Running the Neutral Ground

Wow. This was a "long" week - actually just over a week. Up and down to the Arctic was just about the half of it. Then there was a surprise party in New Orleans on Saturday. That took me through Munich and D.C. on the way. Once I was in N.O. and the weather was around 17C at 8pm I felt pretty good.I had no real problem while there in N.O. Jet lag didn't catch up with me while there. The party was really fun too and a total surprise also. This is my final week of preparation before my first "B" race. There was a 3 hour bike ride scheduled for Saturday. Of course there were no bikes involved this weekend and therefore I opted for the running shoes.It was a tour through the French Quarter. I had not been in the Quarter for many years now and it really has not changed at all. At 8am it is pretty quiet and was a pleasure to tour through. Then I decided to head uptown and revisit some of my other haunts. I followed the old Crescent City Classic course which heads uptown. I made it up to Washington before I felt I really needed to turn around and head back. The humidity was really too much!I am not sure how high it was but it is much more than I am used to. Heading back down St. Charles and on the neutral ground was actually a special run. I had spent many a days either running or cycling St Charles and this was a real homecoming. But when I finally got to the hotel I was totally spent. No water along the way and the heat, humidity was enough for the first morning.I eat my share of fried seafood but the highlight were the charbroiled oysters at Drago's. I have also seen these at Acme's but have not tried them. This was totally a new N.O. experience which I will happily repeat. Mom had them for her main course for lunch and I was jealous afterwards. The weekend rounded up with a session of Popeye's spicy chicken and that was a real joy too. Not really the best fuel for the final week before a race but it was so much fun.Sunday had me only walking along the levee in Algiers down to Chalmette ferry and back which was enough after the run the day before. Now I am back home after 9 flights in 8 days. There are no flights scheduled until the 7th of April and everyone here is really happy about that!Parrothead