A Day on the Beach

Today was a beach day.

We awoke pretty early, after a big dinner, several glasses of wine and one blue mohito martini that made me sleepy last night, and hit the beach for a run. It was another sunny, hot day in Aruba, but didn't seem too bad at 7:45am. The beach is a beautiful white sand, and the water is turquoise blue, so not a bad setting for our 1/2 hour run.

After a good breakfast, we made our way to the beach. The hotels have these palm-leaf umbrella huts, and we asked for the shadiest one. #41 lived up to its reputation and shielded us from the sun for the afternoon. We relaxed, reading, chatting, people watching and enjoying the birds flitting about. The tropical mockingbirds, ground doves, and grackle were everywhere, but I enjoyed the tiny bananquit the most. They flitted in and out of our umbrella and squeaked in the palm trees above.

We managed to make it into the water twice. Very salty but a very comfortable temperature. Nice.

Despite enjoying our relaxing day on the beach, we both admit to not being totally comfortable that such a lush, manufactured and opulent, yet admittedly well-done, oasis has been created here on the coast of this arid, desert-like island for such sheer escapism. As with many tropical vacation spots I'm sure, the high-rise hotel area is totally separated from the rest of the island. This is not the "real" island. From our tour yesterday, I'd say few visitors go out of their way to the park or see the rest of the island, preferring to remain in their isolated cocoon. We really did enjoy having a chance to see what we consider more of the "real" side of the island yesterday, and although we know this sort of high-end tourism is many Arubans livelihood, it is odd to us that so many people come here for vacation only to revel in a manufactured paradise. Why is it odd that we want to spend our vacations communing with nature in the woods when this is not? Seems backwards to me... But then again, who thinks I'm normal?!

Cacti, Dust and Birds

This morning we headed off in the jeep to explore the island. The concierge was pushing the jeep tour, but we are really more into doing our own thing. So, we had our own tour of the island. Much more comical, and most likely, much more interesting to us. We headed off to find Arikok National Park. Now, you would think an island which has set aside a lot of land as a park would want people to find it, right? Well, Arubans don't seem to be into signs. But we finally stumbled across some hand-made signs along the road leading us to the park. There, we talked to a ranger in a trailer, who gave us a map and tried to give us advice, but wasn't much help to us, as we were interested in hiking, not seeing the caves or the museum. We did end up going to one cave, but couldn't even find the museum... We wandered up the rutted dirt road to a parking area. Snowman was a crazy driving fool, bouncing me around, but really did a great job. We wandered down a well-constructed path through the cacti and dry, dry desert land. It was hot. Really hot. We did a bit of running, and a bit of hiking, as we meandered on, scaring up all the lizards around us, enjoying the cacti, the breeze and the views. Also saw a few groups of wild goats, and some really cool birds!

After our run, we headed on towards the caves on the other side of the island. The road was pretty gnarly in parts, but absolutely passable. Still, we were glad we had the jeep. We passed one couple in something that looked like a Corolla. They did not seem to be enjoying the ride as much! Also passed a group of ATV/Dunebuggy riders on a tour. Cool. Still, as noted, we were happy to be on our own. After a quick tour of the small cave, we decided to stop at the middle-of-nowhere bar/restaurant/souvenir stand for some lunch. The breeze off the ocean, just a 1/4 mile away, kept us cool as we ate a really good lunch for a random stop on the quiet side of the island!

We then headed on, getting lost here and there, but still essentially on course, until Baby Beach, where we shed our shirts and jumped into the turquoise waters. Gorgeous! And a nice bathwater temperature. Perfect.

We got a bit off course again as we crossed back over to the other side of the island to see the Natural Bridge. Well, the bridge has collapsed, so not much to see there, but at least the drive was cool. On our way back into town, I got a bit overheated and demanded that Snowman stop and get me icecream. Luckily, we passed a Dunkin Donuts/Baskin Robbins and I was saved :-)

All in all, a hot, dusty day, but a great adventure!

For those flora and fauna buffs out there, we've seen: Tropical Mockingbirds everywhere, many sparrows, carib grackle, one Babnanaquit, two Crested Caracara in the park, many Troupial, lots of great black-headed gulls and one great egret down by Baby Beach. Not to mention lots of lizards and iguanas, and many, many cacti.

Greetings from Aruba!

Hello from sunny and warm Aruba. We made it here yesterday feeling a bit tired, but without having felt the wrath of the airline gods. No missed connections, no misplaced baggage. Thank goodness.

Upon arrival at the Hyatt, we sat down for lunch, watching the tropical mockingbirds flitting about and the green and blue lizards and iguanas all around, these not to be outdone by the many people on the stretch of white sand beach and under the palmtree umbrellas.

We had dinner with the family, and spent the night eating, drinking and laughing. A great time.

Today, we have rented a Jeep, and are heading off shortly for some island exploration! Wish us luck :-)

Mornings with Snowman

I am a morning person. Snowman is not. That pretty much sums up our attitude's about this morning's run.

Snowman decided to join me this morning for a short 3-mile jaunt down the powerlines across the street. Since we're gearing up to leave for Meghan and Chris's wedding in Aruba tomorrow morning at o-dark-thirty, today is bound to be a day of getting as caught up as possible on work mixed with a bit of rushing around making sure we're all set and ready to go. So, he figured an early run made sense. Only he was very grumpy about it.

I can get up and be wide awake within a few minutes. I enjoy my early morning runs, with the birds chirping and the flowers blooming. It's a great way to start the day. Plus it means I've gotten my run done and don't have to worry about doing it later.

Snowman on the other hand, takes hours to feel awake, and is definitely a night owl, so he was Mr. Crankypants this morning. It's cold! (It was 47 degrees and nice and sunny). You're going too fast! You're running on the wrong side of the driveway! Geez, man, calm down. It's a beautiful morning.

But, in his defense, if we were to go for a run in the evening, which is when he's feeling at his best, I would probably be Ms. Crankypants!

Now, it's off to work. When we sign in next, it will be from sunny, hot Aruba! Bring on the SPF 70!

Results!

Me cheering on Nate as he comes through the Grove on his first lap.

Finally! They posted the results for the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge tonight. Team Sonic Death Monkey came in 5th overall in the team competition, against some stiff competition. Not too bad for an adhoc group of runners!

Official results leave us as follows, out of 262 fellow 25k runners:

Peyron - still 4th at 1:48. Impressive!
Vicky - 72nd at 2:14:27
Snowman - 91st at 2:19:14
Me - 110th at 2:26:09
Shannon - 157th at 2:42:33
Willow - 174th at 2:50:48
Tank - 214th at 3:05:08

And, Nate, coming in at 5:15:01 in the 50k, 34 out of 111.

Awesome job everyone :-)

I'm pretty happy with my time, as my goal had been to run under 2:30. Always nice to achieve those goals!

Also, an extra thank you to the race organizers and all the volunteers! They really put on a great race, and all of us Sonic Death Monkeys truly enjoyed ourselves. Can't wait to come back next year :-)

Ladyslippers Galore!

I went for a very slow 3-mile run in the Commons this morning. After the race and doing nothing yesterday, the legs weren't really feeling too frisky, but things did loosen up a bit into the run. Overall, I can't complain too much with how I feel after the race. Sore quads, some chafing (ugh!) and definitely tired overall, but nothing major. So, it was good to get out and get the blood flowing. It is another beautiful morning, and the highlight of the run was the profusion of pink ladyslippers in the Commons. They seem to love the area, and today they did not disappoint. I was 90+ ladyslippers! Wow! When I told Snowman, he was incredulous, and said when he goes out to do the same loop, he's bound to see 4 or 5... but I swear, they are there!

No results from the race, but we are all anxious to see how Sonic Death Monkey placed in the overall team standings! Stay tuned...

Pineland Farm Trails Challenge and the Sonic Death Monkey Crew

This was a great, very well run, fun, cool race, and definitely well-named! It certainly was a challenge.

Pre-Race:
There's something to be said about a race that starts at 10am. There was no rushing around in the dark yesterday morning in an attempt to eat and get ourselves out the door for some god-awful early 6am start time (well, there was if you were running the 50 miler, but who's dumb enough to do that? Oh yeah, except the 80+ people who signed up for it!)... We got in a good breakfast, and headed over to pick up Shannon, Finley and the babysitter as Nate had left earlier in the morning for the 8am start of the 50k. It was a beautiful morning, blue skies, no clouds and already in the 50s. The event directors couldn't have asked for a better day for a race and BBQ!! Us runners probably would have liked a little cloud cover and lower temps, but really, we couldn't complain.

We picked up our packets at the Y, and signed ourselves up for a team. I mean, we had 7 people running the 25k, how could we not do the team competition? Of course, the name is all Snowman's fault, and we were dubbed "Sonic Death Monkey." They have yet to come out with the results, so we don't know how we placed, but it will be pretty funny if we manage to place and the team name on the official results is "Sonic Death Monkey"! :-) After pick-up, we wandered over to "The Grove," this big wide open field area, where the start and finish, and the BBQ, were set up. Some of the 50 miler and 50k runners were coming through, and people were cheering and milling around, relaxing on the grass. It was a cool scene. We set up our blanket and chairs, and Tank and Willow joined us. We cheered on Nate as he came through, having run 10 miles of his first lap, and looked good! None of us were doing a warm-up, as the race itself would be more than enough, so we chatted and stretched and before we knew it, it was time.

The Race:
The race course wanders all through the Pineland property, weaving through open farmland fields and onto the wooded trails. There were some neat views of the waves of runners weaving through the fields, and many spots where you could see people either ahead of or behind you across the way. I managed to see Snowman 4 times during the race, and Peyron once in the fields by the yurt. The first three miles of this course are basically downhill. We knew this and were all hoping to take it easy. I tried, but it didn't quite work out. I think I went through the 3 mile at about 25:00, a bit faster than I could keep up for the whole race. Oh well. Nothing to do but just try to keep up as good a pace as I could. The fields around mile 4 and 5 were the worst. Out in the hot sun, on uneven, sloping ground. Ugh. Then a decent hill at mile 5 and back to the yurt for halfway. Hurry! But there was a lot more work to be done, and on I went.

I was wearing my fuel belt, and had one bottle filled with our typical raspberry Hammer gel, and the other with a chocolate Gu pack. The chocolate was a mistake... I took one sip and could barely keep it down. I was starting to feel the sun a bit more, and was feeling overheated and a bit lightheaded. I stopped at the next aid station and drank a glass of ice-cold water. ahhh... That's better. The course continued on through the campus loop, mimicking the start, but in the opposite direction, uphill instead of down... I slowed down a fair amount, willing myself forward and focusing on the feet of the people ahead of me. My run was more like a shuffle. Finally, we headed back into the Grove. Only 5+ miles to go!

We knew from our training runs on the course that the Oak Hill section, while having a few good hills, but more even terrain and that definitely helped. But I was tired, and the rolling terrain was wearing me down. I had to walk one short section around mile 12, but managed to keep running (or shuffling) up the other hills. I was in a spread out group of runners, and would pass some, and be passed by others. We were nearing the end... The final stretch was another field loop. Go, go, go. I crossed the street and could hear Snowman cheering. I pressed to the finish. Done.

Post-Race:
This was a tough race. There were no huge hills, but the constant rolling terrain and the time spent in the fields in the sun took their toll. Still, it was a great course, and the whole thing was well-organized, the volunteers were great, and it was just a really fun atmosphere.

It took a while for all of us to feel human again after the finish, but taking a good hot shower in the Y definitely helped, and then it was on to the BBQ! Veggie burgers, lots of pasta salad, desert, Maine-made gelato. Yum! I passed on the free beer from Ipswich Brewery (and they eventually ran out, to replace it with Bud Light, which Snowman said tasted surprisingly refreshing) but had more than my share of water and gatorade. There was a fun bluegrass/folksy band playing too. We all lounged in the shade, eating, drinking, talking about the race, and cheering on other runners as they came in. It was a great way to relax after a good race!

Results have yet to be posted, but I do know this:
Peyron came in 4th place, with a time of 1:48.
Vicky came in next, around 2:15.
Snowman, around 2:19
Me, around 2:26
Shannon, around 2:43
Willow soon after
Tank, around 3 hours
Nate, on his 50k run, came in at 5:15, and was pretty spent but having put forth an awesome effort!

A job well done by all of us, I think and a great group of Sonic Death Monkeys!

Although there was lots of moaning about how tough it was out there, I wouldn't be surprised to see us all out there again next year... although Nate may be doing just the 25k!

I'll post results when they come up.

Dinner with Tank and Willow plus 3

Last night we met Tank and Willow at Gritty's in Freeport for dinner. We hadn't seen them since we were on the AT in 2005, so it was fun to catch up! Amazing that 3 years has gone by... wow! They are thinking about Portland as a possible new home, and are up visiting this weekend from VA. We would love to have them as neighbors. Go Portland! They are also amongst the crew that is joining us at the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge tomorrow, so after we've all suffered during the run, we should have a great group to hang out with at the BBQ!

This morning I headed out for a quick 3 mile run in the Commons. Did the "regular" loop, and felt much livelier than my other short runs this week, which made me happy!

The Commons were nice and quiet, just me, the singing birds and the emerging wildflowers. I am constantly amazed at the variety of native wildflowers in the Commons. Amongst the rhodora, blueberry bushes, star flowers and wild oats, the bunchberries and the first pink ladyslippers of the season are starting to show their faces. I always love the magestic looking ladyslippers, and am always happy to look for them in the woods. I thought I might miss them this year with us being away in Aruba next week, so it was great to see them!

Mid-week 4

I got up and out onto the powerlines for a 4 mile run this morning. Although the forecast was saying it was going to rain today, the sun was shining, the birds were singing like crazy, and the flowering plants and shrubs are really coming to life along the powerlines. The purple rhodora is a beautiful accent against all the greenery, and with all the blueberry flowers out, I'm definitely going to have to hit the bushes later this summer for some yummy low-bush blueberries! Saw two mallards in one of the "ponds" near Topsham Crossing, as well as two eastern towhees singing away, robins, sparrows, a goldfinch, and other heard but not identified.

I felt a bit creaky this morning, to steal a word from Snowman, and am also really feeling my allergies. Although I love seeing all the greenery come to life, it also means my allergies come alive, leaving me with itchy red eyes and runny nose. Ugh. I'm hoping this won't affect me too much on Sunday during the race. Speaking of the race, I'm getting a bit nervous... I mean, I know I can run the course. But can I run it at a good pace? I have a goal time in mind, but who knows if it's realistic. Yes, in theory, it is realistic, but sometimes that thing called reality just gets in the way :-) Regardless, it's bound to be a challenging morning, but a fun one! I'm planning on a nice mellow 3-miler Saturday morning to loosen the legs up, and from there, I guess I'll just see how it all shakes out...

Commons

I had a nice morning run in the Commons today with Shannon. She even beat me to the parking lot for our 7am rendezvous! It was fun to chat as we ran along. I took her on our "normal" three-mile loop, which twists and turns through the lesser-used trails of the Commons. Hopefully she'll be able to figure out the route again if she decides to come back and run it again alone soon. It was good to have some company this morning, and nice to stretch the legs out a bit before work! Thanks Shannon :-)

Bradbury Run

Both Snowman and I awoke a bit creaky from our hike yesterday. It never ceases to amaze me that even if I feel in good shape, being in shape in one sport does not equal in good shape for another. Even if it's similar activities like running and hiking. Oh well. After a few more hikes, the body will get used to the muscle use and feel fine. Despite the creaks, we headed over to Bradbury for a run after breakfast. We had agreed upon a 1:30 to 1:40 run, and thought we would use the Bradbury Bruiser course for the run, skipping the last two miles on the "O" trail, which were the cause of many moans, groans and swears at the end of the race last year. We hadn't yet started our blogs last October when we ran this 12-mile course, but it's a great twisty turny course along lots of the single track through the park.

We started off at a pretty mellow pace, willing our bodies to loosen up. Snowman was not in a good mood, but we continued on. As we neared the 1:30 mark, I was getting a bit grumpy myself, as I really wasn't looking to push too hard on this run, given that I'm hoping to turn out a good run at the Pineland Farms Trail Challenge on Sunday! But Snowman was determined to get in his full 10 miles, so after a bit of grousing, I followed along, and we finished up the 10 miles in 1:44. With yesterday's hike and today's run, it was a solid weekend., which I plan to follow up with a pretty mellow rest of the week in preparation for the race.

Flora and fauna report: There wasn't much opportunity to look around along the run, as if I looked up for more than a few seconds, I was liable to either hit a root, rock or stump, or miss one of the sharp turns along the route, but I did notice plenty of starflowers, bluets, wild strawberries, and one lone ladyslipper beginning to show itself from within its leaves, along the trailside.

Baldface Hike

A beautiful May day and a great way to start our 2008 hiking season! We got in a really nice hike in Evans Notch, doing the Baldface Circle Trail loop up over both South and North Baldface summits. The hike was 9.8 miles, and it took us 5:20 with approximately 50 minutes of breaks. Not too bad for our first hike of the season and the rugged terrain. Snowman and I had done this hike with friends back when we were working at Sunday River, likely in the first summer after we were married, meaning it was *gulp* 8 years ago, and remembered it being a nice one. We had also heard it was a snow-free loop, so it seemed like a good option.

The first 2.5 miles to the shelter were pretty quick, but then we hit the ledges.
As some of our hiker friends may know, I am not that good on rocks, especially sloped rocks! So our pace ground to a halt, as Snowman had to help me maneuver many of the boulders and ledges. How did we do this long ago? Must have taken us all day... Anyway, the ledges up to South Baldface, and the summit itself, had some great views out into Evans Notch and over towards the Presidentials and the Wildcat/Carter ridgeline. Hiking is always better if there are beautiful views! We meandered along the ridge to the North summit, taking it all in.

On the descent, we ran into some great patches of snow, but nothing that was too difficult to get around.
We also ran into lots of hobblebush, which was attempting to take over the trail! Back down in the lower terrain, the bugs came out, but it is spring in New England, so we couldn't complain too much. After all, it was a great day to be out, and we both felt good!

Baldface Hike Photos

Another 3

Another short 3-miler to end the week at 25 miles. I did our "regular" 3 mile loop in the Commons, same as Snowman and I had done on Monday. A bit faster today, and felt less tired than yesterday. Nothing like a good sleep to make you feel better!

The plan for the weekend is to get in one longish run (8 miles or so) and one hike. It will be great to be back out hiking! In looking at our schedule through June--which is a bit nuts to say the least!-- it doesn't look like we'll be getting out on the trails much next month, but hope to fit in at least one overnight backpack and one day hike, both on the AT, in an attempt to start knocking off the miles. Can't wait!

Commute Another Way

This week is Commute Another Way week here in Maine. Cordelia and I had already talked about carpooling when we could, and decided this would be a good week to try. So today she is picking me up. With our schedules, we could only work out the one day this week, but it's a start. Since I won't be driving to work this morning, I thought I'd go "carless" all day. It's not often that I don't use a car at all. I'm either driving to work, to run or hike, to get groceries and do errands, etc. Amazing, when you think about it. Unfortunately, I work about 17 miles from where we live, and the drive is along Rt. 1, which I wouldn't want to bike even if I was a biker, as part of it is a 4-lane highway. So, driving it is.

Anyway, to further my "carless" day, I ran from home, heading down the powerlines for a 5+ mile out-and-back. Felt a bit tired, but didn't run any slower than the past few times I've run this route. Anyway, it was a beautiful morning to be out, and aside from the guy on a dirt bike who scared the pants off me down by Topsham Crossing as he roared past, the run was uneventful.

Flora and fauna reports: Saw an eastern towhee in the bushes by Highland Green, as well as a beautiful male goldfinch singing away, along with the requisite robins, sparrows, blue jays and others which I can't yet identify just by song alone. Oh yes, and one turkey! Lots of wood anemone and blueberry bushes in full bloom, as well as some rhodora coming into bloom too.

A "Non-Event"

As we finished up our 3 mile run in the Commons this afternoon, Snowman said, isn't it nice when 3 miles is a "non-event"? And yup, it is. The run started off a bit creakily, but my legs loosened up as the loop went on. It was a nice, easy "recovery" run, and good to know that I hadn't felt any real ill-effects from yesterday's run/hike. The wildflowers are really coming out in the Commons - we saw bluets, violets, wood anemones and a few goldthreads, along with the flowers beginning to bloom on the blueberry bushes. Nice!