Archive for October, 2007

The Jeep has been deemed “Totalled.”  Apart from being a good vehicle, I was always so taken with it I was going to “drive it until the wheels fell off.”  I kept a regular maintenance schedule and kept it clean.  But as years went by, insurance deemed it worth less and less.  The thing is, it was probably better right before I wrecked it than new.  It had a new top that made little noise (SailCloth BestTop) and a couple of other mods.

Either way, I hate to see it go.  I think I am going to try to keep it and fix it myself.

Ever since the Greek soldier (whatever his name was) ran from Marathon to Greece to inform the senate that the Greeks were triumphant, then collapsed and died, people have strived to do the same. What’s more, we added and additional 5.2 miles over the distance he did, if that makes any sense. Of course, participants in marathons are much more numerous these days and do it for different reasons, but the distance is not trivial.

Most every fit person is capable of running up to 15 to 18 miles without experiencing any real or lingering effects. At some point though, everyone reaches their breaking point. If you have ever done a 10k or a half-marathon, you probably have not experienced “bonking.” Your body stores fuel (some of it more than others, and I wasn’t really talking about fat reserves, but rather glycogen, which is stored in you liver if I remember correctly). Your body can produce more, but not as fast as you use it running. At the 15 – 18 mile mark, your body starts to run out of its stores. There are several ways to counter this, of course, which I will briefly cover later but you will have to read up on it if you want more information. When your body is depleted of glycogen, you fell like crap. Your legs get very heavy and stiff, and you simply have to rely on pure will to finish the race. If you push yourself hard, it can take from two weeks to a month to get to feeling 100%. But, even knowing this, you are already 2/3 through the race and it would be a shame to throw it all away.

One way to counter this is to start “tanking up” on fuel before and during the race in the form of gel packs or power bars. I read about this and didn’t believe it until the last marathon, when I saw runners in those snazzy quasi-crotchless running shorts sporting “food belts” and were popping gel packs at the start.

I wrongly assumed that the Disney Marathon route would be festooned with food, but during the course we were all given one gel pack and one PowerBar, or roughly 400 calories. Seeing as you will probably burn like 3000 calories, it simply was not enough.

The other thing to help keep “the bonk” at bay is to train and train well. Somewhere during the training, you have to get up to doing near-marathon distance. I was following a plan in a book that got up to 22 miles a couple of weeks before the race. As a result, I did a lot better than my previous marathon.

Well, I want to do another marathon. I picked the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon because I think it would be neat to run around the Nation’s Capital. And since I am no where near to being in the shape I need to be to run it the weekend after next, I will have a whole year to train for it. I plan to do a half-marathon a few months before and several other “run-through” 10ks. At the 100 day point before next year’s race, we should be able to run a 10k. That will be the starting point and whatever pace you run the 10k is what you should shoot for as your pace for the marathon. (Actually, I would shoot for about :30 slower/mile).

So, if you ever have wanted to do a marathon, feel free to join me. There will be plenty of fun training runs come next August/September so we can share our misery.

Check out their website: Marine Corps Marathon

Pina picked us up early, as we were to make the boat at 7, according to our calls the day before.  We were to go to the Marina where the “people boats” left; however, there were three or four entrances into the port, and each entrance was specific.  We went to the other three first.  In a comic 20-minute bit that would have been pretty funny sped up, we whizzed around in Pina’s small red hatchback and tried each of the gates.  What amazed me is how no one working any of the other port entrances seemed to know anything about the other entrances.

Once we found our entrance, we went to try to catch the boat.  As Italians are usually dreadfully late, we figured we were almost right on time.  We weren’t.  But, according to the phone calls, there was only two or three boats leaving Salerno for either Capri or Sorrento that day.  On the contrary, there were several.  Pina found a worker that was a very nice chap eager to help.  He told us that there was a boat leaving in about 45 minutes.  We bought our tickets, which were quite reasonable though I don’t remember the price and then sat down to have some of the contents of the fifty pound backpack we were carrying.  Antonella’s mother had packed us a bunch of food and beverages.  We sat out at a little cafe and had a couple of prosciutto sandwiches.   As I was stuck with the bag most of the time, I was thankful every time someone ate or drank something as it lightened my load.

The boat we boarded was a large boat with two decks.  The one atop the boat was open and sunny.  However, the wind coming off of the water was quite strong and, more importantly, quite cold.  So, I found a nice window seat on the bottom deck.  We were only three of about 10 people that boarded a boat that sat perhaps 250. Antonella and Pina sat next to me and after a while, they started talking too fast in Italian for a gringo like me to keep up.  So, I pulled out one of my books and started to read.

The trip itself was about an hour in duration, circumnavigating the Amalfi peninsula and terminating in Sorrento.  We had brief stops in Maiori, Ravello, Amalfi, and Postitano en route, and at each picked up several more passengers.  By the time we left Positano, the boat was practically full.  At some point during the journey, Pina and Antonella decided to go topside and enjoy the day.  After about 15 minutes, they agreed it was too cold and returned downstairs.

Upon arriving at Sorrento, we had to get another ticket to take the boat to Capri.  It was like 34 Euros apiece, which was almost twice what we paid for the ticket on the previous boat and was half the distance.  Once aboard, we noticed that it was quite full.  The boat itself was a hydrofoil, and cruised much faster than the previous boat.  After about 20 minutes, we arrived at Marina Grande in Capri.

Once arriving in beautiful Capri, we asked around about going to Grotto Azzuro, the big item on our must-see list.  We found a place to catch yet another boat.  This one was about 30 Euros for only a 10 minute ride.  So, it would seem that the smaller the boat, the bigger the price.   We waited about five minutes and boarded a small wooden powerboat that accommodated about 15 people.  We sped along, stopping only once for a guy on another boat to toss over the skipper’s meal in a plastic bag.  The trip itself was beautiful, with dark blue water that looked glacial and steep cliff walls jutting up from beneath the water and towering at least 100 feet overhead.  Once we got near the grotto, the skipper idled the motor and we leveled out.  This was brief, as the current was strong and we would idle along for a bit, drifting with the current, and then he would throw it in gear and we’d power over to the other side.  We did this for about 45 minutes, as there were seven or eight other boats in a similar pattern between us and the entrance to the grotto.  A nautical queue, if you will.  But, seven or eight boats didn’t account for the 45 minutes.  The skipper was letting other boats into the queue before us.  These boats were full of Japanese tourists, the most coveted tourists of all.  (Word has it that they are tidy and are good tippers).  The skipper let in about 3 or 4 boats in front of us!  Everyone was getting pretty peeved about that.

The boats themselves didn’t go into the grotto, but rather the passengers were offloaded to little dinghies of three or four people.  The guides would then row you in (while standing) and stop at a little floating tent where they would charge you another 11 Euros to see the grotto.  As we loaded onto the boat, we had a bit of a time.  Our boat would carry five…another couple and us three.  I was wearing hiking boots (expecting hills, which we will get to later) and long pants (it was cold earlier, remember).  But, the boots were big, and we had three packs: one containing our food and beverage, one containing my books and notebooks and passports, and a camera bag.  Couple that with the fact that Antonella is claustrophobic and we were set for fun.  The guide was cursing at us in Italian about my boots, all our baggage, etc. etc.  Pina and Antonella had fun talking about it later and laughing.  Of course most of it was directed at me.

Once we got in the boat and paid the pirates, we approached the entrance to the grotto.  It was a small hole with a chain tacked up over the entrance.  The method to get in there was the guide would wait until a boat or two came out, then wait for the waves to be just right, then would grab the chain and pull it while lying back flat in the boat.  Once we got in and our eyes adjusted, the water was a vibrant blue.  There is another entrance below the waterline where the sunlight comes in and radiates the water.  So, there are two types of pictures one can take:  one of us in the grotto, but without seeing the luminescent water, and one of just the water.  Basically, with a flash and without a flash, respectively.

After four boats of varying sizes and assloads of money, our five minutes in the grotto seemed a bit steep.  Not to discount its beauty or anything, but I felt I had been had.  Upon leaving, we were deciding whether to get on the boat to return back to Marina Grande, or take the stairs up and catch a bus to Anacapri.  Our decision was made easier when we learned that our 30 Euro boat ride over was a one-way deal.  If we wanted to return we would have to pay again.  So, we hoofed it.

We stopped to use the bathroom at a nearby restaurant overlooking the water and had to pay to do so.  Antonella left her purse down by the water and thankfully no one took it.  So, after we got all situated, we boarded a bus to take us up the winding road towards Anacapri, a small village (touristy as heck) atop the highest point on the island.

Anacapri was beautiful, though it seemed a lot smaller than I expected.  We knew the boat going back to Salerno left at a certain time, so our stay would be short.  We cruised the main strip and found mainly souvenir stands.  Though it was beautiful, there was nothing remarkable about it.  After about 30 minutes, we decided to stroll down to the marina via a stair-intensive path.  To get to the trailhead, we had to walk along the side of the road, most of which had no sidewalks.  And as the road was steep and winding, walking along the side of a road with no shoulder (railing that separated you from a long nasty fall to the rocks some hundred feet below) was a bit unsettling, as most of the traffic on Capri was buses.  Alright, they were small buses, but they would still hurt a lot if they smacked you.

The trailhead was hidden, as it was on the inside of the road and crossed under the road.  Once we were on it, we saw a small church (about 20 feet square) and then the path went down forever from there.  The path was shady in places, and was cut out of the hillside.  As such, it was quite slippery at points.  Not for me, as I had on my…hiking boots! (I told you I would get back to that.)  Pina had a nasty little slip and she had some abrasions on her hands and arms, but she didn’t let it get her down.  In fact, she was unflappable through the entire journey.

The path was like two or three kilometers of nothing but stairs.  Once we reached the city below, the trail dumped us within a kilometer of our destination.  We walked to the marina and bought our return tickets (straight from Capri to Salerno) and did some minor sightseeing.  I say minor as in we went into a small internet cafe, ordered some beers and cappucinos and waited.

Most of the way back I slept, so I don’t have much to add.  The cities of the Amalfi coast are beautiful, but one would have to wonder why someone would build on the side of a cliff.

We returned home to find that it had rained most of the day in Bonzano.  Antonella’s mother assumed that we had had similar weather, which was definitely not the case.   Sophia was well-behaved again, so Teresa had no complaints.  We shared our stories of the day over dinner and went to sleep.

Somewhere during the night, Sophia rolled out of bed and hit the hard marble floor.  Assuming the worst, we rushed to the emergency room along with Guido and her parents.  The ride was very tense, as everyone was blaming everyone.  But, after a quick and thorough check of Sophia, nothing was found to be wrong with her, so we all returned home and went to sleep.   Well, not immediately.  We kept an eye on Sophia for some time.  We made several adjustments to ensure that would not happen again, including surrounding the floor underneath with pillows and putting little guards around the bed.  The next morning, Sophia was perfectly fine.