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Friday, December 24, 2010

Skiing and Hiking in Colorado December 2010

Please vote on Next Years trip only a few days left.

The pictures tells the story, no reason for me to write anything.

Enjoy and cheers,

DUG




Friday, December 3, 2010

Philadelphia Marathon (NOT) on to South Beach for some R&R

Remember to Vote on DUG’s next big trip Voting ends December 31st, 2010!!


Pictures at the Bottom


Training for a marathon is one of those rewarding and depressing adventures. Training typically starts 3 to 4 month prior to the race. Rarely in a training program do you ever run the full distance 26.2 miles, or hold the pace you will do the marathon in.

So when you actually run the race all the discipline of your training comes together and you are rewarded with hitting your goals or depressed if you miss. I decided when I finished the Diamondman Half-Ironman Triathlon I would entry the Philadelphia Marathon, it was early September and the Philly Marathon was late November this gave me two and a half months for my training cycle, somewhat short, but I was ahead of the game since I had just finished training for the Half-Ironman.

After Diamondman I headed back to Botswana and found my training was going great. Three weeks from the marathon, I had completed all my long runs, including 2 20 mile runs and 2 22 miles run, all faster then my training required to hit my race goal of 3 hours and 30 minutes, my qualifying time for Boston. So with just three weeks away I was confident I would hit this goal, if not exceeded it.

They say if it is on the Internet it must be true. Click here to see DUG's Philly Marathon time.

No! I did not beat my goal by 15 minutes; in fact I did not even run.

Three weeks out Mobe a world famous cyclist and friend from our trip to France a few years back, was visiting our village, he was helping with a local public works project, building a road out of some old quarry stones. He asked me to help. Little did I know Mobe would drop one of these stones on my foot! How no bones were broken let alone my whole foot was not crushed under the 500 LB stone, I have no idea.

Thank goodness three weeks out from the Marathon, no damage. The next day I was off on a fishing trip with the village elders. My foot started aching, I assumed it was a bruise from the rock; I iced it and did not worry. A few days later I awoke and my foot was the swollen to the size of a watermelon, at first I thought, a broken foot, then I realized I was having a gout attack. Two weeks to go, and I could not even walk let alone run a marathon. A few days later I got a terrible cold / cough thing were going from bad to worse.

Sometimes you need to listen to your body, I had been training hard for 5 months and my body was done. A week out I ran 4 miles easy the next day 6 miles hard followed by a day where I could hardly finish an easy 10 mile run. Just 2 weeks before, I was running 22 miles and not thinking twice about it. My body was cooked. I had my tickets to the U.S. So I went and visited family and celebrated Thanksgiving. While in Philly I found someone to take my place in the marathon, I was lucky and found a fast runner and he qualified me for Boston. Thus the fast time posted on the internet.

After the marathon (that I did not run) I needed rest and relaxation so Margarite (she follows me everywhere now days) and I flew to South Beach for 5 days of rest and relaxation and that is what we did. I read two books by in Miami.

The first by Sarah Palin “America By Heart” and the second by George Bush “Decision Points”. Last year on the same vacation I read Sara Palin’s book “Going Rouge” which should have been called “Sour Grapes”. The year before I read both of Barack Obama’s books “Dreams from My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope”.

As far as my hopes!


My hope is that Barack Obama reads his own book and turns into a leader instead of the wimp he has been for the last two years. He needs to put Nancy Pelosi in her place or else he might be a one term President.

I also hope that Sara Palin runs for President just for comedy.


If you want to know what to do in and around South Beach looked at our 2008 and 2009 trips to South Beach on those trips we actually left the pool.

The only exciting thing we did this year was take Alli Ludwick to The Villa's by Barton G. Alli is the only daughter of Big Bill Ludwick. Villa’s by Barton G. is a restaurant / boutique hotel. The building was original a apartment building built in the 1930's then bought by the fashion designed Gianni Versace in the 1970's and turned into his private residents. After his murder on the steps of his home the building sat empty, until reopened as The Villa’s by Barton G.

That is it from South Beach

Cheers,

DUG

Pictures