A Period of Transition

Much going on after returning from Paris. First off, following the exploits of my friends left behind as they dealt with the airport shutdowns due to the volcanic ash coming out of Iceland. Salome & I flew out on Wednesday, the day before the eruption. My running partner Jacques a/k/a Garth and his wife Christine lucked out as they flew out on an afternoon Delta flight that was one of the only flights to get out of Paris on Friday when a short window of clear skies opened up.

Not so lucky were buddies Wayne and Bob, who had taken a train up to the Normandy coast. On their return to Paris, both of their Saturday flights were canceled. Wayne had booked a flight to Madrid and Bob was to fly back to the US. Of course, all trains to Spain got booked up quickly as the southern airports were the only ones operating in Europe. Wayne will get the high speed train on Tuesday and Bob on Thursday to Madrid. Best wishes to Wayne for next Sunday's Madrid Marathon and to Bob just getting on a flight back.

Me, I needed to switch gears in preparation for next weekends St. Anthony's Olympic tri. I wanted to get out on the bike before the weekend, but South Florida experienced 15 mph winds from Thursday through Saturday. I got out for a 35 mile ride on Sunday and came across the Spanish River Park Sprint Triathlon in progress. I got the police officer's permission to slip into the flow of the bike riders. I picked up pace and did some passing of other riders. It was good practice for next weekend. I still need to get in a couple of swims this week.

Sunday night, we had a gathering at our house to reconnect with friends and drink French wines and eat French cheeses. Several of us are doing St. Anthony's and buddy John is off to Galveston for the Lone Star 70.3. A group of us gathered in my garage for an instructional packing of John's bike in a bike case. In spite of the rainy and windy evening outside, we managed to have a good time.

Finally, I spent $4.99 to catch the Boston Marathon online with Universal Sports. Several of my friends are running and I'm tracking their progress. Once again, US hopes for the ever elusive win at Boston rested on our 2 best marathoners, Ryan Hall and Meb Keflezighi. Ryan ran the fastest Boston time ever for an American in 2:08:41. Unfortunately, that time was only good for a 4th place finish, as Robert Cheruiyot, the younger, ran a course record of 2:05:51. Meb came in in 5th place in 2:09:25. Both Meb & Ryan's time are world class and I'm proud of these amazing American runners. It's just a tough course with some of the best in the world at Boston. Perhaps next year.