A Strange Season

Glenda personifies the current oddness of life

Since my last installment, pretty much everything that was on the calendar for 2020 was cancelled...but that doesn't mean we just gave up.  Sometimes you have to embrace the strange and do what you can with it. So this blog is a catching up for this strange season an there will be more focused posts going forward. I think it mainly goes to show that life changes, but at least for me the REALLY important things haven't stopped (just maybe gone a bit virtual).

VIRTUAL VACATION SHENANIGANS

In June, we took a virtual running cruise to Alaska!  It was appropriate, since Alaska is one of our favorite places to go...and running cruises are one of our favorite ways to travel.  The "trip" included a FaceBook page where there were several activities such as telling jokes on hump day and karaoke on friday as well as just general sharing.  

We definitely went all in on the jokes...here's an example

There was also Karaoke and other photos and videos. 

And at the end of the cruise we got an "Oscar" for all our shenanigans...and Shenanigans Studios was born.  (A bit more on that later)

And of course there were virtual races.

The first virtual Alaska was the Moosehead 5k.  We repped for Bullwinkle Moose's alma mater (and it was my latest 5k so far this season)

Who better for a treasure hunt than a pirate and a prospector

A couple of well-fed Ravens (in honor of the Skinny Raven running store in Anchorage) ran a trail predictor race the "Ward Lake Loop"

Claiming to be "Fittish" for the final 5k 

MORE VIRTUAL RACES (AND ONE REAL ONE!)

Besides the Alaska Races, there have been a number of other virtual races including a Summer series put on by some of the same people that do the Virtual (and real, when it is possible) running cruises.  As such they each had a different way to win the race, which I find very appealing. 

The Summer 5 x 5k series

Race #1 was a patriotic themed "treasure hunt" that we did on July 4. (I also added on to complete the Have a Blast 4-miler)

Race #2 was the Lemonade 5k...a prediction race (I never predict well!) So of course we were lemony!

Race #3 was the Ice Cream 5k, to win you had to have the median time.  I was slower and Glenda was faster, but we definitely had the ice cream gear

Race #4  The Lightning But was all about speed (and Glenda won!)...we ran in at dusk with firefly skirts and blinking lights

And finally, race #5...the Roller Coaster.  Cue the hills, the rollercoaster skirt and the silly shirts

Plus 2 Virtual 5ks, a Du and a Tri (or 2)

Also in the last couple of months, I did a couple of other virtual 5ks which appealed to me, the 2nd in my progressive Du series, and a Virtual Triathlon that replace a travel race slated for October.  I also did another tri, but I'll talk about that later. 

On July 13 I did my second du of the year, one I completely made up, based on one I did years ago...The Suellen's a Tough Cookie Du

On July 28, I repped for Wisconsin in the Big Ten Network 5k, a race I've been meaning to do for awhile that was virtual this year

On August 7, I completed the Ramblin' Rose Virtual Tri (250 yds/9 mile bike/2 mile run) which took the place of the race I was to have done in Chapel Hill, NC.  Incidentally, I got one of my favorite run pictures of the year so far

August 18, 2020 was the hundredth anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment "Women's Suffrage" ...I ran a 5k to honor the day.

And a racetastrophy

And then there was the real life Du that wasn't.  I signed up for the Screw City Du months and months ago.  It was actually held on the 26th of July (after a postponement from May).  There were lots of precautions in place and masks were required except while actually racing.  The day came and the heat index at the 8 am start was over 90 degrees and the heat was oppressive.  By the end of the first run I knew it wasn't my day...so I dropped to the 2 mile run option.  Probably my worst race day ever. 

Masks and medals at the hottest race(s) ever

A BIG BIRTHDAY REIMAGINED

On July 8, 2020 my Mom turned 90 years old.  Originally we had planned for a big party, but COVID-19 put a stop to that. So the family "divided and conquered" to come together

The birthday girl on her 90th...doesn't she look great?

First came the "card shower" before the birthday...she got cards and letters from many.  There were signs in her yard and on her door into the hall in her condo. 

On the day of her birthday, my son's family brought candy and the girls made a giant card, my brother and his wife brought her a steak dinner, and later we stopped by with cake. 

A few days later there was a firetruck parade, photos, another cake and a family Zoom meeting with special guest appearances by several old friends and co-workers. After all of this Mom declared herself more than sufficiently celebrated.

SUCKING IT UP FOR MY KIDDO

On July 21, 2020 my daughter. Melanie was scheduled for back surgery to extend her spinal fusion.  She was allowed one support person and I was elected.  

I hadn't been able to see Mel for some time as for several weeks her group home was being very careful about visitors. But once the surgery was scheduled, I attended her last two pre-op appointments. I also spent the night in a hotel the night before the surgery and sat in the hospital most of the day of surgery.

I was glad to do those things for her, but the anxiety about these visit was pretty overwhelming. 

Pre-surgery photo in her stylish chapeau. After a month, she is healing well, through inpatient rehab and back home.  Surgery appears to have been a success.

TAKING A CHANCE WITH A SHORT TRIP

We had MANY trips cancelled this year.  One of them was a trip with our granddaughters and their parents to Branson, MO in July.  At that point the virus was high in our area and blowing up in that area of Missouri/Arkansas, and none of us was comfortable with the trip.  

So we decided that we needed to try to find something safer.  We settled on a big house in Door County, WI with amenities that meant that we didn't have to interact with the rest of the world any more than we wanted. We were fortunately able to be quite certain that no one had the virus before we went.

There was fishing both in Sturgeon Bay (directly behind the house) and the stocked swimming/and fishing pond in the front of the house. 

Fisher Ellie

Fisher Maeve

Some of the fisher crew

Swimming was another favorite activity

The pond had a floating dock

And we put on our own triathlons,  one for us and one for the kids

Ellie finishes the tri

Maeve dashes to the finish

Glenda and I preparing to start our tri

And of course, there were s'more...because, s'mores!

S'mores!

BECOMING UNRETIRED

About 18 months ago I announced my retirement from adjunct teaching,  mostly because helping to deal with all of Melanie's issues before, during and after her major bladder surgery was consuming. Between that and our athletic and travel pursuits I couldn't really give my work the time and energy it deserved.  But I really never fully adjusted to being retired, I frankly did not like it.

Once Melanie was settled not quite a year ago, I told just one school (that I'd been adjunct for for almost 9 years at that point), that I might be willing to teach again. I early August they contacted me to see if I would teach a class...and by the time all was said and done I was teaching two, and have been assigned two more for the Spring. 

MORE SHENANIGANS AHEAD!

So what's next?  Lots of things.  For instance starting August 30 we will be doing another virtual cruise...this time Hawaii! And there will be more videos and races and general goofiness. All of our videos are now "credited" to Shenanigans Studios, an idea born in the wake of our Alaska videos. 

Runners in Paradise

We earned this medal by the end of the trip

Glenda and I are recently back from a well-timed vacation to the Western Caribbean (we missed the worst of the polar vortex).  It was a running cruise (more on that below) and while I felt like I might  need a vacation from my vacation when it was over,  it was a great trip and I want to share (even if I'm about a month late in getting it posted)!

First about running cruises....Marathon Expeditions (https://www.runningcruise.com/) does a variety of cruises every year. The regular yearly destinations are Alaska, the Caribbean and Hawaii. The cruises offer not only a great cruise experience and runs in every port, but also great camaraderie and just plain fun.  They are hosted by Coach Jenny Hadfield and her husband John "The Penguin" Bingham (one of my running heroes...but I digress).  This was our third cruise with John and Jenny...First Alaska in 2017 to celebrate our 20th anniversary (after which we were hooked) and then 2018 Hawaii and 2019 Caribbean.  We have already signed up for 2020 Caribbean and have talked about Alaska again at some point in the future. 

Arrival Day...Miami

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Friday morning. After collecting our luggage and finding lunch, we headed to Miami.  I had not managed to get my swim in on Thursday, so we started poking around and found the Flamingo Park Pool...a perfect lap swimming venue.  It was so nice to swim outside. 

Swimming in the Flamingo Park Pool

We were able to sign in with the group that afternoon, get our bibs for the weeks' races...and probably best of all reconnect with Cathy and Pam from Cruise and Vacation Authority (truly amazing folks with the all the answers and a sense of fun), and of course Coach Jenny Hadfield and John "the penguin" Bingham.  John and Jenny are the best hosts ever!  Once we were signed in...we felt like we were "home" among friends and looking forward to a great week. 

That evening we had a cocktail party kick-off and the next morning a run in the Tropical 5k (part of the Miami Marathon Festivities)  These pre-cruise events were optional...but very well attended. Naturally we had themed skirts for the race.  Our 2019 Caribbean Cruise shirts showed the beach, so we added the ocean with our fish-covered skirts. 

Race morning in our themed outfits

Race morning was cool and rainy, which doesn't sound ideal, but is better than warm and humid.  I followed my race plan and tried to enjoy the views of the cruise ships as we ran across the causeway. I was happy with my finish.  It was a great start to a week of running shenanigans.

This is my finish picture with the classic..."look my antiperspirant worked!" pose. :)

Later that day we boarded our ship, the Symphony of the Seas and were able to explore and have lunch.  The Symphony is the newest ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet and the largest cruise ship on the ocean.  It is massive!  Besides all the usual amenities it has a rock climbing wall, an ice rink, a "central park" and a carousel...just to name a few.  And everything was almost brand new. We were thoroughly impressed with the ship and the service.

Here we are in front of the BIG ship

To give you some idea of how big this ship is.  The first sea day we did a 5k (actually more like 3.3 miles)...it was only 8 circuits around the ship track.  So approximately 2.5 loops to the mile.  Because there were 200+ of us in the group we had to do this event in waves.  We drew what for us was the short straw, as we were in the 6 a.m. wave.  John seemed to agree as he walked the 6 a.m. group to the start he asked,"What's wrong with you people...you could be sleeping?"  

We were dressed in very simple ships officer costumes, and when asked our rank, we responded "amateur".  These may have been the most popular of our costumes on this trip...I think because they were unexpected.  BTW, there is no requirement, or even encouragement, to run in costume except for the adventure race day.  It is just something Glenda and I love to do.  And after the first 2 cruises we were pretty well known for it. 

Ship's officers on the 5k...rank:amateur

The next day we landed in Roatan, Honduras...a beautiful and mountainous island.  Our race that day was called Extreme Roatan and it was the trail run for our trip.  Extreme, was not overstating the case!  We had been told in no uncertain terms that it was hilly, and that there might be mud.  Also that some of the hills had ropes to assist with the up and down.  This was a prediction race...you predicted your time and whoever was closest won. I didn't finish and Glenda wasn't close.  We were told that we might want to wear older clothes and shoes.  So we did, but still managed to make a costume of it.

We called these costumes "Indiana Adams and the Trail Run of Doom" (we were not wrong)

I definitely struggled on the first hill which went straight up 180 feet over maybe a third of a mile (like 15+flights of stairs) and then down with ropes, which was actually harder on my knees and hips.  I bailed at the first bailout point...but making it up and down that one hill still made me feel like a winner. 

Up....

...and down 

And a gang of "first hill and done"  winners!

Since I didn't go the whole race...I ended my workout day swimming back and forth in a very short pool. 

That's a lot of back and forth!

Costa Maya was on tap for the following day.  On tap? A 5.5K or 5 mile race...and a beach party! Part of the purpose of this cruise was to celebrate John "the Penguin" Bingham's 70th birthday...so dressed in penguin costumes for the race! Winning on this day was by luck of the draw, literally.  There are many ways to win on the cruise, so that the fast people are celebrated, but they don't get ALL the glory.

Penguins with the man himself

The party beach in Costa Maya

Party is in progress!

Looking sassy in the Caribbean

Official Birthday Party Day, Cozumel

Cozumel was our second Mexican port and it was here that the official celebration of John's Birthday was to take place.  The day began with a pirate themed adventure  run....sort of a running scavenger hunt in pirate dress.  We had determined that we would do only part of the run then stop and catch pictures of our fellow runners as they came back.  We were pretty tired from the other runs and it was our vacation after all.

Decked out in our pirate togs, ready to take photos of our fellow runners

This was one of our views running along the sea wall...lots of pelicans!

Then was party time at Margaritaville with a live band, dancing, good cheer and the best chicken fajitas I have ever eaten

An awesome party, with our ship in the background

Sea Day

That evening we left Cozumel for a day at sea en route to our final port.  We found plenty to do aboard the ship, from just loafing around and recovering to checking out the amenities.  We began that evening by having dinner and hanging out with our Madison friends.  One of the fun things about this trip was that without planning we ended up on the same trip with Fleet Feet Running friends Heather, Barb, Amanda and Jared. This was their first running cruise and it was fun for us to see a group of friend discovering the experience.

After dinner, we enjoyed a Caribbean sunset

And a ride on the carousel

The next morning we thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in and hanging out on the balcony of our cabin.  But we couldn't leave out workouts altogether...so later we hit the gym

Sweating rainbows on the bike

Nassau, The Bahamas

Our final destination was Nassau in the Bahamas where we had a 5 or 10k (I did the 5, Glenda the 10).  The day started with a one mile-ish (emphasis on the ISH) hike to the start. But when we arrived...what a greeting! This was the day that the fast people got to win, Glenda was running well on the 10k, but when the heat and humidity got to her, she decided to finish with me.  I was delighted.  And we wore one of our favorites...the mermaid costume.  Those may appear again somewhere (just saying')

We were greeted with amazing music and Junkanoo dancers

And what's a better fit for a tropical island than a couple of mermaids?

Coming home

The next day it was back to reality, but not before one last swim in the pool in Miami. Unfortunately we came back to one of the coldest and snowiest Februaries in recent history in Wisconsin...but at least we had some sunshine and good memories to sustain us...until next year.  And yes, we've really already signed up for next year!