My nonstop athletic weekend technically started on Thursday, when I had an agency softball game. All was going well; I was connecting well with the ball and making some decent plays in the field. Then, I pinch-ran for one of the women on our team. Upon reaching second base, I got this lovely little doughnut-shaped wound:
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| My softball bruise on my right abdomen |
The point of recounting this story is that it took a lot of faith for me to begin my 11 miler on Saturday, as the swelling from my internal bleeding was still quite intense. Luckily, I knew that I had a running buddy who would stop/get help if anything went wrong.
I had been invited to Sea Girt, on the Jersey Shore, for the weekend by Jason, and we joined his family in an annual tradition they have been doing since the mid-1990s. (This will be the subject of my next entry. For those of you who know what goes on in Sea Girt at this time, get excited for tomorrow's entry.) On Saturday morning, we took on the boardwalks and various terrains of Sea Girt, Spring Lake, and Belmar.
What a gorgeous change of pace from the normal DC run. The weather was cooler close to the shore, so I slept in a little later than normal for a Saturday. I woke up feeling extra refreshed and ready to run. Even though I woke up late, I was still able to see the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. My body welcomed this change of pace. My heart, legs, and lungs all felt great. *Edit: Everything felt great, except for my softball bruise. Luckily, after a few miles, the pain seemed to vanish and I didn't notice it anymore.* The run took place over many different terrains - some easy, some not so easy - including boardwalk, sidewalk, asphalt, gravel, rocks, dirt, and grass. My body handled (pretty much) all of them well, and I was not sore Sunday morning.
For the most part, the only other people crazy enough to be awake at 6 a.m. on a Saturday morning at the shore were the other runners. The lazy/smart/early riser crowd was also out, as people began to claim their spots on the beach. Much to our surprise, there were very few bikes on the boardwalk! This quickly eliminated an obstacle that I have had to deal with for weeks.
The absence of bikes did not mean that there were no obstacles at all. For one, I ran under a brick arch, nicknamed the "Arc de Triomphe" by Jason, and I nearly collided with another runner who thought that the triumphant way to go would be directly into me. Another obstacle was the drawbridge in Belmar. It was up for no reason; there wasn't a boat or anything coming through within visibility. This meant that we had to turn around and do more than a straight out-and-back.
Along the boardwalk, there were two views. The first one, clearly, was the shore. The second, and (nearly) as magnificent, view was the one of the gorgeous houses. Many of these shore homes put our local mansions to shame. In Sea Girt, we started out with rows of million dollar homes, but then we ventured into Spring Lake - where a down payment wouldn't even buy a Sea Girt home. It was a fun distraction to pick out my favorite houses. There was not a lot to see in Belmar, except for some shore shops and summer college kid housing - at least as compared to Spring Lake and Sea Girt. Toward the end of the run, we had to snake through the neighborhood. In it, we found a cute lake with an abundance of swans. Swans are so beautiful from far away, but I would be more scared of one of them than of a dog if I encountered it while running. Thankfully, they stayed in the water.
I wish that I could do this run for the rest of the season - just go to the shore and knock out a long run every week for the next month. This is not only for the scenery and the items mentioned above, but also for the running amenities. Because of the boarwalk, there are an abundance of restrooms for pit stops and showers for cooling off. There is also one large body of water for a recovery foot soak:
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| The Atlantic Ocean! |
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