I am staying at the Sheraton Hotel about a mile from the Miami International Airport. This is not the Sheraton that I am accustomed to. It feels more like a different brand that has been converted and rebranded. Don’t get me wrong, it is clean and there is nothing wrong. However, in the past when I have stayed at a Sheraton, I LOVED their beds, and this is not the same bed as before. Perhaps they have changed their mattresses, or perhaps this hotel has been rebranded. Either way, there are no issues.
I have an appointment at CVS this morning to take a COVID test. I need a negative PCR result to get into Argentina. If I test positive, I want it to be here so I can just hop on a plane home, rather than having to quarantine in Argentina for 10 days! I took a home test on Thursday, and it was negative. I have been playing it safe, so hopefully, I am good to go.
11:02 am
The CVS where I have a COVID test is about 2 miles from the hotel. I thought about walking, but I am unfamiliar with the neighborhood and roads, so I decided to take a Lyft instead. I have never used Lyft, so this would be fun (albeit probably the same experience as Uber). My driver, Sharon, was very personable. She talked up a storm. After dropping me off, I went inside to do my PCR test. The lady informed me, in broken English, that they do not do them inside and that I had to go through the drive-through. I told her that I did not have a car and asked if I should walk through the drive-through. She said that, yes, I had to. On my way out, another guy told me that he had the same issue, and had to walk through the drive-through as well! When I was a teenager I used to ride my bike and walk through fast-food drive-throughs, but that was in the 80s and I figured that was against regulations due to legal liability.
Anyway, we both walked to the drive-through and I rang the bell. The guy inside gave me instructions on how to do the test. I followed the instructions and dropped the sample in the collection box. While at CVS, I picked up a few snacks and then took a Lyft back to the hotel.
4:45 pm
I am more or less done with work. I had a great Cuban sandwich for lunch at the restaurant in the Sheraton.
9:48pm
The Magic City Casino is a mere mile from the hotel and I want to go rip up the poker room. However, I should exercise restraint and NOT go because I will regret it if I catch COVID. I will be disciplined and stay in the room and do nothing. Five years of waiting would be gone in an instant if I caught COVID. As a side note, I am glad that I came down early, as there is a HUGE storm brewing in New England right now!
My plan for today is pretty straightforward. Finish packing, work until about 3 pm, then have Ashley will drop me at the airport. I will fly to Miami, where I will spend 3 days before hopping on my flight to Buenos Aires.
Why go to Miami so early and have to spend extra money on a hotel? Great question! When planning this shindig, Ashley actually suggested that I leave a few days early. That way, if any sort of winter storm hits New England, I will either already be gone, or I will have a couple of days to reschedule my flight to Miami. The last thing I wanted to do was to miss the flight to Buenos Aires and have another situation like I had when I went to Brazil for the Rio de Janeiro marathon!
I finished the lion’s share of packing last night. When I say “packing” I actually mean gathering everything up. Marathon Tours staff strongly suggest only taking ONE large suitcase because checking two bags on an airline can get interesting in South America. I was planning to check one and then carry on the dry pack that I need to carry race gear on marathon day. However, I was unsure whether everything would fit into one large suitcase + and a 30-liter backpack. I put everything on the floor in my office and started meticulously packing. To my surprise, everything fit in one suitcase and a carry-on! It was tight, but it worked. Then I got a great idea. If everything fits into two bags, then why not take three? WHAT?!?!? Have you lost your mind, Bob? Allow me to explain. I get two free checked bags on Southwest to and from Miami, and I get two free checked bags to and from Buenos Aires from Miami on American Airlines because I booked Premium Economy. That only leaves the charter flight to Ushuaia, which is where it can get interesting by checking two bags. Since everything fits into two, I will just put my backpack into one of the other suitcases, then use my small suitcase as the carry-on for the charter flight to Ushuaia! When I get back to Buenos Aires from Ushuaia, I can spread out over three pieces of baggage and will have a place to carry my gifts. I hope it works (and will let you know whether I hit a homerun or crashed and burned in the appropriate blog post in a few days).
By 2:45, I was ready to depart. I had my two suitcases and 30-liter dry bag as my carry-on. Ashley dropped me off at 4:10 pm for a 6:25 pm flight to Miami. I zoomed through check-in/security and had TONS of time to wait. I took two more work calls then got some late lunch / early dinner at D’Angelo’s. I got a small steak number 9 (without mushrooms) and a small tuna sub. I have traveled enough to know that I would be hungry when I get to Miami, and there would probably be nothing to eat. I ate the Number 9 and stashed the tuna in my dry bag for later.
My flight from Hartford to Miami went via Nashville. Everything was more or less on time, and I arrived in Miami at 12:10 am. When I arrived at baggage claim, my two bags were one of the first on the belt! How often does that happen? Like N-E-V-E-R! Actually, once my bags were the second off the plane, so I have hit the baggage lottery at least one other time in my life.
I exited the airport and hopped on the shuttle to the Sheraton Hotel. Within 15 minutes I was in my room eating a tuna sub that was made 1,500 miles away – which brings me to where I am now – writing my blog update for today!
Tomorrow, I have to go to a CVS that is 1.2 miles from here for a COVID PCR test. After that, I will work the rest of the day.
I have always wanted to go to Antarctica. Some people think I am weird, but hey, I take that as a compliment. As part of my journey to complete seven full marathons on all seven continents, I am now prepping to go there. This trip has been five years in the making. When I completed the Tokyo Marathon on Feb 26, 2017, I decided that since there was a three-year waitlist with Marathon Tours, I should definitely put my name in. I did that and thus began my wait.
In 2019, due to some people canceling their entry, I was given the opportunity to move up a year. I jumped on the chance and was confirmed for the 2019 race. However, the two ships that Marathon Tours usually charters, the Akademik Ioffe and the Akademik Sergey Vavilov, were recalled by the Soviet government. They were able to charter a different ship, but the new one held 50 fewer people than the Ioffe and Vavilov combined. Since I was one of the last people who were confirmed for 2019, I was the first to be booted (rightfully so), and I went back to the top of the waitlist for 2020.
We all know what happened in 2020 – COVID! The 2020 edition of the Antarctica Marathon and Half Marathon were canceled – and again in 2021!
So that brings us to 2022. As of now, the races are on. YES – I said “races”. Marathon Tours plans to do TWO marathons this year a couple of weeks apart (here and here) to help with the backlog. This year’s ship is the Ocean Victory from Albatross Expeditions. I am on the second sailing. I will be blogging about my experience the entire way, although my posts will probably be delayed after I get on the ship.
Currently, my schedule looks like this:
Thursday, Jan 27: Depart for Miami, FL for a few days.
Friday, Jan 28: Scheduled a COVID PCR test. You cannot get into Argentina without one.
Saturday Jan 29: Hang out and do a lot of nothing.
Sunday, January 30: Depart Miami for Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Monday, January 31 – Wednesday, Feb 2: Stay and explore Buenos Aires with the group of runners from Marathon Tours.
Thursday, Feb 3: Fly from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world, then board Ocean Victory.
Monday, Feb 7 – Wednesday, Feb 9: Spent sightseeing on various fjords and islands.
Thursday, Feb 10: Depart Antarctica
Saturday, Feb 12: Arrive in Ushuaia, board flight to Buenos Aires, then on to Miami and home.
This whole trip is made even more uncertain by the COVID variant Omicron. In order to get into Argentina, I must have a negative PCR test within 72 hours of my departure. I have scheduled a PCR test in Miami. If I happen to test positive, I cannot even get to Argentina. Assuming that I make it to Buenos Aires, one cannot board the ship if they have a positive COVID test. Marathon Tours has arranged for everybody to get another COVID test on the evening before our Ushuaia departure. If that test is positive, you cannot even get on the airplane to Ushuaia and must quarantine in Buenos Aires for 10 days (and kiss all of your training goodbye). On the way back, you must have a negative PCR test within 24 hours to get back into the USA. Marathon Tours has arranged for a helicopter to fly to the ship so people with outbound flights on Feb 12 can have a test. The medical staff will take samples, fly back to the mainland, process the tests, and give us our results when we dock. Again, if we test positive, we will have to quarantine for 10 days before we will be released to come back to the USA.
I caught the fever – a running fever that is. After I completed the Disney marathon in January, I could not wait to run another marathon. I looked into the London marathon, but that race was already booked for 2015. I was itching to travel, so I decided to visit my brother in Australia. Lo and behold, I found the Gold Coast Marathon on July 4th.
Grace at Maddigans
I contacted Matt and made sure he and his family was going to be around. He was and said that he would pick me up at the Brisbane airport and drive me back to Hervey Bay to visit. Perfect! I found an affordable flight from Los Angeles and an Airbnb in Gold Coast, Australia. I arrived in Brisbane, and as promised, my brother was there to pick me up. We made the 3-hour drive north to Hervey Bay, and I visited for four days. The last time I had visited my brother was for his wedding. We had gone to the awesome casual seafood place called Maddigans. While here, I insisted that we go back there to bring back the good memories. I also got to meet my niece Grace, who I had never seen before!
When the day came to depart, Matt had bought me a train ticket to get to Brisbane. He drove me to the Maryborough train station and I boarded the train for the 3-1/2 hour journey south. After I arrived in Brisbane, all I needed to do was get another train ticket from Gold Coast, which was easy enough. After my arrival in Gold Coast, I picked up an Uber ride and made my way to the Airbnb that I had reserved. My host was lovely. After I got settled in, she offered to take me on a drive around Gold Coast and show me the sights.
I spent the next couple of days exploring. There was a train station about a half-mile from her place, which made everything convenient. I made my way to the Star Coast casino and played some poker. Australians LOVE to gamble. While at the poker table, I was talking to a few guys and I told them that I was a professional ice hockey referee, albeit in the minor leagues. They SERIOUSLY wanted to bet on a game that I was officiating, while having me try to push the game to their desired result. AHEM. No thank you. This was the closest I have ever been to a bribe in my life, and I did not take the bait (although it made for fun banter).
Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast Australia
I am also a HUGE Australian Football fan. Like, it is my favorite sport on the face of the earth, full stop, no questions asked, period, end of discussion. I follow it religiously during the season. My favorite team, The Geelong Cats, unfortunately were not in Gold Coast that weekend, so I had to settle for the North Melbourne Kangaroos vs the Gold Coast Suns. This was cool because, as a Geelong follower, I am of course a huge fan of both Gary Ablett Senior and Gary Ablett Junior. Gary Senior is a legend. I am not exaggerating as part of Geelong’s Kardinia Park is named the Gary Ablett Terrace, and Gary Junior is as much of a legend as his father. Anyway, after playing several years in Geelong, junior requested a trade to the Gold Coast Suns, which was granted. I was unsure whether I was going to get to see junior play because he was having all kinds of shoulder problems that year. I made my way to Metricon Stadium and took in the sights. There were so many young people kicking the footy around in the parking lot. The sports atmosphere here was quite a bit different than in the USA. Here, it was a LOT more family-oriented, which was very nice. I made my way into the stadium and found my seat in row 2. The seat was AWESOME and I could not have asked for anything better. (well maybe first row, but no seats were available). Before the game started, it was announced that Gary Ablett would be playing for Gold Coast! I was pretty stoked to be able to see on of the all time greats play. If you do not know anything about Aussie Rules football, one of basic plays is called a mark. A mark is when a player kicks the ball and if ANY player catches it in the air without it hitting the ground or another player’s hands, you get a free kick (muck like in soccer). One of the big competitions is called “Mark of the Year”. Whoever takes the most spectacular mark (also called a screamer, speccy, speccie, speckie, hanger, or ripper) wins a lot of bragging rights. This screamer, taken by North Melbourne’s Lindsay Thomas, happened right in front of me! This mark was worth the price of admission and was one of the best marks of the year!
For those of you who have never watched AFL, this type of play is perfectly legal. You cannot push somebody in the back, but if you want to jump up on an opponent’s shoulders and perch there until you catch the ball like Lindsay did here, you are perfectly fine in doing that. Have I mentioned that I LOVE this sport and it the coolest game on the planet? North Melbourne won the game, I saw Gary Ablett Jr. play, and I saw a contender for mark of the year. What an awesome evening!
The next day, went to the expo to get my bibs and swag. When signing up, they had options for 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathons. Both the 5k and 10k were run on Friday, July 3, while the half and full marathon were run on Saturday, July 4. You could do TWO races, not all four. Me, being me, I decided to do the 10k and full marathon. Go big, or go home, right? As I checked in, a greeter asked me what race I was doing so he could direct me to the correct line. I told him that I was doing both the 10k and full.
His response was hilarious. “Crikey mate. NOBODY does the 10k and full. I have heard about some people doing the 5k and full, but NEVER the 10k and full.” I laughed with him and told him that I was just a dumb American.
Route on the 2015 Gold Coast 10k
Friday came and walked the 1.5 miles to the start line. I arrived with plenty of time. The run was VERY scenic. It was along the coast the entire way! I took my time knowing that I had to run a full marathon tomorrow. After I finished, I casually walked back to the Airbnb.
That night another person checked into a different bedroom in the Airbnb. He was running tomorrow too! We really did not talk, but I saw his running gear.
I arose the next morning and made my usual pre-race marathon breakfast (oatmeal, a bagel with peanut butter, and a banana). The other dude was taking his time, but I did not think anything of it. I was not watching the time and I figured I would leave when he did (or shortly thereafter). Imagine my surprise when I did finally look at my watch and realized that the marathon was starting in a mere 20 (YES TWENTY) minutes! zOMG!!! WTF did I just DO??? I am 1.5 miles away and the race starts in 20 minutes. I had planned to take the transit train there, but there was no time. I grabbed my stuff and sprinted to the marathon start. I don’t know how fast I actually ran, but it felt like I was running a 6-minute mile, which for me is like the speed of light. I got to the road that was blocked off for the runners and had to convince a guard that I needed to get to gear check. I showed her my race bib. That did the trick and she let me cross the road. Spectators saw that I was late and they were directing me to the baggage check area (Aussies are so friendly and helpful). As I arrived at the bag check tent, the Australian National Anthem started to play. The gear check volunteers had a bewildered look on their faces and told me to get up to the starting line because the race was about to start. YES, I KNOW!!! Luckily the bag check was only about 100 yards from the start line. I BRISKLY walked (not ran) to the start line/road, pushed my way into the runners, and stood there panting and exhausted. I felt like I had just run a 10k just to get to the start line! “At least I had a warmup,” I thought with my dry sense of humor. I reached for my camera to take a picture. Alas! In my haste to get to the race, I left it in the Airbnb. I would NOT be getting any pics during this race 🙁 .
We started and I ran at my normal pace. What normal is at this point, I have no idea. This is only my second marathon and I am still winging it. The course was two out and backs. The first was to the south (about 28k/17 miles). The second was to the north for about (14k/9 miles). I was amazed by the scenery of this race. It was mostly on the coast. You could see boats, runners, parts, and the ocean. It was EXTREMELY scenic and I loved it. I made it to the southernmost point and did the turnaround.
The temperature was starting to get warmer, so I slowed down a little bit. I was also getting hungry and luckily (or not) at about mile 14 there was a farmers market. I had trained with clementines and bananas, so I figured they were safe. I stopped in the market and asked a woman for ONE banana. She said that they were only for sale as a bunch. I said that I only wanted one, but I would buy the whole bunch and she could have all the other ones back to sell again. She then said just to take one. I insisted on paying, but she had nothing to do with it. I thanked her and ate the banana. About a half mile later, my stomach started cramping and I was in a world of hurt. This banana was not sitting right with me, and I lost all energy – like I hit the wall. A runner passed me and asked if I was alright. I told him about the banana, and he said he knew because he pacing with me and had been watching me.
I struggled BIG time in the last 8-10 miles. Around mile 19, I approached a young lady who was also struggling. A friend/trainer was running with her at this point (but that person was not in the race). I overheard that she was in so much pain and that she wanted to quit. I started talking to her and told her that pain is temporary, but pride is forever. I also reminded her that if marathons were easy, then everybody would do them. We continued doing a walk/run and we talked. It was her first marathon and this was my second. She could not believe that I came all the way from the USA to run this race (oh, little did she know me). I told her all about the Disney marathon that I had completed 6 months earlier, and how I caught the running bug. I also explained that between my sprint to the start and the banana, I was struggling as well. The miles ticked by and soon we were only 2 miles from the finish. I told her that as we near the finish she will draw a lot of energy from the spectators, and of course, we both did! As we approached the finish line, she thanked me for the help. As we crossed the finish line, I let her go in front of me.
Gold Coast Marathon and 10k Medals 2015
After collecting my finisher’s medal, I sat on the quad for quite a long time getting my energy back. I reflected on the race and realized that they only had 2 spots on the course where they gave energy gel and NO food whatsoever. I might have been spoiled by Disney, but I was disappointed with that aspect of the race. One good thing is that I LOVED the energy gel that they gave out – Endura. It was SO much better than Gu, but you cannot get it in the USA (unless you have it shipped from Australia).
In January 2014 Donna and I were at Disney World for a vacation (it helps that I work for Disney and I get nice perks). Anyway, one of my aspiring professional poker player friends, Sarah, was also going to be down there with her husband Jesse. I really had no idea why, but we all decided to meet up. When we met up, Sarah proudly told me that she was here to run the marathon.
“What?”, I asked in amazement.
Now mind you, Sarah did not look like a “typical” runner. She was neither tall nor build like a bean pole. We were all fighting post-college weight gain that you can never seem to lose. Donna and I had been to Sarah and Jesse’s house MANY times to play cards, but she never even remotely mentioned that she runs.
She replied that it was hard to get her to do long runs in the New England winters, and she did not know whether she was going to run the marathon, let alone finish.
My ultra-competitive mind thought, “Well, if she can run a marathon, then I can certainly run one, and I am going to run this marathon next year.” Now, I love sports and I have tried a LOT of them, but running was never something that I enjoyed. Why I decided at that moment to do something that I never really enjoyed is a mystery to me (maybe it has something to do with that ultra-competitiveness). Right after vacation, I went home, put on a pair of sneakers, and started my training for next year’s Disney marathon (11 months later). I learned a lot over the next year- like I did not need 11 months to prepare for a race, but I was determined to finish a marathon nonetheless.
At Disney’s running event in January, they offer a 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon all on successive days. I decided that I was going to run the 5k, 10k, and full marathon. I did not want to run a half marathon the day before I was supposed to complete my first full.
About a week before my departure, I was the linesman in a minor-league professional hockey game. At one point two players crashed into me from the side and I twisted my left knee. I swore at them for not going around, but the damage was done. I hobbled around the ice for the rest of the game, worried whether I would be able to run the marathon the following week.
I went to Disney, got checked into my hotel, went to the expo to get all of my racing bibs and collect whatever other free swag I could. My knee definitely was tender, but I was not park-hopping like I normally did. My plan was to run a VERY easy 5k on Thursday. If my knee left up for it, I would run a LITTLE harder (but not too hard) on Friday for the 10k. If that passed, then I would stay off my feet as much as I could on Saturday, and then run the full marathon on Sunday. I know, I know… I am ultra-competitive and would I ACTUALLY not run if my knee hurt badly? As much as I wanted to run, the answer was yes. I was going to listen to my body. I did not want to injure my knee any further and risk missing the rest of my hockey season.
2015 Disney 5k Start
Thursday morning came, and I ran a nice and easy 5k, and my knee felt good!
2015 Disney 10k Start
The next morning, I lined up to run the 10k. Sticking to the plan, I ran the 10k a little harder, but nothing too aggressive. My knee felt good, so I decided to run the full marathon.
2015 Disney Marathon Start
Sunday morning came around and off to the start line I went. I submitted a time that allowed me to be placed in corral J, which was pretty far up from the walkers (corral P). I was nervous. Would I be able to finish? In training, I only ever ran 22 miles. Was that enough to get me to 26.2? My goal was to finish in about 6:30:00 because that was the most common cutoff time for a marathon. At long last, our corral started, and off I went. The first 6 miles are between EPCOT and Magic Kingdom. I ran at a slower pace and was feeling good… until mile 7. All of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in my RIGHT (WTF?) knee. This pain felt like somebody stuck a knife in my knee and was twisting it. Why my right knee? I injured my LEFT knee a week ago, not my right. As I slowed way down and actually walked for a bit, I figured that between the 5k, 10k, the walking that I had done, and now the running that I was doing, I must have been compensating for the injury, and now it was catching up with me. If this level of pain continued, I would have to stop. However, I have a VERY high pain tolerance, so I kept pushing onward. After a while, the pain subsided and I kept going.
After exiting Magic Kingdom, we were routed to the Disney World Speedway. This facility hosts several Nascar and Indy car events. Most people hated this part, but I thought it was absolutely fantastic being able to actually run on a Nascar track. I ran up halfway up the embanked track (it is a LOT steeper than you would think) and back down to the apron several times.
After Disney Speedway, I was on my way to Animal Kingdom. One of the really neat things that I had read about for the Disney Marathon is that when you go into Animal Kingdom, you can absolutely veer off-course and ride the Expedition Everest roller coaster. That was my second goal for this race (the first being to cross the finish line). As I crossed into Animal Kingdom, I realized that the park was not open yet (and obviously the rides were not operating). I had entered the park about 30 minutes too early! What a bummer. Since this was my first full marathon, I was not sure what to expect. I decided that it would be better for me to continue rather than wait for the ride to open.
As I continued on, we made out way through ESPN Wide World of Sports. This was pretty cool for me because after all, I worked at ESPN (and if you have ever been the ESPN webite, you have probably seen/used some of my handiwork)! We ran around the complex, by soccer fields with games going on, and even did a lap on a track (400m repeats at mile 17 anybody). After exiting we made our way to Hollywood Studios and then back to Epcot.
As I entered Epcot and I reached mile 25, BOTH of my knees experience the same sharp knife-like pain that I felt at mile 7. I was more than on pace to finish in the allotted time, so I walked for a bit. After the pain subsided, I ran again and crossed the finish line in 5:12:38, beating my goal of 6:30:00 by quite a bit!
As I crossed the finish line, my first thought was “Wow, that was so fun, I can’t wait to do that again!”
WAIT – STOP THE PRESS
HUH? What? What did I think? Was I hallucinating? Was I sick? Was I dreaming? When most people cross the finish line of a marathon they think “Never again will I do that.” Nope. Not me. I could not wait to torture myself again.
