Monday, January 19, 2009

Bermuda Triangle Challange

This past weekend, Sarah and I embarked on one of the most challenging running events we have ever done so far. Even more challenging then the marathon! We set out to escape the bitter cold and snow of Rhode Island to the beautiful island of Bermuda. We have never been to Bermuda, and I must say it is a wonderful place to visit. In January it is between 66 and 70 degrees outside, both during the day and at night. It is perfect for running, and enjoying the outdoors again for a few days. The tropical vegetation, and amazing clear blue water makes you seem like you have escaped to a far off land, even though it was only a two hour flight from Boston.

The running however, was hard. There are way too many hills on the island, and we were running up and down the hills all weekend. The challenge consisted of three races. This is not something I have ever tried to do before. The first was a one mile "sprint". There was a heated competition between Sarah and I in this race, and we both did great with 7:18 and 7:35 miles respectively. We were both hoping for 8 minute miles, so we were pumped with these times.

The next day we set out for a pretty difficult 10K race, which is about a 6.2 mile run. We set a good pace, and had to deal with some intense rain and even more intense hills. We were proud of our time, but still had the longest race left to run.

Finally, on the third and final race, we had to find the energy and strength to run a half marathon, 13.1 miles. I had no idea that I would be so exhausted from the first two races. My body hurt, my legs were stiff, and after the horn blew, I did not think I could even make it 1 mile, never mind 13.1. After about 3 miles, the stiffness went away, but after about 2 more, the pain started. We did finish, but the pain reached that of which we had felt during the marathon around miles 17-19. What made this challenge so hard, was getting to the race, and being exhausted at the starting line! It was all worth it though. A beautiful place, a great challenge and a wonderful, relaxing vacation.

1 comment:

kmacedo said...

Really cool! We're proud of you both...Mom and Dad