Final Dog Days of Bike Tour

On Thursday, we biked 31 miles to the Charleston Tea Plantation, the only place in North America to grow and process tea. Since I am a tea aficionado, I really enjoyed the indoor and outdoor tours and bought some souvenirs. (Lauren Pressley: I thought of you while we were there!) Bill is a coffee guy, so he choose to do an extra loop to the waterfront while we were on tour. One of the highlights on the ride was the Angel Oak, a live oak tree rumored by the natives to be 1400 years old. We heard a story that the Spoleto Festival held a ballet on flooring placed under the tree a couple of years ago and two yellow snakes, caught enthusiastically mating in the branches, fell to the floor on top of the dancers! Above is a picture of the Angel Oak. On Thursday night we had dinner at High Cotton, one of the best restaurants in Charleston.

On Friday, the trip came to an exciting conclusion. We only biked 22 miles but we had all kinds of dog encounters, the most exciting of which was when a pretty little black lab mix ran alongside our bikes for THREE MILES. She wouldn't go home, no matter what we did. She was even bowled over by a pit bull on the way and was even more determined after that to stay by the nice bikers she decided to adopt. We finally stopped and called our van support, asking them to take the dog back to where we found it. They couldn't find anyone who knew the dog and left it with some people who said they would take care of it but when we checked later we found that the real owner came looking for her and so the story ended happily. We almost had a sister for Salem and Homer! In all the excitement, I forgot to take a picture of the dog, but here is a picture of two nice horses with whom we shared an apple.

We had lunch at the Caw Caw Interpretive Center and then returned to the Charleston hotel where we left our car last Saturday and drove home. It was a great trip and I highly recommend Carolina Tailwinds to everyone!

Day Off in Charleston

Wednesday was our "free" day on the tour, which came at a good time so we could rest our seats and do something different. Bill chose to run 11 miles over the Ravenal Bridge, something he had always wanted to do but we could never make it down to the annual Cooper River Bridge Run. He arranged for a pick-up on Sullivan's Island so he wouldn't have to run back!


I chose to play tourist (along with about 10,000 other people in town) and walk through a couple of historic homes. As many times as I've been in Charleston, I've never taken the time to take a house and garden tour. The first one was the Nathaniel Russel House, lovingly restored in all its grandeur to the time of its original owners in the early 1800's.







The second house was the Calhoun Mansion, also dramatically restored after being condemned by the city in the early 1970's. The current owner still lives there and in fact was in his study working while our tour group tramped through his house. He must be rather eccentric, as he crammed the house full of 23 truckloads of antiques from all time periods and all styles: Egyptian, Chinese, Native American, European, etc, topped off by a taxidermy collection of exotic animals. The tour guide said that the most common reaction upon opening the front door is Oh My God. She wasn't kidding. Now I understand why the Historic Charleston Foundation declines to list it on its site.

The final house I visited was the Aiken-Rhett House, which in contrast to the other two was in a state of conservation, rather than restoration. It was purposely left in a state of decay, showing (literally) all layers of the family that lived there from 1817 to 1975. It does a good job at showing how slaves lived in these high society Charleston town houses. This is an image of the stable behind the house.

So after all this touring of historical homes, I was as tired as if if I had ridden a bike all day. Our group celebrated our day off with a Happy Hour on the rooftop terrace and then Bill and I had a dinner on our own at Fish. Truly, it is impossible to have a bad meal in this town!

Tuesday in the ACE Basin

Today was by far the best cycling day. We returned to the ACE Basin (Ashepoo, Combahee and Edisto river watershed). The route was simple, 16 miles out and 16 miles back of low traffic, shady pine trees arching overhead, punctuated with rice plantations, salt marsh, and alligator-laden ponds. See if you can spot the alligator at the bottom of the picture.

We had lunch at the National Estuarine Research Center, where a biologist gave a talk on the ecology of the area. One of our guides is a biologist herself and knows absolutely every tree, flower, bird and mammal in the area. Here is a picture of me on the banks of the Ashepoo River. On the way back, temperatures reached 88 degrees, so we were hot and tired at the end.

After biking, we shuttled into Charleston and checked into the Ansonborough Inn. OMG. What a gorgeous place. There are five pieces of original art in our bathroom! I will never stay at another hotel when I am in Charleston. We had a fabulous dinner at Magnolias and called it a night (except for blogging and email, that is).

Beaufort, South Carolina

We had a full day today. Up at 6:15, on the road at 7:15 for a bike tour of beautiful downtown Beaufort, SC. There is more money in this town than our beloved Beaufort, NC: bigger houses, and more of them, but not as many boats or docks. The live oak and Spanish moss give it a magical feel. We saw the house and the green where they filmed the tag football scene in The Big Chill. We saw plenty of evidence of social stratification (like this house for sale), which made me think of the South Course with Earl and Angie.

After a huge breakfast, we biked to the Penn Center, where freed slaves were educated by Northern missionaries, and we learned a little about the Gullah language. Then we biked about 25 miles to Hunting Island State Park, truly the most beautiful state park any of us had ever seen. After lunch, Bill put his toes in the ocean but at 66 degrees, it was too cold even for him.


Then we took a 2 hour eco-kayak tour of a salt marsh lagoon, complete with a hike over to the beach where there was serious erosion. At 5:00 we were all pooped and shuttled back to the Inn, where we swapped stories at Happy Hour and then headed off to a light dinner on our own. Watching the NCAA right now. Go Butler!

South Carolina Low Country Bike Trip

Bill and I are taking a lovely spring vacation on the Carolina Tailwinds Low Country bike tour. We arrived on Saturday evening, just in time to get our bikes fitted and then headed to downtown Charleston where we had a drink watching Butler beat Michigan State (yay) and then went to the Easter Vigil service at the Cathedral Church of St Luke and St. Paul. One hour forty five minutes including Confirmation surely makes up for the fact that we are missing Easter service on Sunday!

On Sunday morning, we left Charleston and shuttled to a convenient put-in point where we road through Forrest Gump territory in the ACE Basin outside of Charleston. Here is a picture of the "Run Forrest Run" lane of trees overhead. We also passed "Bubba's Shed" and Forrest and Jenny's tree. The countryside is quite beautiful with live oak trees arching overhead with Spanish Moss and wisteria that just came into bloom.

I did a leisurely 30 miles before lunch and Bill took an extra loop for 39 miles. After lunch, we shuttled into the beautiful town of Beaufort, SC (that is byoo-furt, as opposed to the North Carolina town of Bow-furt, which we love beyond all other and where we hope to retire some day). The similarities between the two ante-bellum harbor towns are amazing, with many street names the same. We are looking forward to exploring the town in the next couple of days.

OBXers Storm Kiawah Half and Full Marathon!

(Note: Post duplicated from susansharplesssmith.info - I only have one story in me!)

Race Day at Kiawah was an unqualified success. OBX racers this year were: Lynn, Bill, Ron, Susan, Erik, Wanda, Doris, Carolyn and newbies Mark Welker and Alexander Sutton. Race support members were Mark McCallum and Sandy Welker. The weather forecast was the biggest worry as we knew a big rain front was on the way. We were lucky – the rain held off until after noon and all the Wake OBXers were finished by then. The overcast cool weather was perfect for racing and the course was a beautiful flat one that took us through 13 miles of Kiawah Island neighborhoods. Everyone was pleased with their times. I managed a chip time of 2:14:20. Anytime I come in under 2:15 is a good day for me! My fastest split was actually between miles 12 and 13. It was invigorating to actually pass other runners throughout the race and still have energy to finish strong!

After the race, some of us napped, some chilled out in front of the TV, and one adventurer spent the afternoon exploring the island in the rain (guess who?). Everyone was recovered by dinner and we attended the post race lowcountry bash at the Sanctuary (a very fancy hotel on the island). We ended the day with a small celebration party back at our rental unit. Everyone was in bed and sleeping by 10 pm though! We are already planning for the next iteration of our group's annual effort!

OBX Half-Marathon 2008

Susan with a Pirate
Originally uploaded by CellPhoneSusie

It wasn't the same being back at the OBX without any of the original wakeobxers except Ron. But we returned for the Year 3 event with our daughter-in-law's family. They had selected the OBX half/full marathon for their yearly family race event. We rented a big house that ended up being right on the race course, which made it handy for the folks that didn't race (including Meredith who cheered hundreds of racers as they passed by). Four of us did the half this time around: Ron, Nancy, Sue (Nancy's mom) and me. Nancy's cousin Karen was the lone marathoner this year.

The course had been tweaked a bit since the inaugural event we attended. They moved the finish line to the waterfront in Manteo (at the Maritime Museum). The made the finish so much nicer: right on the water, a big street party and tons of activity. The starting points were a bit different, but for the most part the route was the same. The biggest difference (beside the fact they did much better with the number of port-o-lets at the starting line) was that the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Once the sun came up, it was a cloudless beautifully sunny day with enough breeze to keep the racers cool. The number of racers had also grown, with 3000 starting the half and around 1200 the full. They started us in waves, which helped with preventing too much jamming up in the first few miles.

I had a much better race than I anticipated, particularly a week after the half ironman. I did the 13.1 miles in just under 2 hours, 15 minutes, at a pace of 10:18. That got me 12th out of 68 in my age group, which was the fastest pace I've managed in over a year!

If you wonder who that pirate guy is in the picture, it's not Ron! They had this whole pirate theme going (giving prizes for costumes, no I did not participate.....). But I did get my post race picture with a wandering pirate as we waited for everyone to come in.

Hey, OBXer's, we should put this race back on the table for next year, it's really a very nice event when the weather is perfect!

Beach 2 Battleship Half and Full Triathlon

Susan's post nearly says everything there is interesting to say about this race - and about all that I can add is that "it hurt." The event was well coordinated for the full participants as I had just enough time after catching the bus from downtown to look over my equipment before heading to the tip of Wrightsville beach on the trolley. We started the race by running (or walking in my case) into the surf and swimming into the channel. As I made the right turn to head along shore it was as if I had a propeller strapped to my back. After the few days of edginess leading up to the race, having the hour to speed along on the incoming tide was calming. I was amazed when I got out of the water and saw that I had swum the 2.4 miles in 1 hour flat!

The bike was enjoyable but definitely a bit draining. As Susan reported - the day warmed up nicely and before I knew it (I mean after about 2.5 hours) my feet defrosted and I was able to take off my gloves and arm-warmers. I averaged just over 19 mph on the bike and came into the run a bit tired but feeling ok. I started the run at right around hour 7 and headed up the first (of 6) bridge crossings. Like Susan I was a bit concerned about the run and my ability to keep moving for the entire distance.

I really wanted to run the first 13 miles anyway and seeing all the support of the people in downtown Wilmington really helped. The run included a beautiful loop around Greenfield Lake and I have to say qualifies as one of the nicest setup-events run ever. Starting the second loop was both exciting and painful - I took two ibuprofen and decided to try running on a mile-by-mile basis. As lap 2 settled in so I resigned myself to probably not breaking the 12 hour mark I had set leading up to this race but somewhere around mile 17 the ibuprofen kicked in and - in my one real surprise of the day, my pace picked up from what can only be called a 'shuffle' to a 'slow run.' It was my first experience of 'finishing strong' on a long distance race and it felt good :).

As Susan said, the quality of the aid stations and level of support was really amazing. The residents of Wilmington had to put up with long lines to get over the bridges (I had several folks cheer me on from their cars as they waited), closed streets, and exhausted runners all Saturday and all I could think as a rounded the run course a second time was that while my day was about over - those volunteers had another 5 hours in front of them.

Although I've got no pics (well there are a few of me but I don't think we need to be posting them on the web), there is a nice article about the event in the Wilmington Star.

And as a last note - I hear we are getting the OBX group together for the Misltetoe 5K and Half-Marathon. The 5k is walker friendly and the half-marathon features a portion of the now famous WTL5K route. . . .

Beach 2 Battleship Half and Full Triathlon

Yesterday was the Beach 2 Battleship Half and Full Triathlon. This was an inaugural event in Wilmington, NC. The triathlon community is very large and active in North Carolina, and there has been a demand for a full distance event (aka Ironman, but that is trademarked) for a long time (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run). An ironman competition has been a goal for Erik for several years, but it is hard to get a slot in these races since there aren’t lots of them and the competition is so fierce that they often close out registration within an hour of opening! So when this event was announced early in the year, Erik jumped on it and talked me into coming along since they also offered a half distance race as part of the event (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13.1 mile run).

Training for either of these events takes months of dedication on the athlete’s part and Erik was focused and well prepared. I wasn’t quite as ready as I should have been due to my foot problems this year, but was fairly confident that I could muddle through. During the last few weeks, we finished our “build” period of training and worked hard at the recommended “taper”, which was hard for Erik and too much like my regular regime for me. We had to figure out what clothing and equipment to bring, which is harder than it sounds but since it was a Nov. 1 race, we had to be prepared for all types of weather. Think about what is required in equipment: warm up clothing, swim goggles, wetsuit, bicycles, cycling shoes, helmet, gloves, running shoes, sunglasses, hats, arm warmers, cycling shorts, running shorts, nutition, well, you get the idea! So we pulled it all together and headed to Wilmington Friday morning to check in and be ready to be at the race site by 5:30 am Sat.

The most daunting part of the race for me this time was the swim, because of the cold weather. Erik had to be in the water at 7 am for the full distance. We half distance racers got some small break and didn’t have to swim until 8:30. But the air temperature was low to mid 40’s and IMHO, the water wasn’t much warmer. Even with the wetsuit, it was enough to take your breath away it was so cold. And that was after standing around outside waiting for 3 ½ hours! My teeth were chattering before I even got a toe wet. The good part was they timed the swim to take place as the tide came in (It took place at Wrightsville Beach in the Intracoastal Waterway), so the swim times were very fast (the fastest full distance guy did 2.4 miles in 39 minutes!). I managed to have a decent swim, but it took quite awhile to warm back up as I biked.

The day (after the sun came up) was picture perfect for racing: sunny, cool, minimal wind. I had a good bike segment but tried to conserve some energy for the run, which is always torture for me. And I hadn’t been able to properly build for a 13.1 mile run since I only started running again a few months ago. But I actually had a tolerable run and felt good 7 miles into the 13. Then I faded but was able to keep up a steady jog, with a little walking at the food stations (which were every mile and very nicely done).

I completed the race in 6 hours, 44 minutes which pleased me since my goal was to get in under 7 hours. I pulled out first place in my age group (I think out of 4, but they haven’t posted all the results yet).

Erik will tell you his own story, but I’ll simply report that he had a fantastic race and finished in 11 hours and 52 minutes, a real accomplishment for a first iron distance race.

Carolina Tailwinds Bike Trip

I intended to post a blog entry for each day of our bike trip but I got virtually no reception on the AT&T laptop air card and only sporadic wireless. So this is the one and only entry.

Bill and I decided to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary with a bike trip to the Outer Banks. We used to go on lots of trips with Michigan Bicycle Touring, where the roads are flat and the shoulders are broad. Carolina Tailwinds advertised a flat route in the beautiful Outer Banks so we decided to take a chance.

Day One: We started the trip in New Bern, NC where we were dismayed by all of the McCain/Palin yard signs, including one at our B&B. Nevertheless, the trip started well and we traveled an unbelievable 52 miles before lunch! We shuttled the rest of the way into Beaufort (where the yard signs happily turned to Obama/Biden) and spent a lovely afternoon getting reacquainted with our favorite town, even snagging the elusive Beaufort flag that we had been seeking for years.

Day Two: We cycled 27 miles from Smyrna, NC
to Cedar Island, which doesn't sound like much but
it did include the two biggest hills (aka bridges) of the trip and also was mostly into a direct headwind. We took the ferry 2 1/2 hours into Ocracoke, the funky, mosquito-ridden pirate town.

Day Three: We chose to tool around Ocracoke rather than biking/ferrying to Hatteras Lighthouse. Bill swam in the ocean and I read on the beach - two of our favorite activities. We ran into several swarms of mosquitoes and I swelled up into a hot, red, itchy mass of welts. Yuck.

Day Four: We caught the early 7:00 am ferry and went back to Cedar Island, this time biking south but for some reason meeting headwinds also on the way back. How does that happen? We went 29 miles to lunch in Marshallberg and then caught the free ferry to Oriental. We had always wanted to visit Oriental, thinking it might be a match for Beaufort. It was even prettier than I imagined, but it is mostly for sailors, with no beaches to speak of, so we agreed to stick with Beaufort.

Day Five: We biked out of Oriental 22 miles before the rain threatened and I caught my wheel against a high curb under construction and wiped out. We called it a day along with about half our group and shuttled back to New Bern.

Overall, we had a great time and would recommend Carolina Tailwinds to anyone. The owner/operators live in Winston and stop at nothing to ensure a superb trip for all their guests. They even hauled our bikes to and from the trip because we live so near. They are super-organized and we are already thinking we will try another one (or more) of their trips. The flat ones, at least!

It was a great way to spend an anniversary!

Lynn

Support ZSR Library: Run the WTL5K!!!!

I know many of us are doing our own thing this fall: short footraces, sprint triathlons, bicycle tours, etc. But, wouldn't it be great if each of our "Wake OBX" group turned out on October 11 to either walk or run the 5K that is benefiting library programs at ZSR Library? If you can't run/walk, you can volunteer: we need people to help with registration, lead the student volunteer groups out on the course, and aid with the race line activities (food, awards, etc.).

Take a look at the race website and make the right decision to join us on a beautiful fall morning for a good cause:
http://zsr.wfu.edu/wtl5k/

Susan

Wednesday: The Trip Ends Early

Perfect day
Barry and Lynn smile
The trip ends

Haiku aside, our original five day trip was unfortunately reduced to one glorious day, as Lynn and Bill returned home on Wednesday to be with Lynn's mom who was inexplicably mugged at her assisted living home in Winston-Salem. Her purse was snatched and she was knocked down by drive-by muggers while standing outside her building. She was taken to the hospital with some pretty bad scrapes on her arm and leg and later released. Who would do such a thing? The good news is that two men were arrested shortly after it happened. It seems unbelievable she should live 80 years in Detroit with nary a mishap, only to be mugged in sweet Winston-Salem. We are thankful she was not hurt worse.

As to the unfinished great bicycle adventure: we'll be back! The sequel is being planned as I type...

Tuesday: The Agony and The Ecstasy

The day dawned bright and beautiful and Barry and Lynn were on the road by 9:45 am at the Deal, Pa trail head. We enjoyed a beautiful, bucolic countryside in sunny, crisp weather. Truly, it could not have been more perfect. The trail was hardpacked and fast (at least at the beginning) and humans were few and far between (but those we met were friendly and helpful).




We traveled over a number of stunning viaducts. The most scenic of which was this one called the Keystone.



Barry was fascinated by the windmills and asked me to take pictures of several. This shot was from the Salisbury Viaduct, high over the roadway, with a terrific view of a wind energy ridge.





As most of you would have done, we quoted our favorite poetry to each other. This is a living illustration of Longfellow's forest primeval from "Evangeline:"







Along about Garrett, PA the trail got a little sticky, no doubt saturated from the previous day's rains. We worked our way to Rockwood, PA for lunch and learned that we were smart not to try the trip yesterday as the lady at the convenience store told us that she drove to work in the snow!

We were warned about the detour around the Pinkerton tunnel but took cheer in the fact that it had been "paved" over the weekend. However, two friendly bikers told us that "paving" meant adding two inches of sand and gravel to the surface and in fact it was the roughest mile and a half of the trip. But we persevered and arrived in Ft. Hill, PA 15 minutes ahead of schedule and found our Bill, our tried and true trip support person, waiting for us with bottles of cold water.


Stats:

31 miles in 6.5 hours.
9.018 mph actual peddling time
3 potty breaks
12 pictures taken
hundreds of laughs
cost: priceless

Day Zero (Monday)

Forecast: Rain and snow this morning transitioning to light rain late in the day. Cold. High 42F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of precip 80%.

Given this forecast and considering that discretion is the better part of valor, Lynn and Barry opted to take advantage of our swing day and save the trail for tomorrow, visiting Fallingwater instead.



Surely everyone knows that Fallingwater is Frank Lloyd Wright's most famous architectural design. It is about 45 minutes from 7 Springs and since it was too cold and wet to do anything else, we spent a delightful afternoon tramping around the fieldstone floors of Fallingwater. Lynn and Bill had never been there before and Maureen and Barry were very patient in exploring the lovely but weird house that was built for Pittsburgh's Kauffman family. A nice couple offered to take a picture of Lynn and Bill at the "view" from the woods.

We ended the evening with a delicious dinner (Bill had antelope!) at 7 Springs and trying to figure out this blog. The trip starts tomorrow!

7 Springs

After a lovely Mother's Day breakfast with Nana in Winston-Salem, Bill and I arrived at 7 Springs about 5 pm, having driven through a tornado watch in Beckley, WV. There was about a 20 mile stretch that had no power along US 19, which was a bit scary. Nonetheless, we arrived safely and enjoyed a very nice ham and butter bean dinner with Mom and Dad. The bad news is that it was 43 degrees and rainy, not exactly like the 78 degrees and sunny that we left in Winston.

Negotiations are currently underway regarding daily and alternate routes, depending on the weather. We will make up our collective minds tomorrow and let you know how and what we did.

Happy Mother's Day, everyone!

Launch: Lynn and Barry's Great Bicycle Adventure

Some of you know that Barry Kane and Lynn Sutton are about to start out on a great bicycle adventure. The idea was born last October when we were tooling around the Elizabethan Gardens on Roanoke Island. "I've always wanted to ride the Pittsburgh to DC trail," says Barry. "I'd do it with you," says Lynn. It sounded like a good idea at the time!

Plans have changed many times, from going west to east, to east to west, from Cumberland to DC, to Deal, PA to McKeesport, PA. Avoiding the eastern continental divide was Barry's best idea yet. Bill and Mom will be our designated support team, hauling ourselves and our bikes from trail to lodging each night.

I will try to keep the blog up to date on a daily basis - with pictures, no less (you'll be proud of me, Susan). Here is a stock photo of Barry and Bill, father and son, in happier times:











Visit this space daily, and wish us luck!

Shamrock Half Marathon Weekend In Virginia Beach

King Neptune
Originally uploaded by CellPhoneSusie

In spite of dire predictions of horrible weather, the Shamrock Marathon/Half Marathon took place today. The bad weather moved through in the middle of the night and although it was a cold, dark start, the weather improved and the race period even saw some sun!

Our group traveled separately to Virginia Beach yesterday, with some of the group (Ron and me) spending the afternoon exploring by bike, and some by foot (Wanda, Doris and Carolyn). We all met up for dinner at Mahi Mah's on the ocean and then went back to get ready for an early race start.

We all met up at the start line around 6:30 am this morning. It was cold, windy and dark. But everyone dressed for the weather and had a positive outlook. Bill left us to start the race from Corral #3 (yes, they corralled us). He was our only runner. The rest of us gathered in Corral #5, with all the walkers.

I decided last minute to join in, not listening to any good medical sense, giving into the infectious enthusiasm of the race. My foot didn't fall off, so all's good so far.

All racers performed superbly, finishing strongly! I think we'd all vote that it was a worthwhile weekend. All the weekend pictures can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/cellphonesusie/sets/72157604128588045/

Last Chance Training Session

Ron & Carolyn Training Walk
Originally uploaded by CellPhoneSusie

Today, some of the Shamrock Half Marathon racers headed to Salem Lake for a final long training walk or run. Bill, Lynn, Ron, Susan and Carolyn all hit the trail, either on foot or bike (poor Susan who still can't run). Elizabeth joined Susan for a couple loops around the lake.

Final race weekend plans were set too. Bill is handling Saturday evening dinner reservations. Susan will collect cell phone numbers and make sure every racer can reach the race support (Susan and Doris). Susan will help get all racers to the 7 am start line (set that alarm, Mary H.). Saturday afternoon plans depend on the weather, but beach walks and bicycle rides are possibilities. Most are heading up the road to Va. Beach early Saturday morning and returning Sunday afternoon.

Should be a fun weekend for everyone!

Bill and Susan Compete in the W-S Short Course Duathlon

Team "Still Kicking"
Originally uploaded by CellPhoneSusie

Today, WakeOBX fielded a relay team in a local duathlon: the Winston-Salem Short Course race. The race was held in Lewisville, Bill's hometown and my bicycling territory. Since I can't run right now, and Bill's idea of bicycling is beach cruising, we teamed up to form a formidable team - Bill did the run sections and I did the bike portion. He started out running a 3 lap course for 3.1 miles. Then I took off on my bike and raced 14 miles. When I got back, he took off again for another 2 miles! We pulled a combined time of 1:23.01. The day turned out to be a great temperature for racing and the sun came out enough to keep it from being too chilly while waiting around.

Even though it was a nearby race, we had our usual excellent race support with Ron and Lynn coming out to cheer us on and Ron to take pictures.

It was a good event (with each of us receiving a nice technical t-shirt instead of the usual cotton issue).

Group Training Session Survives Gusty Winds

Today some of our group braved gale force wind gusts to train for the Shamrock and next week's Lewisville duathlon. Bill and I planned a run-through for next week's duathlon where our "Still Kicking" relay team plans to kick butt and take names. Bill ran the run course and I pedaled the bike course. Once our plan to practice was set, Lynn organized a training session for the group's Shamrock half marathon walkers, and other interested OBXers. We set up for all to meet at Lewisville Square at noon, hoping it would be warm enough to proceed in comfort, and not too windy.

I went out an hour early to warm up, and Elizabeth Skinner rode with me. We covered the 14 mile race course and had a nice, if breezy, ride. Then I met up with Bill, did a little race day planning, after which we each took off to practice our roles for the race. By the time I headed out to repeat the 14 mile route at race pace, the wind had picked up considerably! At one point, I was heading downhill into the wind on Williams Road, pedaling furiously, and only got up to 10 mph. That's how strong the winds had become. I still managed to complete the route in 48 minutes, which I think is a 17.5 mph rate. I hope to be able to cut this down several minutes if there's no wind and with my time trial bike next week.

While Bill and I practiced, the walkers set off on a six mile route. The group was comprised of Lynn, Ron, Carolyn, Mary H., Mary Beth and both her kids. Ron reported that they had a fabulous walk with everyone keeping pace. He was motivated by being surrounded by a group of strong walking females! He particularly noted Mary H's level of endurance since she's been working with a personal trainer. He also was impressed with Mary Beth's ability to keep pace with her daughter riding on her back!

Hopefully, we'll be able to pull together another group practice session before we head to Va. Beach in mid-March.

WakeOBX gears up for 2008

It's only half way through January and our illustrious group has already had two meetings to plan the year and discuss how to attract more active members.

The first meeting two weeks ago attracted all the beer drinkers, since it was held at Foothills Brewery on a Friday evening. We established that the Shamrock Half Marathon/Marathon in Virginia Beach (March 16) was a good first goal. A few decided to team up and do the Lewisville duathlon in February. People chugged down their beers, rushed home, registered for the Shamrock race and hunted for hotels that still had rooms, with an ocean view and no bugs. Most everyone was successful. Attendees included: Bill and Lynn, Carolyn and Mark, Ron and Susan and Karen.

In the interest of being an inclusive group, a second meeting was held in the ZSR Library Johnson Room yesterday, with pizza (no beer, middle of the work day :-( ). We were really pleased to have two new athletes join us: Welcome Doris and Mary Beth.

Although we are a loosely formed organization (well, we are not much of any kind of organization), Bill did produce minutes of the meeting, which I include here:

present: susan, lynn, carolyn, doris, mary beth, karen, mary, bill, pizza, pop, cake.

much discussion ensued about lack of agenda -- not susan's fault. absent same, here follows a summary of discussion items, maybe not in order:

1. first, a wakeobx organizational history: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLxgw5JDQ_4

2. also, http://www.shamrockmarathon.com/site3.aspx is filling up fast.

3. here's a good ~5 mile loop around wfu http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=182544

4. but here's the best route-mapping tool evah: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/

5. couple wakeobx'ers are down for http://fsseries.com/duathlon_winston_salem_short.php

6. random training schedule (for old people): http://www.halhigdon.com/senior/Senior.htm

7. batting around a notion of an idea for a concept of an official "wake the library" 5k.

8. learn it, love it, live it: http://backpacker.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip.aspx?TripID=5748

9. some might still try: http://ncraces.com/Crystal_Coast_Race.php

10. meeting adjourns, right on time.

next meeting: sat, jan 19, 11 am, salem lake trailhead, run/walk/bike as self-directed.

respectfully submitted by,

--wpk

WakeOBX is seeking new members

Hi all & welcome to 2008. . ..As many of you know, several people in the libray belong to WakeOBX- the ZSR libray fitness club.  WakeOBX exists to support the fitness goals of anyone who wants to join.  If you are looking for a group to get fit with, want to participate in a race, or just want to hang out with possibly the coolest group of people at the university, come on. . .

 

WakeOBX has a blog (http://wakeobx.blogspot.com & listserv (wakeobx@lists.wfu.edu) which you are welcome to join.

 

With the new year comes resolutions, training & race planning. The inagural meeting of WakeOBX2008 will be this friday night at 5:30pm at foothills brewery.  Anyone who is interested is invited to come & share their fitness goals for 2008.   We have talked about short & long distance running/walking events, triathlons, and bike rides. 

 

See you there!

 

Erik 

 

Hello OBXers! Ready to Train?

OK, we had some chatter about a Dec. 8 marathon at Kiawah way back when. I think that Billy O'Banks is the only member of last years OBXers to make a real commitment to the race so far (ie, plunking down the registration and reserving a hotel room). I hear from Craig that Billy has been spotted out training on the roads around Lewisville recently.

My excuse has been my foot injury and I just got the news from the doc today that I have to wear the cast for one more week. But within 1 week or two AFTER that, he has given me his blessing to start "jogging" again. So I am thinking that (and the doc concurs) that I could feasibly shoot for a half marathon in early Dec. Now, Kiawah has that option: marathon/half marathon. You know that it will kill my self esteem to have to "half step" the race, but 1/2 of a marathon is 13.1 miles further than I'm able to do now!

Erik mentions another race available that week that has both a marathon and a half: Charlotte's Thunder Road (http://www.runcharlotte.com/). I would be game for either, although I would lean toward Kiawah because I hate to think of Billy out all by himeself with no cheering crowd :-(. But, are there even any hotel rooms left?

Carolyn M. was just saying this week that she misses the camraderie of the training and the working together to train. Summer heat is almost over and fall training for a Dec. race might be very nice.

So, are any of you OBXers game to make a commitment?

Spring Race Anyone?

I'm still planning to do the Charlotte Race Fest half marathon on Sat. April 14. It also has a 10K option. If anyone in our running group is interested in joining me, let me know and we can do some car pooling!

http://www.charlotteracefest.com/

Race Season 2007

Lets get it straight - put on a few pounds in the last Week! - Kiawah would be an excellent venue, nice and fast too. . .That puts the Grandfather Mountain Marathon in the mix for anyone who is interested (july)- prettiest race you will ever run!

Let's Plan!

Hi everyone,
I am sure all of you are starting to think hard about what the next "big" event is for our group in 2007. We've thrown out the idea of Marine Corps marathon, but it doesn't include a half marathon option. I got a suggestion today to consider the Kiawah marathon/half that takes place Dec. 8. I've heard good things about this race; my daughter-in-law did the half a few years ago.

http://recreation.kiawahresort.com/marathon.html

I admit, I'm trying to schedule a marathon that will fit with my plan to do a half ironman in Sept. I need sufficient time to recover and train for the marathon; that makes the Oct./Nov marathon a tad too early for these old muscles.

On another note: who is interested in a spring half marathon? I'm looking to do a repeat appearance in the Charlotte Racefest. It will be held on April 14. It has both a half marathon and a 10k race, so that might be good for most in our group as an early season race. Plus it would be an easy Sat. morning drive down, run the race, and go shopping at Southpark (right where the race begins and ends). I did the half last year and it was a very well run event.

http://www.charlotteracefest.com/

So, no pressure, just throwing out some options to consider. If you are like me, you have been wallowing in your off season and have put on a few lbs. over the past month! It's time to gear up and commit to an event that will jump start your dedication to get your training going!

Music Makes You Smarter

I came across this article in Runnersworld.com that talks about the benefits of listening to music while you run, including results from one study that indicates listening to music while exercising can make you smarter!

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,sssss6-240-363--10348-1-1X2X3-4,00.html

In case you are looking for new music to run with here are some new playlists from the same section:

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-363--10350-0,00.html

Motivational songs for 5 Olympians

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-363--10349-0,00.html

Training motivation

So,

After hearing yesterday that the average blog has an average readership of one (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/?p=758), I figured that I should update our blog for that poor loney person out there. . .

So, here is our new training motivation video - if we had just had this for obx. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzZklI_9pL4

All the Blog Lynn Can Muster

For me, the OBX Marathon was all about the camaraderie with fellow wakeobxers. My big physical challenge had come the week before, when I participated in the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk in Phoenix, AZ. I had been training since February to walk 60 miles in 3 days, so when the wakeobx group decided to do the marathon the week after the 3 Day, I thought, why not? What's another 13 miles? Besides, it would give me the chance to actually participate in a race with my spouse. Previously, I had been Bill's race support, which consists mostly of keeping him supplied in dry shirts about every 8 miles! Despite my native INTJ loner/loser persona, I very much enjoyed walking and chatting with Ron and Carolyn, trying to outguess the rain. I think we actually managed to pull off a negative split, as Carolyn was really booking there at the end and Ron and I had all we could do to keep up with her!

The Expo was an unexpected treat on Saturday. It was great fun to see people do a double take when they saw the Wake Forest sign and then delight in scarfing up our freebies. Thanks to everyone who dug through Wake Forest closets to come up with the schwag.

Mary gets my vote as the wakeobx MVP, ably assisted by Mark. Mary hauled the supplies for the Expo in her car on Friday and set up the booth all by herself. Then she hauled our behinds all over the Outer Banks, getting up at ungodly hours of the morning to do so. And finally, she took race photos every bit as good or better than the official photographers and at a much better price! Go Mary!

One last thing: this morning I delivered my "Finisher" medal to Wanda in the hospital and told her that was only until next year when she could earn one herself. It's all for you, Wanda.

OBX 26.2 Epilogue

The OBX Marathon was a great experience for me. I really enjoyed the group effort part of it and working through things together over the past 5-6 months. we should all be proud of our accomplishments individually, and as a group.

For me, this was the hardest thing I've ever done-plain and simple. This was the first time I've ever had my body tell me things mine was saying to me. It was tough.
The OBX townspeople were super positive and overall the race was well planned and executed. The only things I would change would be more bathrooms-and some food along the way. The route was beautiful and well marked-there were little tents every so often with cheering people inside! That guy with the coconut bra and grass skirt really got me laughing. I also missed Waits and Wanda! WakeOBX was a great group to be a part of.

As many others in our group, I too ran much farther than I ever have in my life. As I inched over 11, 12, 13+ miles this summer, I was amazed at what I was doing. Its changed my perspective on how much I can do. I also learned to eat and hydrate properly. This was something I never did before, making me feel awful after many of the 5K's I ran through the years...now I understand you have to eat and drink to make it through these physical events.

It was interesting to journey up the hill to the Wright Brothers Memorial with Erik. Up the hill with a cold wind and rain which made already aching legs hurt
even more we went to see the moument to flight which closed in 10 minutes. The Bodie Island Lighhouse and Cape Hatteras Lighthouse were inspiring on Saturday night. Thanks to Mary Horton for driving us down to see it and getting us to the Black Pelican for dinner. I had the best burger and fries ever at 5 Guys after the race-thanks to Karen for that suggestion. All around a really good experience-all should be proud of their efforts!

Craig

Capping off the race season (with another race). . .

Hi all,

I know that now that we are at Marathon + 3 days we are starting to think about all that conditioning that is building back up in our legs. I had been talking about the Misltetoe half-marathon/5k for a few weeks and thought that this was the perfect time to float it out there as our next event! Who's in?

http://central.ymcanwnc.org/content153.html

E