Day 3, the day of the 10 mile run in Jamaica.

We get up at 5 am, drink a full bottle of water with Hammer Electrolytes, eat a Cliff Bar and a banana. I apply body glide to all of the appropriate nooks and crannies. Then, pack the bag. Change of clothes, swim suit, sun screen, pair of sandals, cash, Hammer Heed (think powdered Gatorade only much better) to put in the bottles of water that Carolyn is bringing us.

We get down to the front desk at 5:55 am and tell the clerk we have a driver coming at 6 am to take us for a 10 mile run. At 6:05 am the front desk clerk offers to call. I tell him "No problem Mon, we are on Jamaica time. If she is not here by 6:30, we will call her". At 6:10, he talks me into calling her. He dials the number I provide him. Carolyn answers on the first ring. "Good Morning Carolyn, this is Joleen". "Joleen, who?" "Joleen- the runner at CSS". "Huh?". "You were supposed to pick us up at 6 am for a 10 mile run. Remember, you were going to map out a run for me, bring water and maybe even run with me if your knee could handle it?". "Did you make a down payment?". "Yes, I did….$100 via Paypal." SILENCE.
"Oh my gosh. There you are. I am so sorry. Can we resched…….". "NO, we cannot reschedule. Please refund the money.". and I hung up the phone and started to cry.

Front desk clerk- "Please don't cry. I can have a driver here for you in no time." I politely decline. I don't explain that Carolyn was supposed to plan out the safe, dog free, no hill, slightly shaded run. She was supposed to take us to a someplace really cool to swim after. She was supposed to bring me water. She was even going to run with me. Then, we were going someplace local for lunch. I don't explain that if I don't do this run today, I will not likely run again on this trip. This was my strategy to keep me preparing for the marathon during vacation.

Front desk clerk- "You could run around our pond. It is 1/3 of a mile". Me- "You want me to run 10 miles - 1/3 of a mile at a time around the pond?".

Hubby tells me that we need to go for a walk and figure things out. (God bless him….he always keeps me from losing it). We walk down to the pond. We run around the pond 6 or 7 times and actually got in a little over 2 miles. This place is really beautiful. There are turtles and birds and it is really lovely. When we are done (ok bored), we go and investigate the nude beach (before anyone is there). The "nudies" got it pretty good. I try to convince Hubby we should make a visit later in the day. I hear they have Bocci Ball. He says- "NAKED Bocci Ball? I will pass". Makes me laugh.

We head back to the room, shower and change and head down to the beach. By the time we get down to the beach, it is 8 am and we have our picks of chairs (remember we have been out and about since 6 am). We chose our favorite spot and go for breakfast. Today, they have brown stew chicken and dumplings on the buffet with boiled banana. I am in heaven. I LOVE Brown Stew Chicken and Dumplings. Flavor is fantastic and the dumplings are good and chewy.

Anyhow, back to the beach chairs. Richard and Christopher from watersports are raking the beach and Richard strikes up a conversation with us. We end up booking a private snorkeling trip with them for later in the day.

As the morning goes on, we meet Conroy- he is our beach waiter. He gives us a stick with a blue flag on it and instructs us anytime we need anything, we should waive it and he will bring us whatever we need. Later in the day (after our snorkeling) things slowed down a bit on the beach and he visited with us. He told us he was a trainee. Trainee's wear black pants and white shirts. Once they are no longer on parole, they are allowed to wear the polo shorts and shirts. Conroy really likes it here. He says it is a good job and he hopes he makes it on permanently.

Christopher and Richard come and get us around 1 pm for our private snorkeling excursion. The 4 of us head out. They had the boat equipped with a cheese and fruit plate and a 6 pack of Red Stripe.

Hubby explains he is not much of a swimmer and has never been snorkeling. I, on the other hand, am pretty sure I am descended from Mermaids (Mermaids Body of Evidence- watch it!) and am just fine. As we motor towards the snorkel site, Christopher points out all of the hotels and names them. I gotta tell ya- I was not impressed with Sandals beach. CSS has a 1 million times better beach then either of the Sandals properties.

Anyhow, we stop around the reef and Christopher takes a great deal of time to walk Hubby thru the process, how to snorkel, how to breathe, etc. Even has him use the tube before he gets in the water. Over the side we go and Christopher stays with hubby and is so patient and kind.

IMHO- the snorkeling was just ok. I had much better snorkeling a few years ago near Booby Cay (Negril), but in any event, I did see a few cool fish. Honestly, I was just happy to be swimming in the sea.

We decide to swim back to the boat where Richard is hanging out as Captain. He helps Glen and Christopher in the boat. I take off my life jacket and mask and snorkel and hand it to Christopher and then do a quick swim out and back 20 or 30 feet and then decide I need to show the boys I know how to do a somersault in the water…..so either part Mermaid or part kid- not sure.

We get back to the beach and hang out a little longer (that was when we got to visit with Conroy).

We managed to get reservations at Casanova on short notice tonight, so we head up to the room to get ready for dinner. On the way to the room, I pick a great big orange flower (think Hibiscus) and later put it in my hair. Prior to dinner, we hit the Martini bar for multiple Flirtini's and great conversation with Andrew and Suzette.

Dinner at Casanova's was fabulous. Sunshine (the hostess) - is really a great big dose of sunshine and is just a fabulous lady. She made us feel really special.

During dinner, I happen to see one of those little tiny tree frogs hanging out on a window on the building. Obviously have heard the little frogs, but never saw one, so was pretty excited. He was about as big as my thumb and pretty darn cute.

We are in bed once again pretty early- getting up at 5 am, running 2 miles, snorkeling, lots of great sunshine and copious amount of Flirtini's and Red Wine with dinner have just plane done us in.

The day started out very disappointing but turned into an absolutely magnificent day.

By now, I can tell you, we are in love with this property and the people who work at this property. The employees are happy and go out of their way to make you feel important and special.

Thanks for hanging with me as I document our trip. More to come tomorrow.