It's Going to Be Bermudaful

As I was helping one of my veterans with a life review putting together his Fishing Club book which chronicled the history of the Sea and Surf Anglers Club of Boston and the Blue Waters Angler Club of Bermuda, I was in awe of the beauty of the Island. My veteran, Herb, told me that I had to visit the Island. I explained that with twins we were hard pressed to take a vacation. He said all we needed to do was pay for the airfare and stay at an all inclusive resort and his friends on the Island would take care of everything else. It was love at first sight from coming in over the Island and seeing the blue waters to the pink sands and lush tropical flowers on the Island.

The first place we stayed was the Grotto Bay:



Vince Cann, fisherman extraordinaire and cab driver and tour guide made us feel welcome with incredible hospitality. It would be our first of many trips and friendships forged as we would welcome them when they came to fish on Cape Cod and travel to Bermuda when the annual fishing tournament was held in Bermuda. I'll save the back story of the fishing tournaments for another post.

We made countless trips to that beautiful Island. After being diagnosed with post polio syndrome in December of 2006, I traveled to the Island in a leg brace and used a wheelchair to get around the airport.

After recovering from post polio syndrome and running the 2009 Boston Marathon, I put it on my bucket list to go back and run the Bermuda Marathon for my 60th birthday but life happened and I forgot all about my bucket list item until the Harvard Pilgrim 5K Race Expo. We were swept away by reconnecting with the Bermudaful Island accent, a map of the Island and having those Island memories rekindled.

And before I knew what happened, plane and hotel were booked and race registration confirmed.

We will return to the Rosedon Hotel



but what a different experience it will be from when I needed a cane to support me wearing my black tie shoes and a toe up leg brace:



To toeing the line on Front Street in my Altra running shoes:



We leave the Thursday before Sunday's race and will have plenty of time to soak up the Island sun, relax by the pool and get ourselves psyched to run our first 13.1 distance since April 2009.

This weekend we take on 9.5 miles - the longest distance I've run since the Boston Marathon. I'm confident. I'm strong and I have my eye on the prize, wearing the bling from the Bermuda Half Marathon. I am so excited that we are coming into the belly of the beast in terms of miles as we train for the Bermuda Half Marathon and crossing this off of my bucket list two years after I thought about it. It is going to be a Bermudaful time.