Posted by Agnes Oquendo on September 03, 2001 at 07:32:02:
Started out on Route 1 about 20 miles from St. Augustine. It was a nice calm
Sunday morning. Little did we know that it was the calm before the storm.
As the day progressed, the temperature and the humidity increased, leaving Lou
drenched after only a few miles out. At 10 miles, he changed shoes and shorts
in order to shed 10 pounds of weight (like the Adidas ad in Runner's World
magazine).
While Lou was running over a bridge in St. Augustine, he noticed two men fishing.
They looked up at him and said, "Hey, we saw you on the news yesterday running over
the Main Street Bridge in Jacksonville." Lou told them, "Just take care of the women in
your life." One of the men replied, "You're right, my wife is all I have in this world.
Thanks, I'll say a prayer for you."
We have been in Florida for three days now and have been on network television.
The response has been overwhelmingly positive. We are getting many waves and honks,
but the one that stands out to me today is when a passing truck blew their horn, and the
woman inside took off her cap to show her bald head and gave us a thumbs up.
The sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds for a short while, then beamed brightly with
such strength that we could feel the steam rise from the concrete ground. As Lou was
finishing up his 40th mile, the sky grew dark and the roar of thunder echoed while
sporadic flashes of light appeared. Before the next waterstop, the skies opened up and
the storm arrived.
Lou was happy to get 40 miles in before the heavy rain came.
Happy Labor Day.
Love, Lou and Agnes