Acadia National Park - the rain starts

We woke up to an overcast day but still headed out to hike the longest ridge climb along Sargeant Mountain. On the way up the mountain we had some stunning views before the weather came in. It was funny as during the last climb to the summit, I commented to Shammy "Lets hope it doesn't rain", so what does it do sleet instead. It was quite eerie on top of the mountain with the cloud cover coming in but also serene. On the return journey we both looked like drowned rats but there is still something beautiful about a damp forest, the smell and fresh air.
We have just been out to dinner at the Chart house on hull cove, overlooking the water. Nice cosy candle lit restaurant, it reminded me of some places I have been in England. We tried the local specialty Lobster which was nice and fresh followed by the apple crisp dessert and blueberry ice cream, yummy, yummy!

Back to nature - Acadia National Park

We spent a nice weekend mainly with Shammy's sister and Chintu in connecticut as Kareem and Shannu left Saturday for an overnight trip with there cousins. It was a nice relaxing start to our holiday Shama made us some yummy indian food, and Chintu kept us both entertained. Chintu has learnt the phrases A....ow and sorry and uses them at appropriate moments like when he kicked the basketball we gave him and a it hit a piece of furniture, this had me giggling. He also has worked out that to avoid carpet burn on his knees while he is playing with the train to crawl along using his feet. He is very focused and once his attention is on something even calling his name does not distract him until he has for example emptied every card out of its container, even if Uncle Shammy keeps putting them back in while he is trying to pull them out.
Speaking of focus Shammy displayed this on the drive up to Acadia National Park when he tried to remove the bird poo from the windscreen using the wipers to no avail except that it left me in hysterics.

The national park is actually situated on an island just off the east coast of Maine and formed from Granite rock after volcanic activity. It is beautiful with interesting rock formations on the mountains and surrounded by rugged coastline. As a result we have hiked some very interesting trails with plenty of scrambling and my quads and Shammy's calves are starting to feel the pinch. There have also been lots of fit and not so fit cyclists making the most of the hilly road climbs and every time I see them I think of my brothers and how much they would love this.
The seafood here is also fresh and their local specialty is lobster and crabs, right up your alley Dad. They are also famous for the wild blueberry so you can guarantee blueberries feature in every entree, main and dessert :). We usually make the most of our continental breakfast packing snacks for the rest of the day then treat ourselves at night time to a meal at one of the local restaurants.
Some highlights for me have been rock hopping back down the highest mountain, ( Mount Cadillac), a climb up to the Gorham mountain ridge trail which has views of the coast the entire way up. It also required a very nerve racking climb up iron rungs on the side of the cliff face, eek!
Also our drive and exploration of a remote lighthouse in Bass Harbor yesterday and the sunset from Cadillac mountain last night.

Oh what a feeling!

How to describe that feeling when you cross the finish line of a half marathon. It was a combination of relief that I ran the whole way, pain from legs that wanted to give up 3 miles ago and euphoria that I had accomplished what we set out to train for 6 months ago and in a time that I wasn't expecting.
There were 3093 participants! It was well organised as we all had chips attached to our shoes so that the time we actually crossed the starting line was when our race started. It took us about 3 minutes of watching the masses in front of us begin to move before we actually made it to the start line. They had live bands along the way to keep you motivated and well spaced out drink breaks and at a few stations they had power gel which is a milky liquid that is supposed to give you an energy kick. I stayed away from this as I thought anything going into my stomach was likely to make me feel ill.
I got into a nice rhythm once we had cleared the initial crowds and hung with the 2:05 ( 2 hrs, 5 min) pace group most of the way it helps to have people around you who keep a nice steady pace. At about the 11 mile mark after coming across a few hills I was really starting to feel the pinch and dropped off the pace group. Shammy meanwhile had been working his way up to me, trying to catch up after being caught behind the crowds at the beginning. He caught up to me around the 12 mile mark and needless to say by this stage we both looked pretty knackered. It was overcast all morning but it had begun raining more heavily around the 11 mile mark so we were both wet and Shammy having taken his hat off was now finding it difficult to see through his glasses. Just before we entered the stadium there was another hill and it was here where Shammy hit the wall, he wasn't running with his usual rhythm and his body was really low on energy and even though I tried to encourage him up the hill with me with 200 metres to go his legs just didn't want to move anymore. His effort to continually move through to the pace group I was with took its toll.
Luckily they had drinks and high energy food provided afterwards as Shammy we think was hypoglycaemic and only started to improve once he had a boost from some power gel and gatorade.
I am so proud of us both and we are both damn happy to not be running another half marathon anytime soon. I managed to cross the line in 2hrs 4mins and 56 seconds (position 1705) and Shammy in 2 hrs 5 mins and 41 seconds (position 1747). For the race results you can see them on this link: http://lehighvalleyhalfmarathon.com/results/09overallhm.txt

I have the luxury of a day off today to relax and get some movement back into my muscles which Shammy if he wasn't starting a new rotation would have joined me for. It is quite amusing to watch each other moan and groan our way around as when we sit for too long and our muscles seize up again. We will be heading off for a much needed spa at our gym this evening.

1st anniversary

All the memories came flooding back from a year ago on the 10th of April and funnily enough it was fine here in the morning and then proceeded to rain in the evening. Shammy had a surprise in store for me with a dinner at a Japanese restaurant I have been wanting to try for ages. Great ambience and fresh delicious food but we kept our order to a minimum as everything was on the pricey side. I was also happy with an itunes gift card and the latest Jeffrey Archer book. One of my favourite things about the day was that I finally received a card from Shammy which is I believe the first card he has wrote for me, having made the most of ecards prior to this.

It has been a pretty interesting year with lots of travel for me, visa paperwork and challenges on the job front but the best part is that I have been able to do this with Shammy's companionship. Work seems to be going well and I have a few things to look forward to starting with a spa day this weekend, one of the perks of Shammy's work. We have our half marathon the first weekend in May and late in May we have a weeks holiday planned for Maine (great hiking area apparently).

Themed parked out

Over the last 5 days we have been to the 4 disney theme parks and yesterday to Universal Orlando and we are definitely ready for a break from queues and crowded spaces. Don't get me wrong it was also great fun but we have hit our saturation point. Our favourite park was definitely Universal with great adult rides and interesting shows. Epcot (Disney) was like visiting Expo with lots of international areas and some feature rides. Here we experienced the G-Force of heading to Space which should definitely be done on an empty stomach, we kept on thinking that both our mothers would have bypassed this one. I found it interesting along with the experience of riding in a car around a test track, loved the speed.
Shammy couldn't pass up the double decker chocolate we found in the UK section and also tasted his first guiness.
The other disney theme parks were family orientated and didn't come anywhere near our universal experience. Shammy and I lucked out with the rides when we visited Magic Kingdom, as we lined up for 70 minutes for a buzz light year ride which was literally sitting in a cart and pointing a toy laser gun at targets, one to bypass! We also were in fits of laughter when we went on an orbital space ride which we realised must have been made for an adult and a child as we were so tightly packed in that the disney attendant told us not to worry about a seatbelt as there was no chance we would come out! We then proceeded to hover lower than any other capsule and bottomed out actually touching the base when they lowered the capsules again.

Universal orlando had some awesome rides and Shammy even managed to get me onto the one that shoots you into the air then drops you back down again, my favourite was the hulk rollercoaster, insane speed and loops but all at a high speed, it was a 60 minute wait but well worth it.

Today we are attending the cardiology conference and putting in an appearance so we can claim conference leave for Shammy. I'm able to write this blog now as I've just been told that as a family member I'm not allowed into any educational sessions, hmmm apparently we don't need to be educated :( . We will probably head back on our roadtrip tomorrow evening and sadly back in the direction of allentown.

Golf course living

I'm sitting this morning in the sunlight looking out over the golf course and the second hole, nothing like checking out everyones golfing style from your house. Shammy and I also got to do our 8 mile run around the course today not a bad view at all. We are being spoilt by Shammy's Auntie and I'm making the most of the authentic southern indian vegetarian food. Yesterday we took a picture of the most difficult hole on the golf course where if you are pro standard you can hit the ball all the way across the crater with the water in it. Apparently Tiger Woods has even come here to get some practice in. The membership to join is $100000 plus a $10000 annual fee a bit out of our league I'm afraid. I thought of my brothers and Dad though and new they would have enjoyed this experience. We will probably head off tomorrow and explore Florida a bit more.

Lecanto, Florida (Shammy's aunt and Uncle's house)

I already like the feel of Florida, it has a relaxed, beachy air to it and reminds me a bit of Australia if you take away the big cars. The drivers down here are mad and love the big utes (or trucks as they call them here). We have finally brought out our summer clothing, its nice not to be wearing layers of clothing for a change. Shammy's uncle and Aunt have an amazing house, with high ceilings, lots of light and a very decadent feel to it. I will try to get some pictures to give you an idea of the feeling. It is situated on a golf course so Shammy and I plan to go for a run this afternoon and hopefully avoid getting hit by a golf ball. We will relax here for the weekend before heading to Orlando and Disney next week.