INSTEAD OF TRIPLE T.

Here's what I'll be doing Memorial Day weekend instead of Triple T: http://www.bayshoremarathon.org/

And here's where I'll be staying: http://www.grandtraverseresort.com/

Actually, I'm not doing the marathon or even the half, since no way am I doing a marathon, and the half has been sold out for months. But there is a 10k that I have run several times (my picture on my profile is from that race). I'm sure it will be my slowest ever, but the scenery is great! It is an out and back course, with the majority of the course run on the East Bay of Grand Traverse Bay, so you can view the sunrise over the water. This race has grown SO much since the first year I did it, back in 1996, to the point where they added a half marathon, and it is now considered one of the top marathons in the country, and boasts a flat, fast, and often a PR course. If you want to qualify for Boston, this is a marathon to run.

After Don decided he wasn't doing Triple T with Shelley and a bunch of the tri-geeks from here, mainly because they filled up early, he started looking at one of the other races offered there that same weekend, and initially we had talked about doing the Shawnee Appalachian Triathlon, a/k/a AM-PM tri, the one where you do a triathlon in the morning and one in the afternoon/evening. I decided my training wasn't good enough for that, and didn't want to do the long drive there and back just to watch someone else race. And he finally decided the cost, time on the road, hotel room, etc. was going to be too much for him as well two weeks before a half IM. So he started looking for something closer or even localto do, and I finally remembered the Bayshore 10k.

And then I also remembered that last summer I had won a fitness contest from work, and the grand prize was the gift package to the Grand Traverse Resort, a pretty exclusive golf/spa resort in Traverse City, also on the Grand Traverse Bay. Room rates start at $175 for winter and spring rates, and go up after June 7 to over $225 a night. So I figured we'd better use that gift card now or it would go to waste again until next year.

The weather looks hot for those going south and cool (typical) for those of us going north. Either way, it should be a fun time.