Bill and Cathy McArthur Spring/Summer/Fall 2010: 9
Monday, September 13, started cloudy and chilly and ended sunny and warm. Bill sent an email to Joe Link, explaining his calendar mistake concerning September 22. Then, Bill did the NYT crossword. Cathy went to the Y for her two classes, while Bill went out for a 60 mile bike ride. He divided the ride into thirds and returned home for potty and Clif Bar at the end of each 20 mile segment. At the end of the first segment:
My hidden Billy came out today after mile 20 when I decided to practice shoeless mounts and dismounts. My size 13 bike shoes wedged between the road and pedals and put me on the ground. First crash in the Comet, about 1 mph. Skinned knee and dented ego.
Bill's ride went pretty well:
After the ride, and after lunch, Bill headed out to Oyster Rocks Road for a 12 mile, 3 hour paddle on the tranquil Broadkill River. It was a beautiful setting and the current was in Bill's favor for the whole trip. He returned home by 6:00 PM. We had quinoa and chicken breast for dinner as we watched the surprisingly good "This is It."
Tuesday started early for Bill as he arose before 4:30 AM. His left foot and both knees were a bit sore, so he decided to skip spin and yoga. He took his time over breakfast and did the NYT crossword. Cathy went to the gym. Bill drove to Wolfe Neck and ran an easy 5 miles on the trail. Then he stopped at Superfresh for some shopping and a cappuccino. When he got home, he took a shower. When Cathy got home, she discovered that Shelly, who was supposed to arrive at the ferry terminal at 11:00 AM, was ill and not coming across the bay. We drove to the Mill Outlet to buy sheets for Florida and then stopped at K-Mart for some G2. After lunch, we drove to the Lewes firehouse so that Bill could vote in the Republican primary. He was one of 57,000 Delawareans who voted in the Cassel/O'Donnell senate primary. We continued to the beach at Cape Henlopen and enjoyed sitting by the ocean for a couple of hours. When we got home, Bill used our new wireless adapter for the Blu-Ray to connect it to the Internet. He got streaming NetFlix set up and was disappointed that our neighbors' router intermittently went off and on, causing connection problems for the Blu-Ray. Then, he tried to connect using our Sprint mobile hotspot, but the wireless adapter wouldn't connect to it. We went to dinner at Adriatico's in Rehoboth Beach and had very good meals there. When we returned home, Bill finished the amazing book, "A Random Soldier" - highly recommended. Bill had purchased the book at Chad's Run, a memorial race held by the Seashore Striders at Cape Henlopen High School. Chad Clifton died when he was 19.
Wednesday started cool, in the 60s. Cathy went to the Y for her classes. Bill, who had slept in a bit, took his time heading out on a 20 mile bike ride:
He enjoyed pedaling a faster and shorter ride. Bill spent the rest of the morning working on a "Major Award" for himself. He ordered a photo panel from Snapfish to hang in the downstairs office. After lunch, we drove to VP Sports in the Bayside Outlets to buy Bill a pair of running socks. Then we went to Wolfe Neck and walked for 5 miles on the trail. Bill received his Greene Turtle 5K gold medal and used a sharpie to modify the Outlet Liquors 5K gold medal that Wayne from Races2Run had sent into the Bottle and Cork 10 Miler gold medal that he didn't receive. He hung both medals on his pegboard in the office. During and after dinner, we viewed several episodes from the second season of "Arrested Development."
Thursday, Bill got up at 5:00 AM and decided that his sore foot and legs needed complete rest until Sunday's half marathon. Also, Bill decided that he should run the half marathon in his training shoes, which have more support and cushioning for the longer race. Bill did a Crossynergy puzzle for the first time in months. Cathy went to the Y for her classes. Cathy also walked around Henlopen Landing during the late morning. Bill moved the wireless adapter for the Blu-Ray about 5 inches and was able to update the software and connect successfully with NetFlix. After lunch, we went to the beach for a couple of hours. Bill viewed the 2009 "Star Trek" movie on streaming NetFlix. He loved the movie! The south wind was really howling, but we hid behind the walkway and were comfortable. We had quinoa and chicken for dinner. We viewed "The Machinist", which turned out to be a pretty good movie.
Friday was a mostly cloudy day. Cathy went to her classes at the Y. Bill did a crossword puzzle. Then he called FPL and set up the electricity to start on Monday, September 20. He also lifted weights for the first time in quite a while. When Cathy got home, we went to Food Lion for coconut oil, Pam for Grilling, and rice. Then, we headed to Wal-Mart, where Bill bought some Clif bars for under $1 each (they were $1.50 at Food Lion). After lunch, Bill viewed "Yellowstone" on streaming NetFlix. Then, he packed for the trip to Philadelphia. He decided to use his Nike running shoes and his new Thoro socks for the half marathon. We had pasta for dinner while we viewed "The Lazarus Project" - pretty good.
Saturday was a beautiful day. We started up Route 1 N before 7:00 AM, but had to turn back after a few miles because neither of us could remember if Bill had closed the garage door (he had). We had an easy drive in the Moonbug with the top down and arrived in Philadelphia before 9:00 AM. Unfortunately, we ran into closed roads in Chinatown due to the Lee Family Reunion. The next thing we knew, old Yellow Cab driver Bill accidentally crossed the Ben Franklin Bridge. After a lot of cursing, extra miles, and a $4 toll, we park in a garage at 8th and Filbert and walked to 11th and Arch to pick up Bill's race packet at the expo in Convention Hall. Bill also bought five Gu packs and a combination sweat band and visor. We drove to Glen Mills next and ate lunch at Borders. We arrived at Alex and Phil's house at around 11:40 AM and shortly thereafter headed to Erin's soccer game at Garnet Valley High School. It was wonderful weather for doing anything outside, so we enjoyed the game. We went back to the Stoops' house and Bill took Alex, Erin, and Bridget to the local library so that the girls could get some books. At about 4:40 PM, Cathy and Bill drove back into Philadelphia and parked at the Holiday Inn at 4th and Arch Streets. We checked in and got settled in our room. Bill went out on a recon mission to find a bagel and jam for Sunday's breakfast and to scope out the restaurants that were nearby our hotel. A bit later we walked to 3rd and Market Streets and ate outside at Pizacata Restaurant. Bill had gnocchi with red sauce and Cathy had salmon with risotto. The meals were very good. The evening was balmy and comfortable. On the way back to the hotel, Bill bought a big bottle of water to use for making morning coffee. We both took showers and went to bed fairly early. We heard fire engines a few times overnight.
Sunday morning, Bill was up at 4:40 AM and making coffee. He ate his bagels and jam breakfast and got his gear together. We checked out at around 6:45 AM, packed our stuff in the Moonbug, and walked toward the Art Museum and the start of the Philadelphia half marathon. There were about 18,000 registrants for the race, so we were not alone in our walk. The city looked great in the beautiful morning light. We had never seen City Hall, built by John McArthur, a relative, look so clean. Cathy dropped Bill at Corral #9. The race started in waves and Bill crossed the starting line at 8:09 AM. Bill immediately found that he would be passing people for most of the race and that the bottles in his racing belt were not going to stay in place. He discarded the bottles before long, and by mile 3 he was sailing along at a 7:29 minutes/mile pace. The course was very interesting and very flat. At the many turns, Bill had to stay away from the inside line to avoid congestion and ended up running extra distance as a consequence. Bill kept a good pace going almost to mile 10 and then started to lose ground in his pace. Just after the beginning of mile 11, Bill stopped at an aid station and drank a cup of Cytomax with ice. Finally, in the last mile or so, Bill picked up the pace a bit and finished in 1:52 with his GPS telling him that his pace was 8:26 minutes/mile. The finisher medal was the most beautiful that Bill had ever seen. Bill ate a banana and a Clif bar, drank a bottle of water, posted his pace on FaceBook, and called Cathy to arrange to meet with her and our friend Shelley, who lives near the Art Museum. Cathy and Shelley had breakfasted together earlier. We three went to a nice coffeehouse where Bill had a cappuccino. We sat and talked for a while and then we walked back to the Art Museum and toured some of the rooms. Bill's legs were a bit tired, but OK to walk around. We had a nice healthy lunch in the museum's snack bar and then walked down the steps of the Art Museum on our way back to the hotel garage. Philadelphia had never looked so good to us. Cathy and Bill were a bit leg weary when we got back to the Moonbug. We drove back home with the top down and the heat on because of Cathy's cold. We arrived home at about 5:00 PM. We ordered Grotto Pizza for dinner and viewed "The Spy Game" on streaming NetFlix. We had seen it before, but the plot is so complicated, it was like seeing it for the first time. We headed to bed fairly early. Bill had found out that he was 3 of 19 in the 70-74 age group.
Bill and Cathy
