Beach!

So I spent the second week of August at the Jersey shore with some friends. We rented a house and spent the week swimming, hanging out on the beach, eating clam chowder, and, of course, running. Here are some photos from an early-morning run on the sand:

Just after sunrise

Some of my friends were there already watching the sun rise, so they took a picture of me before my run.


I heart sandpipers!


I had no idea how far I was running. In my mind, I wanted to run until I could see the Barnegat Lighthouse in the distance. Every once in a while I left the water's edge to climb up on a life-guard stand and scope out the horizon. Below is the view from the stand, where the lighthouse is just barely visible. It was actually clearer in person.

I ended up running 8.4 miles that day. On the way back, my IT band was aching from running on the steeply-slanted shore, so I took my shoes off and felt better immediately. When I reached the beach entrance to get back to the house, I jumped in the ocean and let it splash my legs. It felt great!

So there is my very un-Jersey Shore-ish experience at the Jersey shore. It was a great time and a great opportunity to get some barefoot running in on the sand. My legs have been feeling really good lately, so I hope to be doing a lot more running this fall.

Back to work

Last weekend, I got back from a week-long vacation at the Jersey shore. It was a great time - completely devoid of fist pumping and poufy hair - and I have some great photos to post from my two early-morning runs.

Although I had good intentions in running in the mornings, I still ate lots of not-so-healthy food and planned on making it up by exercising more when I got home. I came down with a cold though (who gets a cold at the beach?!) and only yesterday did I manage to get out for a short run. It wasn't much, but it made me feel energized throughout the whole day, and I'm thinking about getting up super early while it's still summer and running before work as often as possible. I guess that will depend on how early I can get to sleep the night before!

Anyway, I have pictures and details from the vacation that I will post later. You really can't get much better than a sunrise run along the ocean on the east coast! For now it's back to work...

Morning run

I set my alarm for 6:30 am so I could go for a 4.5-miler this morning. I thought it would be a good distance to get used to doing every Tuesday (since my shift at work starts a little late on Tuesdays).

Definitely didn't get up at 6:30 though. By 7, I finally dragged my sleepy self out of bed but didn't want to run. I forced myself into running clothes and said I'd do something athletic, and I ended up putting on the FiveFingers and going for a 2-miler.

I ran about 1.25 last night and was dragging the whole way, and this morning my IT bands were a little sore, so I stretched, and I think the FiveFingers were a good change, because my legs are feeling pretty good now. On the run, I started off feeling tired, but I picked up the speed for some intervals, and that seemed to energize me. It was cooler out than last night, and I love how light the FiveFingers make your feet feel. The 2 miles went by pretty quickly, and when I got home, I spent a little time on the bike trainer before hopping in the shower and getting ready for work.

I was happy to notice that my arches weren't sore at all with the FiveFingers, which means that my feet are adapting to them very well. It won't be long before I can wear them for a 5k.

I'm definitely out of my usual running shape, but it feels good to get out and be active, and as long as I can convince myself to put the running clothes on and take those first few steps, I'll get that fitness back.

Working my way back

Biking, hiking, kayaking, swimming, canoeing, and finally running: I'm getting back to my usual summer activities.

Thanks to overdoing it over Memorial Day weekend, I was set back a lot, but I'm finally back in the game and am thinking seriously about training for some races and epic outdoor adventures.

I ran 4.5 with my running buddy last week and was pretty out of shape, but I'm going to be exercising regularly now that the knee/IT band issues seem to have mostly cleared up. I'm also trying to get some saddle time on the bike. I went out for a morning ride on Saturday and had a nice 17-mile ride that didn't feel difficult at all. One of my friends suggested a ride on tow-paths and canal paths that, if done there and back, would be almost 50 miles. I know that I can do 20 easily right now, so with some practice I could probably handle 50 in the next month. Right? So I'm hoping for an epic 50 mile bike ride and definitely some running races this fall. So here's to getting out and active and actually remembering to log on and blog about it!