a 2 year old dancing. It is really funny. Well this guy that was doing the aerobics was in his 50's or so, in pretty good shape, trying to do the aerobics. He had a big smile on his face and was trying to keep up with the leg and hand moves. He looked like Steve Martin in that movie. It was so funny to watch him. His hands would be going opposite of the rest of his body, then he would catch himself doing it wrong and try to correct it but would never get it right. All the while smiling from ear to ear. I wish I had a video camera because I would have sent it in to one of those funny video shows.

Crawfish

Friday night I went to the grocery store to get some tomatoes and lettuce for BLT's and they were selling fresh crawfish, cooked, hot and ready to be eaten. We decided to buy some to try. We thought Julian, being the lobster lover that he is, would like them. Julian had finished up his week long LEAP tests in school and deserved a treat. They were only 2.19 a pound. We got a few pounds and brought them home. Crawfish look like little tiny lobsters but the only meat in them is in the tail. You rip the tail off and pick the meat out--get rid of the poop shoot--and eat it. Well, not the poop shoot but the tail! Haha. They boil crawfish in spices that make the meat taste spicy. It is not the norm to dip them in butter but I bet it would be good. Althought I don't think crawfish will replace lobster as Julian's number one food but it will be a good replacement while we are living "down the bayou".

The 'Y'

Jaime, Julian and I are members of the local YMCA here in Houma. It is an ok facility. The thing that makes it great is that it has a huge lap pool. It has about 8 lanes that are open all day for lap swimming. There is a separate area that they use for aerobics and family swim. The pool is clean and warm and very nice. They also have a kids sports program. Julian is in soccer right now which he is enjoying. I like to go to the Y after I drop Julian off to get in a swim and a workout. Now let me just give a bit of detail about what the Y is like in the morning. The morning is when the senior crowd shows up to work out. The Y really caters to this crowd which I like. They have a water aerobics program and several other aerobic type programs, for example: chair aerobics, ala dance, and a sculpting program. The men are busy in the weight room as the women do lots of aerobics. They are very cute...with their clothes on. Come to find out this particular group of Houma seniors, raging in age from I would say 60 up to 80 or more, are not at all shy about their bodies. They shower, dry off and walk back to their locker like there is no problem. Chit chatting and boinging all over the place. Naked as they day they came into the world. Now that gives a whole new meaning to the 'Y'. Haha.

Farmer's Market

Here in Houma we have a farmer's market. Only Locally Grown Produce boasts the sign. Maybe its the time of year or maybe its just Houma, but every day so far there was only one rickety card table with a single box of oranges for sale. That is our farmer's market. Maybe it will get better???