Port Royal - Here I come again !

Ye Old Bar - Port Royal, Jamaica

Back in the saddle again.

Went out today and did 12.3 miles, the same distance I did 3 weeks ago before getting sick.

The morning started out routinely, up at a little after 4:30am for a cup of tea and some crackers, getting ready and out the door at about 5:15am for the drive into Kingston. For some strange reason I couldn't get through to Wilson, normally I would hear from him early.

Arrived at 6:15am and got ready right away and hit the road all by myself. As usual while riding by myself I found that I was pushing myself harder than usual, no problem I thought, if I get tired I will just lower the pace and try to catch my breath, and that is exactly what I did, steady pace into Port Royal. I was very surprised that I had reached there so quickly and took only 5 minutes to get a drink and massage Robbie and the twins back to life.

Betsy parked accross the road from
Ye Old Bar

The journey back was a little more difficult as I continued pushing myself a little faster than usual and the last mile to the car really did me in, but I stuck it out like a Champ. There were a lot of people on the road today as there was a Walk-a-ton in progress, they didn't travel along the Port Royal road so they didn't really get in my way until I was driving back home. It was wonderful seeing dozens of people walking aggressively in the hot sun working up a sweat.

I felt good today, I didn't ride further than I did 3 weeks ago but I know I did it at a faster pace than before and most importantly I didn't have Wilson there pushing me, I did it all on my own.

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November 2009

Last Ride - 12.3 miles

Total Ride for the Month - 12.3 miles

Target miles for November - 60 miles

Jamaica at the 12th IAAF Championship

I am sure that this is an event that Jamaicans both at home and away have been following for the past 9 days. We are a country that is slightly smaller than the state of Connecticut yet we have been able to produce sportsmen/women and academics who have risen to the pinnacle of their chosen profession. Bob Marley is a name that is easily recognised all over the world and is on parr with Cocoa-Cola, Mickey Mouse, Superman and Tarzan as names that transcends languages.

Jamaica has been winning medals at world games since the 1930s and really came of age in 1948 Olympics when Arthur Wint won our firts Gold Medal. Later on in Helsinki in 1952 Wint, Les Laing, HerbMcKinley and George Rhoden teamed up for gold in the 4X400M relay and led the charge that had Jamaica reaching 13th on the medal table.

Lennox Miller (father of American sprinter Inger Miller), Donald Quarrie, Merlene Ottey, Grace Jackson, Juliet Cuthbert, Bert Cameron, Ray Stewart, Beverly McDonald, Winthrop Graham, Deon Hemmings, James Beckford, Sandie Richards, Michelle Freeman, Lorraine Fenton and many others that I am not remembering now are some of those who became world beaters or who at least challeneged for the titles. We followed their exploits cheering them on in victory and commiserating with them in defeat.

We were the perenial challengers and runners-ups to the United States and during the late 80s words started filtering out in many circles about athletes using performance enhancing drugs. Throughout the 90s and into the new millennium technology caught up with many drug cheats and slowly but surely the playing field finally levelled and Jamaica started winning GOLD MEDALS galore.




ENTER USAIN BOLT

Usain Bolt stormed the athletics world like a category 5 hurricane breaking records and winning hearts with his playful antics and I am sure driving the US Athletic Association into perpetual insomnia. To Jamaicans who follow atheltics from the high school level, we were extremly surprised but now shocked. We all knew that Usain Bolt would have been a world beater, we just didnt know how complete his victories would be. I want to give kudos to Usain Bolt for his double record breaking run and congratulate all the athletes who competed and helped Jamaica to 2'nd place on the medal tables with:

Gold - 7
Silver - 4
Bronze - 2

Total - 13

behind the USA who had 22 medals overall (10 Gold, 6 Silver, 6 Bronze)

As I sit here watching the closing ceremonies I reflect on the performances over the past 9 days and realise that certain performances have had a more profound effect on me than others and as great as Usain Bolt's runs have been, those are not the ones that have brought a tear to my eye.

more to come

Congratulations to all the Athletes in Berlin, Germany. Those who competed and won, those who competed and didnt, and those that trained with the team and offered support (Hello Sherone Simpson - hope to see you running soon)

It's Not An Easy Road

"They see the glamour and the glitter and they think it's a bed of rose, who feels it know..." - Buju Banton

I strated riding this morning, I am discovering aches in places that I never know existed before. You all should know that I am a huge cricket fan and one particular sledge of Arjuna Ranatunga of Sri Lanka by Shane Warne ran through my mind while I was huffing and puffing away this morning "You get no kudos for being a fat, unfit f**k." :)

The route was a 8.8 km ride from The Officer's Club near Norman Manley International Airport out to Port Royal on a nicely paved stretch of road that is realtively flat. It's used by many cyclists from the beginners to the hardcore professionals who rush past like a bullet train, calling out to overtake and ensuring that I keep my wobbles to a minimum and not cause a pile up.

We started at 6am which was about 30 minutes later than we wanted to, Wayne was up last night late working on his road bicycle and slighly overslept. We made some adjustments to both bikes and off we went very slowly. Now I haven't done any serious working out in over 3-4 years and while my job keeps me on my feet on and off throughout the day I am seriously OUT OF SHAPE, and it showed up pretty early but I soldered on until about 3.5 Km where I stopped and refused to go any further :) Wayne continued onwards to Port Royal after a bit of fussing and I made an attempt to ride back to the car, but ended up walking and pushing the bike for about 3 KM, at least whether riding or walking I am getting exercise (I thought to myself). The sun was ripping at the time I stopped and I realised that we would have had an advatage if we had started earlier. The big riders who barrelled past me going and coming were all so pleasant and encouraging, most slowed down and asked if I was ok while I was walking back and many told me not to worry as the more I did it the better I would get.

I have started and stopped exercise routines before and know that I need to take things slowly and give my body time to adjust and most importantly STICK TO IT. I will be up again on Wednesday morning when I will do a few circuits around my neighbourhood ( a few inclines there) and again on Saturday where we will see if I can go 4 or 5 KM this time :)

The ride from the Officer's Club to Port Royal is 8.8KM one way and my goal is to be able to complete that and stay alive, then increase that distance to both ways. I am going to need to adjust my diet to help with the weight loss aspect and also try to quit my worst habit - PESPI COLA.

I love taking pictures and from time to time will pepper here with photos of Jamaica, etc. so look out for those.

1st picture - Part of the route

2nd picture - Building in Port Royal