Panola Mountain State Park

Susan and I stopped at the isolated Daniels Bridge Road free parking area before moving to the more popular and more secure Alexander Lake $5 per day parking area on Flat Bridge Road.

Daniels Bridge Road parking area

I'd recommend paying the $5.  The Alexander Lake area is patrolled even on weekends.

Me and Susan before the ride from the Alexander Lake parking area

The trails were not crowded in fact there were very few people using them on the sunny Saturday that we were there.  We saw no runners or walkers.  From what I heard later much of the trails are new and the word probably hasn't gotten out to the fitness community.

The trails winding up a hill

Two things that you notice immediately is the 1) Panola Mountain is in the flight path for aircraft arriving at Atlanta Hartfield-Jackson Airport, and 2) the trails are either going up or going down.

One of many aircraft over Panola Mountain

The approximate fourteen foot wide trails have the occasional bench and this monument to Marley and Ramon Castro.

The end of the trail we rode had a small park and parking area.

South Rockdale parking area

Rules of the trail

There's lots of pretty scenery along the way with a small bridge here and there.  The South River can just be seen at times through the thick trees.

The view from one of the bridges

We ran into our friend Joel on our return to the trail head 

See more of my pictures from the new Panola Mountain State Park trails here.

Thanks for reading.

New Jersey Trip

I found out a few weeks ago that I'd be traveling to the Atlantic City area of New Jersey for a few days of work.  There was a meeting scheduled at the FAA Technical Center about a new system.  I was to attend the meeting to offer some input from a technical operations perspective.  Since the facility where I work near Atlanta is at one of the few facilities not currently actively using the system, I was a bit skeptical about how much real input I could offer.  Undaunted and with no other volunteers, I decided to go.  I expected to take the opportunity to learn a bit about some of the issues that other facilities might be dealing with regarding the new system and continue my Ironman training, of course.

As I made my travel reservations I did an on-line search for places to run and swim near my hotel.  I wouldn't have my bike with me so I resolved myself to a week of running and swimming.  My search eventually led me to Facebook and the South Jersey Triathlon Club.

My travel plans had me departing Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport (ATL) for arrival in Philadelphia Airport (PHL) on a Monday via Airtran.  From Philly I'd rent a car and drive to Egg Harbor, New Jersey where I had reservations at the Residence Inn.

The tarmac at Atlanta Hartfield-Jackson Airport

After lift-off I could see the clouds that have plagued my training schedule for weeks.

Clouds as far as the eye can see

Shortly after lift-off we banked to the left right over Lake Spivey, my open water swim practice course.

Lake Spivey from the air

As my flight neared Philadelphia the same cloudy weather we've been having in Atlanta was right there with me.

Cloudy weather in Philly

Fasten your seatbelts

In Philly I picked up my Chevy Cruze rental car with only 200+ miles on the odometer .  It was a free upgrade from the Chevy Spark.

2014 Chevy Cruze

From the Philadelphia airport I headed out on the 45 mile drive to Egg Harbor, New Jersey.  

Downtown Philadelphia in the distance 

There are two things you'll notice right away when driving in New Jersey.  The first thing is that traffic tolls are a major source of income.  The second thing is that there are few, if any, billboards along the roadway.  A third thing that I noticed coming from Atlanta is  the lack of trash.  In Georgia far too many people use the roadside as their trashcan.  One thing that is not different is that people drive like idiots and rarely use their signals when turning or changing lanes.

The Atlantic City Expressway

The Egg Harbor Residence Inn

When I checked-in to my hotel I was informed that I'd been upgraded.  Click here if you're interested in seeing the full album including several additional pictures of my room.

My room at the Residence Inn in Egg Harbor, New Jersey

Right around the corner from my hotel is the Beacon bike shop.  Since I brought my old wetsuit along on my trip I went by the bike shop for some Body Glide.  Since my trip to Charleston for the Tri Charleston 70.3 I'm missing two containers of Body Glide and an unused can of Trislide.  While at the shop I bought a few gel packs too.

Beacon Cycling and Fitness in Northfield, NJ

Dinner at Burger King - Yuck!

The Garden State Parkway headed down to Stone Harbor, New Jersey

The South Jersey Triathlon Club swim in Snug Harbor in Stone Harbor, New Jersey.  Stone Harbor is just a 30 mile drive south of Egg Harbor on the Garden State Parkway.

The Yacht Club at Stone Harbor

The channel southwest from Great Sound 

The channel northeast to Great Sound

Snug Harbor to the north

Snug Harbor to the south

Me, Jim, Susan and Debbie (l-r) before our first lap in Snug Harbor

I also ran three times that week, twice in Stone Harbor and once from Somers Point over the new bridge to the Ocean City boardwalk.  Stone Harbor is a quaint little town with a lot of nice homes which were obviously untouched by hurricane Sandy.   Second Avenue in Stone Harbor is a wide boulevard with landscaped dividers which make it easy to see traffic.   It's a good place to run.  Ocean City on the other hand is a mess.  The bridge was a fun place to run but the traffic between the bridge and the boardwalk is too much of a challenge for me.  And then there's the boardwalk.  This time of year it is full of people enjoying the carnival type trappings that a child might enjoy but are not conducive to running.  

So, my training continues with little interruption from my short stay in Jersey.

Lastly, good luck to my new south Jersey friends who will be competing in the 15th Annual Stone Harbor Triathlon on July 21st.

Thanks for reading.

The Beirut Restaurant - PTC

Susan and I had dinner at The Beirut restaurant in Peachtree City about two weeks ago.  We went there with our good friends Jim and Mary Ann Macie.  Mary Ann can be seen in the picture below between the two umbrellas standing just out of the rain.  The metro Atlanta area has been under epic thunderstorm conditions for about a month.  It has literally rained every day for the past four weeks and frankly, we are sick of it!

The small but well patronized restaurant is located in a retail space near the Target department store.  My cycling friends would say it's located near the Peachtree City Trek bike shop.  In fact, Susan and I learned of the restaurant from some of our cycling friends.

The Beruit restaurant in Peachtree City

We all opted for the popular La Grande - Lebanese Style dinner which was served family style.  It featured salad, falafel, lebanee, hummus, sautéed mushrooms, baba ghannouj, stuffed veggie grape leaves, spicy potatoes, and fried cauliflower.  The shish kabob (beef), shish tawook (chicken), and shish kafta (lamb) were served later on a separate platter.

The Lebanese Style family style Lebanese banquet

Lebanese beer

Lebanee (yogurt)

Salad

Stuffed Veggie Grape Leaves

Sautéed Mushrooms

Spicy Potatoes

Falafel and Fried Cauliflower 

Shish Kabob (beef), Shish Tawook (chicken), and Shish Kafta (lamb) 

Shish Kabob (beef), Shish Tawook (chicken), and Shish Kafta (lamb)

Hummus and Baba Ghannouj (eggplant)

So, The Beruit was really good.  The owner, Hadi Rabai, and the staff were knowledgeable and attentive.  The food was flavorful but not so different from "American" fare that it might be off-putting.

I'm sure that we'll be back!

Thanks for reading.

Helix Wetsuit - First OWS

I took my "new" Blue Seventy Helix wetsuit for a its inaugural dip in Lake Spivey the other day.  I haven't been swimming with a wetsuit for at least a month so I thought I'd better give it a try before the water temperature gets too high.  I came close to my Ironman 100m pace goal on the 1.17 mile swim to the dam averaging 2:00 per 100m.  The 1.07 mile return trip was a bit slower at 2:15 per 100m.  It's difficult to gauge how much my new wetsuit helped, if at all.  My old suit is broken in and I could definitely notice some distinct differences between the two suits.  The upper portion of the Helix, and especially the sleeves, is very thin.  Like a thick, sticky Under-Armor shirt.  I felt more restricted in the new-er suit and it took forever to get the sleeves situated properly.  Once they were on though, it felt fine.

Susan followed me in the kayak with a noodle (the blue float) and some Gatorade juiced-up with Perpetuem.

Taking a break before my return swim

I took a few pictures of the inside of my wetsuit which better illustrate the different panels that make up the construction of the Helix.

The front of the wetsuit with the various panels in orange and black

The Helix has a top to bottom to close zipper, opposite from my Reaction wetsuit.

The back of the wetsuit with the backwards zipper, key holder, and name plate area 

The sleeves are constructed of orange and black panels.  The black panels on the sleeves are very thin which makes them very flexible.

The sleeves with panels of varied thicknesses

Thanks for reading.