The Other Side of the World Day 3–Green Island and the Great Barrier Reef

Since we lost a day of our lives in transit for this vacation, so too will this blog.  Despite the fact that this is our second day in Cairns and our first full day of officially vacationing, I consider it the third day of the trip (our itinerary calls it day 4…confused yet?  So am I).

Due to the travel/time-zone induced exhaustion, the previous night’s bedtime was around 8PM local time, so day 3 began early.  I awoke after 9+ hours of sleep at 5:15.  It was not only early, but also bright since the sun begins rising in the early hours as well.  To take advantage of the sunlight, I went for a jog along the esplanade (boardwalk).  Cairns has a fair bit of coast line and have built a boardwalk path that spans 5k+ through an area of shops as well as a park and some beach shore.  Because of this, I was able to stay along the shore for the entire out and back run…and I was not the only one.  It was the most pedestrian traffic I had seen pre-7AM anywhere.  Mostly there were people walking in groups, but there were other runners (and occasional cyclists on the adjacent path) as well as others just enjoying an early morning in the park.  I thoroughly enjoyed the activity, especially after being cramped in travel for the past few days.

Returning to the hotel, I found Susan had awakened early as well, so I cleaned up and we headed to the local McDonald’s to take advantage of the free wireless internet, which seems to be a rare commodity.  I normally avoid anything familiar while on vacation (and McDonald’s in general for that matter), but the free internet makes the arches look might appealing for morning coffee trips during this vacation.  We attempted to order coffee, though not really understanding the language of java around here yet (options include long black, flat, short white, etc…) made it more difficult, then got our online errands completed.

After McD’s it was back to the hotel to have the breakfast buffet and regroup with the family for the walk to the marina.  Today’s planned activity was a boat trip to Green Island, a protected coral island that is actually a part of the Great Barrier Reef.  Part of the island has a resort built on it, although done tastefully to not take away from the natural lushness of the island rainforest.  The other portion is a small national park.  Surrounding the island is a portion of the barrier reef.  At the marina, we selected a few of the scheduled activities for the island and got our boarding passes before stepping foot onto the Reef Rocket for our 45 minute ride to
the island.

The reef rockest

Ready to snorkle.. almost

Upon arrival, we headed into the resort area quickly, then made our way to the beach and donned the snorkel gear.  Included with our snorkel, mask, and fins was a pretty awesome lycra body suit called a stinger suit.  Apparently stinger is the local name for jellyfish.   Although we weren’t terribly worried about stingers since stings are rare at Green Island, we wanted the suits for their sun protection along with their obvious style.  Snorkeling could be done on multiple beaches of the island, but we selected the one recommended by our boat guides and waded into the ocean.  Susan, always the photographer, donned a disposable waterproof camera, so we have some solid photos of our findings.  We were able to develop and then take pictures of the pictures, so the quality of these pictures isn’t great but you get the idea.  Among the highlights was a variety of colorful corals and fish, sea cucumbers, and a few sea turtles that evaded me, but Susan managed to spot multiple times and almost lured close enough to touch once.  The variety and size of the fish encountered, particularly so close to the shore was impressive. 

Susan’s best friend, the sea turtle (note there is no zoom on an underwater camera  --  he was just that close)

Us in our stinger suits

Some of the coral at the Great Barrier Reef

A fish staring at us

Our snorkeling was ended when it was time to board the semi-submarine (a boat with an underwater viewing chamber below) for a scheduled tour.  The loop here was brief, but informative with a good guide and a variety of larger fish we hadn’t encountered previously.  It also included a fish feeding that drew out additional species (but no sharks).

A sampling of what we could see out of the semi-sub

In the semi-sub

The remainder of the day at Green Island included lunch, walking the nature trail through the national park, exploring what we could see of the resort, and playing on the beach a bit.  A leisurely paced cruise back to Cairns brought us ashore around 5PM, worn out from the day in the sun.

After some much needed clean-up and recharging at the hotel.  Susan and I ventured out for our own dinner date.  After wandering the main drag some, we felt Indian calling to us…or so we thought as we selected the restaurant.  We had been discussing wanting to experience some foods more in line with Australian tastes, or something more exotic than we could get at home.  Turns out, the Indian restaurant offered a tasting plate of 3 native Australian animals (kangaroo, crocodile, and emu), and although we know Australians don’t actually eat these animals regularly if at all…we decided to split the tasting plate along with some naan, of course.

          
On the plate:  kangaroo (top), crocodile (yellow), emu (bottom)
Susan and I with our Aussie meat (right picture)

The meal was a little odd considering it was a meat plate and some bread, but it worked for us.  All the meats were a little dry and chewy, which either speaks to the consistency of the meat or the quality of the cooking.  Emu was probably my favorite since it seemed to have a higher level of fattiness than the others.  Either way, I can see why none of these animals are farmed for meat like chickens, cows, etc…

Post dinner, we did a little light shopping in the area near the Night Market, which is an indoor “mall” of vendor booths that’s open from 4-11PM daily.  The shops in the general area keep longer hours as well, so the scene was pretty busy as we checked out the wares, some of which were quite…unique.  As we shopped we worked our way back to the hotel for another early night.

Tomorrow we head inland to check out the rainforest, and (Susan can) hopefully cuddle with koalas.

The Other Side of the World–Australia/New Zealand Vacation Prelude

After a few months of saving as much vacation time as I could muster (not quite enough), we left Friday morning for a 2-week international adventure to the Southern Hemisphere.  In the next couple weeks we will be making a tour of as much as we can cover between Australia and New Zealand.  Hopefully, if we’re not too busy or exhausted, Susan and I will be able provide a comprehensive and well-photographed report of our daily highlights.

Since we’re travelling with Susan’s family, who is based out of northwest Ohio, it was most convenient and cost effective for us to fly from Detroit to begin our journey.  Thus our first travel morning started bright and pre-dawn on Friday with a drive from Cincy to Delphos and then on to Detroit.  From there we fly to Chicago, then to LA.  Just before midnight Friday (local LA time), we departed for Brisbane (a 14-hour flight).  Magically, we crossed the international date line and Saturday ceased to exist, so we landed in Brisbane on Sunday morning.  However, the fun doesn’t stop there as we had one more short flight up the coast to Cairns (pronounced “canes”) where the vacation really begins.  All told, transit took 41 hours of actual travel time including both flights, layovers, and driving, but covered ~55 hours of time considering the time zone shifts.  Despite the tedious travel involved, we were very excited to make our first trip down under and couldn’t wait for the real vacation to begin.

Sailing through the clouds (Detroit –> Chicago)
   
Lake Michigan melding into the sky (left)
Sunset over Los Angeles (right)

The flowing coast of Brisbane, Australia

On the fourth airplane of the weekend

The landscape of Cairns, Australia

We arrived exhausted and ragged in Cairns around noon on Sunday, with an afternoon ahead of us to see the town.  After a meeting with our local guide, we headed to whatever meal is at 4 pm after being awake for 12 hours (and our bodies thinking it is 1 am).  We then took a stroll down the boardwalk, did some people watching at the lagoon, and checked out the Night Market.  Once we picked up some beer and water, we played cards and tried to stay awake as long as possible so to attempt to adjust to the 15 hour time difference between Ohio and Cairns.  Shockingly, not as difficult as one might think.  In our zombie-like, sleep-deprived stupor, Susan and our brother-in-law Darin (who does this photo stuff professionally; aka DPH) were able to get some great photos. 

View from our hotel room, looking toward the ocean

View from our hotel room, looking toward the bay (photo credit: DPH) 

Our 50’s style room with beds on wheels (photo credit: DPH)  

Aussie Money  (photo credit: DPH)

Bird chilling in the bay

Susan doing her thing (obviously.. photo credit: DPH)

People swimming in the lagoon in the hot Cairns sun

Our local guide let us in on a secret that while internet in our hotel room would cost $11/hour, the McDonald’s down the street offers free internet.  So even half-way across the world, we’ll be making some trips to Mickey D’s to post our blog/get out internet fix.  Tomorrow brings a full day of sightseeing at the Great Barrier Reef!

A Busy Fall Part 3: Rock n Roll St. Louis Marathon

After a couple weekends with more laid back endurance activities in the books, it was time to close out the 2011 season with my last A race, the inaugural Rock n Roll St. Louis Marathon.  Despite this being my second A race of the season, it has clearly been the focal point of my training…so maybe it’s my A+ race.  Having not done an open marathon since 2008 and having bad memories of blowing up at the wall in my previous 2 attempts in Arizona and DC, the marathon has been a race that I have learned to respect.  My main goal going into the race was to not break down and run a consistently paced race…no specific time goal.  Here’s how the weekend went…

The wife and I arrived in St. Louis Friday evening to stay at my sister and her fiancé’s place.  They, along with my dad, would once again also be participants in the same event.  “The family that races together, stays together” would be an apt motto for our family.  We made a point of getting into town early in the evening since we were going to be taken to our first (for Susan and me) NHL game.  The Blues game was exciting and our upper deck location made it easy to follow the action.  To add to the excitement, the Blues pulled the game out in overtime before having to go to a shootout.  After the game, the rest of Friday evening was quiet as we settled in.

Blues Game

Another reason we had planned on arriving in St. Louis Friday was to have Saturday morning open for Susan to take some engagement photos for Kelley and Jason.  They got off to an early start with a variety of outfits and locations to shoot in mind.  This was Susan’s first try at engagement photography and the results were successful.  I did not tag along with the photo shoot and instead made my way to Carondelet Park for a very short run on the southernmost portion of Sunday’s marathon course.  After the run, I waited for my parents to arrive from Louisville and the three of us made our way to packet pickup.  Earlier in the day, the crowds weren’t too bad so we progressed through the pickup and expo quickly.  After getting back to our home-base for the weekend, we awaited the arrival of the photography team before grabbing a late lunch.  The rest of the afternoon involved spectating at Jason’s kickball game briefly before relaxing at the house for a bit.  With it being the midst of World Series madness with the Cardinals in the mix, our pre-race dinner was watching the game with a couple hundred other rabid fans at the Sports Zone (a local sports bar).  The energy was awesome and the game was pretty wild too.  However, I was concerned about being ready for Sunday’s race, so I cut out early after dinner and returned to the house to get my gear in order and head to bed.

Sample Engagement Picture Awesomeness

Sunday started off bright and early (or dark and early in actuality), as is usually the case for race mornings.  We grabbed our gear and headed downtown to the starting area to wait nervously and make our way through the pre-race rituals.  Weather was looking pretty perfect as dawn came, starting temperatures around 50 with overcast skies but low threat of rain and low humidity.  The temperature would remain mild until mid-afternoon when the clouds cleared, so the weather could not have been much better for the duration of the race.  After dancing nervously and calling it a warm-up, stripping down to my race outfit, and kissing the wife good-bye I headed into the corral with the other sheep…I mean runners.  Not too much later (in reality, not in perception) the gun was fired and we were off.

Being in the first corral, I was pretty close to the starting mat and near the front of the swarm of runners.  There was still a fair amount of navigation to take care of though as we sorted ourselves out and claimed a position.  My main focus other than finding space was to not go out too fast, so I checked my Garmin relatively regularly through the initial miles to make sure I was at a sustainable (or slightly slower than) pace.  By mile 3, we had begun to string out enough that the roads seemed more open.  We made our way up Washington Ave in this section and away from downtown toward St Louis University’s campus.  The section between downtown and SLU didn’t offer much in the way of scenery or spectators, but it was early enough that outside motivation wasn’t really necessary.  As we turned to pass the historic Fox Theatre, the crowd returned in full force.  There was even a group from the local Y who had fashioned a star-shaped arch of balloons for runners to pass through, so I obliged.  From here, we moved past the SLU chapel and around the back of campus before turning south.  So far, pacing was nice and steady between 7:25-7:35 for each mile.

After passing through the bold colored signs of bars in restaurant in an obviously gay community, the course began the tour of the South St. Louis parks.  First on the list was Tower Grove Park.  This was our first encounter with the park and around the 8 mile mark of the overall course.  Also notable was that the marathoners and half-marathoners made the split at this point.  As we divided to go our separate ways, I was amazed to see the imbalance between full and half participants.  There were a huge number of half-marathoners, outnumbering the full runners at nearly a 10:1 ratio.  Needless to say, as I turned with the handful of other marathoners to take the long way home, I was feeling a little lonely.  It was time for the real race to begin.

The park tour continued, passing Sublette, Tilles, Lindenwood, and Willmore Park’s (each complete with their own band) as we continued to head away from the finish line.  I hit the halfway point and was still feeling strong.  There was stiffness popping up occasionally, but I felt in control and continued to down gels every 5 miles as I plodded along at just under 7:30 pace.  The surroundings became more familiar as I entered Carondelet Park, where I had scouted the course the day prior.  I had a boost of energy knowing every step from here was in the direction of downtown and the finish.  Leaving the park, I had covered around 16.5 miles and was not running with much company anymore.  To provide myself some additional mid-to-late race motivation, I saved my iPod for just this moment.  Wandering into my own tunes with less than 10 miles to go felt great, and I picked up the pace just slightly.

En route back to downtown, the route took us past Bevo Mill Restaurant (sp?) right around the time we hit the 20 mile mark.  This was a good point for me to see where I stood.  I certainly wasn’t 100%, but I was moving along steadily and could not see myself crashing in the near future.  The course did not make it easy on us though, as mile 20 was nearly all uphill on a straight grind from the restaurant until we re-encountered Tower Grove Park.  I felt good as I ran beside the park…I was past the 20mile mental barrier and on flat roads for now.  I had the confidence that I was going to finish strong.  However, at this point, my legs were pretty worn down, so picking up the pace was not an option.  The goal became to maintain the pace to the finish.

As I exited the Tower Grove Park area, I got another morale boost as the course re-merged with the half-marathon course which was now filled with the half walking crowd.  It was a large crowd and I was again amazed at the number of half participants.  Luckily, the roads were wide and they created a separate lane for full marathoners so I didn’t have to navigate traffic.  As I passed the mass of walkers, many of them yelled encouragement to the marathoners as we went.  Plus, now there were a bunch of witnesses if I decided I needed to walk, so it provided quite a bit of motivation.  The half-marathoners would accompany me the remainder of the way to the finish.

As I hit mile 23 near Lafayette Park I was pleased since I felt like I had a solid race in the bag.  But 3+ miles still seems like quite a drag so I was ready to be in the finish chute.  I kind of went into a trance in this section where I didn’t feel good or particularly motivated, but I didn’t need to stop and was close enough that I wouldn’t have anyways.  I just had to get the work done at this point.  The roads opened up around mile 25 and I could see Union Station off in the distance.  The finish was at the park just on the other side of the station.  It seemed to take longer to cover the distance until Union Station was passing on my right, but by the time I reached it I could hear the finish line hoopla, so put away my iPod and prepared to take in the finish experience.  A female runner that had been near me for the last mile or so got news from a spectator that she was 5th (if I remember correctly) woman on the road as we rounded the last bend into the home stretch.  I eased up a bit and let her kick ahead to have plenty of time to enjoy her impressive finish, then I cruised in shortly behind with a smile on my face (a rarity for me at the end of races, although I’m sure it looked more like a grimace).  I stopped the clock, officially at 3:15:50 which to my surprise was a top-100 overall finish.

Not my best look, but victorious nonetheless

I cheerfully made my way through the finisher’s chute and waited in line to grab some nutrition.  All of a sudden my legs realized what had happened in the past few hours because I was overcome with throbbing pain from my glutes all the way to the bottoms of my feet.  It was pretty excruciating, so I wasn’t in such a good mood anymore.  I continued out to find my family moving at a snail’s pace now, before settling down on a stone barrier to rest/stretch.  It took a good 10 minutes for the pain to subside and I could attempt real movement again, but by the time we moved back to the stretch to watch our other runners finish I felt pretty decent, and incredibly tired.  The three remaining runners decided to do the whole event together and crossed the finish within a minute of each other.  What makes it more impressive is that Jason, my sister’s fiancé, had not done a marathon before and was actually registered for the half…he just “felt pretty good” at mile 8 and decided to attempt the full.  My dad and sister also both PR’d after doing some solid sandbagging when talking about the race in the weeks leading up to it.

It was a great way to end the 2011 season and I’ve finally conquered my marathon demons, so have a high level of confidence heading into the 2012 season.  But first, off-season, vacation, and the holidays…and did I mention a vacation.

A Busy Fall Part 2: Hilly Hundred Weekend 2011

My October of activity continued with the Hilly Hundred Cycling Weekend in Ellettsville, IN a couple weeks ago.  It is a laid back cycling tour through south central Indiana, near Bloomington.  About 5000 cyclists of all ability levels come and take on the course with its varied, rolling-hill terrain for a couple days, riding a little over 100 miles (and 8000+ ft elevation gain) total.  I have wanted to do a lower intensity, “enjoy the scenery” type of fall tour for some time now and finally got a chance thanks to my sister and her fiancée having previous experience with this event (and also participating this year).  Here’s how the weekend unfolded…

Friday evening, the wife and I packed up and made our way to Ellettsville.  The drive from Cincy took us longer than anticipated since much of the trip is on back roads.  We also had not anticipated the driving time to and from our hotel to race registration and back, which added almost an additional hour.  Either way, we made it to registration at the local high school and found the school grounds had been invaded by an army of tents and RV’s.  Apparently a large percentage of participants come for a weekend long campout as well…an idea that I think would be appealing when participating in this event in the future.  Registration itself was pretty straightforward and included a fun welcome video (featuring Peewee Herman).  Susan grabbed her volunteer information as well since she would be working an aid station on Saturday morning, then we made our way back to to find my sister and company and eat a late dinner before relaxing at the hotel for the night.

Saturday began early, sometime around 5:30am with breakfast at the hotel and driving to the high school (also the start and finish for both Saturday and Sunday rides) to ensure Susan arrived in time to man her aid station.  I took the extra morning time to clean my bike a bit and grab some coffee to get myself warm since the dawn temperature was in the mid-30s.  Once we had collected our group of riders, we took off on day 1’s voyage in the 7:00 hour.  With this event, there is not a set start time…you just take off whenever within a range of morning hours.  This works pretty well with the incredible amount of bikes on the road.

Ride 1 – 57.5 miles – 5200 ft ascent
A caravan of cyclists exited Ellettsville with us, so the pace was exceedingly slow at the start as we weaved through traffic to find some room to maneuver.  A short, but very steep climb came right out of the gate which didn’t help the traffic situation since some bikers were walking their gear up the hill and others were resting waiting for friends to catch up at the top.  Our group bypassed this hill and found the roads more open on the other side.  About ½ ways between the start and our first rest stop (only about 15 miles in) I pulled ahead of our group to attempt to get my heart rate up some and loosen my legs up.  This was mostly an effort to warm my body up, and it seemed to work pretty well.  I pulled into the first aid station a couple minutes ahead of the rest of our party and went to search for the wife.  I found her incredibly busy at the food tent slicing muffins and bananas.  It was amazing the activity of participants loading up on the offerings of snacks after only 14 miles of riding.  The amount and selection of food was pretty astounding including donuts (the pumpkin was popular), muffins, granola bars, fruit, bagels and peanut butter, etc.  The placement of rest stops worked well for our group throughout the weekend since we could ride at our separate paces and regroup periodically to ensure we were all relatively near one another.

At Rest Stop 1

Once regrouped and successfully sated, we moved along toward the lunch stop.  That’s right, more food only 14 miles ahead.  This section was pretty flat compared to what was ahead, but included some rough pavement so the ride was taxing at times.  Through this segment of the ride the temperatures came up and it was time to strip the over-layers I left with in the morning.  By the time we reach the lunch stop, it was comfortably warm and sunny.  Lunch included another smorgasbord of food including fried chicken, pasta salads, veggies, cookies and ice cream treats.  I was amazed I was able to resist over-filling myself, but the thought of riding bikes on a full stomach made many of the options less appealing.

Either way, by late morning we left for the second half of the day’s ride.  In the first couple miles after the lunch stop we passed a long elevated train bridge across the fields to the left.  A lot of riders stopped for a photo op as it was quite picturesque.  Unfortunately my camera batteries died within 15 minutes of starting the day’s ride, so I just had to take a mental snapshot as I rode by.  The next section of road was marked by a number of rollers, but no major climbs.  However, the roads in this section were some of the sketchiest we would encounter through the weekend.  Considering the variation in rider handling skills and the number of cyclists on the road, I thought this section of the route in particular was a questionable decision by the race organizers.  I consider myself a competent bike handler, but was white knuckled on a couple of the descents with blind corners and hard to spot pot holes and gravel.  Another rider nearly crashed just behind me when he launched a water bottle on a pot-holed descent and the projectile got lodged under his rear-tire.  Amazingly he recovered and we all shared some nervous laughter recounting the experience, but obviously it could have been a potential disastrous situation.  A secondary effect of the rough roads was premature discomfort in the saddle.  As we neared the last rest stop of the day I was ready for a break to stretch out.  I noticed a cyclist pass me with a kit that reminded me of my high school, so I let him pace me to the next stop where I could ask him about it.  Turns out, it’s the official racing kit of the Trinity High School cycling club team that apparently was started a couple years after I graduated.  I talked with my new acquaintance and admired his kit while waiting to regroup at the last station.  With only about 12 miles remaining in the day, I bypassed the food and just reloaded on water before leaving for the final miles of the day.

The last stretch into town was the toughest of the day.  The road conditions improved, but the rolling terrain seemed to compress into a constant series of ups and downs.  Also complicating the final stretch was the increase in traffic near and in Ellettsville.  None of the roads were closed to traffic, which wasn’t really an issue on the isolated country roads.  However, in the city even though traffic was light by most standards, every car on the road with the multitude of bikers made navigation difficult.  Midway through this stretch I was ready to be done with the Saturday ride, so I pushed a little harder and just knocked out the remaining miles.  I reached the finish area and just lay on the ground at the high school until everyone else arrived.  Once all were collected I tracked down the wife who was exhausted from her volunteering experience (but said it was a lot of fun interacting with the riders, locals, and listening to the rest stop band belt out jazz tunes) and napping in the car.

After the ride, it was back to the hotel for cleanup, college football, and naps before heading into nearby Bloomington for dinner.  Being a college town, Bloomington offered a good selection of “pub grub” which is exactly what we were craving after the day’s exertion.  It was at dinner we all realized that even though we weren’t pushing the paces too hard, the effort of the day had taken a toll on us…we were tired.  The remainder of the evening was spent at the hotel with beer and board games before an early bedtime.  The Sunday route awaited us early the next morning.

With no volunteering to hurry down for, Sunday began slightly later than Saturday and the extra sleep was appreciated.  Also, the morning weather was warmer so less layering was required.  The temperatures by the end of the ride Sunday would actually be in the mid 70’s.  Since we’d also be driving home at the end of the ride today, we started just after dawn.

Ride 2 – 49 miles – 3950 ft ascent
Sunday’s route left town in the opposite direction and is apparently the same route every year.  It contained most of the notable hills and sites of the weekend.  That being said, the first 9 miles to the rest stop are kind of slow and unremarkable.  There was a nice stretch in a valley between fields of crops surrounded by rolling hills that was a pleasant way to warm up the legs while taking in some nice scenery.  It was actually more ideal to start with a segment that included less major hills at the start of the day to get some miles knocked out while making sure everything was in order.  Since we were somewhat more concerned about making good time, we only stopped long enough for a quick stretch before leaving rest stop 1 and heading toward the lunch stop.

Heading Out of Town to Start Day 2

The second segment of the Sunday route was the highlight for me.  Initially you cruise through some farm roads before making way into a more heavily wooded area.  Much of this section is a state forest, explaining all the trees.  Before long, you officially enter a state park area where the roads are in perfect, smooth condition.  After a couple miles enjoying the roads and forest, you will hit one of the signature climbs of the Hilly, Bean Blossom Hill.  It’s the longest total climbing section of the whole route.  The base of the hill is steep and gets you cranking and worn out right away.  After only about a quarter mile or so of hammering the steep segment, Bean Blossom relents into a false flat before essentially stair-stepping for the next 1.5 miles or so.  The reward at the top is even smoother roads and a long gentle descent out the other side of the park, complete with some openings in the tree line to some spectacular forest views from above.  I was in my zone through here and probably experiencing “cyclers high”.  The weather had warmed up a good deal and I would have been uncomfortable with my windbreaker, but the shade kept the park nice and cool.  As you exit the park proper, you pick up the descending pace, and basically just coast right in at a high speed to the lunch stop.

A Taste of the Local Scenery

With the wife off-duty for Sunday, she made her way around with camera in tow and met us for lunch.  She was also doing a bit of artsy photography with my sister and her fiancée’s bikes for their upcoming wedding, so was on her photography game.  As the rest of the group arrived we grabbed food (same offerings at all the stops as the prior day) and lounged for a while on the grass, baking in the fall sunshine.  Pressed by our tentative schedule, we didn’t picnic for too long before heading onward.  The Mt Tabor climb stood between us and the next rest stop and I was eager to see what the deal was.  Over the past couple days since arriving in Ellettsville; I’d heard many participants allude to it in anticipation or dread.

Right after leaving the lunch venue, there were a couple climbs that were no joke, there to punish those who overindulged on cookies and ice cream.  After overcoming those climbs in the initial miles, things flattened out.  However, the pace didn’t rise since the road conditions deteriorated some as we cruised through open farm fields with grazing livestock.  Also, now that we were in open air and atop a hill I was able to notice how windy it had become.  For the most part there weren’t crazy gusts, but just a steady strong breeze.  At this point, I had enough energy to just push through it when it was working against me.  Before long, we got shielded by trees as we descended into the valley just before Tabor.  Now, Mt Tabor isn’t a mountain at all as there are none in the area…it’s not even really a very tall hill.  The segment of road that climbs Tabor is less than a quarter mile long.  What makes Tabor the epic climb of the event is that it takes the quickest way possible up the hill, making it consistently, impressively steep.  The average grade for .2 miles is 20.2%.  Many participants were unable to even attempt climbing that grade and instead opted to walk it from the beginning.  Further complicating the Mt Tabor climb is the traffic that gets built up there…people walking…people passing…automobile traffic.  At any moment the person struggling in front of you could tumble causing a massive slow speed pile-up.  Then, if that’s not enough, there is an intersection at the top and the grading increases to greater than 23% at the very end to accommodate the incoming road.  If out riding solo, I don’t think I would have too much trouble with it, but I nearly did not make it after getting stuck behind someone moving much slower than me due to getting pinned to the right by a truck coming down the hill.  Luckily, before I came to a complete stop, the truck passed and I was able to swing into open space and make it to the top.

 Participants Struggle Up Tabor (I’m not longer one of them at this point) 

Many people congregate at the apex of Mt Tabor to celebrate their accomplishment, but I decided to move along since the final rest stop was only a couple miles ahead on downhill roads.  Unfortunately I missed Susan who visited Tabor to take in the suffering with her camera lens and the rest of our party met her at the top for a break.  Before the last rest stop in a small town there is a very fun winding descent into the town center.  It had some technical turns, so had some hay bales setup.  This gave the arrival into the last rest stop a very European cycling race feel…very cool.

The last rest stop was also a highlight since it had a great back-country band playing very folksy tunes like “Home-grown Tomatoes” and including banjo and spoon players.  Everyone regrouped one last time and enjoyed the music before moving onward.  My sister and I went ahead since we were getting warm and ready to complete the ride.  The last miles had one notable climb to the Ellettsville town water tower, but was more notable for the wind.  A head and cross wind made it a slow grind for 2/3’s of the last segment.  My sister and I just settled into a cadence and talked as we worked through the wind.  No reason to overdo it now.  After climbing to the water tower, though the descent put us in line with the wind and the tailwind propelled me home to the finish.  The Hilly Hundred 2011 was complete!

Looking back, the event was a blast.  I would highly recommend it, or other fall bike tours like it.  It’s a much different atmosphere from the road running and triathlon scene with a different crowd.  The bike tour crowd is a laid back bunch, eating a lot, enjoying the scenery, talking it up with anyone and everyone.  Also, at least in the case of Hilly, they’ve found a way to coexist with the locals despite overcrowding the roads.  Many locals allow their yards and towns to be hosting sites for rest stops and are out enjoying the music and interacting with the riders.  If I return in the future, the only change I would make is look closer into camping at the high school.  It would have been nice to be closer to the starting line and I think camping (assuming good weather) would add another element of fun to the event.

As I continue to clear up the backlog of posts I need to get out, my next task is to get a race report for the St Louis Marathon written up and on the blog in the next couple days…before it gets overshadowed by the upcoming vacation! 

A Busy Fall Part 1: Bourbon Chase 2011

The fall season offers a variety of opportunities to enjoy the autumnal weather while engaging in some different activities than the standard triathlon, running, or biking race.  In my run up to the St. Louis Rock n Roll Marathon at the end of this month, I am taking advantage of a couple of these opportunities.  This past weekend was the Kentucky Bourbon Chase, a 200-mile team relay race (similar to the famed Hood to Coast) through the heart of Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail and ending in nearby downtown Lexington.  I had actually raced this event last year as a sub and had a great time, but never got around to posting a report on the blog.  This year, I participated with the same core team as last year, but was able to extend additional invitations to my dad, sister and her fiancé who were all in the same van as me.  Here’s how the weekend went…

The weekend began with some logistics, including driving to Lexington to meet other teammates before picking up the rental vehicles and heading back to the meeting point to drop off cars and combine everyone into the 2 team SUVs.  From here, we made our way to the Jim Beam distillery for check-in and to get ready for our 2:15pm start on Friday.  My group was in the first vehicle, so we were immediately on-duty.

Our first runner took off from the distillery on a brutally exposed and hilly 7 mile route in the middle of a hotter than normal afternoon…welcome to the Chase!  The rest of “Van1” moved along the route to the end of leg 1.  Here, runner 2 took over, runner 1 cooled down and cleaned up a bit, and we moved along to the next transition.  This is basically the name of the game when your vehicle is the active one.  I was slotted as runner number 4, so began my warm-up as soon as we arrived at the Heaven Hill distillery (where my route began).

Leg 4 – Little Pottershop of Horrors, 5.2 miles (Guidebook rating: difficult)

Our 3rd runner almost snuck up on me, so I didn’t have time to stand in the transition and get stiff and was able to take off pretty much immediately.  This route was basically flat to downhill for the first couple miles as it passed some residential areas and a golf course in Bardstown, KY before leaving town via Pottershop Lane.  This is where the route gets interesting since Pottershop is a basically a rolling country road with some pretty steep rolling hills.  With it being hot and my initial run of the event, I was focusing on not going out too hard since my other legs were longer in distance and rated equally as difficult.  This intentional pacing restriction was made more difficult by the other leg 4 runners being quick.  Avoiding the temptation to chase down the couple runners that passed me was no easy task.  I distracted myself by enjoying the countryside and trying to keep my heart rate under control.  As you reach the last mile of this segment of the race, the rollers keep coming more fast and furious and the segment culminates with a steep (shin and quad killing) downhill which is immediately followed by a .25mile+ steep and winding uphill.  I focused on damage control on the down slope and transitioned to baby-stepping the uphill and before I knew it, I was rounding the bend and the team vehicles were in sight.  Also in sight was my dad (runner #5), so I gladly “passed the baton” to him and completed my first portion of the race.

5.2 miles in 37:07 (~7:08/mile pace)

Once I caught my breath, vehicle 1 moved forward to catch my dad finishing and send my future brother in law on his way, completing our first set.  Along the way, we kept our 2nd vehicle informed of our progress so they were set to take over the race at the Maker’s Mark distillery.  The party atmosphere at Maker’s was further heightened by an appearance by our team’s biggest fans, my wife and mom, who had spent the afternoon touring the area.  They accompanied us to dinner at a coffee shop in Danville (shout-out to The Hub for delicious sandwiches, wraps, coffee, and 24hour service and bathrooms during the Chase).  Once we were fed, we knew it wouldn’t be too long before vehicle 2 would return control to us, so we went to nearby Boyle County High School, where they graciously opened their doors to teams to get some rest, to relax in our remaining down time.

All too soon, we were called back into action, so headed out of Danville one town over to Perrysburg to start our 2nd rotation.  All the evening running took place in and around Danville, with the first 2 legs running straight from Perrysville to Danville and the remaining 4 performing a loop South to Stanford before returning to Danville once again.  The first 3 runners of our vehicle dominated their respective portions in the cooler night-time weather (we started our 2nd session almost exactly at midnight), and before long I was running again…down a highway…at 2AM…not sure of where I was going.

Leg 16 – Standing Fort (Stanford), 6.5 miles (Guidebook rating: difficult)

This leg was as straightforward as could be, mostly running along a shoulder of a highway before turning onto the main roads into the small town of Stanford and cruising some back streets before flying down the final hill near the city hall clock-tower to hand off to the next runner.  Or at least that’s how it should have gone. 

With the humidity low and the night temperature down around 50, I set out in near ideal running conditions, and my legs felt strong.  I pushed a pretty good pace, but didn’t want to overdo it.  Due to our team’s allotted starting time for the relay, though, we realized we were falling behind the main pack of teams (through no fault of our own), so I saw this as an opportunity to grab back a couple of minutes.  I enjoyed the moonlight and the lonely peace along the highway for the first 2.5 miles before I begin to feel strangely isolated.  Then I began to become irrational since I had not looked at the route closely beforehand, so started to consider if I might be lost.  I passed a sign earlier that basically just said “Caution: Runners on the Road”.  However, I wasn’t having the greatest sign reading visibility due to glare from my headlamp off the signs.  The more I moved forward without any signs of other runners, the more I convinced myself that I misread the sign telling me to turn somewhere.  I decided to continue forward though since it seemed to be lighter up ahead and I could hopefully get my bearings there.  Finally, I came upon another sign and realized I was on the right path; there just weren’t many runners out here with me.  Soon enough, a police car marked the point where we would actually turn off the course and I was in the outskirts of Stanford and finally able to see other runners.  I realized in my panic I had sped up (a survival mechanism I suppose) and was making great time with only a downhill finish separating me from my team.  I began to open it up when I saw the 1 mile to go sign and blew past another smaller sign that looked similar to those on the highway.  I crouched down a bit to try and read it, but was unable and didn’t want to lose my momentum so moved straight ahead.  As I barreled down the hill and onto Main Street Stanford, I realized I was approaching from the wrong direction.  I was supposed to turn at the unreadable sign.  I looked back and realized another runner had followed me in my mistake.  I checked my Garmin and it appeared the distance was the same as the advertised route, so I assumed I’d be fine just proceeding to the handoff.  I was wrong.  The volunteer running the transition made me (and my poor victim) turn back and head out of town back up the hill to the turn we missed.  I begrudgingly complied, but slowed down substantially for my “penalty loop” which turned out to be nearly 1.1 miles…so much for making up time.  I guess I at least got a little extra training in.

7.7 miles in 53:51 (~7:10 pace including penalty cooldown)

The leg immediately following mine was the longest segment our vehicle had to face, so by the time we wrapped up our remaining 2 portions of our 2nd session, it was well past 4AM.  Boyle County HS had closed up shop at 4, so our best option was to move forward to the next hand-off point at Four Roses distillery and just nap in the SUV.  We made our way through the night to Four Roses with a quick McDonald’s stop, and watched the teams running alongside the main highway nearly the entire drive.  Finally, we parked in the Four Roses parking lot a little after 5 and slept for a couple hours.  The place was already buzzing with activity from teams ahead of us on the road.

Not long after dawn, I was unable to sleep anymore and awoke to find my dad had left a while ago to wander the grounds.  I decided to also do a bit of exploring and admiring the Spanish architecture used by the distillery.  Before long, I was chilly and returned to the van to find the team rising for the day.  We received the call that our other vehicle was due to arrive in around an hour, so it was time for our first runner to begin getting ready to complete her final segment.  At around 9:30AM, we were back on duty with one set of 6 segments remaining to run.  The morning was cool, but the temperature promised to rise into the 80s through the day, so most of us would be running in the heat.

Our first 3 runners had segments that were relatively short compared to their previous efforts, and they knocked them out quickly…showing only minor drop-offs in pace from their initial paces.  These legs took us from Four Roses to Wild Turkey, then across the “High Bridge” and into the outskirts of horse farm country.  I took the handoff and left for my final segment of the race, feeling somewhat fatigued but also motivated.

Leg 28 – This Ain’t France, This is “Ver-Sales”, 7.8 miles (guidebook rating: difficult)

Initially when planning for this event, I had keyed on this segment since it was the final and the longest of my set.  I was hoping to run this leg strong as a confidence booster heading into my Marathon in a couple weeks that I would be able to run strong on accumulated fatigue.  Unfortunately, I didn’t pace as well as I had planned on the night run and probably burned more matches, particularly with the penalty lap.  That combined with lack of caloric intake compared to the previous year and the higher temperature at the time of takeoff led to me realigning my goals.  I was now just hoping to finish with a steady, sub-8 pace and get the job done. 

I took off feeling worn down, but not bad and cruised the first couple miles.  A bad early sign was that I was taking special notice of every uphill, the lack of shade, and the heat.  By the 5k portion of the run, I turned onto a different road and knew things were starting to get rough.  I ascended a long exposed hill and distracted myself with the beautiful countryside before stopping to walk at the next uphill I encountered.  The remainder of the run was a jog/walk involving a lot of self-talk to motivate myself forward.  Another team on the road offered me a water bottle around mile 6, which I gladly took along as I headed into town to finish my run.  I had to walk one more time in the final mile, but was able to manage a measly kick to the hand-off and finish my contribution to the Chase…I was spent.

7.8 miles in 1:01:50 (~8:01/mile pace)

Our remaining two runners took care of business, including our final runner crushing his last segment and sprinting into Woodford Reserve to put a cap on vehicle 1’s final set of runs.  Our super-fans reunited with us at this final distillery stop and transition.  We relaxed a bit, enjoyed a bourbon ball and complimentary shot of Woodford, some of us collected our commemorative Bourbon Chase bottles of bourbon, and we left for Lexington to grab a big lunch. 

Being the first vehicle done, we had a chance to break out to our individual vehicles, return our rental, and a couple of us even grabbed a shower and change of clothes before we made our way to the finish line party.

At around 7PM, our vehicle 2 final runner made his way down the home stretch and we joined him for the kick to the line and to receive our medals.  After some post-race pictures and congratulating, most of us headed our separate ways.  I decided to forego the free bourbon tasting since I was driving a car back to the hotel and my tolerance was almost certainly non-existent…a bit of a shame since I do enjoy good bourbon.  My family (4 of us participants, and our 2 super fans) picked up some beer and ordered pizza at the hotel and celebrated our accomplishment before crashing early.  These relay races are an exhausting experience, but a ton of fun. 

Next weekend I’m switching my mode of transport and taking on a bike tour in Indiana at the Hilly Hundred.  This should be a little less taxing, but I’m looking forward to it.

The full team – Victorious!

Branson 70.3 (Survival) Race Report

“Either life entails courage, or it ceases to be life” –E.M. Forster (The quote for Sunday, September 18 in my planner)

Branson 70.3, my “A” tri of the season is now officially in the books.  I’m still not sure what my family and I got ourselves into even now, days after the race. 

To go back, this season was planned to be a return to short-course triathlons after the multiple year build-up to Ironman Louisville 2010 for myself, my sister, and my dad.  However, not to abandon long-course completely, we decided to culminate the season with another 70.3.  This was mainly due to the fact that my sister’s significant other (now fiancée) was hoping to do his first 70.3, and so to show our support we thought we’d all get in on the fun with him.  What we failed to do in our planning was to thoroughly compare the 70.3 options available and basically “just decided” to do Branson since it is in the fall/late season and it is in proximity to St. Louis (sister and fiancé’s city of residence).  None of us had been to Branson recently enough to know anything about the terrain or the city in general and we only performed limited scouting beforehand.  In fact, all we really knew as we left St Louis Saturday morning was that the bike course was “pretty hilly”.

Mentally, my training this year has also been less focused than in the past.  I attribute some of it to a post-Ironman slump, brushes with burnout, and additional life stresses that have affected my motivation.  That being said, I’ve still hit my PR for Olympic distance racing this year at Deer Creek and even took an overall victory at a small race in NW Ohio, so it’s not been a bad year at all. 

In my lack of focus, I neglected thorough bike training in the run up to Branson, despite knowing vaguely of the hilly bike course.  Many of my bike workouts were base without hills and a fair bit of the work was done on the trainer.  Most of my key workouts have been reserved for running since I have an October Marathon looming, and have yet to successfully complete a marathon without exploding at “the wall”.

Now, enough with the back story nonsense and onto the race weekend itself.  The drive from St. Louis to Branson was marked by rain (I see a theme) for nearly its entirety.  As the terrain became lumpier and the billboard advertisements more ridiculous, we knew Branson was fast approaching.  Since check in is at the host hotel (The Chateau) which is perched beautifully on a steep hill overlooking Table Rock Lake, we were able to bypass Branson proper initially and instead approached The Chateau through the misty midday fog.  Our arrival time was right around lunch time and the “peak” athlete check in hours.  However, there were no lines to speak of for any of the registration steps, probably because there are so fewer racers (~650) than at many other 70.3 events.  After a quick bite we attended the athlete meeting, mostly to see how the multiple transition area arrangement would work as well as the bad weather contingency plan.  Then we made our way down the hillside to Moonshine Beach and T1 to check in our bikes.  By this point, the rain was at a heavy drizzle and the temperature was in the low to mid 50’s.  Being (not) well prepared with my non-waterproof, lightweight wind-jacket, I was determined to unload the bike, get the race wheels on, inflate, and rack the tri-bike as quickly as humanly possible.  This was a mistake, but more on that later.

With our Saturday formalities completed, we made our way to our hotel, nestled nicely between the Hollywood Wax Museum and a near life-sized replica of the Titanic, to check in and get dry before heading out on the town for dinner.  On our evening drive to the Branson Landing, we were able to take in all the neon-lit theatres, Chinese buffets, and antique shops that Branson had to offer.  The Landing itself offered a nice change being a waterfront outdoor shopping and dining center lacking much of the “glitz” of the rest of the city.  Dinner was pub-food, which allowed us to linger and take in a good deal of bad college football (looking at you OSU and Kentucky) before heading in for the night to sort our transition bags and catch some Z’s.

Race morning came early; my stomach was unsettled from heavy dinner and the always good decision of pre-race ice cream, so I skipped my usual race morning banana (but not my coffee) and hit the road to T2 to drop off the run gear bag.  Due to the rainy wet conditions, I kept everything tightly packed in my gear bag and included an extra pair of socks for the run, an unusual extravagance for me.  After the quick T2 visit, we boarded the duck boats (our shuttles were indeed duck boats) and “set sail” for T1 and the swim start.  T1 setup was more scaled down than usual for me since I wanted to keep everything under cover in case a shower passed through during the swim.  Once setup was complete, it was off to the beach to talk through our nervousness with the rest of the participating family and our support crew (brave mothers in this case).  Sunrise arrived and the clouds actually appeared to be clearing.  The water was glassy-smooth as the pros launched at 7AM with my dad in the first wave behind.  My sister launched 10 minutes later at 7:15, when I decided to fully don the wetsuit and down my pre-race Powergel.

At 7:40, M18-29 was sent from the beach with me included.  My goal here was to get my stroke rate up quickly to warm up and set a strong initial pace as well as to position myself near the middle of my AG pack to provide natural “human bumpers” to keep me swimming straight.   Both goals were accomplished well, and soon enough I was in a rhythm.  The course is an elongated, slightly askew rectangle and there were plenty of buoys to sight off of, so I just started ticking off the meters.  I felt like things were going well, and my belief was confirmed when I began passing swimmers from 2 waves prior in the last 500 meters.  I hopped out of the water and jogged up the stairs to T1 with my legs feeling a little more rubbery than usual at this point in HIM, but I’ll take some early fatigue for a new best swim in non-current conditions.  Swim: 35:22 (23/61 in M25-29)

T1 was uneventful and I was quickly out on the bike course. T1: 2:53

As soon as you leave the parking lot on the bike you are faced with the harsh reality of the hills.  Climbing made up the majority of the first 3 miles, so I just settled into a comfort zone and focused on slowly grinding upward while getting my nutrition and trying to diagnose what that awful creaking noise was coming from my bike.  At around mile 7, the course reaches “The High Road” and the first aid station.  At this milestone, I decided to stop and correct the still mysterious noise issue on my bike.  After a little time with the bike upside down, I realized that in my haste to get out of the rain on Saturday, I had installed my rear wheel to close to the frame cutout and it was therefore rubbing the frame.  Getting frustrated with the time I was losing, I continued to door a poor job of correcting the problem while getting increasingly worked up.  Finally, after a few deep breaths I backed the skewer position out of the drop-outs a bit to allow more clearance before continuing on.  The only problem with this was that I was now riding paranoid that my rear wheel was not firmly enough seated into position and would disconnect from the frame on one of the descents.  This was an absurd notion, but it kept me from really pushing the initial descents until I regained trust in my equipment.  The 10 mile time-split came finally (the slowness can be seen on the results) and the remainder of the bike proceeded smoothly. 

The “High Road” is a highway sitting high in the Ozarks allowing for awesome views coupled with roller-coaster terrain.  The majority of the bike course was spent either grinding up a hill at 10mph, or zooming downward at 35+…it was a true test with about 30% more ascending than the Louisville IM course in only half the distance (according to MapMyRide).  Knowing this was no PR course, I tried to take it all in stride and just focus on how I felt to guide my pacing.  I raced without any technology so I wouldn’t be tempted to compete against my average speed.  As the final miles approached, the wind and clouds picked up, so I was glad to be leaving the High Road for the descent into Branson.  All told, the bike was fine, and looking back I consider myself lucky for not getting a flat considering the sharp, fine gravel that washed onto the road from Saturday’s rain had many victims including my soon to be brother in law and my dad (1 flat each), as well as my sister (2 flats and forced to retire from the race when the SAG vehicle ran out of spare equipment).  After some steep descents and a no-passing technical bike-path section on the run into town, I was racking my bike at Branson Landing and leaving for the final leg of the race.  Time: 3:13:27 (17.37mph, 22/61 in M25-29).

T2 was quick, mainly due to the lack of clutter in the transition area. T2: 1:44.

The run is a multi-loop course (2 & 7/8’s loops according to the race director), that runs flat along the river.  Part of each loop is through the center of the Landing shopping center, a very spectator friendly strip.  The rest of the loop runs along the river through an RV park, under some old railroad bridges, through some residential areas and looping at a small park outside of downtown.  I settled into what felt like a very controlled pace, but could not really tell since my pacing off the bike is usually incorrect without being monitored (which I was not doing…no technology).  Looking at the 2 mile split, I went out a little too hot at 7:01 pace…should have been more in the 7:15-7:30 pace.  Somewhere on the return to the landing in my 3rd mile there was a huge crack of thunder.  This drew my attention upward to the now dark heavens staring ominously back down.  Uh-oh! 

As I passed the finish chute at mile 4 the rain began to fall, first in drops, but steadily increasing to a downpour complete with its own light and sound show.  As my motivation to continue began to rapidly decrease, my mind wandered to the rest of the family that I presumed was still on the bike course.  I was afraid for them with the remaining descents into town and the harrowing weather conditions.  At this time, I also stopped taking nutrition…I don’t think this was related to my distraction but instead to having taken in too much water at early aid-stations convincing my stomach that it was full.  As the run turned into a rapid wading contest on lap 2, I began looking out for familiar faces on the course.  I got frustrated when I began to tire and was not seeing any of the Kissel race team on the run, so negativity took over.  I found myself walking intermittently through during basically all the remaining miles from 6 to the finish, but not so much because my legs were dead.  My running pace was still strong at 7:30-7:45, but I just didn’t want to be out there slogging anymore.

I caught my mom at the beginning of the 3rd lap and asked about the others, but was not given reassuring response.  I was more distracted at this point since I had only seen my dad on the run course thus far and was told vaguely that “we weren’t all out here” at the loop.  With my negative mind-set, my thoughts immediately went to crashes and injuries and I almost pulled out of the race to see what the situation was.  Of course the situation was much less severe, albeit the disappointing news that my sister was pulled from the bike course.  I continued slowly the final loop only taking in water and just trying to complete the task at hand.  I finally kick myself into gear around mile 12 to go ahead and run the rest of the way in.  I turned in a decent kick down the finish chute and went in search of the family.  I was unaware of my race splits until talking to my wife on the phone about a half hour after the race.  Run Time: 1:50:45 (8:27 pace)

Final Time: 5:44:11 (15th of 61 M25-29).

Post-race, I was relieved to see my sister and find out that the other 2 were still on the course (although I’m sure they weren’t as pleased at the time).  After a pit-stop at the car to warm-up and grab a blanket, we returned to the finish to cheer in the remaining competitors.  It was time to get dry, get fed, and get the heck out of that tacky, rainy city!

Looking back from my dry living room, I am glad to have partaken in the challenge that was Branson.  If I’m going to race a slow 70.3 course, it might as well be in crazy weather conditions as well to add to the adventure.  The time is what it is.  I think on a good day without the bike pit stop and a more focused run I could have been maybe 20 minutes faster, but it still wouldn’t have put me near a qualification spot.  I severely underestimated the course, but enjoyed the experience nonetheless.

My tips for anyone considering this race in the future:

• Stay near Table Rock Lake and away from Branson if possible to avoid the cheesiness of the city.

• Practice biking on long, sustained climbs (1-2 miles) with steady grades.  Most climbs could be completed spinning up in a low gear without needing to stand and crank on it.

• Enjoy the scenery of the High Road.  There is no other 70.3 venue with as much bike-course scenery in North America.

• Pack your sense of humor.  Chances are, you’ll need it at some point in the weekend.

• Thank the volunteers…they were heroes and didn’t even flinch as the skies opened and attempted to wash them into the river.  Everyone remained all smiles (and ponchos) at the aid stations

Anniversary Trip to the Carolinas, Part 2

The second portion of the anniversary vacation, South Carolina, began Friday evening upon arrival at the Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina, a small resort hotel across the bay from Charleston proper, near Mt Pleasant. Once checked in, we ventured out for fresh seafood and made our way to the Shem Creek Bar and Grill, as recommended by my mom.

Here, we enjoyed a drink on the back creek bar and listened to a local artist do island influenced renditions of rock and pop hits, including A-ha's Take On Me. Once seated next to an aquarium, we befriended our neighbor fish and got down to the business of eating. The food was delicious and included my first experience "shooting an oyster". I am pretty sure it was also my first experience eating an oyster in any manner...and it was a lot of fun.

 

After dinner, we checked out the resort a little more in the dark before calling it a night. Friday had been a long day. Saturday morning, we were welcomed with mid-90's temperatures and 110+ degree heat indexes. Seems this is a common theme this summer. To make the best of it, we started the day with breakfast at a local coffee shop, Metto, before catching a water taxi to Charleston.
Once in Charleston, we had to make a hot walk to the market area, where we began our trek through the city. There were plenty of shopping stops, mostly to take advantage of air conditioning. Unfortunately, we didn't take very good advantage of the many opportunities to checkout a museum or historical site...either due to being disoriented by the heat or a lack of planning. We did take a quick walk down Rainbow Row.  After burning out, we caught "Ollie", the resort trolley, back to the hotel.

 

Some much needed relaxation by the pool recharged our batteries for a trip to Sullivan's Island for an early dinner. We must have picked a local favorite (Sullivan's) because it was packed by 6 pm. More delicious seafood was had before we took off to cruise the strip between Sullivan's Island and Isle of Palms. We caught our first glimpse of the actual Atlantic Ocean (instead of the inlets and harbors), which will be the focus of Sunday's activities, before heading back to call it an evening early.

Sunday began with an early morning run in the Charleston heat and humidity. The run involved 2 passes (over & back) of the largest "hill" in the Charleston area, the Arthur Ravanel Bridge (see photo at the bottom of the post). Despite the heat and lack of shade on the bridge the views of both Charleston and Mount Pleasant provided a worthy distraction.

Once business was taken care of, Susan and I headed out for the day, with our late morning activity being bumming on the beach. We hit the Isle of Palms public beach, which was packed with locals and tourists alike. Tide was moving out, so there was plenty of space for everyone. Since we only took books and towels with us, the beach stay mainly consisted of reading, sunbathing, and wading through the surf. I was tempted to steal the buckets of a neighboring beach goer so that I could build a monumental sand castle.

The heat had not come down much from Saturday; thus we only survived until around lunch time at the beach. After grabbing some food at a beach-front dive, we made our way back to the hotel to rinse off the sandiness and prepare for the rest of the day. Since we didn't want to venture immediately back into the heat and still had areas of Charleston I wanted to see, we took a Sunday cruise over to Charleston to check out the historic mansions of Battery St. and the King St shopping district. This also got us out of the hotel room long enough for housekeeping to do their thing.

We returned late afternoon and took up our places by the pool to relax the remainder of our last day of vacation. Clouds began to roll in, so it cooled considerably. Neither of us were feeling up to getting geared up for a fancy dinner, so we just hit a local pub. The food was a letdown considering the rest of the meals on the trip, but expected considering the establishment.  After dinner, we returned to the hotel to pack up and prepare for our 10-hour journey back to Cincinnati.