Beach to Beach Power Swim Race 2007

Sunday was the fourth annual Beach to Beach Power Swim put on by the Friends of the V.I. National Park. The event includes multiple races, swimmers can choose from a 3.5 mile, 2.25 mile (or 2.4 depending on who you ask), or 1 mile event, with or without assistance. With assistance includes swimmers who use fins, snorkels, masks, paddles, wetsuits. Yes, sometimes people wear wetsuits here. Mostly only one or maybe two people out of about 150, and only people who have lived in the Caribbean for a long, long time. The water temp is about 80-81 degrees after all.

Last year, we both swam the middle distance, as we felt it was a distance we could race, as opposed to just swim. This year we opted for the full 3.5 miles. Dave raced it and won among the men, placing a very close overall second place to last year's winner. She finished in 1:20 flat and Dave's time was 1:21:10. About 40 minutes later I showed up, placing third in my gigantic age group (17-34). Meanwhile my dad opted for the 1 mile short course using fins and placed third in his age group. In the 10 days my parents were here, they each had the chance to participate in a sporting event and win a prize in their age groups. Dave won a really fabulous coffee table book by a St. John photographer whose work we've admired, as well as a framed photo of a turtle from a different photographer.

My mom was a race volunteer and even got interviewed by one of the local news sources. As one of the top swimmers, Dave had quite a few interviews too. The Daily News' article is probably my favorite, but the the article in The Source is pretty good too. Dave also got a mention in the St. Croix newspaper, and there are two photos of him in the St. John freebie that comes out twice a month. We've accumulated quite the collection of newspaper clippings by now!

The Beach to Beach swim is probably my favorite swim that we've done here. The water is pretty calm, very clear, and the underwater scenery is beautiful. The swim is organized so all participants swim the same direction, and they just exit the water at different beaches, depending on the distance they choose. The entire swim is in National Park waters. We start at Maho, which is a relatively short beach with lots of sailboats. We swim parallel to shore and then around the rocky promontory (Dave says that's the word for a cliff-type peninsula) that separates Maho Beach from Cinnamon Beach. Around the promontory, there is a lot of coral and plenty of colorful fish. Short course swimmers hop out at Cinnamon. Everyone else swims across the Cinnamon area, in between the beach and Cinnamon Cay, before heading a little further from shore to avoid the large coral reef area near the promontory that separates Cinnamon from Trunk. When my brother Kevin visited, we swam from Cinnamon to Trunk, but rather than swimming out to avoid the reef, we swam through it. It's quite beautiful with interesting fish, but you have to be very careful as the coral is so shallow in many areas that a wave could easily push you into the coral and damage you both. We swim very close to shore when passing Trunk beach (where the 2.4 mile swimmers exit), as we swim on the beach-side of Trunk cay. Trunk cay has an underwater trail that includes various submerged plaques like this one that has a picture of a sea urchin and says "Sea urchin - Roaming grazers by night return to the shelter of coral crevices by day". Then swimmers head out to sea again, swimming around a cay this time, as it's too shallow between St John and the cay to swim between. We head to Hawksnest, dodge a coral reef that is just before the finish line, and then struggle to run out of the water to cross the finish.

During the races, we don't notice a whole lot of the wildlife or coral as we're too focused on the swimming. In the organized practice swims and independent training swims we do in the weeks leading up to a race, we try to stop and appreciate the fish, turtles, starfish, and even sharks. Until about six weeks ago, I had never seen a shark while swimming here. On numerous occasions, I'd finish a swim race or organized swim, and hear another swimmer discuss his or her shark sighting. It made me very nervous at first, but the people who saw the sharks never seemed concerned. Everyone had told me the sharks here don't bother people. Finally I believed them. Nevertheless, I've seen remoras a few times and been startled, thinking they were sharks. Well, about six weeks ago, I saw a shark and thought it was a remora, so it didn't bother me until I gave it a second glance. Since the water was a little murky and I got nervous about my toes, I hopped out of the water that day even though the little shark seemed entirely disinterested in me. During the last organized practice swim on St. John though, I saw a little shark while swimming near Trunk. It didn't startle me at all, and it was pretty neat looking. So I took a detour and followed it for a minute before continuing onwards. I saw another one during the actual swim race, but didn't take the time to follow it. The sharks I've seen haven't been more than two feet or so, and like everyone has told me, they don't seem to care at all about swimmers.

My favorite animals to see while swimming must be the sea turtles. When we swim at Sapphire beach we almost always see turtles. They are so peaceful and cute. When I spot one while swimming, I stop and just float along instead. Sometimes I'll dive down under the water and swim around like I'm a turtle too! I love to watch their heads bob around as they eat the sea grass. Sometimes you can watch them swim up to catch a breath on the surface too. They seem to just glide around in the water and they don't bother anyone else. Dave and I recently saw a remora attach to a turtle, and it was so sad to watch the turtle try to use its too-short flippers to try to remove it. Dave swam down and scared the remora away, only to see the remora swim to another turtle. Guess there's no interfering with nature. Swimming with turtles in super clear warm water is probably the best way to start your day. I'm really going to miss that when we leave here.

Mothers Against Guns 2 Mile Run

Last Sunday afternoon (after a morning 3.5 mile practice for the big swim race we're doing tomorrow), Dave, my mom, and I participated in a 2 mile walk/jog/run sponsored by Mothers Against Guns. The local chapter was founded by one of the Assistant U.S. Attorneys and his wife after their 18 year old son was shot on Main Street during the day, seven years ago. (Like a lot of the violent crimes committed here, it was not random.) The race we did raises money for a memorial scholarship to a graduating senior who attends UVI. The race is scheduled to begin at 4:00pm, so around 4:15, the participants gathered near the starting line. A prayer was said, and everyone was asked to recite a pledge to not use guns to solve disputes. Around 4:30, the race began under a tinsy bit of cloud cover. The 2 mile event is mostly along the waterfront road, but it loops through Frenchtown too. Frenchtown is where lots of the Frenchies live. As best I can describe, Frenchies are white people who have spent most or all of their lives on the island and they speak with the local native dialect. They don't speak French. Frenchtown has a nice collection of good restaurants, especially air-conditioned ones. Once we exited Frenchtown we turned back onto the main road that goes along the harbor (officially called Veterans Drive, though many refer to it as Waterfront), and headed back to the start, which was now the finish line.

About 200 people of all ages participated in the event. After the finish, we were moved over to Emancipation Garden across the street, where the program began. An actual paper program was handed out - it included the welcome speaker; the mistress of ceremonies; the names of the different youth groups that would be doing the pantomine, the rapping, and the singing; as well as the scholarship recipient from 2006 and 2007, both of whom gave speeches. After an hour or so, the awards were presented. It's a good thing we stuck around! They announced the winners by starting with third place in each age group and working up to first. In the 20-29 male group, we were told "there was no third place" - it was instantly apparent that a friend who clerks next door for the local court got second and Dave got first (15:34). In the 20-29 female group, I came in second. (It was not a close race - first was 16:56, I finished in 21:27, and third was 34:59. Goes to show you sometimes showing up is all it takes!) In the 60+ age group, my mom got first place (27:15)! She beat the 2nd place finisher by over 5 minutes. So all three of us came home with trophies, finisher medals, and our names were in the paper the next day! My trophy is the small one since I only came in second; mom and Dave have the big trophies. We've acquired quite the collection of trophies, medals, and newspaper clippings in our time here.

On Mother's Day, my friend Gaylin and I did the two mile fun run at Magen's Bay. The crowd was so small (9 total) that the race organizer made awards so that everyone won something. Gaylin got first in the "younger women" group, and I came in second. We received ribbons, and a mention in the paper. Other groups included the men (2 of them), and the "more serious women" group. There's another 2 mile fun run on June 3, so we can see if we've improved at all over the month with all the little races.

St. Croix webcam

St. Croix has a webcam. There are actually two advertised online - in Christiansted and in Frederiksted. We've only been to the one in Christiansted, which is on the boardwalk and right across from the Hotel on the Cay, where the triathlon began. Whenever we're on St. Croix, we call our parents so that we can wave at them. (It's thrilling, I'm sure.) While there's also a webcam at Magen's Bay, where we frequently swim, run, and walk, we only go there in the morning, so to be kind, we don't call our parents when we're there. (Also, it's usually only active from 8am-5pm.)

For the big triathlon, there was an organized group photo of triathletes just before the Jump Up began. I'm behind the guy in the pink shirt on the right side of the photo. The photo was printed in the newspaper on St. Thomas and St. Croix - very important for keeping track of how many times I'm pictured or mentioned in the newspaper here. (Of course, Dave was in a separate photo over triathlon weekend too - caught in the act of spectating.)

The reason I mention the webcam now, is that my parents are on St. Croix. They are visiting the Caribbean this week. They were here on St. Thomas with us all of last weekend, then flew to Dominica on Monday. From Dominica, they flew to St. Croix on Thursday. This afternoon they'll arrive on the seaplane back on St. Thomas. They said they'd go by the webcam and wave at us, even though we wouldn't be watching. Since Verizon doesn't have coverage here, they don't have access to a cell phone, so they couldn't call us to tell us to check online, as thrilling as that would be. Nonetheless, I pulled up gotostcroix.com just a few minutes ago while eating my lunch, and what did I see? My dad! I hit save, and then he was gone. Instantly vanished - no sign of which way he went or where mom was. Are they heading to the Fort Christian Brew Pub for a beer? More importantly, will they be back to wave at the webcam again.....?

Armstrong Ice Cream

Excitement is all around. The Armstrong Ice Cream truck is in the parking lot next door right now. Armstrong ice cream is made on St. Croix. They make all the tasty local flavors. Our favorite is guavaberry, but, sadly, it's only available around Christmas. Coconut, banana, soursop, tamarind, champagne cola... what shall I get as my afternoon pre-dinner snack? Dave is heading over here right now so we can carb-load together. This Sunday is the last practice swim before the big Memorial Day weekend Beach to Beach Power Swim Race!

St. Croix 70.3 triathlon

It's probably fairly obvious that I survived the St. Croix Half-Ironman (aka Ironman 70.3 for the 70.3 miles you travel during the race), since I posted about ice cream last week. But I also finished it! Friday, May 4, Dave and I sailed over to St. Croix with some fellow triathletes - it took 6 hours and a few motion-sickness pills.... Here's a photo of our bikes tied to the sailboat.

We arrived just in time for the group web-cam photo! Then we wandered the streets of Christiansted for Jump-Up - a big street party and Carb-Fest where the athletes get discounts at local restaurants. Saturday morning Dave and I swam for a little while at the beach by our hotel, and I went on a very short bike ride. We went to sleep early, as the alarm was set for 3:45am!

Before the race, all the athletes have to swim about 200 meters off-shore to a little cay where the race starts. Someone I had met online, from the Puerto Rican triathlon club, brought an underwater camera for the race. It was pretty funny and his carefree attitude made the whole event seem more fun and less scary. The race started in waves - this is a photo of the 20-29 year old women running into the water for the swim. I'm in the back starting my watch... The swim itself was pretty nice and easy. The water was warm, calm, and clear. I had fun waving to the rescue divers who were sitting on the bottom of the harbor and I stopped to pose for a photo for one of them who had a camera.

After the 1.24 mile swim, I got to cycle 56 miles. The roads are hilly, of course. I rode up almost all of the "Beast", which was a big accomplishment. It's At the top of the Beast, they declared I was in last place and after I convinced them I wasn't dropping out of the race, they told me the SAG wagon, ambulance, and police car would be following me. So I had an entourage of them plus a jeep with race marshals and photographer with me the rest of the way! When I stopped at an aid station to get ice and water, they stopped, along with all the cars behind them that were waiting for meto finish so they could open the road..... I was glad to finish the bike!

Then came the run. The 13.1 miles included 2 loops, and within each loop, there was a 2 mile stretch that you ran twice, so you were with a lot of others there. It was a little bit of a downer when I was on my first loop, and it seems like like barely anyone was left and those who were around were all on their second loop. Chris McCormack ("Macca"), a pro racer who came in 3rd overall, was volunteering at one of the aid stations for 3 of the 4 times I went past it. A volunteer whose shift was over jogged with me for about 3 miles which really lifted my spirits at the end of the first loop/beginning of second loop. Dave joined us for about 1 mile of the second loop too. Eventually, I caught up to the woman in the yellow jersey who I'd been following all day. We chatted a bit on the second loop. My knees hurt a lot after 5 miles unfortunately, so I had to walk most of the last 6 miles. That was also a disappointment, because I had done some long training runs at noon, so I was prepared for running in the hot sun, and my legs felt up to running other than the painful knees. By the time I finished, they had reopened the roads, but luckily they hadn't taken the finish line down yet! I got a neat medal for finishing, even though it took me 9 hours and 32 minutes! At the beach bbq/awards ceremony, I got my picture taken with Macca. I was the third-from last finisher overall, and he was the third finisher overall, so it seemed fitting. All in all, it was really fun, and I'm glad I did it!

Carnival Wrap-Up

After the Food Fair and J'Ouvert, we were ready to take a break from the Carnival activities. Tara, Gaylin, Gaylin's friend, and I took the car barge over to St. John Friday morning to have some quality beach time. First stop was the Deli Grotto. This is the best coffee shop around and I'm really bummed it's not on St. Thomas. Dave and I went there after the first practice swim race and 8 Tuff Miles too. It's a great place to sit outside in the shade of trees and say hi to everyone you know on St. John - since they're all there too. Fabulous sandwiches, breakfasty foods, etc. There is nothing like it on St. Thomas. It's weird coming from somewhere like Berkeley where these types of places are on every corner and not having anything like it here. After enjoying the Deli Grotto, we went to Cinnamon Bay. We got sand blasted as it was a windy day. Gaylin and I did some swimming against the strong current to get some training in. I managed to get what I call "the stupid sunburn" - where the middle of my back is burned, you know, just the spot that is out of reach unless you try. I didn't make a good effort with my sunblock, and I am suffering for it! My scalp isn't too happy either since my hair was in braids....

After the St. John trip, we went to the Carnival Village with fellow Boalt alum Andrea and her husband, who are living in San Juan and came over on the seaplane for the weekend. We found a booth that made vegetarian pates fresh just for us - delicious! Dave and I shared a pepper pot too - it's a very green soup like kallaloo but it had conch and whelks too. We had pates, johnny cakes, and cotton candy too!

Saturday morning Dave took a whole bunch of us out kayaking on a private EcoTour of the lagoon and Cas Cay. Then once we got some energy back in the afternoon, we headed out to the adult parade. One of the law firms invites all the lawyers, judges, and law clerks to their office that overlooks the parade route to party, drinks and food on the house! Last year Dave and I went around noon and the sun wore us out by 2pm. This time we got there around 6pm (yes, it's a long parade!). We watched the bright costumes, danced to the music, and enjoyed the leftover johnny cakes. Once we'd had enough, we walked back across the street to the village and went on the quest for dinner. I found a Dominican booth that had Kubuli beer, a Puerto Rican booth sold us fresh tostones, we had some more pates, and generally ate, drank, and were merry.

We stayed for the fireworks show this year, which was very impressive (and I'm not easily impressed with fireworks!). The fireworks were shot off a barge about 300 feet away from the waterfront road where we were sitting. (According to the newspaper, they were supposed to have 800 feet of clearance....) The show lasted about 25 minutes, and at times there were so many fireworks going off that we could feel the vibrations in the air from the explosions. Dave took some photos, which we'll upload later.