June 10, 2012
On our last full day at sea, cruising the waters between Cuba and Haiti and heading back to our home port of Fort Lauderdale, I decided to try something I had planned to do from the start, but only the last day actually did. That is, to run the whole deck, and not get caught up in the dizzying spin around the short track. I went up to the track and did a course consisting of one lap of track, down one flight, along the open deck past the central pool, up two flights to the “Serenity Deck”, one lap around that, then back down to the pool deck across to the stern and back up the stairs to the track. This can only be done early; I got out by six AM to get started so there would be few people out on deck. I got to watch the sun rise around 6:15, appearing red and hazy in the east. I ran a bit over one hour. The combination of running and stairs made for a very decent workout, and the time went a lot quicker. As on each day running on the cruise, whether on land or sea, the temperature was in the mid eighties, with humidity to match. You get completely soaked with sweat, and you keep sweating for an hour after the end of the run. It was wise advice I got to bring two pairs of running shoes, since it takes a day for them to dry out.

On a cruise, access to pretty tasty food is there almost 24 hours a day. We found the Indian food available from 12-2 each day on one of the small buffet stands to be particularly enticing and quite authentic. The food served each night in our dining room, called the “Posh” dining room, was remarkably good and well prepared. They even had delicious,heart-healthy, low calorie options each night, although other items on the menu were also good choices, even if not completely low fat or low salt. Both a fish entree and a vegetarian entree were available at every dinner, the portions were not large, and the vegetables cooked lightly with little or no oil or salt. There were the high calorie, high fat options available, but you were not stuck with that. So, a runner pulled on to a cruise has meal options at breakfast, lunch and dinner which are all reasonable and healthy. My plan, which I stuck to, was to eat only during mealtimes, limit the calories at breakfast and lunch, eat sensibly at dinner, but enjoy the meal, and don’t get too obsessive about restricting myself. All drinks except water, iced and hot tea, fruit juices, coffee and milk are an extra charge. We drank no sodas, and had the occasional beer or cocktail, which made for a very pleasant end of the day looking out over the waters of the Caribbean. One cocktail, the “Blue Moon”, or as we named it, the “Blue Ruin”, was a particularly devastating martini. One was more than enough.

Our on-board gym was as well equipped as any health club. They had plenty of treadmills, elliptical trainers, weight machines, free weights and other equipment such as exercise mats, stability balls, and so on. I went to the gym every day for the weight machine series, which is something I never get to do in real life. Perhaps a week of weight training doesn’t make a sustained difference, but it felt productive. My wife ran on the treadmill and did free weights. We found the best time to go was during the early dining period, 5-7 PM, to avoid crowds. This happened to also be when members of the ship’s crew came out to workout.

A cruise would not be fun during the days at sea without working in some of the best activities the ship has to offer. This ship, Carnival Freedom, had a two-story high looping water slide. Even at 58 years I can still appreciate a fast run down a water slide. I was also not the only one in my age group taking advantage of this. In fact, we thought there should be an adults-only time on the slide, although that would be a bit unfair. I got in about five runs down the slide. The live music at night, from various bands including reggae, merengue, and rock, was very good, and great for dancing. The last night, at the ship’s casino bar, we got to practice our Bachata, learned the other night in Curaçao, while some rather large cruise guests of island persuasion were shaking their booties to the point that the ship’s stabilizers started to overheat.

I would be remiss if I did not thank my wife’s brother Jack, his wife Tammy, and their remarkably grown up boys, Austin and Brandon, for inviting us to come along on this cruise. We had a wonderful time seeing them, getting to enjoy each other’s company, and establishing family bonds.

Now, it’s back to work, to serious responsibilities, the struggle of fitting in the running, upping the miles, and trying to stick to the training plan for Steamtown, October 7.

Frank

June 5, 2012

Already starting day 3 of my 8 day cruise aboard Carnival Freedom, in the southern Caribbean. The first day, embarkation day, the cruisers are kept busy with formalities. It is a busy and lengthy sign-in process to get on board, there’s the obligatory “muster station” gathering for the life vest and life boat instruction, and it takes time to get oriented to your new floating city. I didn’t run the first day, being occupied with all the initial activities, plus being social and seeing my wife’s brother and his family, also on the cruise.

The next day, officially the first day, and as they say on board, a fun day at sea, I planned to get up around 5 and run on the track, which is on the uppermost aft deck. Well, after 3 hours sleep the night before boarding, I didn’t quite make it by 5, but did get out there by 7:15. The track is not long. I was told 10 laps to the mile, although it turns out 9 is the right number. Whatever, keeping count in my head as I ran was not possible. So, I ran according to time, going for 54 minutes at around a 9 minute pace. It was tough to go faster due to the number of walkers and slow joggers, but there were a few jackrabbity types who seemed able to scoot around better than me. Later that day, I found my way to the gym for a session on the weight machines. That night was “elegant” night in the dining room. Yup, broke out the tuxedo for the first time in years, struggled to tie my bow tie (old school, no clip ons), and enjoyed a nice dinner.

Next day was our first day in a port, on Grand Turk, the capitol of Turks and Caicos. It’s not that big. Seven miles long by 1.5 miles wide, and best known as the site where John Glen was brought after splashing down in his Mercury space capsule, in 1962. Three months ago, they had a fifty year anniversary celebration, which John Glen attended. My wife and I had signed up for a kayaking adventure, which turned out to be a lot of fun. In addition to the active part, of kayaking around a tidal estuary for about two hours, we were introduced to amazing forms of sea life, getting to pluck conch and sea cucumber from the water. We saw sting rays, a lion fish (not welcome because it eats all the other fish), octopus, sea urchin, and myriad sea birds and mangrove trees. We got to eat a taste of conch prepared right from the shell, which was delicious and is an island staple, according to our guide. After re-boarding and having a salad for lunch, I went back to the gym for the weight machine circuit. I’m starting to feel the sore muscles.

Now, we are arriving this AM in La Romana, in the Dominican Republic. My plan is to do a land-based run today. We will see how it goes.

Frank