Today I leave for China. Actually I leave in a couple of hours. The bags are packed, all the details are taken care of and the boarding passes are printed (well sort of...we are checked in, but since its an international flight we have to show passports before getting the actual boarding passes). Only one thing still needed to be done...I needed to hit my mini-goal for the week with my running. So I strapped on the shoes (trail shoes, but I'll get to that) and headed out into yet another scorching early morning.
Since I already packed my running shoes, I ended up wearing one of my newer pairs of trail shoes this morning. Big mistake. I wasn't running on trails. Not only are they not broken in, but the soles just don't mesh with pavement running. My arches were killing me in the first mile. By the third mile I think they gave up and just fell down with the shoe, or at least the muscles in my foot stretched a little differently. By the end, I wasn't paying much attention to my arches because I was trying to keep the sweat from blinding me.
But who can talk about running right now? I thought relatively little about it during the hour I was outside doing the deed. My mind was in China, where in two days I will meet my child for the first time. It's been a long wait and I'm excited/anxious/nervous/happy/scared/ecstatic/joyful. This is what I thought about. Now, I'll still be running in China, but probably back on the treadmill. And I won't be taking my laptop, so my blogging may be less regular. But once I get back, I will be joining a new group of runners - the jogging stroller moms - and I can't wait.
Oh, yeah, and I did hit this week's mini-goal of 15 miles before jumping on the plane :) Happy trails!!!
Stats -
Miles: 6.52
Time: 57:48 (average pace of 8:52 per mile)
Location: Broadneck Peninsula, Bay Head, Sandy Point
Feeling: Aside from the arches it was a good run
Showing posts with label Sandy Point State Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sandy Point State Park. Show all posts
06 July 2012
29 June 2012
No ponies under the hood...
Today we are under an "excess heat" advisory (that means too hot to think, let alone do anything else), so I was prompted to do the unthinkable and rise at 5:30am to get in my run before the heat set in and became too dangerous to run. Who was I kidding? It was hot at that time of day too...83 degrees at 5:30am! Are you kidding me!?!?! Well, it was better than the 90 degrees at 9pm last night, right?
The answer would be no. Add in the humidity and I could barely get my legs to move. It was oppressive, sticky, icky (what other words can I add in here to adequately describe the weather this morning). But, I needed to run regardless. So I headed in the general direction of Sandy Point State Park to try to hit five miles without wilting. Getting my body to put one foot in front of another was a challenge. This was not a pretty run. (And oh by the way, while the dead deer from last week may be gone the smell is not...ugh).
At any rate, I can feel accomplished that I put this one on the books, after all, I got up at 5:30am (I hate doing that for a run), I hit the goal for distance (which didn't look particularly feasible at the outside) and I did not sweat so hard as to flood the road. I see ever so slightly cooler temperatures coming in tomorrow, maybe they won't be as bad. Happy trails!!!
Stats -
Miles: 5.15
Time: 46:04 (average pace of 8:56 per mile)
Location: Bay Head, Sandy Point State Park
Feeling: Not quite like death, but I imagine pretty close
The answer would be no. Add in the humidity and I could barely get my legs to move. It was oppressive, sticky, icky (what other words can I add in here to adequately describe the weather this morning). But, I needed to run regardless. So I headed in the general direction of Sandy Point State Park to try to hit five miles without wilting. Getting my body to put one foot in front of another was a challenge. This was not a pretty run. (And oh by the way, while the dead deer from last week may be gone the smell is not...ugh).
At any rate, I can feel accomplished that I put this one on the books, after all, I got up at 5:30am (I hate doing that for a run), I hit the goal for distance (which didn't look particularly feasible at the outside) and I did not sweat so hard as to flood the road. I see ever so slightly cooler temperatures coming in tomorrow, maybe they won't be as bad. Happy trails!!!
Stats -
Miles: 5.15
Time: 46:04 (average pace of 8:56 per mile)
Location: Bay Head, Sandy Point State Park
Feeling: Not quite like death, but I imagine pretty close
09 June 2012
Home turf...
Happy National Outdoors Day!!! While I did not make it to one of the state and national parks that were free today, I can truly say I did this one up in style. Starting out with my morning run.
This may be the first Saturday that was entirely mine, with no specific obligations or things I absolutely had to do before sundown. So then what was I doing up at 6am? I did not want to waste the beautiful day. After walking the dogs and eating a bit of breakfast, I hit the pavement on my home turf for the first time in, oh, probably at least a month - basically I started my run from home. Since I was looking for a longer (though not ginormously long) run (yeah, still got that 500 mile goal in my sights), I headed toward Podickory Point to watch the sun rise over the bay and cruise by the waterfront homes picking out my next house (assuming I finally win that megamillions lottery). Too bad I'm not rolling in the money yet, I found at least a half dozen that were just waiting for my couch to grace the living room and my feet to perch on the porch railing with a glass of wine.
The bay is meditative, and makes a run move by quickly, but this particular route - up Log Inn Road - is like running through a private tunnel formed by the trees. Its quiet and perfect for thinking, or in my case, run dancing to the tunes flowing out of my ipod in relative privacy. It was early enough that I wasn't even competed with boaters heading out to the yacht club yet to hit the water. Goodness I love running on my home turf.
The rest of the day was equally productive and relaxing. After my run, I spent about an hour trying to find the garden I know I have in the backyard under the weeds...success! And then I spent more time outside with the dogs before heading out to my friend, Ann's, house to head out on the water for the afternoon. It was fantastic on the water - snacks, conversation and Margaret Mitchell's house. What a wonderful day! Happy trails!!!
Stats -
Miles: 8.04
Time: 1:11:58 (average pace of 8:57 per mile)
Location: Broadneck Peninsula - Bay Head to Sandy Point
Feeling: Loose and good, though really sweaty
This may be the first Saturday that was entirely mine, with no specific obligations or things I absolutely had to do before sundown. So then what was I doing up at 6am? I did not want to waste the beautiful day. After walking the dogs and eating a bit of breakfast, I hit the pavement on my home turf for the first time in, oh, probably at least a month - basically I started my run from home. Since I was looking for a longer (though not ginormously long) run (yeah, still got that 500 mile goal in my sights), I headed toward Podickory Point to watch the sun rise over the bay and cruise by the waterfront homes picking out my next house (assuming I finally win that megamillions lottery). Too bad I'm not rolling in the money yet, I found at least a half dozen that were just waiting for my couch to grace the living room and my feet to perch on the porch railing with a glass of wine.
The bay is meditative, and makes a run move by quickly, but this particular route - up Log Inn Road - is like running through a private tunnel formed by the trees. Its quiet and perfect for thinking, or in my case, run dancing to the tunes flowing out of my ipod in relative privacy. It was early enough that I wasn't even competed with boaters heading out to the yacht club yet to hit the water. Goodness I love running on my home turf.
The rest of the day was equally productive and relaxing. After my run, I spent about an hour trying to find the garden I know I have in the backyard under the weeds...success! And then I spent more time outside with the dogs before heading out to my friend, Ann's, house to head out on the water for the afternoon. It was fantastic on the water - snacks, conversation and Margaret Mitchell's house. What a wonderful day! Happy trails!!!
Stats -
Miles: 8.04
Time: 1:11:58 (average pace of 8:57 per mile)
Location: Broadneck Peninsula - Bay Head to Sandy Point
Feeling: Loose and good, though really sweaty
11 February 2012
Doe a deer...
In full disclosure, this is really a post about yesterday's run. Today's run may or may not happen due to a pretty decent amount of snow coming down from the sky. Since I brought my street shoes - not my trail shoes - with me (silly Stacie), it likely won't happen absent the streets being salted and plowed well (which has not happened as of this writing...my shot at running today).
Anyway, back to the topic at hand...yesterday's run. I'm pretty sure I've figured out why morning runs are very challenging for me. I often put off eating until afterward, so no fuel, and my attitude toward a morning run is "let's just get the torture over." Add the two together, and you get stiff legs, sluggish speeds and a desire to go back to bed. Yesterday was no exception.
That said, at least the scenery is worth the effort. I ran one of the directions I go for longer routes, which goes near Sandy Point State Park. The temperature wasn't too bad, probably about 35. It was relatively quiet, route 50 traffic aside. And the cool part, I ran past a family of deer that seemed to think I was an oddity in my brightly colored running hat which wildly sticks out in all directions. Happy trails!
Stats -
Miles: 5.51
Time: 48:18 (average pace 8:45 per mile)
Location: Broadneck Peninsula, Log Inn Road
Feeling: Slow and sluggish
Anyway, back to the topic at hand...yesterday's run. I'm pretty sure I've figured out why morning runs are very challenging for me. I often put off eating until afterward, so no fuel, and my attitude toward a morning run is "let's just get the torture over." Add the two together, and you get stiff legs, sluggish speeds and a desire to go back to bed. Yesterday was no exception.
That said, at least the scenery is worth the effort. I ran one of the directions I go for longer routes, which goes near Sandy Point State Park. The temperature wasn't too bad, probably about 35. It was relatively quiet, route 50 traffic aside. And the cool part, I ran past a family of deer that seemed to think I was an oddity in my brightly colored running hat which wildly sticks out in all directions. Happy trails!
Stats -
Miles: 5.51
Time: 48:18 (average pace 8:45 per mile)
Location: Broadneck Peninsula, Log Inn Road
Feeling: Slow and sluggish
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