Miami Beach: a flat run

Hi from Florida, hi from Miami Beach! Another state with palm trees. Another state with a strong Native American history (14,000 years ago!) and hispanic background (500 years ago). Another state with a lot of sun, which produces many fruits and produce to the rest of the Nation. Another state on an ocean. Many similarities with California. Actually, many people imagine Florida and California are alike, but that is not knowing North California.
I went for a run right after checking in this Saturday evening at the Loews Hotel. Putting in miles after a day on a the plane felt good. Actually, it made me realize how I appreciate our nearby hills in the Bay Area, the variety of our trail system, as well as the cool temperatures at night, and the relatively dry air.

The boardwalk is interrupted by numerous private accesses of the beach front hotel and apartment complexes, huge buildings facing the Ocean and giving some depth to the flat and straight beach. I ran partly on the beach on a mix of soft and packed sand section
Overall it was a very flat run, despite the errands of my Garmin. I knew that tracking elevation was not the device's specialty, but it was an 8.5-mile out and back and the profile does not really reflect the symmetry. Besides, I surely did not go under sea level! Anyway, the scale is less than 50 feet so, compared to my usual runs in the hills and mountains, it was a flat run indeed.

This Sunday evening, I ran 10 miles in 1:07, including a few on the sand and against a pretty strong headwind. I ran most of them on the very nice boardwalk though, a mix of concrete and wood floor/board which reminded me "les planches de Deauville." Still the same flat profile, maybe a good tune-up and preparation for Helen Klein 50-mile in two weeks.

The 24-hour IAU World Cup in Korea

Wow, check the final results, my French compatriots did quite well in Korea this weekend (the World Cup was organized by the International Association of Ultrarunners).

Men (team final standing):

1. Japan
2. France
3. Russia

Women:

1. France
2. Japan
3. Germany

On the men side, Ryochi Sekiya from Japan covered the most ground with a total of 272.443 km, followed by French Fabien Hoblea with 266.152 km. 272.443 km, that's 169.3 miles, or exactly what I ran over the past 3 weeks since Rio Del Lago. 3 weeks or 24 hours...

In the women division, the French "dream team" took the first three places: Anne-Marie Vernet with 238.762, Anne-Cécile Fontaine with 238.328 (quite close!) and Brigitte Bec with 229.818 km. I have seen Brigitte win the 2008 French Nationals Road 100K in Sologne two months ago. (Picture from the album posted by the iau.org.)
The total field was 106 men and 55 women, kudos to all!