Key West vacay, Day 7

Checked out of the Kingfish "Resort," basically every motel on the way back is labeled as a Resort.

Gray, spitty, high-50's.

Left the Keys, realized we had time to visit an alligator park. Drove to one that was past Florida City - past fields with migrant workers, the Dade County prison with quite nice migrant housing across the street. They offered airboat rides, which we really didn't gave time to do. So we checked out the Everglades National Park. Looked at the educational displays, would like to go back and devote a whole day to driving the entire way and take more time to look for Nature (ie: alligators from a safe distance).

Stopped at an old kitschy veg/fruit stand called (yes!) Robert Is Here. Bought a lulu avocado and delicious shakes (mine was pineapple, guava, cocoanut). Then it was time to drive to the airport. Still cool and spitty, but I wasn't going to change out of my shorts and flip flops until we reached the airport.

Easy, uneventful flight home. It was 26 degrees and no snow.

Key West vacay, Day 6

Slept in. Cold (56 degrees), windy (20-30 mph), overcast.  Drove to Big Pine Key (mm30), saw 3 deer on the drive to the Blue Hole walking paths. Lunch at Springer's, a local hangout: fish tacos, blackened catch of the day, wings, sweet potato fries. Drove back to the deer preserve, onto No Name Key. Two very tame bucks came up to our car and another, probably looking for food. We watched them for about ten minutes, till they headed back into the woods. Made our day!

Back to the hotel. Bought another pound of shrimp (36-40 count for $10.99/lb) to keep up our streak of Eating Shrimp Every Night.  Almost finished the bottle of Kraken Rum in diet Coke.

Key West vacay, day 5

Up at 7:00a to get to Bahia Honda ("buy a Honda") for the 9:30a snorkel trio at Looe Reef. Sunny and 80 degrees, no wind, still water.  Perfect weather!

Pics from the waterproof camera:

 "Look, a shark is under you!"

Saw: sea turtle, two sharks, jellyfish, lots of beautiful brightly-colored fish (but their colors didn't translate well to film). 

Got stung by one of those little jellyfish:

After our return, we went to the beach near the old RR bridge.





Dinner at Sunset Grill, but didn't get to see sunset due to storm blowing in. Ate crab legs, steamed oysters/clams, shrimp, grilled mahi-mahi, spicy seafood combo.

Bought strawberries and a key lime pie at Publix (none at Winn Dixie), back to room, ate and watched Discovery ID

Key West vacay Day 2

Awakened to a rooster calling outside our window...and another responding from a block away, like the dogs of London in "101 Dalmations." But much less cute.  Breakfast at the guest house.

Laura at the front desk comped us three bikes for the day! These are heavy, fat-tired, single-gear beauties with a wire basket on the handlebars.

We rode to the Southernmost Point, very crowded as it was a trolley/tour bus stop. Took a few pictures, then found less-busy roads to get us to nearby Higgs Beach. This one was less busy and we hung out here for a while.

Lunch at Saluté on the beach. Priciest meal so far but they had the best Key Lime pie (piled high with meringue). Rode our bikes back and forth on quiet neighborhood streets, admiring the variety of homes and imagining what it would be like to live there year 'round.

Back at the guest house, we laid out in the sunshine and took naps. Then cleaned up and hit Duval Street. Got frozen 'ritas at Fat Tuesday and drank them (in public!) as we walked to Mallory Square. There, we saw lots of interesting people and E got her conch fritters.

But the real reason we were there was to watch the spectacular sunset:

 We got refills at Fat Tuesdays on the way back to our room, changed into warmer clothes, then had a taco dinner at Amigos.  The OSU- Clemson Orange Bowl game was on across the street, so we could keep track of the score.  We finished watching the (sad) game in our room.

Key West vacay, Day 3

Awoke to rain and that damned rooster. While checking out, I learned a bit about the history of our guest house. It was originally an estate, but for the past sixty years, it was a hotel called Big Ruby's, which catered to gay men. The name was only recently changed to Cabana Inn and that week had begun expanding their marketing to Adults Only.  There was a nice mix of couples while we stayed there.

We left Key West in a pouring rain and stopped at Hogfish Grill on Stock Island for lunch. It was an open-air bar/restaurant by a fishing boat dock. We got lobster bisque, hogfish tacos, and a hogfish sandwich. The gray cat slept on the ledge:

We continued on Hwy 1. Took a detour to the Key Deer Preserve and were rewarded with deer sightings:

We arrived in Marathon, where we'll stay the next four nights. We're staying at the Kingsail Resort, which is really a modest motor hotel with boat docks and  kitchenettes and is just perfect for us. We checked out Sombrero Beach, about two miles away. Then to Publix, the liquor store, a roadside place for fresh corn and tomatoes, and the seafood market for shrimp. The girls whipped up a delicious batch of guacamole and frogmore stew, which we ate by the dock:

Sleepy girls, early to bed!

Key West Vacay, Day 1

The long-awaited, long-promised trip to Key West with my DDs  finally arrived!

Up at 4:00am, out the door and checked in at the parking lot at 5:00a. Light snow flurries started on the airport shuttle.

Snowing harder by the time we boarded ~6:30a. Woman across the aisle from us had a cat in a carry-on bag; he mewed because he was scared but not bothersome.  Pulled away from the gate on time, then watched the de-icing truck spray a couple inches of new snow off the wings. Captain said after they sprayed anti-icer, we'd head to the south runway, "the only one that's open, because they've closed the airport." We were the second to last plane to leave, then CMH closed until 9:39a (per Robert).  Columbus ended up with 6' snow and an approaching cold front which is bringing sub-zero temps in a few days. We got out just in time!

Landed in Nashville about 45' late, but didn't change planes. We scooted up a few rows to exit-row seats.

We settled into our naps on the flight to Fort Lauderdale, when I jumped to action at the sound of the intercom: "Attention. If there are any medical personnel, please come to the back of the plane." A young woman had fainted, vomited, was now post-ictal and non-responsive; cool and clammy, but breathing and with a good pulse. She was already being cared for by a traveling companion who said she was a critical-care nurse. That trumps my midwifery expertise, so I followed her directions. The young woman came around with oxygen, time, some orange juice; the flight attendants were awesome and kept things under control around us. When we landed, the  EMTs wheeled her out first; the FAs thanked me as we deplaned.  Our day was getting better and better!

Rented a cute blue Nissan Versa and hit the road, sunglasses on and windows down to feel the 80-degree sun. Stopped for lunch at a Cuban restaurant in Homestead, Casavana. Shared two huge delicious meals of vaca frita, masas de puerca, rice and black beans, frittatas, plantains.

Beautiful drive down Route 1 to Key West. Found our cute little motel in Marathon, looked for Key Deer at the sanctuary, but didn't see any.  Drive took 3.5hrs due to creeping traffic through Islamorada (it's not like you can take a detour) and then fender-bender at MM15. Watched the sunset from our car instead of Mallory Square as we'd hoped, but it's all good.

Tense driving into the heart of Key West at dusk, watching out for pedestrians and bicyclists, then parked at our beautiful guest house just off Duval Street: the Cabana Inn. It was a former estate and is
just lovely; has a small pool, hot tub, evening happy hour with complimentary wine and cheese, continental breakfast. We have a quaint room on the second floor.

We cleaned up and hit the town! Lots of action on Duval and surrounding streets. Ate at Conch Republic, an open-air place next to a marina. We shared: steamed oysters, shrimp, conch chowder, spinach salad.  Walked around a got a piece of GF Key Lime pie and a dish of Heavenly Hash ice cream, then walked to Mallory Square and shared the deliciousness. Picked up beer/cider on our way
back to our room, then drank a beverage while we enjoyed the pool and hot tub before collapsing in bed.

Another Dam 50k

AKA: "You. Are. An. Ultramarathoner!"

I talked Kristen Huener Henney into doing for the Bigfoot 50k (at Salt Fork State Park, near Cambridge) with me last December. Why? Because:
(1) the 31.5-mile race was 3 weeks after the Richmond Marathon, so if I maintained my weekly running schedule and added in a 3-hour run on the hilly trails of Highbanks Metro Park, I'd be prepared;
(2) we had 8-hours in which to finish (= average 15:25/mile pace);
(3) I hadn't done an ultra yet; and
(4) my sister had.

Before, in "not a deer" clothing.

 

K's legs after.

 The course was much more difficult than either of us expected: steep "technical" hills, shoe-soaking creek crossings, and long patches of ankle-deep mud, thanks to the previous four days of rain. Kristen (the Mountain Goat) and I ran the first 10.5-mile loop together, but it was obvious that her legs were adapting to the terrain much better than mine; I sent her on her way shortly into the second loop. Meanwhile, my quads were burning from the hills and I was getting tired of slogging through the mud. When I had to retrieve my double-knotted trail shoe from the middle of 50-foot mud bog, I made my decision: I was done with this foolishness. I finished the second loop and walked back to cheer on KHH and the other finishers. I was a little disappointed at DNF'ing, but I learned a lot from the experience and got a great hoodie as race schwag.


This spring, my ultra-buddy Mikaila Burns (with her eyes on the 100-mile prize this summer) convinced me to register for Another Dam 50k (at Englewood Metro Park, near Dayton). It would be a training run for her and she promised me that I'd like the course better and that I *would* finish.

Before

The race is put on by the Ohio River Road Runners Club (they also do the Xenia Half in April). The laid-back vibe and the price ($15, or $25 if you want a finishers' shirt) can't be beat.

The course: A mix of gravel trail (similar to Blendon or Highbanks), grass/hard mud, asphalt bike trail/road, wooden/composite bridges, and only a few technical hills w/ roots/rocks. It was a figure-eight course, with fluids at the start/finish and a well-stocked aid station with enthusiastic volunteers in the middle; we were never more than 2.6m away from aid. Very nice course for newbies.

The weather: Perfect! 55 at the start, 74 at the finish; mostly sunny with some welcome cloud cover during the mile-long dam crossing, light wind.

Running through the woods

My food/fluids:  I've been derailed by leg cramps and GI issues in previous races, so this year I'm trying Infinit, which is a powder supplement used by some of my Ironman friends. It's a personalized blend of carbs, proteins, electrolytes, and flavor which is intended to be the only source of calories/nutrition used during a long training ride/run or a race (vs. drinking Gatorade at aid stations and eating Gu gels or honey-stinger waffles).

Wore my 50oz/1.5liter Camelbak w/ water (refilled it 4 times) and carried hand-helds w/ concentrated Infinit (used my entire 7hr supply), peed once during the 1st loop. When my calves started tightening near the end of the 1st loop, I worried that there wasn't enough electrolyte in my Infinit to prevent cramps. Added Endurolyte Fizz tablets to Infinit in the rest of the hand-helds (4-5 tabs total)... I'll need to have more electrolytes added to my next order of Infinit, especially for summer biking/running. By the end of the 2nd loop, my mouth and hands were yucky sticky sweet from the Infinit - maybe I can also get the sweetness dialed down in the next blend (if it can be done w/o reducing calories). I snacked on grapes/strawberries/chips, not so much for the nutrition, but to put a new flavor in my mouth (they also had pretzels, PBJ sandwiches, cookies, and more). Overall, I had good energy and felt I drank enough water.


I ran the first 2 loops (and first 2m of the 3rd) w/ Mikaila; she understands how to pace these endurance races and she kept me from going out too fast. Eventually, I just needed to take off and so she sent me on my way. I walked up the hills, but ran nearly all of the last 2 loops. The bottoms of my feet were sore near the end but otherwise no pains and mercifully, no cramps.

My 4-loop course splits: 1:38:10, 1:38:42 (3:16:52 total), 1:41:58 (4:58:50 total), 1:32:17 (6:30:07 finish). I beat my 7:00:00 goal; Mikaila finished in just over 7 hours. We celebrated with delicious frosty-cold diet Cokes.

After!

Today, my legs are only a little bit stiff (no worse than after any other marathon and way better than after 22 Bigfoot miles). I would definitely do this race again! In fact, I'm going to convince my Running Buddies who are doing a Spring 2013 marathon to keep up their post-'thon mileage and do this ultra with me :)