Rain today

The weekend is finally here, but doesn't look like I'll be kayaking today. This is steadily moving in our direction...

Winter Birds

Here are some Graveline winter birds. I took all these pictures on Saturday on a kayak trip across the bay, down the bayou to the gulf (a trip I've done many times). It was breezy but not cold, and not only did we see all these birds but also collected some fresh oysters from the edge of the bayou which we steamed... they were delicious. Hope I live to tell about it. Anyway, If I could get the text to line up with the pictures I would, but here's a list of what we saw, most of which I was able to capture on camera. I've moved the list around to match the order of the pictures. Blogger is not too easy to manipulate. In fact, I'm sure there's an easier way to post pictures, but I haven't yet found it. Maybe I should be on myspace?

Great Blue Heron (above)
Great Egret/American Egrets
Bufflehead
Brown Pelican
Willets
Brown Pelican
Louisiana Heron
Red-Breasted Mergansers (female)
Great Blue Heron
Immature Little Blue Heron
Grebe
American Egret
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Cormorant
Brown Pelicans and Cormorants
Red-Breasted Mergansers (male)
American Egret

We also saw a white pelican , lots of terns, and an osprey diving for fish.

Spring in January

It's been way too long but here I am back on the water. It's over 70 degrees this weekend and feels like spring is here very early. T-shirts were comfortable for this outing. Mom and I went through the south cut, past the boat ramp, and towards the gulf. It's been so long I wasn't up for going all the way to the mouth of the bayou, so we turned up to find the winding trail we had been on once before. Not at all sure we were on the right path until we saw it open up into the bay... but sure enough, it got us there. A new house we'll call the lookout house is being built over by the ramp (visible in this photo just above the paddle), and can be seen from most places in the grass to give you a good reference point.

The GPS track says 4.5 miles and shows the meandering paths. Egrets, heons, and PELICANS were plentiful. Lots of jumping mullet!

PPP Event

Results are in! I finished the race (Paddle, Pant, Pedal Triathalon) and had a blast. 45 min paddle, 52 min run, and 1 hr 22 min bike ride, for a total time of 3:00:05. That makes an easy goal for next year to finish in under 3 hours. The group was fun, the race was well organized, and the course was excellent. I thought it was a nice balance of the three events; a little heavy on the running for me, but hey, it was put on by a running club. I could improve the run time if I train more in that. I am also sure I could do the other two events faster if I did it again anytime, but during the race I didn't want to push too hard because first priority was to finish and I just didn't know how much it would take to get to the end. All in all not as strenuous as I would have thought but not easy by a long shot. I passed a few, got passed by a few. It was neat to see people on the course; the paddle route turned around twice so you see other people, then as you run you see people on the turnaround and then see the ones ahead of you again as they bike past. This was my first bike race of any kind, but I'm sure was a lot different than a regular bike race since we all were starting at a different time. Today is the day after, and I'm feeling pretty good. Bring it on next year...

Training

I've been in training, somewhat. A spin class here, a jog there. Today I took a serious stab at it, and did a 5 mile run then a 23 mile bike ride, just like the race will be. It's not hard to ride the bike after running. I kept up my usual pace but did feel slow at the end. So, where I am right now: 5 miles in 50 minutes (run). 23 miles in 1 hr 45 min (bike) with several breaks. I also took a 10 minute break in between. So if I do that each weekend before the event... and one of these weekends, throw in a paddle before the run, I think I'll be ready. I estimate:
4 mi paddle in 1 hour 10 min (I'm really not sure about the time there)
5 mile run in 50 min
23 mile bike in 1 hr 20 min
So that's a solid 3 and a half hours of exercise. Better prepare with some energy bars or some energy food in addition to plenty of water. The cool thing about this race is I already have everything I need to do it - the bike, the boat, all the accessories. This is my first bike race. I have done a few running races with GCRC, and I did the one kayak race at the OS Kayak fest in Jun '05 (which was a blast), but have not entered anything resembling a bike race. I'm glad the first one will be with people who are primarily runners, rather than the elite bike race crowd. I'm sure I don't know all the ins and outs yet.

Bi-yak

I realize all these GPS tracks look the same to you, but they tell such stories. This day, the red track was a bike ride with Tyler in the morning. The purple track is biking out to where my kayak sat waiting for me. The blue is a short paddle out in the bay and back... then bike back, and run just under a mile for good measure. What fun! And now I found out about an event -- paddle, pant, pedal -- held in just 4 weeks near here. http://www.gulfcoastrunningclub.org/events/2006-10-22_form.pdf

I need to work up to the 5 mile run, but the 4 mile paddle and 23 mile bike trip will be easy. I ran 4 miles the other day so I think I can do it, but still could use a bit of conditioning. So, that's my mission for the next few weeks. PPP!

Mileage Record

I set out for St Andrews and made a few side trips, and accumulated a big 38 miles in a 3 hour bike ride today. I'm working up to over 50. Then I'll know I'm ready for a race of some kind, maybe a metric century. I have heard that the pace of these races is faster than most people expect when they try it for the first time. I usually maintain 16-18 mph, and sometimes 20 for few minutes. I will try to keep up the faster pace when I go for distances and I think that will help get me up to speed.

Belle Fontaine beach drive is looking more natural, and the debris is gone for the most part; either cleaned up or becoming overgrown by grass, weeds, and trees. I counted 102 house lots along this road west of the light house (water tower) that is now laying in the golf course. Of these 102, all were destroyed. 7 are in some state of rebuilding, but not yet to the point of anyone living in them. None are rebuilt completely yet. I counted 12 travel/FEMA trailers; those that live there have the place to themselves! It is quiet, the water was calm today, the pelicans plentiful as they usually seem to be out there. The pelicans seem to be enjoying all the pilings that are sitting in the water without docks, providing them plenty of places to rest. They were fishing, socializing, and flying around, generally looking as if they owned the place. I noticed a difference in size in some of them today. Saw a few of average size, then one much smaller - a young one - then a HUGE one flying around in the same area. I took a picture, not because it's all that beautiful, but because it is typical Mississippi coast. Flat, shallow water. Hazy horizon and sky, blending into the water. Underwhelming as far as the big ticket items - sand, waves, water - that you see in other coastal areas - but very rich with birds, crabs, fish, plants, and other naturally co-existing forms of life.
I went down a road to the old Pine Island golf course (leg sticking northwest on the west side of the GPS track), which closed a few years back. Someone made an attempt to develop this land and live out here... will it be developed again? Right now it's a little spooky, very deserted, and I won't be going out there again by myself.

The traffic was cooperative today and I had no mishaps or close calls. The bike still suits me well and recently had it's initial shop visit to tighten all the cables after the initial wear... now it's smoother than ever - I recommend the Giant FCR-1! The gears work well for me on all inclines, and is also easy to pedal standing up. I wish I had more time. I would ride every day and paddle every evening, or vice versa.

Happy Labor Day :-)