Busy Season is back here in St. Thomas

Well all the cruise ships are starting to come back in and things are picking up down here. We had one close call with hurricane Omar but that was all and no direct hit here and no damage. My running suffered a bit this summer but I am back in training mode!

Race & Trip Update- Finally

Hello All:
Well I have finally gotten around to updating my Blog. After getting back from California we had taken a bad surge of power and we had some major problems to deal with. Lots of outlets, switches and appliances were out. We are finally almost back up. Still waiting for 2 boards for the 2 dish washers that got fried.

Anyways on to the trip........

First of all......To all of you that helped me raise money towards my goal with the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation- Thank You!!! I surpassed my goal of $2500.00!!! I met some great people out there. There were 500 of us running for the Crohn's Colitis "Team Challenge". Collectivly we raised over 2 million dollars. The night before the race we had a pasta dinner party with everybody. If was very informative and motivating. This is a wonderful organization with a great vision seeking a cure.

We had a great time during the week leading up to the race. It was Victoria, Jon and Myself staying at a families house in Santa Rosa while they stayed at our place in St. Thomas. It worked out really nice. We hit about 3 or 4 wineries a day. We took it pretty easy and rested the Saturday before the race.

Jon and I woke up on race day around 4:30 am. We had to drive from Santa Rosa down to the Sonoma Square which was about a 30 minute drive. From there we boarded a bus that took us up to the start line in Napa right by the Cuvasion and Domain Carneros wineries. It was COLD! I think it was in the 40's and never got out of the 50's. After we got started it was fine........ There was one hill in the first mile which wasn't much of anything even though the race description called it "butt burner hill". After training down here in St. Thomas hills take on a different meaning. After that the terrain was almost totally flat with just small rolling hills. And also after training in the heat down here I had so much more energy in the cool weather. My plan was to try and keep my pace right around 9:00 minutes per mile. I was feeling so good that I just went with what felt right which was a little faster. So here were my mile split times.

1- 8:16
2- 8:23
3- 7:59
4- 8:08
5- 8:30
6- 8:08
7- 8:13
8- 8:02
9- 8:23
10- 8:05
11- 8:20
12- 8:23
13- 8:12

I wasn't real consistent. I think when I ran right around an 8 min mile I would tell myself that I should slow a bit so I wouldn't burn out by the end. I think that might be why my splits were a bit up and down.

The course was beautiful. It was pretty overcast with clouds and fog. The course ran through all the back roads and through all the vineyards. Water stations were set up about every other mile. Great crowd support also. They really kept me motivated and moving fast. The finish was right down Broadway street in the the town of Sonoma ending at the town square. As you crossed the finish line they were announcing your name and where you were from.... Tons of people lined the streets. It was really great.

Ok, so here's how I did. Like I said above, I was shooting for right around a 9:00 min. per mile average pace which would have given me a time of about 1 hour and 58 minutes. I finished in 1 hour 48 minutes and 46 seconds which was an 8:18 min. per mile pace. I was 226th out of 2500 runners and 20th in my age group. (40-44). Not bad for my first Half Marathon. Jon also did great . He finished in 2 hours 17 min. Unbelievable considering he hadn't been training quite as hard as others.......

So we got are finishing medals and then are souvenir wine glasses. It was then wine tasting in the square for a couple of hours and then off to Taco Bell to replenish all those calories that we burned.......Ha

So now I guess I'm looking for a full (26.2 mile) marathon to do for next year..... why? I'm not sure. If I figure it out I'll let you know......

Wine Country!!!!

Well it's great out here in California...... We flew into LA last Thursday. Had dinner with my cousin Tim and wife Colleen. It was great to meet up. Then it was up to Oakland California on Saturday where we met up with Big Jon. We've been hitting a few wineries every day and it's been great. The house here in Santa Rosa is wonderful.. The Schafers are staying at our place in St. Thomas. A wonderful Home Exchange. Weather has been wonderful. Cool or cold at night and perfect during the day.

I've been running just enough. Jon and I met up with the Team Challenge group from the Crohn's and Colitis foundation last Sunday. We had a training run and got to run across the Golden Gate Bridge...!!! It was great.

The race is Sunday morning! We have to be out of the house around 5am to drive to Sonoma and then catch a bus to the starting line. I also made my fund raising goal!!!! Thanks to everyone that helped. I really appreciate it. !!!!

Well we have a few winery tours starting at 10:00 am this morning, so gotta run.

Vacation and Half Marathon are right around the corner

Just a little over 2 weeks till we fly to California!!!!! Time has flown by. My training for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon has been going pretty well. I've had some slight knee pain so I haven't been pushing it as hard as I would like. I did have a nice 10 mile run on Saturday right at a 9 min per mile pace. With the tempatures a lot cooler out there and the course relatively flat, I should be fine.

I've had some great support on my Team Challenge donation page. Thank you all very much!!

Happy Father's Day!!

Well my cat gave me a rub and a meow so that was my happy father's day...... We did have a 2 mile race in French Town this morning. It was pretty hot and I have been training for the longer distances lately. This 2 mile was like a sprint. I got third place out of about 13 runners. Not a good turn out.....oh well. Of course the 2 guys that beat me were in high school so not bad for a old guy in his 40's.....

A few extra Pics from the Cellar/ Bunk Room Project.

A few more shots. Wine Cellar ceiling partially painted. Walls to be painted soon. The Yellow stuff on the floor is a mesh that you put down before you tile. Help the mortar stick. Inside the sliding door will be the bunk room... Sorry no pics yet 'cause there isn't anything in there but dirt and rocks.........

Wine Cellar and "Bunk Room" Project"

I wish I could say I was just laying on the beach and sipping pina colladas all day but that is not the case. For several years now below our apartment lies the shed/ store room. Next to that has always been the 10' x 10' space for the wine cellar. Well it has gone from an idea to almost finished. And next to the wine cellar was another area used to collect junk...... Well now that will be for the "bunk room" for unexpeted family or friends that need a place to crash when the upstairs is booked, which is almost always. (It will be too small to be called a bedroom) Rates will be posted later and no longer stays than a couple of days are permitted......:-)





Starting framing of wine cellar walls with moisture barrier.


Wine Cellar front framing.


Wine Cellar. Digging out dirt. Preparing back wall footer.


Walls up and mortared. Rocks filled in and sealed.


Out side walls morterd, door in place. Extra storage to left of cellar.

Bad Spencer

Well I have no excuses for not updating my blog. I have been running some but not enough of that either. My friend Jon was in town for the last three weeks which did change up my usual routine. I ended up drinking more Bloody Mary's in the morning.....ha.... We did get a few runs in which was nice. I'm heading down to work on Happy Hour's engine so I will make a better entry with pictures soon........

Update........

Well this has not been a good week for running. My right knee has been bothering me. I had been working on the inside of our new storage shed which is out side under the new bathroom that we put in for the villa last year. The hill is pretty steep and I think I pulled something. Nothing bad but a little irritating. I did run 4 miles this morning so I'm feeling better. Only 10 weeks and 4 days till the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon. I will be ready! I do still need help with contribution support. Thank you to those that have donated on the site and also sent in checks. If you are able and willing, please click on the link below: http://www.active.com/donate/napa08northerncalifo/spencerdickey

Victoria and I have been working on the wine cellar and also the temporary spare bedroom. The temporary spare bedroom will hopefully become our new master bathroom for us this summer. But for now it's great for friend and guests when we are booked upstairs......


Poured footer for back wall of wine cellar



Framing up the wine cellar. Moisture barrier and insullation.



Old back storage room in our apartment turns into temporary guest bedroom.

Carnival in St. Thomas

Well it's Carnival time in St. Thomas which means traffic, bad parking and nothing gets done. Oh well. It's been a while since my last post. It's been pretty busy. We had the Run for the Homeless 5K on April 15th. My parents were in and came down to the UVI soccer field to watch. I finished first place in the Men's Division. There is a female named Ruth Ann that is Olympic caliber that I couldn't beat in my dreams....Anyways great race.

I made a very quick trip up to Sarasota Florida to deliver a cat to a friend. I wanted to try and run a race the morning after I got in but didn't get in until after midnight so decided not to race. The Carnival Mile is coming up this weekend and that should be a nice fast challenge.

Sunday Road Race- "All Terrain 10K"

Up at 5:30am this morning for the All Terrain 10K at the National Parks dock in Red Hook here on St. Thomas. We had a pretty good showing of people including 2 of the "Hot Shots" from St. John with one of them being Jeremy Zuber the 4 time winner of the 8 Tuff Miles. Anyways, we got started a little late. Around 7:30 instead of 7:00am and it was getting really hot mid way through the race. I would call it moderate hills. Nothing too long but we also had to run on trails and the sandy beach for a while. All in all a great race. My time was 47:54 or an 8:17 min. per mile pace. My Garmin GPS watch said we were only 5.79 miles instead of the 6.21 miles that it was supposed to be......Oh well..

The Flu is the Pits

Well this past 4 days has not been fun. I guess I got the Flu. Cold sweats, chills, fever, no appitite. I lost 4 pounds without running at all...not good. I'm not back to 100% this morning but I felt good enough to get out and go for a run. I'm still a little dizzy and don't quite have all my energy back but I want to try and run the "All Terrain 10K" this Sunday. All family and friends are gone for now. It was a busy couple weeks and I didn't get much running in at all. My parents are coming in next week but it should be a nice relaxed visit. The big picture now is to train for the Napa Sonoma Half Marathon in July. So I will be upping my milage over these next couple of months.....

MapMyRun.com

Well I just tried mapping one of my normal runs with www.mapmyrun.com. It's looks like i'm swimming part of this but I'm really not. I think if you click on the "view this route in MayMyRun" and click on sat view it will look normal.........

Happy Easter

Hello All:
A wonderful day here in St. Thomas on Easter Sunday. I had a great 5+ mile run this morning. Did my normal Magens Bay out Peterborg Point to the stone circle and back loop. Took it pretty easy and still ran a 8:46 pace. Great run with some killer hills. I have to be getting into better shape running these hills. I have a trip on my sailboat Happy Hour with some repeat guest in the morning so time to get some sleep and hopefully a quick flat run on the waterfront in the morning before the sail.

Big Waves here on the north side of St. Thomas

Well that storm that came through Atlanta and the east coast a few days ago reached all the way down here with huge seas. We have 15 to 20 waves breaking on the rocks below us. We are about 150 feet up the cliff and the spray is reaching all the way up to the house. Pretty crazy. We haven't been in this house for a direct hit of a hurricane and even though it would be pretty dramatic, I'm not hoping to see it any time soon.

My running has suffered these last few weeks but I think my body needed the break. Lots of family and friends have been in town so I have tons of excuses. I also accidentally kicked a rock last week and cut a toe on my left foot. Not bad but couldn't run on it till today. I have the "All Terrain 10K" coming up a week from Sunday. (March 30). Should be a fun run out on the east end by the National Parks dock.

My parents are also coming in soon. (April 3rd) It'll be nice since they haven't been down in over 2 years.

Update

Well I took a few weeks off after the 8 Tuff Miles..... I got in a couple runs but needed the rest. We finished the marble tile in our lower unit at the villa where we live and that took about a week and I moved thousands of pounds of tile and mortar mix. So I have been getting plenty of exercise. We had 8 guests check in the villa last night but ended up being very late because of mechanical problems and the bad weather on the east coast. They were supposed to get in around 4pm but didn't land until 10 pm and we didn't get them out the the villa and checked in until 11:30. Because of this, my run this morning has been postponed till tomorrow morning........

Today is going to be a relaxing day

8 Tuff Miles Update!

Finish line photo- I had nothing left in the tank.

Getting off the ferry heading to the start.

Cruz Bay before the start

Race director Peter Alter: the man that puts it all together!
Thanks Peter!


TJ and me at the finish!


WOW!!!
What a day!
I got a pretty good nights sleep on Friday before the race. Went to bed around 10 pm. Apache, our cat thought I should get up at 4am instead of 5am.... Oh well. So up a little after 4, stretch, make a lite smoothie, finish up the playlist for ipod and out the door a little before 6am to catch the 6:30am ferry over to St. John. Ferry was packed but I got an isle seat so I could stretch the legs a little. I picked up my number at the table. I was #70 for finishing overall in that place last year. Top 100 get to start in the front coral and get out with a clean start. That is nice. Weather was great. 75 degrees, partly cloudy. I felt pretty good. Started out a little fast but that first mile hill puts you in your place fast. I pretty much just ran my race and didn't worry about other people. There was an incredible 8 year old boy that had beat me in the training runs that I kept my eye on and did finally get by him about 2 miles in. We had a pretty strong rain shower come about halfway through the race. It was actually pretty nice but made the road a little slippery. My goal was to get to the 5.3 mile mark with a pace of 9 to 9:30 min per mile which i did. I was about a 9:06. From there it's 3 miles down hill. I pushed it a little hard from the top of Bordeaux on down into Coral Bay. My Garmin watch had me at a 5:29 pace for a little. That was a little fast but I was just trying to relax and flow with the hills. I was trying to run that downhill section around a 7 min per mile pace. I think it probably averaged out to about that. By the time I got to a half mile before the finish I was spent. Nothing left. And that last half mile flattens out and actually slopes back uphill just slightly. And the wind had picked up against us with more approaching rain. Anyways, I dug deep and finished strong. Last year I ran a 1:15:20 which was a 9:00 min/mile pace. I just wanted to beat that.....

1:08:32 finish time- 8:11 min per mile pace.
35 overall out of 800 runners
30 among males
5 in age group of 40-44

Post race party was great. Band was playing and we all had a great time. I ran into TJ from Illinois who inspired me to start this blog. Peter the race director had put a link to his blog on the front page of the race web site. So headed to Skinny Legs for lunch and beers around noon with a lot of the other racers. They always video tape the race and show it on the big screen tvs at the bar. So everyone gets there few seconds of fame.

After that it was back to Cruz Bay. A stop at Woody's for a beer and some "Shark Bites" and then over to watch the awards ceremony.

All in all a great day. But halfway up those hills I was wondering: "What the heck am I doing?" I know I can do better so it's speed work on the hills and the track this next year. I also have the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon in July that I think I am going to be running in. At least that race is Flat!

Yesterday (Sunday) I was pretty sore and didn't do too much. A few projects around the house. Still pretty sore today but I'm heading out the door to take the villa guests out on Happy Hour for a day sail......

That's it for now......

Night before the Big Race!

We had 3 days without guests here at the villa so we finally got started putting the marble tile down in our living area downstairs. I'll post pics later.

Right now it's 9:15pm on Friday night. 8 Tuff Miles is a 7:15AM start in St. John in the morning. I have to be on the 6:30 ferry which means leaving here around 5:45 to be safe. I feel pretty well prepared this year even though those 1400 feet of hills don't get easy......Race update tomorrow.

Recover and Rest

So after the 5.5 mile climb up the mountain on Saturday for the 8 Tuff Miles Tune Up, I had the Magens Bay/ Peterborg 10K on Sunday. I thought the race started at 7:30 but as Victoria and I got down there a few minutes before 7:00 there were about 35 people lined up ready to go....... I grabbed a number and ran for the 7:00 am start. I have 2 little ipod shuffles. One had a good country mix and the other had my pump up running mix... Well I grabbed the country mix ipod by mistake. And while I love my country music, Carrie Underwood singing "Jesus Take the Wheel" wasn't helping me grind up those hills out to Peterborg point. I thought I was just going to take it easy and treat the race like an easy training run since I ran pretty hard on Saturday in St. John. But as we headed down towards the entrance of the beach I glanced down at my Garmin 305 and noticed I was clipping along at around a 7:00 min a mile pace...... So there I go... Can't let up now right? So I hit it as hard as I could and kept the 1st place guy within 50 feet for most of the race. I finished in 50:41. A 8:09 per min. pace. Fastest I've run that course by more than 15 seconds per mile. (8:24 per mile was my last best). So I was pretty happy about the race. Looks like I'm improving and I wasn't even fully rested . I really wonder if I keep up with good training , what is my potential? I mean the hills really do still suck and I'm sucking wind big time when I get to the tops. But I'm recovering on the flats and downhills much better.

So I rested for 2 days (Mon. and Tues). I'll run tomorrow morning. Planning on running the 6.2 mile Peterborg Point course again. Only 10 days till the 8 TUFF MILES!!!!!

Run, Run, Run......

Just ran the third of the 8 Tuff Mile Tune up practice runs in St. John yesterday. It's the first 5.5 miles of the course. 1400 feet in elevation gain...... Not easy at all but I finished in just over a 9:30 minute per mile pace. Hopefully I can do that for the race in two weeks and cruise that last 3 miles on down hill..

So it's 5:30 am this morning Sunday. It should be a rest and recovery day after yesterdays run but we have the Magens Bay/ Peterborg 10K race this morning. This is what I train on every week so it's like my home court. I'm heading out the door to go race. Update to follow......

My new Juicer Rocks!

Well I got a new juicer for Christmas and hadn't used it till this morning. (Thanks Jeff and Eileen) The old one was weak and a pain to clean. The new one is a Breville and it can take whole apples and carrots without cutting them first!. Also very easy on the clean up.

So I ran the 6.3 mile (Peterborg 10K+) course again this morning. I got out a little later than usual. Didn't start the run till almost 7:30am which is 30 to 40 minutes later. No real big deal but by the end the sun was getting a little hotter. That little bit of time makes a difference. Time was almost exact to the last time. 4 seconds difference. 8:30 min per mile pace. So an easy workout tomorrow, take the guests out sailing on Thursday, last of the 8 tuff miles tune ups is on Saturday and then there is the Magen's Bay/ Peterborg 10K race on Sunday. (And I should know that course by now!)

Saturday

Victoria and I have a 2 week rental here at Three Palms Villa this week. For those reading that don't know; we rent the top of the house out as a vacation villa. www.threepalmsvilla.com.
We are rented out about 30 weeks during the year. I was going to take the guest out sailing on Happy Hour today but it's still a little rough on the water so we'll wait till Monday. With the 2 week rental we do a midweek clean so we are going to get the guests out of here for a few hours and go freshen the place up.

Winter in Islands- Break out the blankets!

Weather has been a little unsettled down here. Very breezy and a little cold (for us----ha) low 70's at night... I guess we are very lucky for our weather down here. Especially for training. I ran the Peterborg 10K course again this morning. It's actually a little longer by a couple of tenths of a mile. Rest Day tomorrow and probably same course again on Sunday. 3 weeks till the 8 tuff miles. Main focus is to stay healthy and injury free.

Good Run this Morning

Well after my left calf has been injured for this past 3 weeks in was nice to go out and feel 100%. I ran my 5.27 mile loop. Starts at the end of Magens Bay and goes out Peterborg Point around the stone circle and back. There are some pretty steep hills. Course starts at sea level (which is 0) and goes up to a little over 300 feet. Then down and up and down and up and finally back down to sea level. Total gain is about 700 feet I think. Today was my personal best at 45:36 or a 8:40 per mile pace. I'll try and post some pics soon.

New Year!!!!!

Well we are well into 2008 and I am still trying to get organized. My boat Happy Hour got put back in the water on New Year's Eve. We didn't go out on it. Instead went home and had a relaxing evening on the couch.

Training for the 8 tuff miles is going well. Running at least every other day. Check out the site:

www.8tuffmiles.com

Moderation is the key.........ha