A Saturday morning run probably means different things to me than most runners. Since my job is at the whim of the millionaires I work for, weekends and holidays don't mean a whole lot. Unless you actually end up with the day off, then they mean everything!
This morning I woke up late and had a slow motion move out the door. Waiting too long to run in the Caribbean is asking for trouble, but it is nice to have a slow morning sometimes. I left the house around 9:30 for my 6 mile run to St. James Place. It is a nice run with a gradual incline that is 3 out and 3 back without a whole lot of drama. There are a couple hills but nothing to make you go breathless. I have to admit that from the get go I was feeling sluggish, slow and unmotivated. I was rocking out to my old college music but it wasn't helping all that much. I didn't seriously think about cutting it short until I got to mile 2. I paused at the top of the biggest hill, had a stretch and decided to continue down to the resort. The problem with pausing on top of the hill is that you then have to run down the other side and back up. I figured with my slow pace and lackluster start, it couldn't hurt to put a few more hills in. I ran down and back and finished at home feeling pretty underwhelmed. I showered and headed to the harbor to give Ben a hand on his boat, we are supposed to be leaving to sail to the BVI tomorrow and I had a few things to tie up. After I finished with my job list on the boat, I realized Ben had quite a bit more work to do and I was just being a distraction. A few friends had mentioned having a beach BBQ at Rendezvous Beach, at a beach you can only get to by dinghy or 4X4. It's pretty breezy right now in Antigua and the dinghy option wasn't a great one, getting back from the beach, upwind, at the end of the day, can be uncomfortable, wet and dangerous. We don't have a car here unless we borrow one, and most people don't want to lend you their car to go to Rendezvous because the road is so bad. All in all I decided I would run to the beach and join the beach party, sure to be able to thumb a ride back by water or road. I packed my Adventure Bag (a small backpack with good straps that I bought in Mallorca in order to go mountain biking and good for general adventuring use) with my waterbottle, a bikini, towel and change of clothes. I headed out for the 4 mile trip, knowing it was a pretty short distance but that it went up a few very big hills in order to get over the pass and head back down to the beach. It was also 1:30 in the afternoon, so it was hot.
I arrived at the beach party and had a great afternoon swimming and hanging out on the beach. Everyone is getting ready to leave for their Christmas charters or boss trips, so it's a last chance to have a solid weekend off.
As the sun started setting a couple of our friends, who have a 4 month old baby girl, said they were leaving and had space if I wanted a ride back. We left before most people, it was the baby's bed time I think. As we drove slowly up the very rutted track we hit a bump particularly hard. Thinking nothing of it we continued up the next hill. The car slowed down and we cursed automatics as we dropped it down into 1st gear to try to get it up the hill. As we gave it lower gears and more gas we realized the transmission wasn't responding appropriately. A quick look outside the car confirmed our suspicion that we had, in fact, punctured the gear box and all our transmission fluid had drained out. That car was not going to get us up and over the hill, or anywhere at all.
Deserted beaches are fantastic places for beach BBQs, hikes, and boozy afternoons. They are not great for cell service. Leaving my two friends and the baby behind to wait for the other people who would be leaving the beach as soon as the sun set, I hiked up the hill until I was able to make a cell call. I'm pretty lucky that my roommate is a taxi driver from Antigua, and knows his way around better than anyone. He immediately left the house to find us, and take us back to the harbor. By the time I ran back down the hill, a few cars had passed my friends and offered to take mom and baby up the hill. Dad was to stay behind and attach the broken car to the back of a war era Land Rover that happened to have a hitching strop and a driver that was willing to attempt a tow.
All in all everyone was safe and happy, although I haven't heard the outcome of returning the borrowed car, that had earlier this week been rear ended by a bus heading to town. Sometimes island life can be a pain in the butt.
As for me, after a subpar run this morning, I'm happy I went out again. I didn't do any kind of amazing pace or time, but it felt really good to finish a hard, hot run with a swim in the sea and a cold beer. I know most of you can't appreciate this, since, according to Facebook, it is snowing quite a bit at home but finishing a run in the sea is free therapy that cannot be under stated!
This morning I woke up late and had a slow motion move out the door. Waiting too long to run in the Caribbean is asking for trouble, but it is nice to have a slow morning sometimes. I left the house around 9:30 for my 6 mile run to St. James Place. It is a nice run with a gradual incline that is 3 out and 3 back without a whole lot of drama. There are a couple hills but nothing to make you go breathless. I have to admit that from the get go I was feeling sluggish, slow and unmotivated. I was rocking out to my old college music but it wasn't helping all that much. I didn't seriously think about cutting it short until I got to mile 2. I paused at the top of the biggest hill, had a stretch and decided to continue down to the resort. The problem with pausing on top of the hill is that you then have to run down the other side and back up. I figured with my slow pace and lackluster start, it couldn't hurt to put a few more hills in. I ran down and back and finished at home feeling pretty underwhelmed. I showered and headed to the harbor to give Ben a hand on his boat, we are supposed to be leaving to sail to the BVI tomorrow and I had a few things to tie up. After I finished with my job list on the boat, I realized Ben had quite a bit more work to do and I was just being a distraction. A few friends had mentioned having a beach BBQ at Rendezvous Beach, at a beach you can only get to by dinghy or 4X4. It's pretty breezy right now in Antigua and the dinghy option wasn't a great one, getting back from the beach, upwind, at the end of the day, can be uncomfortable, wet and dangerous. We don't have a car here unless we borrow one, and most people don't want to lend you their car to go to Rendezvous because the road is so bad. All in all I decided I would run to the beach and join the beach party, sure to be able to thumb a ride back by water or road. I packed my Adventure Bag (a small backpack with good straps that I bought in Mallorca in order to go mountain biking and good for general adventuring use) with my waterbottle, a bikini, towel and change of clothes. I headed out for the 4 mile trip, knowing it was a pretty short distance but that it went up a few very big hills in order to get over the pass and head back down to the beach. It was also 1:30 in the afternoon, so it was hot.
I arrived at the beach party and had a great afternoon swimming and hanging out on the beach. Everyone is getting ready to leave for their Christmas charters or boss trips, so it's a last chance to have a solid weekend off.
As the sun started setting a couple of our friends, who have a 4 month old baby girl, said they were leaving and had space if I wanted a ride back. We left before most people, it was the baby's bed time I think. As we drove slowly up the very rutted track we hit a bump particularly hard. Thinking nothing of it we continued up the next hill. The car slowed down and we cursed automatics as we dropped it down into 1st gear to try to get it up the hill. As we gave it lower gears and more gas we realized the transmission wasn't responding appropriately. A quick look outside the car confirmed our suspicion that we had, in fact, punctured the gear box and all our transmission fluid had drained out. That car was not going to get us up and over the hill, or anywhere at all.
Deserted beaches are fantastic places for beach BBQs, hikes, and boozy afternoons. They are not great for cell service. Leaving my two friends and the baby behind to wait for the other people who would be leaving the beach as soon as the sun set, I hiked up the hill until I was able to make a cell call. I'm pretty lucky that my roommate is a taxi driver from Antigua, and knows his way around better than anyone. He immediately left the house to find us, and take us back to the harbor. By the time I ran back down the hill, a few cars had passed my friends and offered to take mom and baby up the hill. Dad was to stay behind and attach the broken car to the back of a war era Land Rover that happened to have a hitching strop and a driver that was willing to attempt a tow.
All in all everyone was safe and happy, although I haven't heard the outcome of returning the borrowed car, that had earlier this week been rear ended by a bus heading to town. Sometimes island life can be a pain in the butt.
As for me, after a subpar run this morning, I'm happy I went out again. I didn't do any kind of amazing pace or time, but it felt really good to finish a hard, hot run with a swim in the sea and a cold beer. I know most of you can't appreciate this, since, according to Facebook, it is snowing quite a bit at home but finishing a run in the sea is free therapy that cannot be under stated!
Me at Rendezvous Beach
Rendezvous Beach
Rum in the coconut.
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