Travails of a Traveler

Just for the record: In my last blog entry, some people (Eric T) made the suggestion (Eric T)that I was whining (Eric T) about my schedule (Eric T). On the contrary, I just wanted people to know that I was going to be busy. Oh sure, I may have SAID something about 'a marathon in a month' and me beginning to panic. But, if you don't run for awhile, you swear that the next time you run, you'll be out of breath before a half mile goes by. Luckily, that didn't happen. You see, I don't whine. I leave that job for Kelly. She's much better at it than me. :-)

I don't travel for business that often. When I do, it usually comes in clusters like it did last week. I also had two personal functions (one in Long Island, NY and the other in Boston, MA) bookending my business travel to North Carolina.

Actually, I don't mind travelling for business once in awhile. It gives me a chance to get 'out of the office' for a time. See new things. See different people. And, in a lot of cases, face-to-face meetings are more effective than teleconference calls. Believe me, there have been times that we were able to accomplish in two days something we couldn't in two months because we were all in the same room.

The other nice thing is getting out and running some place different. Doesn't always happen like the beginning of last week when I had my first trip to North Carolina. But, my schedule was a little more flexible the second trip down, so had a chance to get some miles in. I have given up the thought of doing a scheduled training run for marathon prep. I get in what I can and just have fun(?) running the race.

Below is a breakdown of my week on the road:

Sunday--Scheduled to fly down to Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina at 5:30p. Because of stormy weather, actually didn't take off until 8p. Landed around 9:15p and got to the hotel around 9:45p. I was suppose meet up with my boss to get something to eat when I got there. But, instead, ate at Philadelphia airport before getting on the plane. I paid for the dinner with my business credit card. Waitress gave me the card back with the top corner (where the metal strip is) torn. Great. All transactions, for the trip, will need to be entered manually.

Monday--Early morning rise with meeting after meeting. Went out, that night, with people from work. Probably the most normal day of the week.

Tuesday--Busy all day with meetings once again. Scheduled to fly home on the 6p flight to Philadelphia. My boss is to fly back to Philadelphia on a different airline but we meet up in the same terminal. I get there around 4p and check my flight. There is a 4:30p flight to Philadelphia boarding. Wow!! I ask the person behind the ticket counter if there are any more seats available for the flight. She said, 'yes, would I like to change my flight?.' I promptly do so and run back to my boss to say good-bye. After telling him the news about my luck, he asks, 'what about your luggage?' Oh. I didn't think of that. I go back to the ticket counter and ask will my luggage follow? No. Damn. Ok, can you change me back to the 6p? Which she does. I have dinner with my boss and we part ways. I get off my flight and wait for my bags at the luggage carousel. And wait. And wait. No bags. Frustrated and tired, I go to the luggage counter and am ready to lay into them when, I see my bag. Just sitting there. Off to the side. Seems my luggage made the 4:30p afterall.

Wednesday--First time I had a chance to run since PDR. I have to go to pick up some meds for one of my dogs so decided, instead of Lake Galena, I would do the 7 mile loop up on the Delaware River. When I get there, it starts to rain. Usually, I don't like running in the rain but I didn't care. I HAD to get out there because I don't think my legs know how to run anymore. I had a lot of energy so probably pushed harder than I should have. No matter. It felt great and the rain held off through most of the run.

Thursday--Back to Raleigh/Durham, NC again. Got a 3:50p flight and everything was on time. I got to the hotel around 6p and ran in Research Triangle Park. I've been told that RTP is a town in North Carolina. Many businesses have campuses there. And, they have a nice jogging trail throughout the area. It's close to the hotel so I venture out there. I park off Cornwallis Road and do most of the run on Alexander Parkway. Running this path was like running on solid waves. There were no hills just constantly 'bumps' on the path that you can feel in the legs after awhile. I was planning on doing 5 miles but, got back to where I parked my car and decided to do one more. So, totaled six for the run.

Friday--Rather than going back to Philadelphia, I decided to stay an extra day in North Carolina and fly up to New England for a reunion with people from a radio station I worked at (about 20 years ago) that was being held on Saturday. Work was done so went out to find another place to run. I went back to the hotel and they suggested 'Al Buehler Cross Country Trail' on the Duke University campus in Duke Forest. (see plaque below)

This trail was an approximate 3 mile loop. This looked different. I want to do 8 miles so decided to stick with the 8 and walk/light jog the last mile for a cool down. My first clue should have been the name 'cross country trail'. The trail was a mix of dirt and sand with pine needles thrown about. It reminded me of male pattern baldness with pine needles here and there on the path but mostly to sides. I have to say I wasn't ready for the terrain. If there was flat on this path, I want to know where. It was a series of small hills and big hills, tough hills and not-so-tough hills, just going up and down in a forested setting. I didn't get winded but my legs were screaming. By the third lap, I knew what I was in store for so adjusted the mental aspect of the run. I saved myself knowing there was a tough hill coming up and 'let it out' on the downhills. All in all, it was a far different run than what I was used to doing and fun.

After the run, I had a chance to walk around the campus of Duke University. I went to the athletic fields and found one of the meccas of college basketball, Cameron Indoor Stadium. (pictured below is an outside shot of the arena and an indoor shot). I snuck in and found that the stadium was set up for a women's volleyball game between North Carolina and Duke. I stuck around for awhile to watch them practice and to just drink in the setting of where I was. This is one of the places you want to visit if you are fan of college basketball.

I went outside of the arena and walked around the Duke University stadium where they hold their football games and track meets. (see below)

I am glad I went to school in Boston but, if I ever had a second life, Duke would be a place to consider. Just a beautiful campus.

I went back to the hotel and cleaned up a bit before heading out to eat. I got on the elevator and got off the first floor. Doors opened and there, staring at me, were about 40 large guys in Carolina sweatsuits. Now, I'm 6 foot 3 inches and, I have to say, I felt small in comparison. I made my way through the crowd of polite young men. I went to the front desk to print out my boarding pass for the next day's flight and asked, 'who are they?' The person behind the front desk said, 'they are the University of North Carolina football team. They stay with us before every home game.' Now, I was thinking, 'don't they have dorm rooms?' Going to a school that didn't have big time athletics, I guess I didn't understand.

Saturday--Got up early to go to breakfast and fill up my car before heading to the airport. When I pulled into the gas station, I couldn't figure out how to open the fuel tank door. So, there I was, kneeling, walking around, checking every nook and cranny of my rental car, to figure out how to open the fuel door. There was no book in the car to tell me how. Frustrated, I left the station to have breakfast. I sat through breakfast just irked I was defeated. It can't be that difficult. After breakfast, I did the same fuel door dance in the lot of the Waffle House. I pushed the fuel door. Nothing. Then it dawned on me. Push the other side of the door. Viola! Problem solved.

I had to change planes in Baltimore. The guy on the plane next to me was in a hurry. He asked if I could let him off ahead of me. This threw my 'getting off my plane routine' but I let him go. Getting off the plane myself, I went to get a newspaper before sitting down for lunch. As I sat down, I realized I didn't have my glasses. Damn. I didn't take them out of the pocket in front of me on the plane. I had to run back to the plane. I waited for someone to come up from the plane and explained my situation. He motioned me to follow him. So, I did. And, started to explain where I thought the glasses were. He interrupted me and yelled back, 'hey, Ruth, I think I found the guy who left his glasses on board the plane.' I thanked him and slithered away.

Arrived into Providence, RI airport and went to my sister's house for the afternoon. As mentioned before, I was going to a reunion of old friends from a radio station I used to work at. Actually, it's where Steve(Runner) and I met and worked together. Steve(Runner) picked up and went into Boston, MA in the seaport district. I hadn't been there in years and it has completely changed. It is a funny thing of how areas that you know so well when living there can change so much to confuse you. It was good to see Steve and talk about his running, my running, his podcast and how our lives are doing. And, it was good to catch up with people that I haven't seen for awhile. It was a good group to work with.

Sunday--Finally, going home! I had brunch with my sister, brother-in-law and niece in Rhode Island before heading to the airport. I get home around 3:30p. The dogs are running around playing with each other. My wife tells me about the things they've gotten into since I left. The lawn needs cut. The leaves need to be raked. It was good to be home.

(Notes: Congratuations to the Philadelphia Phillies for winning their series against the Milwaukee Brewers and advancing the National League finals against the Los Angeles Dodgers. If you know Phillies history, the Dodgers prevented us from going to the World Series in the 1970s. Should be a great series.

If you haven't signed up, please consider doing the World Wide Festival of Races this weekend. http://www.worldwidefestivalofraces.com/cgi-bin/home. It's an effort to bring the world to run one big race together. I'll be wearing number 1000 for the Half marathon challenge.

Also, does anybody have a solution on how to get rid of woodpeckers?)