Cruise to Run - St. Lucia

This morning`s run was from the beautiful island of St. Lucia. We had a couple of local runners with us, including Victor who had won the Barbados marathon 6 times and runs a 30 minute 10k. Ali runs 32 minute 10k. We had a police escort out of the downtown area and a lane had been blocked off to allow us to run out of town and around the airport landing strip, and then up to the light house atop a rather long hill (yet again). Jenny and I both battled up the hill all the way without walking, which was not an insignificant challenge. Again, Jerry and Jody had arranged for water bottles along the route and there was Monster Energy Drink and water at the top of the hill. The view of the harbour and the rest of the island from the lighthouse was great. We took it easy both there and back (with the exception of the hill, which wasn`t easy no matter how you slice it) so that we could save some energy for tomorrow`s race.

The beer of the day was Piton, which is brewed in St. Lucia I think. Jed and I each had one while we were wandering around the market with Cathy after the run. Jenny decided she`d just relax by the pool. By the time you`ve been to 3 or 4 straw markets, you`ve seen everything. Although one thing that was a bit different on St. Lucia was that there were lots of spices and sauces available. Cathy and I each bought a large bottle of extra hot sauce.

We spent the rest of the afternoon lounging by the pool listening to quite a wide array of pop music, reading and (in my case) updating my blog posts.

Lisa Bentley, Iron Man racer extraordinaire, gave an excellent talk on the power of positive attitude and how it can help you get through a lot of what life throws at you. She should know as she has cystic fibrosis (CF) and yet is able to be incredibly fit and active in her life. Very motivational.

We had supper with Glenda, Lisa, Brenda, Heidi and Ann, and afterwards a bunch of us went to a Country Hoe-down (line dancing lessons -- I didn't know in advance!) and then Karaoke (I sang Sweet Caroline) -- but packed it in around 10 pm. I was thinking about tomorrow's race so I was definitely taking it easy!