St. Croix - 70.3 Half Ironman

We are back from a wonderful trip! We headed to St. Croix on 4/28 as part of a 30th bday celebration for me and so Jason could participate in the St. Croix 70.3 mile half ironman triathlon.
Ian was excited about his first flight:



Day 1:

We flew out of ATL around 10:15 am and arrived in St. Croix around 2pm. Ian did REALLY well on the flight. He played his Leapster for a little while, watched part of Kungfu Panda, and slept the rest of the time. He did fine during both take off and landing. I was so pleased he did so well on his first flight.

Jason headed to the ATL airport early that morning around 7am to check his bike because he was told by Delta that they would only allow 2 bikes on the plane. Since this is a big event in St. Croix and since a lot of athletes fly out of ATL, we weren't sure if Jason's bike would make it on the plane. However, Jason checked with FedEx about shipping the bike down there, but it was going to cost like $1200. We were like um, no thanks. So, he decided to take his chances on checking the bike and hopefully, it would make it down there before the race. So, once we landed in St. Croix, we headed straight for baggage claim. I saw 2 bike cases...and one was gray like Jason's. However, I saw a guy pick that one off the belt...and then another guy came and got the other one. So, I was like, well, Jason's bike didn't make it. Jason then went to get our rental car while we waited on the rest of the luggage. We got our luggage and went to wait by the curb for Jason to pull up with the rental. Well, while we were waiting...I just happened to look over at the conveyer belt...and there were not but a few pieces of luggage still going around...when I spotted another gray bike case. I was yelled for Jimmy to run and check to see if it was Jason's...and it was!! We were so excited that his bike DID make it! In fact, I noticed several other bikes...so there were definitely more than 2 on our plane.

There was a man named Joseph who was waiting on us at the airport...he drove in front of us, carried some of our luggage, and showed us where the house was that we were staying in for the week. The house we stayed in was absolutely beautiful!

Once we got there an unloaded, we went to get groceries. We were told the closest grocery store was Schooners Market. Man, was it expensive!! However, we had to have stuff to eat...especially, the pregnant girl! :)

Once we got back, we all hung out on the patio for awhile and then went to bed.

Day 2:

Jason got up and went for a run on the east side of the island. When he got back, everyone else was up and we ate breakfast.

After breakfast, we hung around in the pool and the morning seemed like it was going by so slow...which I was LOVING! It was so nice to know we had a whole week ahead of us! Ian loved the pool and played hard. Papa was in the pool and he and Ian played for a long time. I went and put my suit on and got in there too. By lunch time, Ian was worn out! We headed in for lunch and then Ian wanted to take a "rest". So, he laid down and fell fast asleep.

I was dying to go snorkeling and Jason was wanting to drive the bike course. So, he, Jimmy, and I headed out for a drive around the island. Half way through our "tour", we stopped at Cane Bay to snorkel. It was beautiful! After we snorkeled, we drove up "the beast"...a .7 mile hill with 10-27% grade. It was STEEP. However, as we continued to drive the bike course, we quickly realized that "the beast" would be the least of Jason's worries. Those 56 miles were nothing but hills...and the roads were not in the best condition.

Finally, we got back and Ian was just waking up. We got ready and headed into town to eat at Angry Nates. It was SO good! We watched Flashforward when we got back to the house and then went to bed.

Day 3:

Jason got up and rode his bike about 14 or 15 miles on the east end of the island and then headed to one of St. Croix's main towns, Christiansted, where the race would start and end. He needed to go pick up his race packet and also wanted to take advantage of a training swim that they were doing for the athletes to be able to get into the water and swim the course.

While Jason was swimming, the rest of us went shopping. My mom, dad, Sherri, and myself all bought the signature St. Croix hook bracelet. It can only be found on St. Croix..."often imitated, never duplicated".

After Jason was done, we ate lunch at one of the restaurants on the boardwalk near the swim start.

Then, we headed back to the house to rest and relax.

Friday night, we just hung around at the house and had hamburgers, potatoes, carrots, and onions cooked in tin foil for supper. After supper, I was craving some ice cream. So, we headed back to Christiansted, to find out that they were having 1 out of the 4 "Jump Ups" that they have each year. Basically, it is a big street party where there are several bands throughout the town playing and the stores stay open until 10pm. We ate ice cream and watched him cut a rug while listening to one of the local bands.

Ian getting his dance on:

Day 4:

We decided to all head back to Cane Bay and spend the morning hanging out on the beach and snorkeling. We ate hot dogs on the beach that we bought from a little stand on the side of the road called "Rose's Road Kill". :)

After we left the beach, we drove up "the beast" again and part of the bike course again, looking for a cheaper grocery store.

We ate spaghetti and salad Saturday night so Jason could store up some carbs the night before the race. We all hit the sack not too long after supper because of having to be up early the next morning for the race.

Day 5:

Jason got up at 4...and he and Jimmy headed on down to the race because there was no way that we could get all 7 of us plus Jason's bike in the rented mini van. So, Jimmy took Jason on down there and came back to get the rest of us. We were all up, ready, and out the door by 5:30am. The good thing, it starts getting light around 5:45 there. However, by 7pm...it is pitch black. Another interesting thing was that you drive on the left side of the road there...but the steering wheel is on the same side of the car as here in the continental US. It was hard to get used to...but thankfully, we didn't have any accidents.

Jason was in the 4th wave, which started at 6:37am. So, we were at the dock by 6am ready to see him get started. We saw him come out of the water and start the bike. After he got on the bike, the rest of went and ate breakfast. We knew he would not be back for a couple of hours. We headed back to the transition area around 10 and he came in around 10:20 or so. We snapped some pictures and then he was off on the run. We headed to find some water and watch the first Pro finish, Terenzo Bozzone.

We then found a spot along the finish line and waited for Jason to finish the race. Around 12:15, we spotted him and cheered him on to the finish line. Ian was able to give him high 5 as he ran towards the finish line. Jason finished the race in 5 hours and 38 minutes. I am so proud of him!

We then headed back to the house where Ian and Jason both slept for a couple of hours. We had steak, bake potatoes, and green beans for dinner.

The winner, Terenzo Bozzone:

Rain coming as we prepared steaks for dinner:

Day 6:

We left the house shortly after 8. We road on Big Beard's Catamaran "Adventure" out to Buck Island, a US National Park. We spent some time on Turtle Beach, voted one of the world's most beautiful beaches according to National Geographic. I believe it...the sand was the softest most white sand I have ever seen. We hung out on Turtle Beach for about an hour. There my mom, dad, and a few others received snorkeling lessons. Neither she nor my dad had ever been before. They both picked it right away. Then, they took us out to part of the underwater reef and let us snorkel out there for about an hour and 45 mins. Sherri stayed on the boat with Ian and they looked through the underwater viewing area. After Jason and I snorkeled for awhile, we got back on the boat and then Jason took Ian out into the water.

After we got back into Christiansted around 12:30, we ate lunch at one of the restaurants on the boardwalk and hit a few more shops. Then, headed back to the house to rest and lay around the pool awhile.

We ate supper at "Cheeseburger in America's paradise" that night.

Buck Island:




Day 7:

This was definitely a day of resting and not doing much of anything. Jason, Ian, my mom, and dad went down to Duggans beach for about an hour or so...but it was so cloudy and windy, we headed back to the house at lunch time. Jason and I decided that while Ian was at the house taking his nap, we would ride back to Cane Bay to see if we the wind was any better on the west side of the island. It was about the same, but we enjoyed just hanging out on the beach together for a little while and then we headed back to get ready for dinner at the Hotel on the Cay. Hotel on the Cay is on a little island right across from Christiansted. The triathlon actually starts the swim from that island. You have to take a 5 min ferry to get out there...but each Tuesday night, they hold a West Indian Buffet on the beach with a steel drum band, mocko jumbie, limbo etc.

Day 8:

A sad day...one we knew would come...when we had to pack up and go home. We called a taxi, who came to pick us up at 12:30 so that we could catch our 2:15 flight. We were about an hour and a half late leaving due to mechanical difficulties...they couldn't get the cargo door open because it was stuck. We finally took off and Ian was asleep within 5 mins of take off. He slept the entire 3.5 hour flight back. Then, he slept the entire 3 hour drive back from ATL. I wondered if he would sleep all night since he slept so much on the trip back...but he did. I guess he was really tired. I know I was!

18 weeks:

Mechanical difficulties...the cargo door was stuck...but we finally got off the ground:

We had a wonderful time!