Author – Grant
Based In – Sarasota, Saratosa or SaraToga…Toga…Toga (depending on number of beers drunk), Florida
Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157612940104655/
I used to categorise myself as a morning person. You know, one of those annoying people who jump out of the bed at the crack of dawn and that accuses people who wake up post 8am as not living life to the full potential. That trait, however, is clearly no longer in me as I wasn’t a happy camper when the alarm started bleating its melodious guitar riff at 6am. More disappointment was to follow as I realized, in chronological order, that the reason for the early rise was to do a 4 mile run, that it was still pitch black and that it was freezing cold. The temptation to hit “cancel”, roll over and safely assume that my coma-state running partner wouldn’t be naturally stirring any time before midday was immense but, instead, I started the morning ball rolling. Perhaps if we hadn’t already paid the $25 entry fee for the race then this blog entry would read very differently.
As the sun finally rose over the Sarasota, Saratosa or Saratoga bay and our eyes began to finally open, it became clear that this was a de
cent sized event with a crowd of about 2000 expected to run. The registration area was filled with a plethora of obscure pre-run entertainment including a bouncy castle, a cat adoption van and a petting pool just in case you needed to lick a toad for extra running energy. As the runners waited for the starting gun, the obligatory Star Spangled Banner was blasted out by some American sweetheart but this was an anthem with a difference. For a start, she was tone deaf so I can only assume she was a Sunshine Club kid with a deeply unimaginative last wish. So it was no surprise when the PA System went silent half was through her performance. The jury is out on whether a) it was a legitimate technical error, b) someone pulled the plug for the sake of musical pride or c) she dropped dead. Either way, the crowd was undeterred and finished the song off for her with the kind of rousing, patriotic spirit shown during the last 7 minutes of World War II. It was either awe-inspiring or stomach-churning depending on your nationality.
We have been regularly and comfortably running distances a
round four miles for the past few weeks so today’s race shouldn’t have been too much of a challenge. However, we sort of forgot to factor in that the Ringling Bridge, which we had to cross twice, would have a fairly nasty incline so a distance that would usually leave us energized, instead left us for dead. Having said that, we both walloped our estimated times (33.33 for me and just over 40 mins for Kate) which Kate attributes to race adrenalin and I attribute to the fear of her beating me. We may also have subconsciously been spurred on by the smell of hot-dogs as the post-race snack area (which usually consists of a bottle of water and an apple) was stocked up with sandwiches, hot dogs and mini-don
uts. Needless to say I had a sandwich, a hot-dog and a couple of mini-donuts. Not many people can say they have run a race yet still had a positive calorie count by 8:30am…that takes real dedication.
Time to explore Sarasota. With puppy in tow we set off on the four mile walk into downtown and the bay. Exactly what we were thinking when setting off on an eight mile round trip walk after our already strenuous morning, I’m not sure. All I know is that with one mile of the return journey left, Kate was trying to flag down anything on wheels to give us a lift home. Not a wise move considering we were in the amusingly dubbed HoZone. As a local woman explained to us over lunch in a cracking little Tiki Bar on the beach, our shitty hotel (the ironically namely Quality Inn which is probably the nastiest hotel we have stayed in to date) is located in a zone where anyone with a prostitution related conviction (presumably on the customer side) is banned from visiting. I don’t really understand the logic of this move but apparently all it does is to advertise where the local pro’s hang out and hence it’s HoZone nickname. Another inspried local Government decision.
Based In – Sarasota, Saratosa or SaraToga…Toga…Toga (depending on number of beers drunk), Florida
Today’s Photos - http://www.flickr.com/photos/32017704@N03/sets/72157612940104655/
I used to categorise myself as a morning person. You know, one of those annoying people who jump out of the bed at the crack of dawn and that accuses people who wake up post 8am as not living life to the full potential. That trait, however, is clearly no longer in me as I wasn’t a happy camper when the alarm started bleating its melodious guitar riff at 6am. More disappointment was to follow as I realized, in chronological order, that the reason for the early rise was to do a 4 mile run, that it was still pitch black and that it was freezing cold. The temptation to hit “cancel”, roll over and safely assume that my coma-state running partner wouldn’t be naturally stirring any time before midday was immense but, instead, I started the morning ball rolling. Perhaps if we hadn’t already paid the $25 entry fee for the race then this blog entry would read very differently.
As the sun finally rose over the Sarasota, Saratosa or Saratoga bay and our eyes began to finally open, it became clear that this was a de
cent sized event with a crowd of about 2000 expected to run. The registration area was filled with a plethora of obscure pre-run entertainment including a bouncy castle, a cat adoption van and a petting pool just in case you needed to lick a toad for extra running energy. As the runners waited for the starting gun, the obligatory Star Spangled Banner was blasted out by some American sweetheart but this was an anthem with a difference. For a start, she was tone deaf so I can only assume she was a Sunshine Club kid with a deeply unimaginative last wish. So it was no surprise when the PA System went silent half was through her performance. The jury is out on whether a) it was a legitimate technical error, b) someone pulled the plug for the sake of musical pride or c) she dropped dead. Either way, the crowd was undeterred and finished the song off for her with the kind of rousing, patriotic spirit shown during the last 7 minutes of World War II. It was either awe-inspiring or stomach-churning depending on your nationality.We have been regularly and comfortably running distances a
round four miles for the past few weeks so today’s race shouldn’t have been too much of a challenge. However, we sort of forgot to factor in that the Ringling Bridge, which we had to cross twice, would have a fairly nasty incline so a distance that would usually leave us energized, instead left us for dead. Having said that, we both walloped our estimated times (33.33 for me and just over 40 mins for Kate) which Kate attributes to race adrenalin and I attribute to the fear of her beating me. We may also have subconsciously been spurred on by the smell of hot-dogs as the post-race snack area (which usually consists of a bottle of water and an apple) was stocked up with sandwiches, hot dogs and mini-don
uts. Needless to say I had a sandwich, a hot-dog and a couple of mini-donuts. Not many people can say they have run a race yet still had a positive calorie count by 8:30am…that takes real dedication.Time to explore Sarasota. With puppy in tow we set off on the four mile walk into downtown and the bay. Exactly what we were thinking when setting off on an eight mile round trip walk after our already strenuous morning, I’m not sure. All I know is that with one mile of the return journey left, Kate was trying to flag down anything on wheels to give us a lift home. Not a wise move considering we were in the amusingly dubbed HoZone. As a local woman explained to us over lunch in a cracking little Tiki Bar on the beach, our shitty hotel (the ironically namely Quality Inn which is probably the nastiest hotel we have stayed in to date) is located in a zone where anyone with a prostitution related conviction (presumably on the customer side) is banned from visiting. I don’t really understand the logic of this move but apparently all it does is to advertise where the local pro’s hang out and hence it’s HoZone nickname. Another inspried local Government decision.
Ooo, I forgot to mention the park we stumbled upon that contained a full 18 hole frisbee golf course, complete with layout and
par information at each tee. Some of the holes looked practically impossible as they were over 100 metres and flanked by trees that left a miserly 10 foot gap to get the disc down. But the most surprising thing was that the course was packed...and that most players either carried or wheeled round a full bag of frisbees of various sizes, weight and camber. I consider myself a sport lover but surely some sports aren't meant to be taken quite so seriously and Frisbee Golf must fall into this category. If it is accepted into the Olympics in my lifetime then I'm moving to Mars.
After all our exertions, the night was never going to be
too adventurous so we decided on the tried and tested dinner and a movie formula. Food was courtesy of the locally recommended Mattison’s City Grille. Good quality, reasonably priced food was served alongside huge local beers in their casual outdoor setting (thankfully under heated lamps) and, for the second time that day, I could have happily sacked off our plans. My duck confit salad with dried cranberries, mixed greens and a sesame dressing was excellent (and officially classified as a salad hence I was fully justified schnarfing a box of Reece’s Pieces during the film) and Kate’s Fruits De Mer Pasta was just as good and choc-full of tasty ocean goodies. The film (Doubt) was also pretty good (really well acted but a tad shy on story or twists) but I‘m not a film critic so IMDB it.
par information at each tee. Some of the holes looked practically impossible as they were over 100 metres and flanked by trees that left a miserly 10 foot gap to get the disc down. But the most surprising thing was that the course was packed...and that most players either carried or wheeled round a full bag of frisbees of various sizes, weight and camber. I consider myself a sport lover but surely some sports aren't meant to be taken quite so seriously and Frisbee Golf must fall into this category. If it is accepted into the Olympics in my lifetime then I'm moving to Mars.After all our exertions, the night was never going to be
too adventurous so we decided on the tried and tested dinner and a movie formula. Food was courtesy of the locally recommended Mattison’s City Grille. Good quality, reasonably priced food was served alongside huge local beers in their casual outdoor setting (thankfully under heated lamps) and, for the second time that day, I could have happily sacked off our plans. My duck confit salad with dried cranberries, mixed greens and a sesame dressing was excellent (and officially classified as a salad hence I was fully justified schnarfing a box of Reece’s Pieces during the film) and Kate’s Fruits De Mer Pasta was just as good and choc-full of tasty ocean goodies. The film (Doubt) was also pretty good (really well acted but a tad shy on story or twists) but I‘m not a film critic so IMDB it.Over the next couple of days we’re heading to Atlanta, Georgia so tomorrow will involve a big drive and a stay in some random south Georgian town. In summary, I wouldn’t bother reading tomorrow’s blog.
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