49 days and $120 to go!

I actually took a bit of a vacation this week from the training. After all, I was on vacation.

Monday, Heather and I took the kayaks to the south inlet and paddled to an island about 1 mile from the shore. On the way back, we noticed that the skies were darkening quickly and we saw flashes of lightning. We started paddling harder when we noticed about 3 or 4 dolphin had joined us. They are magnificent creatures! They shadowed us for about 10 minutes, once startling me when one of them exhaled loudly through his blow hole right behind me. I almost fell out of the kayak! What an amazing experience. We made it back to shore before the dark clouds closed in.

Tuesday, I got serious (for one day) and ran around the island once more. It was a good run and I felt strong when I finished.

The rest of the week involved two more trips to the south inlet with the kayaks, numerous kayak excursions up and down the beach with Heather, and a 200-300 yard swim between two break-waters with my brother and sister - an annual ritual of ours. Saturday we drove straight home, leaving Edisto at around 7 AM and arriving back home to Mentor at around 9 PM.

This morning I went for a 6 mile run. Now starts the really serious training for the Nation's Triathlon in September. I can't wait!

56 days and $220 to go!

My first week of training on vacation went very well. On monday I ran around Edisto Island from our cottage to the south inlet, out on the beach for about a half mile, then back to the road, down Jungle Road and back up Palmetto to the cottage again. It took about an hour and a quarter, a distance of about 7-8 miles. I finished out the day's training with a one hour bike ride through the state park. Check out the cool pictures of my route.

On tuesday, I did a shortened "brick" workout riding for a half hour, then jumping off the bike for a quick half hour run. Wednesday, I hopped back on my bike for a one hour ride through the park again. Gee, I love that route!

I thought Thursday would be a good day attempt another long run. I was wrong. The humidity was up and there was no wind. So, even at 6:30 AM it was tough going. Half way through the run, I got a little worried about dehydration, so I stole a drink from the garden hose of a house I was passing. Now, Edisto water is so bad tasting that everyone who vacations here gets their water in bottles from the local firehouse, so this is decision I made out of pure desperation. Anyway, I finished the run and immediately jumped into the pool.

Friday, I went for any easy ride with my brother, sister, and my daughter, Heather. Saturday, Heather and I went kayaking up and down the beach. To finish out the week, I decided that Sunday morning would be a good time to try another long run around the island. The humidity was down and there was a little bit of a breeze. The run went well.