Aidan and I signed up for the Argus 400 Challenge primarily because it would be an interesting way to celebrate Bermuda's 400th and the half-marathon's 100th. In the beginning of the program (November/December) some of the workouts were brutal because our endurance wasn't that great. Added to that, Aidan doesn't like running and I generally don't run because of my knees. We turned a corner in February when we ran 5K without stopping and again in March when we ran our first 10K. Then we fell off our training schedule due to injury and our schedules. Still, we intended to participate in the race on Bermuda Day. When we walked the End-to-End on May 2nd, we knew that we could do the entire course walking in under the 4 hour limit.
I was really nervous leading up to the race. I knew I could make it to the end but I was concerned that I would injure my knees to the point that I would (finally) have to consent to surgery. I was outfitted in compression tights with built in knee stabilization and shock-absorbing shoe inserts. Aidan wore his running gear. We walked to the starting line from home and had to stand in a ridiculously long line to get our ankle sensors that would give us our official time at the end. There were about 1200 people at the starting line - and that is when I felt calm.
The race started late and it took us a few minutes to actually pass through the starting line due to the number of runners. The crowds were out in Somerset, ringing bells and calling out to everyone. We ran a comfortable 12 minute 1st mile and settled into that pace. We were then able to wave at family and friends and enjoy the sights. I had my camera so I snapped away as we ran. It was hot and humid so we made the most of the water stops. We ran past my goal of reaching Southampton Princess before I started walking and even ran up Burnt Houst Hill! In total we ran 8 miles before I told Aidan that we had to walk. I couldn't catch my breath and didn't have my asthma medicine with me.
We walked for about 3 miles, still keeping a good pace and enjoying the sights and sounds. The energy from the crowds was amazing! We started running again around Aberfeldy Nusery and were amazed when we came to Front Street. It was such an amazing perspective and our names were being screamed from all directions. It was so hot though and the air was not moving. We kept our pace, walking the hills for the sake of my knees and running the flat areas. I think I felt the most nostolgic when we turned the corner onto Cedar Avenue. It was beautiful and the people lining it made it all the more special. Before we knew it, we were passing the tennis stadium and running down the hill to the finish line.
In the end, I came in 986th and Aidan 987th out of 1141 people who finished. Aidan was 303rd in his age group and I was 199th. Our official time was 2:50. We're feeling pretty good!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Arizona Trip: March 16, 2009
We started again at Waffle House after sleeping in late (at least by our standards for this trip). We packed up and left the hotel with all of our kit. As the flight wasn’t until 10:30 pm so we had ages. We decided to go to the Arizona Science Centre. Here they had many hands on exhibits on magnetism, water, electricity, weather formations, geomorphology and plate tectonics etc. There was also a special exhibition on Star Trek, which I believe Marisa quite enjoyed. From here we drove to the mountains again to do a similar route to mine on Saturday. We took the route up towards Payson, but not as far this time as we immediately took the turning to Roosevelt. Marisa had me take a picture of her next to a large cactus. This time I will be able to see what the Canyon looked like, as Marisa was doing photography throughout. These should be posted on our facebook page etc. in the next day or so. The journey wasn’t nearly as long or worrisome as the first time, for me as the driver, but then I knew what to look out for. It was then back to the mall for some wandering around and something to eat and then to the airport. We checked in and caught the flight to JFK. The flight was too short for a proper sleep, so we are both a bit zombified. So now there is just over two hours until we fly again.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Arizona: March 15, 2009
Woke up very early again. Went to Waffle House for breakfast then dropped Marisa off. Then I headed off on another expedition, this time to the south. Firstly I travelled west on the I-10 and then south on the AZ-85 to Gila Bend. From here I drove down through Midway, Ajo and Why. From Why I travelled further south to Lukesville through the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Needless to say, I saw a very large number of cacti. It turns out that Lukeville is on the US/Mexican border, so I took a couple of shots looking over into Mexico and then headed back. This time the plan was to take a more eastern route through the Indian reservation. I was stopped by the Sherriff’s dept for a sobriety check, which basically involved a couple of questions and handing me a leaflet. A while later on the Indian reservation, I was stopped by the border patrol and had to show my passport.
I arrived a bit early picking up Marisa and sat through the last part of her class. We headed back to the malls to pick up one or two items we forgot about yesterday. We had dinner (very nice) at a restaurant called the “Melting Pot” which does fondue as its main feature. We headed back to the hotel and I figured out what I’m going to take Marisa to see today before we fly back.
I arrived a bit early picking up Marisa and sat through the last part of her class. We headed back to the malls to pick up one or two items we forgot about yesterday. We had dinner (very nice) at a restaurant called the “Melting Pot” which does fondue as its main feature. We headed back to the hotel and I figured out what I’m going to take Marisa to see today before we fly back.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Arizona: March 14, 2009
Got up really early, about 5:30 (which was still 9:30 ADT). Finished making the required changes and had breakfast at Waffle House again before taking Marisa to class. Then I drove to a couple of flag places, where I picked up some items, and then it was off for the day’s big adventure. I drove through Mesa worked my way up into the hills. The wonderful thing about the GPS system is that you can pick a random point on a map and the GPS will get you there. In this case the choice was a town called Payson, for no other reason than it was a drivable distance into the Tonto National Forest. The road went up through the White Mountains. Some of them still had snow on the northern tops. Payson was at about 5000 ft ASL (Phoenix is at 1045ft), so there was a lot of uphilling.
Just for a change, I decided to take a slightly different route back. This involved passing by the Roosevelt Reservoir and Dam. The first part followed the lake side and ended up at the gorge were the dam had been built. There was a bridge crossing just upstream. I got out to take some pictures. I then set the GPS to take me down Route 88 which told me I would be back in Phoenix by 4:30 – so I was already half hour late. About two or three miles down the road a sign appeared which stated that there was “Mountain terrain 22 miles”. So I figured I might as well proceed as it probably meant a few tight bends with not a lot stopping you from falling off a cliff. Well, that was only half the story. The other part was that it turned out that the road was unpaved for 22 miles and you could travel a maximum of 20 mph. This was not going to get me to Phoenix in any short time, but to go back was much longer. I was committed. So I drove 22 miles on a dirt road up and down and around for what seemed like forever. The scenery made up for it, or at least what little I saw, because the driving was rather nerve racking. I finally got to Phoenix by 5pm. Fortunately the day had gone much better for Marisa and I only received mild chastisement for being an hour late. In the evening we drove to Scottsdale to meet with Mandy and Bryan and their daughter Annalise for dinner at a place called Olive & Ivy. It was very nice. Afterwards we took a bit of a detour to Barnes & Noble bookstore in Tempe before heading back and calling it quits.
Just for a change, I decided to take a slightly different route back. This involved passing by the Roosevelt Reservoir and Dam. The first part followed the lake side and ended up at the gorge were the dam had been built. There was a bridge crossing just upstream. I got out to take some pictures. I then set the GPS to take me down Route 88 which told me I would be back in Phoenix by 4:30 – so I was already half hour late. About two or three miles down the road a sign appeared which stated that there was “Mountain terrain 22 miles”. So I figured I might as well proceed as it probably meant a few tight bends with not a lot stopping you from falling off a cliff. Well, that was only half the story. The other part was that it turned out that the road was unpaved for 22 miles and you could travel a maximum of 20 mph. This was not going to get me to Phoenix in any short time, but to go back was much longer. I was committed. So I drove 22 miles on a dirt road up and down and around for what seemed like forever. The scenery made up for it, or at least what little I saw, because the driving was rather nerve racking. I finally got to Phoenix by 5pm. Fortunately the day had gone much better for Marisa and I only received mild chastisement for being an hour late. In the evening we drove to Scottsdale to meet with Mandy and Bryan and their daughter Annalise for dinner at a place called Olive & Ivy. It was very nice. Afterwards we took a bit of a detour to Barnes & Noble bookstore in Tempe before heading back and calling it quits.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Phoenix: March 13, 2009
Went to Waffle House for breakfast and took Marisa to class. The rest of Friday morning was wasted. I had to first take the car back to the rental agency. It turned out that the cigarette lighter wasn’t working, which wouldn’t ordinarily be a problem, except that I needed it to keep the GPS charged. They gave me a new car, with power windows, central locking and cruise control. A definite step up.
We also found out that we had been placed in a smoking room. By morning we were very stuffy, so I went about changing that. Consequently, it was much later when I was able to get around. Drove to the Arizona Mills mall and wandered around, having a late lunch of Cajun chicken sandwich and fries. Then picked up what I thought would be the end of my shopping (history has since shown that I was VERY wrong). Picked up Marisa at 4pm. She had had a rather rough day, so we went back to the mall and wandered around again. At one store she was asked to be in their fashion show on Saturday. She had to refuse since she would be in class but it perked her up a bit. We came back to the room in the early evening and had dinner in and then proceeded to fix the issues with Marisa’s problem statement, based on the advice received in class. We fell asleep while making the changes.
We also found out that we had been placed in a smoking room. By morning we were very stuffy, so I went about changing that. Consequently, it was much later when I was able to get around. Drove to the Arizona Mills mall and wandered around, having a late lunch of Cajun chicken sandwich and fries. Then picked up what I thought would be the end of my shopping (history has since shown that I was VERY wrong). Picked up Marisa at 4pm. She had had a rather rough day, so we went back to the mall and wandered around again. At one store she was asked to be in their fashion show on Saturday. She had to refuse since she would be in class but it perked her up a bit. We came back to the room in the early evening and had dinner in and then proceeded to fix the issues with Marisa’s problem statement, based on the advice received in class. We fell asleep while making the changes.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Arizona: March 12, 2009
Yesterday was a travelling day. We left Bermuda and flew JetBlue to JFK. The flight was very comfortable and took about 2 hours. Jet Blue's terminal in JFK is certainly very well appointed and makes a change from the dingy AA or BA terminals. There is also a very nice food court and restaurants. We had a two hour layover and then took the flight to Phoenix which was about 5:15 hours. Arizona does not change to Daylight saving time, so is now on Pacific Time, which is a bit strange as it is three hours behind the east coast. Therefore we are 4 hours behind Bermuda. Once we landed, the longest wait was for the car rental as there were 10 people ahead of us. We must have all gotten the same deal, because all of the other rental agencies were empty. The GPS system in car got us to our hotel with a minimum of fuss, which was good as it was 1am Bda time. Not having to think much whilst driving was definitely a plus. We checked into our hotel and almost immediately went to sleep. We are just about to go to Breakfast and then Marisa needs to be in class at 8 am. I am then going to try out the GPS.......
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Christmas Letter 2008
It was another action packed year for the Stones’. January and February were rather quiet and uneventful. In March, the Pipe Band travelled to Boston to take part in the St. Patrick’s Day parade. We marched the six miles without much incident although the Drum Major damaged himself with the mace near the end. We had to wait about an hour before we set off and it was at that time it began to snow. Suffice to say that tropical dress is not particularly helpful, even if it is Scottish.
The day before we left Ptolemy Xavier, a ruby Cavalier King Charles Spaniel arrived from the UK. This little bundle soon took over the household and everyone in it. He is quite a jumper and quite routinely surmounts objects 3 feet high or more. The other animals have grown up, although Matthias is still quite a small cat at 10 pounds. Artemis looks big, but is mostly fluff.
At the end of April I was off again, this time to Adelaide in Australia. The Regiment band was playing in the South Australia Police Tattoo. It was a great experience and I made a few friends along the way. The travelling however was not so pleasant as it took in the region of 40-42 hours, 12 time zones, loss of a day (the 25th April 2008 did not exist for me and the 6th May happened twice). All in all it was a long way to travel for 8 days, but the experience was well worth it.
June saw another short visit to New York. This time we stayed on 55th St, the Shoreham, which was very nice indeed. We, as usual took in a few Broadway Shows including, Gypsy, Xanadu, Curtains and In the Heights, which had won the Tony award the week before. In the Heights is a very good show. We also met up with Marisa’s friends Carrie and Peter and caught up with news.
On a more sombre note, Marisa’s grandmother Lucille (‘Cille) passed away and was buried at St. John’s cemetery in June. We were very glad that we were able to spend time with her at our wedding.
The summer was hot and humid as always and the days went by one after the other. We didn’t manage to accomplish a lot over the summer, but looking forward to our next vacation was certainly a motivating force. We had two God-children born during July and August. The first, Veronica and Pete’s daughter, Emilia was born on 13th July. The second was Saffron & George’s daughter, Tayla, born in South Africa on 9th August.
In September, for our anniversary, we travelled to Italy and spent time in Rome, Florence and Venice. Rome is an interesting city, with its many ancient buildings. We toured the Coliseum and the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel during our time there. I also admit to becoming very partial to Italian cuisine. In Florence we took a cooking class, where groups of five people put together a meal and then ate it. The food was very good and it wasn’t just due to my prowess making gnocchi. We also visited the Ferregamo museum. I also spent too much time (and …….) on the Ponte Vecchio, the jewelry centre of Florence. We caught the number 2 bus to Fiesole a small town on the mountain above Florence, with spectacular views and an impressive Roman amphitheatre, which is still used today.
From Florence it was off to Venice, where we had to get used to some very different modes of transport. It feels strange getting off a train and onto a motor boat to take you to your hotel. In Venice we visited the Dome San Marco, the Doges Palace and Bridge of Sighs. The highlight for me was the trip out to the Venetian glass factories, where glass objects are blown and moulded by hand into the most intricate of patterns and designs. We also took the traditional Gondola ride through the canals.
After leaving Venice we travelled to London for a time, to take in a couple of shows (Zorro, the musical and Avenue Q). We also met Roz and Alan for dinner with Josue and Kerry. The following day we travelled down to Dover and visited Dover College. Unfortunately everyone was out on a charity walk, but I did manage to catch Mr (Rupert) Hill who gave us the ok to look around. Then we caught the train to Walmer to visit Leo Forsdyke. We sat in his living room for ages catching up and then he took us to lunch at a favourite pub, The Hare and Hounds. Unfortunately we were unable to stay as long as we had wanted as we had to get back to London for Zorro. However, I have pledged to myself to not wait another 15 years and will probably attempt a longer visit next time I am over there.
Other than as spectators we have not really been involved with much theatre this year as previously. However, we did take in the Bermuda performance of the Full Monty. It also appears that we will be involved in the pantomime which begins in early December. Also in October I received my Efficiency Medal for 12 years service in the Bermuda Regiment.
My business appears to be rolling along quite nicely and it seems as I will have enough work to get us through the current financial slump, but only time will tell.
I wish everyone a very Happy and prosperous Christmas season and wish good health and happiness for the New Year
The day before we left Ptolemy Xavier, a ruby Cavalier King Charles Spaniel arrived from the UK. This little bundle soon took over the household and everyone in it. He is quite a jumper and quite routinely surmounts objects 3 feet high or more. The other animals have grown up, although Matthias is still quite a small cat at 10 pounds. Artemis looks big, but is mostly fluff.
At the end of April I was off again, this time to Adelaide in Australia. The Regiment band was playing in the South Australia Police Tattoo. It was a great experience and I made a few friends along the way. The travelling however was not so pleasant as it took in the region of 40-42 hours, 12 time zones, loss of a day (the 25th April 2008 did not exist for me and the 6th May happened twice). All in all it was a long way to travel for 8 days, but the experience was well worth it.
June saw another short visit to New York. This time we stayed on 55th St, the Shoreham, which was very nice indeed. We, as usual took in a few Broadway Shows including, Gypsy, Xanadu, Curtains and In the Heights, which had won the Tony award the week before. In the Heights is a very good show. We also met up with Marisa’s friends Carrie and Peter and caught up with news.
On a more sombre note, Marisa’s grandmother Lucille (‘Cille) passed away and was buried at St. John’s cemetery in June. We were very glad that we were able to spend time with her at our wedding.
The summer was hot and humid as always and the days went by one after the other. We didn’t manage to accomplish a lot over the summer, but looking forward to our next vacation was certainly a motivating force. We had two God-children born during July and August. The first, Veronica and Pete’s daughter, Emilia was born on 13th July. The second was Saffron & George’s daughter, Tayla, born in South Africa on 9th August.
In September, for our anniversary, we travelled to Italy and spent time in Rome, Florence and Venice. Rome is an interesting city, with its many ancient buildings. We toured the Coliseum and the Vatican museum and Sistine Chapel during our time there. I also admit to becoming very partial to Italian cuisine. In Florence we took a cooking class, where groups of five people put together a meal and then ate it. The food was very good and it wasn’t just due to my prowess making gnocchi. We also visited the Ferregamo museum. I also spent too much time (and …….) on the Ponte Vecchio, the jewelry centre of Florence. We caught the number 2 bus to Fiesole a small town on the mountain above Florence, with spectacular views and an impressive Roman amphitheatre, which is still used today.
From Florence it was off to Venice, where we had to get used to some very different modes of transport. It feels strange getting off a train and onto a motor boat to take you to your hotel. In Venice we visited the Dome San Marco, the Doges Palace and Bridge of Sighs. The highlight for me was the trip out to the Venetian glass factories, where glass objects are blown and moulded by hand into the most intricate of patterns and designs. We also took the traditional Gondola ride through the canals.
After leaving Venice we travelled to London for a time, to take in a couple of shows (Zorro, the musical and Avenue Q). We also met Roz and Alan for dinner with Josue and Kerry. The following day we travelled down to Dover and visited Dover College. Unfortunately everyone was out on a charity walk, but I did manage to catch Mr (Rupert) Hill who gave us the ok to look around. Then we caught the train to Walmer to visit Leo Forsdyke. We sat in his living room for ages catching up and then he took us to lunch at a favourite pub, The Hare and Hounds. Unfortunately we were unable to stay as long as we had wanted as we had to get back to London for Zorro. However, I have pledged to myself to not wait another 15 years and will probably attempt a longer visit next time I am over there.
Other than as spectators we have not really been involved with much theatre this year as previously. However, we did take in the Bermuda performance of the Full Monty. It also appears that we will be involved in the pantomime which begins in early December. Also in October I received my Efficiency Medal for 12 years service in the Bermuda Regiment.
My business appears to be rolling along quite nicely and it seems as I will have enough work to get us through the current financial slump, but only time will tell.
I wish everyone a very Happy and prosperous Christmas season and wish good health and happiness for the New Year
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