Bill and Cathy McArthur Spring/Summer/Fall 2010: 11
Monday, September 27 was a day filled with rain. Bill had planned to begin tapering for the half Ironman duathlon on Sunday, so he wasn't too disappointed with the weather, although he wanted to go out kayaking. Cathy went to the Y for her classes. Bill caught up with his journal and paid the online bills. He called Ed Dee to try to arrange for Ed to look after the townhouse while we winter in Florida. Ed said he never received the email that Bill had sent and suggested that Bill send another email and call at 5:00 PM on Tuesday if we don't get an email response. Bill sent the email. Bill also did some research on the Bassman Duathlon courses and the location of our campground and its relationship to Bass River State Park. During lunch, we began to view the second half of "Lawrence of Arabia." We finished watching that classic movie and mailed it back to NetFlix. Bill lifted weights in the basement to help to compensate for no kayaking. We had grilled vegetables and a frozen meal for dinner. We viewed "The Road", which wasn't as bad as we imagined it would be.
Tuesday was another rainy day. Cathy went to the Y. Bill spent an hour sweating on the bike trainer in the basement and then ran for 5K up Shady Road and on Plantation Road:
We had quinoa and chicken for dinner and viewed "Echelon Conspiracy" on streaming NetFlix. We liked the movie in spite of some holes in the plot.
Wednesday was another rainy day. Cathy went to the Y. Bill lifted weights in the basement. After lunch, Bill drove to Home Depot to pick up a couple of items. We viewed 3 hours of the 1st season of "24" on streaming NetFlix. Later, we went to the Tapas Happy Hour at Cafe Azafran in Lewes. After a good meal of 6 tapas dishes, we stopped at Food Lion for some groceries on the way home. We viewed "Hot Tub Time Machine", loved by Bill and tolerated by Cathy until she headed for a shower part way through.
Thursday, it threatened to rain all day, but the rain just dribbled a bit until the overnight hours. Cathy went to the Y. Bill did a practice duathlon: 2 mile run, 1 hour on the bike trainer in the basement, 5K run:
We viewed 4 more hours of the 1st season of "24" during the day. Ed Dee came over a bit before 2:00 PM to discuss checking on our home for the winter. We talked at length about politics after a short discussion of the house checking scenario. We decided that he would check on the townhouse on 2 Saturdays per month for $50 per visit, payable per visit. He would run the furnace and the water and start the VW, as well as checking that everything is OK. We also asked him to check the outside drain at the basement door. Bill heard about a new half marathon in Wildwood where the registration would start at 10:00 AM on 10/15/10. Bill decided to try to register and did. We had quiche for dinner and viewed two NetFlix DVDs: "Tenure", a quirky comedy, and "From Paris with Love", an interesting John Travolta action flick that reminded Bill of "Swordfish."
Friday morning brought more rain, which didn't register on the weather radar. It was also very windy. Cathy went to the Y. Bill went to the Rehoboth Beach Running Company to buy a tri-suit on a 25% sale. After a stop at Starbucks, Bill headed to the Underarmour store at the outlets to get a sleeveless compression shirt and a cupless jock for under the tri-suit. By the time Bill got back, Cathy was there. We watched an episode of "24" before lunch. Bill started gathering gear together for the weekend trip to the Bassman Duathlon. Bill also called DirecTV to talk about moving our account to Florida. It seemed too expensive, so we decided to cancel. Bill found out that we had a $360 early cancellation penalty to pay. He talked with two customer service representatives and a supervisor to no avail. Then, Bill went on the DirecTV website and sent an email, appealing the penalty. Meanwhile, we were scheduled for cancellation, effective at midnight and would receive shipping boxes for the two receivers and remotes within 7 days. Bill worked for a while trying to figure out the route for the Bassman bike course. We watched another couple of episodes of "24" before, during, and after our pasta dinner. Bill did some packing before heading to bed.
Saturday came early for Bill as he awoke before 4:30 AM. He took another look at the Bassman bike course (58 miles) and finally saw how it went. He also did a crossword puzzle. We went into downtown Lewes for a cappuccino before heading to the ferry terminal at 10:45 AM. We read the Inquirer and Bill did another crossword on the way across the Bay. When we arrived in NJ, we went to Lucky Bones for lunch. Then, we drove to Beacon Cycles in Northfield for packet pickup. Afterward, we drove to Atlantic City North Campground, where we checked -in to our camping cabin. When we arrived at Cabin #82, we were shocked at how small it was and that it had no bathroom. We drove over to Bass River State Forest and checked out the transition area and the bike-out/bike-in and run-out/run-in locations and paths. We found that the bike race location for Bill's #252 was right in the middle of the transition area. Next, we drove to Wal-Mart near Hamilton Mall to buy a bucket to use as a chamber pot, two coffee cups, and a plastic glass for wine. We moved on to ACME, where we bought a couple of bagels for Bill's breakfast and some muffins for Cathy's. We drove down Black Horse Pike to A Touch of Italy and had wonderful, inexpensive meals. We drove back to our bleak little camping cabin and prepared for the night. The only good thing about the cabin was the heater, since it was in the high 40s outside.
Sunday was the day Bill had been anticipating with some nervousness for quite a long time. Bill arose at 3:45 AM, put on coffee, and ate his bagels and jam. After breakfast, Bill organized his stuff and carried whatever he could to the car. He drove to the state forest and arrived in a line of cars a bit after 5:00 AM. The temperature was in the low 50s. Bill parked and started to unpack his bike and prepare his water bottles in the hydration unit for the bike and the fuel belt for the half marathon run. Bill moved his stuff into the transition area at about 5:45 AM. He picked up his chip and got himself fully organized. There were 6 events at the Bassman: sprint tri, sprint du, sprint aqua velo, half tri, half du, and half aqua velo. Bill saw Val Nash from JSSKA before the event started and met her son who was doing the half tri. Next to Bill on the bike rack was Dr. Jack Ahrens from Vineland. Jack runs with a prosthesis on his foot. He used 3 during the day: one with a sneaker, one for running, and one for the bike. Transition for Jack means more than for me because he had to change feet and needed a place to sit. The 5K run started at 8:14 AM. Bill decided to run relaxed:
It was mostly cloudy, so Bill decided not to use his sunglasses for the 58 mile bike ride. The roads were good, but there were a few hills to deal with. Bill's hydration cell worked well and the amount of G2 and G2/Hammer Gel were sufficient. A pretty nasty NE wind kicked up during the second half of the ride. Bill didn't get his GPS turned on until about 2 miles into the ride:
Bill's legs were pretty tired for the half marathon leg. He wore his new fuel belt, which needed some adjustment just after he started to run. He peed once in the woods, once in a porta-potty, and once in a bathroom along the route. He had to walk a bit, but he make it through:
Bill's total time was 6:16. He was happy to receive the finishers medal. He also finished first in the 70+ age group by default, but we didn't stick around for the awards ceremony. Dr. Jack finished 4 minutes before Bill. We had a 6:00 PM ferry reservation, but we thought that we might be able to make the 4:30 PM ferry. We hustled to get the bike on the rack and everything put away in the Gearcar. Then, we drove quickly in the rain to the Cape May ferry terminal and caught the 4:30 PM ferry. Bill started to fade on the ferry and was semi-catatonic. We got home by 6:30 PM and just emptied out the car, partly into the garage. Cathy ordered pizza from Grotto while Bill took a long, hot shower. We viewed a very lame "Cash Back" while we ate. Cathy gave up on it after dinner and Bill slept through it for a while before tumbling into bed at shortly after 8:30 PM. It was a long day.
Bill and Cathy
