Friday, February 18, 2011

Shifting Gears…Into Vacation Mode

Trying not to make this just another running blog, I've gotten a little behind on entries because my "next" entry continues to languish on my desktop in search of better words.

...So here's a little update on the running and what we're doing this week.

Two weekends ago we went to Portland, ME for a weekend out of town and so I could run the Mid Winter Classic 10 miler on Cape Elizabeth. Unfortunately, they cancelled the race due to a fear of possible winter weather! Imagine that! I had planned to run the race with Brian Denger who's two sons, Matthew and Patrick, like William have Duchenne. Undeterred, we made the most of it and went for an 18 miler on his usual training route, much of it along the Maine coast. Regretfully black ice and slush kept me from enjoying the views as much as I would have liked since I had to pay extra attention to my footing. Fortunately I only hit the deck once. That afternoon we visited with the Dengers and enjoyed good food and conversation.

Progress towards Boston continues to go well. Last week I went over 70 miles and had a very good long run of 20 miles with miles 8 to 18 at "marathon pace," which for me will hopefully be about 6:50 per mile. This was a good confidence boost since I'm inexperienced at going significant distances at that pace. My mind is still catching up with my body!

As I write this we are flying 30,000 feet over North Carolina heading to Orlando. William is so excited to start his Disney vacation tomorrow that he might just burst. The trip has gone well with no delays and upgrades to the front bulkheads. The only stressful part has been the stowage of William's wheelchair onboard the jets. You see, despite having the right to stow William's chair in the closet where it fits comfortably the crew pressures, tries, and insists to get you to gate check the chair. Really, they give a lot of grief and caused undue stress just because they don't want to move their own carry on luggage from their own "private" garage. We've been through this six times now. Sometimes it's harder than others. Our first leg was one of those times. Our second leg wasn't so bad and, in addition to the seat upgrade, I got a complementary beer.

It's time shift gears into vacation mode!