Reflection

Thank you for reading about my Antarctic adventure. I hope you enjoyed it. The trip to Antarctica was an absolutely amazing one from top to bottom. The weather was amazing. It got better and better every day. The weather on race day was rough, but it wouldn't have been nearly the adventure if it hadn't been. Then, the days got better and better and the experiences more amazing. The wildlife was unreal. The views were breathtaking, and the Peregrine staff who ran the boat trip were fantastic.

But when I think back on what made the trip so special, it was the people. Everyone was so positive, and so energetic and fun. We laughed and talked and bonded so well. Sometimes during a marathon, I'll start talking to someone I don't know, and get to know them pretty well, but rarely do I see them after the race. Even people you know, you run the race, then disperse. On this trip, we met in Buenos Aires, got to know each other for 2 days at sea, experienced the nerves, the pain, and the glory of the marathon together, then celebrated together, and continued our adventure. It was an amazing group of people, and I very much hope to see the majority of them again, and I believe with them, it will really happen. I'll definitely see Jerry at the 50 miler in November, I've been invited to run a marathon in Egypt over new years, (I have to say I'm really tempted there) and we're planning to run the London Marathon in 08.

Also, to have the opportunity to go on a huge trip like this with a parent is a rare occurance. Dad and I had a great time together and bonded well too. It was fun to get to know him in a new setting, and be there for his awesome marathon triumph! I'm very proud of him, and glad he's my dad.

There will be hours of reflection to figure out where I go from here. I'll frequently go look at the 1300 or more pictures I have, and lose myself. Trying to explain the trip, the moments, the experience to people who weren't there is really difficult, and very frustrating sometimes. It was so special. Since I got back, people have asked me if I would go back, and the answer is "Probably not." First of all, it wouldn't be the same without the same people and the same goals. But more importantly, it is such a pristine and special place. I had my chance to go there. I wouldn't want to have any more impact on the environment there than I already have. I had my Antarctic adventure. There are so many other places to go and see.

My next adventure is a 24 hour adventure race in WV over Memorial Day weekend with my AR team "Help I've Fallen and I can't Find my Compass". Should be a blast. I'll be sure to add an entry for that adventure!

Team "compass" at Venture Quest in fall 2006

Time to go home

Time to go home. Fun’s over, pack up and get out. Got up at 7 to go see off the folks leaving at 8. Lots of waves and hugs and promises to stay in touch. Then time to kill before our bus at noon. At the airport we learned that our flight to Buenos Aires had been re-routed to arrive at the domestic airport instead of the international airport, but they would arrange a bus to take us 40 minutes through town to the international terminal once we arrived. A bit inconvenient, but we had plenty of time, so no biggie. Easy flight to BA (dad got us an exit row, so it was much more comfortable than being crammed in the back.) Jamon e Queso sandwich at Ushuaia airport (on flatbread), Jamon e Queso sandwich (on a bun) on the plane. I think I’ll never eat Jamon e Queso again! Got to BA, got luggage, herded the group to wait for the bus. Took about an hour to get a bus, so some people took cabs. We got to the International airport with 2 hours till our flight. The people on the 9:30 flight were a bit more rushed. We went through security screening, check in, pay airport tax, security, immigration, then another security at the gate. There was only a half hour to spare before boarding. Fshew! Uneventful flight and now we’re about to land in Dulles where it’s colder than it was in Antarctica!!

RACE DAY #2. Fin Del Mundo Marathon

**Warning…I admit, I may have gotten a little thick on the drama here, which I am sometimes accused of doing!**

Good Lord. Didn’t I just do a marathon a week ago? Here we go again! This trip, built around marathons has actually been so little about the marathons! This just happens to be one of the activities. The people and the touring and the wildlife have really taken center stage. But today's activity is another marathon. Onward!

6:30 breakfast, everyone is pretty beat up from our Antarctic adventure. Everyone is sick or sore or at least very tired. We’re all very impressed with ourselves that we’re doing this again, but it seems no one is really looking forward to it. I woke up, tired and run down. My throat is still all phlegm-y and my voice is practically gone. (whine whine whine) I’ve never run a marathon in this condition. I’m not nervous. I know I’ll do it, I’m just tired. I have no time goals, I just want to experience it, and finish it.

We all congregated for breakfast and I found that there were so many different outfits and levels of warmth from shorts and tank tops, to me in ColdGear and a wind layer. When we were in town eating and finishing shopping yesterday, the weather was unbelievably erratic. Every 10 or 15 minutes LITERALLY it would change from blowing snow and white-out conditions, to sunny and clear and that LITERALLY went on all day and into the night. (this actually isn't the overdose of drama I warned you about...it really was erratic!) The weather report said mild wind and temperatures up to 45 degrees for race day, but having seen the erratic conditions that were possible, I had no idea what to expect, so I dressed for cold knowing that the temperature forecast of 35-40 Farenheit from 9am to 2pm was probably about accurate.

We had a light breakfast and boarded the bus at 7am. We were on the first bus figuring that would give us plenty of time to fiddle around at the start line, get the bag checked, pee, etc. We were on a small stumpy little bus that was able to maneuver the tight turns into town faster than a big tour bus. It was about an hour drive through Ushuaia and into the national forest which I immediately fell in love with. I’m not usually so struck by places like Petermann Island and this forest, so to have found 2 happy places on 1 trip was pretty crazy. The forest looked like a magical forest where you’d find fairies and elves and unicorns. The moss and grass made almost all the ground cover green so there were charming green clearings on beautiful still ponds or rocky streams and even green on the ground under trees. Mossy bark covered a lot of the trees and there was a kind of tree with a little fuzzy tufts of hair-like material on the branches. All this AND snowcapped mountains in the distance wherever you looked.







It just felt magical to me. At one point I came running into a clearing and on the edge of the tree line there was a white pony and all I could think was that the wood nymph who had been riding it had hopped off just moments ago to dance into the trees collecting flowers.


(I know, I know, so some of the pictures have my thumb in them...it's hard to run a marathon and take pictures at the same time.)

Ok, maybe my brain was a little frost bitten in Antarctica, and due to the overcast conditions the pictures don't do it justice at all, so you'll have to take my word for it, or go see it yourself.

OH OH OH…I almost forgot...to top off it’s quiet wonder, there were little grey bunnies ALL OVER THE PLACE hopping happily around the enchanted wood. Seriously. Bunnies....everywhere! Apparently it's true what they say about rabbits.

So after an hour bus ride, we arrive at the start line where there is a big inflatable starting arch, 2 army tents with the camo mesh covering (we all nervously made jokes about why those might be necessary)



There was a table with drinks and a bathroom trailor and that was it. So our little bus left us there, about 20 of us all alone here with the 4 Argentine army guys who are now covering their truck with the camo mesh stuff. Now we’re wishing we’d gotten on the slower huge tour bus!

Here's the layout. We’re at the south west end of the park, just south of the starting line is the sea, just west about a kilometer or so is Chile. Some people walked down to look at the sea, some the pond with grassy banks, some ran around to warm up a little and some hunkered down in the tents. I hunkered. I was tired and wasn’t particularly interested in thinking about the fact that I was about to do a marathon. (great attitude 'eh?) So we sat and chilled, laughed about this or that and after 20 minutes, 2 more busses finally arrived. We breathed a sigh of relief that we weren’t stuck somewhere alone in the magical forest.

So the bustling began and a short line formed at the potty trailor (for the men’s side, not the ladies which was a nice switch!) There were 2 guys dressed as a penguin and a beaver that people were taking pictures with.



We made our final decisions on dressing (I went with ColdGear leggings and mock, and wind pants and jacket, beanie and gloves) checked our bags and clumped up at the start line. There were probably 250 people.



It was kind of warm and there was no wind in the park so a lot of people were taking off more clothes, but I stuck to my guns remembering that 26 miles is a long way and a lot can change fast at the bottom of the earth.

Finally, at 9:05, after no discernable gun, whistle or gong, we were off. Dad started out running, so I jogged the first quarter mile with him. When he started walking I told him I’d see him at the finish and jogged away. He said he'd be there in about 7 hours. (he was relieved when the race director announced that the 6:30 race time limit wouldn’t be enforced!) So off I went. I ended up running and chatting (more chat than run) with Waichi and Rob almost all the way through the enchanted forest.



We’d walk the hills, stop for pictures, talk and walk and enjoy ourselves. I ducked into the magical woods at one point to relieve myself, and came out just as a bus of photographers was passing. They laughed and pointed and I waived and smiled. *shrug* What else was I going to do?

So we continued on for the whole 18 K through the woods. I was enjoying the relaxing pace but knew at that rate, it would take all day, so I decided to move on. I picked up the pace, still enjoying the view and still taking pictures, but slowly picking up places. I did a solid 9:1 (run/walk) for the next 10 miles into town. I saw Karin and Anders as I made the turn to the airport road. Karin is a GREAT cheerer!



Then I hit the 5K loop through the airport, or should I say it hit me! The wind was unbelievable. It actually pushed me around a bit.


Here's another picture of my thumb AND you can see from the tree how windy it was.

It was stronger than the wind on the glacier, and that was strong!! So at first it was at my back, which was great, then the road turned and it was at my side and COLD! I was glad I’d opted for the 2 layers despite the fact that I got a little hot in fairy land. I put on my hat and gloves and pulled up my hood. I couldn’t figure out a good way to make my hood stay up so I pulled it tight and held it in my teeth. I probably looked like an idiot, but it worked. Then another turn up the hill and the wind was in my face. BRUTAL! Long uphill slog with a constant strong wind. I caught up the Mary and we suffered together. There was no running until we turned the corner and headed back down the hill. Halleluiah, wind at the back, then the side, then in our face again! We finally made it back to where Karin and Jacques were cheering and the wind all but stopped.

So we’re at mile 15, headed back into town, stray dogs all over the place, little children cheering from a window across the street, I was back to my 9:1 and feeling strong.



The first half of the race was just beautiful. It started in the enchanted forest, opened up to beautiful views overlooking Ushuaia, and snowcapped mountains all around. Even the wind torn airport road was lovely with the mountains and white capped waves on the water. Well, after the race, dad commented that the first half of the race was as pretty as the last third was ugly. I couldn’t have said it better myself.

I clipped along into town, down a little residential peninsula, down a dirt road, left at the naval base (there were no signs or course marshalls, and I was a bit worried that I was going the wrong way) Then into town. At this point I could see the finish line about 1K to the left but I had another 8-10 miles out and back to the right and boy did it suuuuuuck!





Ugly main road, trucks, industrial buildings, I even swore I smelled penguin poop a few times. The fun thing was that since it was an out and back, you were passing fellow marathoners the whole way, so you were cheering for each other. I passed the denim brigade who were all running together and looking strong and like they were having a really good time.



I however was slogging up a big hill, walking, hot in my ColdGear, with my wind jacket tied and bunched around my waist. I must have looked lovely, and like I wasn't having a very good time. I was still feeling ok, still picking people off. About 2-3 K (it felt like 200 miles) from the final turn around, we started climbing and the wind picked up again. At our backs, but I knew I’d have to turn into it eventually. After what seemed like an eternity, I reached the turn around and headed down with the wind in my face. UG! I looked for some landmark that I could tell the people behind me to aim for but there was none. Besides, I was beat and just wanted to be done.

I stuck pretty well to my 9:1 but when the wind hit me in the face it was totally demoralizing and made the run seem to go on forever. The course was marked in kilometers, so I was trying to convert to miles the whole race and was not at all successful so I never really had much of an idea where I was. To add to the tough mindset, I’m usually very optimistic about where I am, so I end up thinking I have 3 miles left when I have 6 which when you finally get the math right, is quite a blow. In regular life I'm pretty good at math...I'm not dumb...I promise.

When I passed dad, he asked how far to the turn around. I tiredly told him to just keep going! (2-3 other people had asked me too. I’d estimated kilometers but I had no idea!) I may have been tired when I passed dad, but I somehow had some energy for a goofy little dance!



Finally I limped into town. I was making my way down the street, no marshals, no signs, no spectators and no other runners in sight. I was pretty sure I was in the right place, but would have loved some confirmation. I was tired, I was hot and I wanted to be done. Ushuaia was going on with it’s business while I was trying to finish a marathon and I was annoyed! I just kept going, slowly and painfully.

Then all of a sudden I saw a familiar face and heard the loudest most melodiously wonderfully enthusiastic cheering I’ve ever heard! Carol was on the other side of the street waiting to run in with her husband Rob. (She’d finished about an hour and a half before, 3rd in her age group!) She yelled so loud and gave me the most potent shot of adrenaline I have ever felt. No substance could have effected me the way her screams did. “1K to go GO ANNE WOOOOO…You’re doing GREAT!” I felt like I was on mile 2…in fact, I felt better than mile 2. I picked up the pace. I felt strong. I believed I was strong. I was on FIRE! So I cranked through town, finally saw the finish line. OH A GLORIOUS SIGHT! I was feeling strong, running fast through the streets of Ushuaia. It was so weird. Traffic, shoppers, pedestrians, etc. I passed the denim brigade who had finished about an hour before. They cheered like mad too! Last shot of energy. I crossed the (busy) street and headed across the finish line in around 5:18.



There was a little cheering from some of my Antarctica friends, but 1 voice rang through. James had stayed to cheer me in. How cool is that!

I’m used to finish lines where I finish with clumps of people. Here, I was the only one finishing, so all the cheers were for me. There weren’t that many, but they felt better than all the huge crowds in the world. I wandered a bit, got a medal and a water and a ½ banana and went to find my bag. I was so wired when I finished. I changed my clothes, sat for a few minutes, but people we knew kept coming in so I kept getting up to cheer! It was great to have James there to chat and be silly with while I waited for dad. I bought some popcorn and chocolate milk (great recovery food!) from a street vendor to tide us over.


This is the finish line with all the huge trophys.

Around an hour after I came in, Jacques thought he saw my dad. “No, my dad won’t be in for another 15 minutes at the earliest.” But low and behold, 42 minutes ahead of his goal, blazing to the finish, was my dad! He looked very pleased, mostly to be done I think, but the 42 minutes ahead of goal couldn’t have hurt either. How cool for his first marathon! After he finished, we wandered a bit more, cheered a bit more, grabbed a bunch of people and left to find a place for lunch. It took us a while, but we finally found a nice little café, had beer and Jamon e Queso sandwiches (all sandwiches are ham and cheese, only the bread changes. The guts stay the same.) So we split to go back to the hotel for a shower and a rest. 8pm was dinner. The Ioffe cleaned up on trophys again.



They gave tiny finishers medals and a TON of HUGE cheap plastic trophys to the age group winners, so everyone laughed and joked about how to get them home. One of our runner disassembled hers right there which is what everyone ended up doing. (we not only had the funnest and fastest people on our boat, but we also had the smartest!)



There was a lot of Ioffe cheering to be had. We all really bonded, and we so proud of eachother. It was really fun! One runner had an early flight, so she was getting in her taxi when her trophy was being awarded, so everyone from our ship ran it out to her and presented it to her as she was driving away! It was a very funny sight, and quite a send off for our friend. I bet she'll never have a trophy awarded to her like that again!



There was lots of cheer and a great time had by all. After, we had a really mellow time in the bar, few beers, few last minute hugs, and off to bed to sleep like a rock.

Disembarking from Ioffe

6:30 wake up, our last gentle wake up from Dutch. We were in the Beagle channel approaching Ushuaia. 7am breakfast, everyone’s hugging and taking more pictures and of course, EATING! We got details regarding where we catch buses to the hotel, airport, etc. About 70 of our intrepid Ioffe bunch of 100 are staying for race #2. 12 were on an 11am flight out and the rest (20 or so) went out on an afternoon flight. We were all hoping that Hotel Del Glacier would have rooms for us, so after breakfast we hung out in the cabin. We’d docked across from a huge 3000 person celebrity cruise ship so we marveled at that and how much fun that wouldn’t be!


Here's a picture of me with the Ioffe and the 3000 person celebrity cruise ship behind it. Pretty crazy 'eh?

When we got our final orders to disembark, the Peregrine staff were all in a receiving line to say goodbye. Hugs and thanks all around, a final farewell to our new friends, and we hopped on the bus. The hotel moved us through very expeditiously and now we’re relaxing in the room, waiting for our luggage and chilling out. We’ll meet a bunch of people in the lobby at 11 to head downtown to shop and eat again! For now, we relax in our awesome room.



After 10 days in a 7x12 cabin. It feels like this is expansive. We have our regular hotel room, then a drop down sitting area with a huge window at the back of the room. Really cool setup! It was foggy and snowing when we arrived but it seems to be clearing up quite nicely. So we’ll chuck around downtown this afternoon. At 6:30 we have packet pickup, 7:30 local entertainment and 8pm is the pasta party. 7am bus to the start line tomorrow morning for the Fin del Mundo Marathon. UG!

STILL AT SEA!

Awoke at sea, still gentle rolling here on the Drake Lake. While a storm would have made for good story telling, it would have been fun for about 15 minutes, so I’m glad for our luck. Breakfast as usual, another lecture on the Peregrine Arctic trip which looks very different than Antarctica. Much more flat plains and rolling hills rather than the jagged cliff faces and huge peaks we’ve seen. No penguins, but lots of polar bears. I think that would be a trip worth going on.

We can see Cape Horn now, and should have had some good views from the bow but between the fog and the distance, it wasn’t very exciting.



Afternoon held more lectures, Dutch’s trip recap and a tour of the bowels of the boat. Both were fun and interesting. At 6pm the Drunken Swimming Runtbucket Brigade took a very cute group shot on the bow of the ship.



Duncan (the Peregine staff bartender) joined us, which was pretty cool. Then I headed back to the cabin to pack which was good because once the party started it didn’t stop until crash time. So despite theories to the contrary, Dad and I successfully packed in our teeny cabin at the same time without wanting to kill each other. (Well, I should speak for myself. I didn’t ever want to kill him!) We didn’t even run into each other much. We went to call mom on the satellite phone and had a nice little chat. I went back to the cabin to finish packing then 7pm all dressed and pretty we headed down to the captains dinner. We kicked it off and a bunch of toasts to the crew, the staff and to us! The captain got up and in his very thick Russian accent, toasted us and all the fun we’d had.



Then to a delicious sirloin dinner. The wine started then. After dinner, there were tons of pictures taken and we all retired to the bar for a last night of Ioffe hilarity, that fortunately didn’t end in the plunge pool! We were drinking and laughing and singing at the top of our lungs! Will and Mike were dancing on the banquettes, the Peregrine staff were all there and seemed to be having a good time. Lots of hugging and laughing and finally it was time for bed.

Check out this link for fun crazy pictures from the bar that night.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AbNGrVizbNmKe

AT SEA!

The Drake seems as though it’s going to be kind to us again! My illness seems to have settled in my throat which is half swimming and camping and half the patch. Other than that, I feel a bit tired, but there was plenty of time to nap. (tired due to sick, patch, and the gentle lull of the ship.) So after breakfast I went back to sleep. The morning activity was the Iron Penguin Challenge where teams of 4 do goofy relevant stuff all over the boat like eating vegemite on a cracker, melting an ice cube in their mouths,



a lap around the ship in a backwards life jacket and mud boots on the wrong feet, an animal question all ending with a lap around the plunge pool.







I had had my fill of plunging into ice cold water, so once the challenge was underway, I went up to the pool to watch. There were 6 teams in the open division and 1 in the family division. The 2 kids on the boat were game for everything! So another nap, another feeding and the afternoon brought more lectures. Lynn did a "Conservation of Antarctic Wildlife" lecture which was pretty interesting and John did “Who Owns Antarctica?” which I skipped. At some point after the Iron Penguin competition, they showed “The Farce of the Penguins”, a spoof on “The March of the Penguins” which was funny for about 20 minutes, but then it got really old so I left. I spent some time on the bridge and bow hanging out and giggling, another feeding, then an old 1920s film about rounding Cape Horn which was narrated by the guy who took the film 60 years later. Very interesting and very rough seas! We checked out the awesome pictures in the multi media centers “Best of” pictures from the passengers. There are some great pictures in there. Peregine will make us a disc at the end of the trip with all those pictures as well as a route map, staff bios (which are VERY impressive), and e-mails for all the passangers on the ship. A great bonus! A bit more wine in the bar, and to bed by midnight.

CAMPING and Kayaking

We did camp last night! I’m really glad I did but it took a lot out of me. They gave us a mummy bag, sheet, a bivouac and a ½ inch piece of foam. That was it. No tent, no heater, no elevation off the snow. John suggested that it would be warmer to wear as little as possible and I’d heard this before so I went for it. I slept in a sports bra and a pair of shorts. We arrived at Dutche’s Dome, our home for the evening.



We hiked up on top and stamped down our sleeping spots. (In hindsight, I should have paid a little more attention to the shape of the snow beneath my bag.) We got a quick brief on Mr. Yum Yum, our toilet for the evening (a blue barrel…yuck!) We chatted a bit and very quickly went to bed.



At first when we got into the beds we were all toasty warm but as you laid there, the cold started to permeate. Luckily it was a beautiful wind-free night so we had it pretty easy, but it was still cold out there. The stars were bright and you could hear glaciers calving all over the place. I awoke at 2am and kind of had to go visit Mr YumYum, but more urgent was the need to get out of that sack. I fought my way with zippers and layers trying hard to keep the snow out of my bag. I put on my fleece and headed over to visit Mr. Yum Yum. Aside from the snoring people, it was really peaceful. The water was still, the boat was lit up, the full moon (which I never saw, but knew it was there becayse it provided a lot of light) reflected off the snow. What a beautiful night. So I hopped back in the bag and kind of went back to sleep until 6am when Dutch yelled “ok everybody, GET UP!” and Sam, one of the passengers yelled “WE MADE IT!!!”.



Everyone, all 36 campers lasted through the night. The staff had given us the option of waking them up to go back to the ship if we were too uncomfortable but no one did. We quickly packed up and headed back to the boat for hot tea and a nap!

At breakfast I was chosen to go kayaking which I was pretty excited about. I had such an amazing experience with the penguins at Petermann island that every penguin experience since had paled in comparison and they were headed to a landing at the largest penguin colony on the peninsula so I was happy to go kayaking instead.



Unfortunately they got to see a leopard seal hunting, toying with, killing and eating a penguin in 20 minutes of dramatic and graphic detail, so I was bummed to have missed that, but the pictures were amazing.









We saw a leopard seal with a penguin, but had to raft up all together for fear that he’d knock into us in his feading frenzy! The kayaking was pretty cool. I was pleased with how I could control my boat but the noise of the dry suit and fellow kayakers stole from the serenity of the scene. No denying the beauty though, and it was really cool to be that close to the water.



So back on the boat to warm up. This afternoon was our last excursion and by after lunch I was feeling pretty sick. Headache, tired, chilly so I begged out. The amazing bay we were in promised lots of icebergs and glaciers. It’s sunny and calmer than this morning, the water is like glass. I’m bummed to be missing it right now, but am having a well needed rest. I came here to run a marathon and that’s been the smallest part of the trip! I’ve been up close with penguins and seals and whales and icebergs. I’ve gone swimming (twice), camping, kayaking and cruising on zodiacs. I’ve eaten my way through this trip and have gotten very soft. I’m starting to look ahead to the next part of this trip, and while I don’t want to miss any of what Antarctica has to offer, I’m looking forward to heading back into the Drake tonight and back to Ushuaia. We’ve had amazing luck with animals and weather, the one thing that’s the most unpredictable in Antarctica has gotten better and better every day, ending today with a January like day (mid summer) not a March day (early fall)

I took a nap, felt a bit better and went to happy hour. A scotch helped me feel even more better! After dinner, a few more drinks, and wandering the boat visiting with different people, then off to bed. At around 7pm tonight we hauled anchor and set a course for the Drake Passage. We were all concerned about how the passage would be as we had such an easy time on the way down, so talk of the patch and Dramamine and the bracelets were high on the topic list!