Bill and Cathy McArthur on the Road 2010: 9

  Monday, March 1, Cathy dropped Bill off in Everglades City for a week of kayaking and camping. Click here for the report. Meanwhile, Cathy continued to do exercises and go to the gym. On Tuesday night, Cathy ate dinner with Sue and Jack Beatty, Jay and Marge Keeley, and Chris and Jim Devine. On Wednesday night, the same group ate dinner at the Dock Restaurant. On Monday and Thursday, Cathy had her tutoring sessions with her student Elda. Thursday night, Cathy attended the follow-up workshop at LVCC.

  Friday afternoon, Cathy picked up Bill in Chokoloskie. Bill had snacked on some granola bars and didn't need more lunch. When we got back to the RV, Bill spent the afternoon, cleaning and storing gear and cleaning himself in a long, hot shower. Cathy washed Bill's filthy clothes. We joined the Beattys and Devines at the Beatty's rental condo for a pizza dinner. Bill pigged out on a whole large pan pizza and four additional pieces of pizza. We headed home fairly early and Bill crashed in bed.

  Saturday morning, we got ready to travel to Fort Myers for the Hooters to Hooters Half Marathon. After lunch, we headed to the Ramada Inn in downtown Fort Myers. We walked to Hooters to pick up Bill's race packet. Then, we went to the Bell Tower Shops and coffee and browsing. We drove to North Fort Myers to see which bridge Bill would run over on Sunday. We ate in a Carrabas at a high table and chatted with a couple from Illinois that used to live in Naples. Bill ate a pasta dinner with a pasta appetizer.

  Sunday, Bill awoke at 4:30 AM to drink a quart of Cytomax and eat two bagels with raspberry jam. Two GU packs finished off the pre-race nutrition. The temperature was 42 degrees, so Bill wore 3 shirts with the McArthur team shirt on top. He also wore his pull-down cap and two pairs of gloves. He decided to use his iPod during the race. Bill walked to the start at 6:20 AM, while Cathy went to the motel breakfast and then walked to the starting line. Bill ran fairly easily and finished in 1:57. He came in 4th in his age group, so Cathy and Bill went back to the motel. Bill took a shower and we hit the road. We stopped at a Starbucks on the way. We drove directly to the 19th Hole, a restaurant in the complex where Sue and Jack rented and met them and Chris and Jim for brunch. Bill had a 4 eggbeater omelet. We all headed to Marco Island for some touring and then to Stan's in Goodland for another afternoon of country music, drinking, and people watching. We drove back into Naples and ate dinner at Joe's Crab Shack. It was too chilly to eat outside, but we had a great indoor table with a view.

        Bill and Cathy