Nags Head Again

Another beach run - this one with an unfavorable tide.  I'm realizing now that when the tide is coming in the slopes are steeper and the sand softer.

3.64 miles
44:25

Nags Head South

First good run of vacation at Nags Head, NC.  Down the beach past the new pier and the beach reclamation project.  Good sand.  Good legs.  A great run.  And I didn't lose my wife this time!

5.34 miles
1:02:43

Running at Camp Occohannock

I like running out from Camp Occohannock on the Bay.  The roads are uncrowded, the trees dense and the landscape interesting.  Went to pick up my daughter from camp and while she was at her round-up meeting I ran out Scarborough Neck.  Got caught in a big thunderstorm coming back in, but it felt good.

In my Komodos.

4.5 miles
47:11

Home from the Hills, Back to the Beach

After the hills of Roanoke it was back to the Assateague Beach.  Crowds really starting to fill up the place.  But my eyes were on the prize.

3.8 miles
37:25

Running With My Buds

A new thing at Annual Conference - a group run organized by Steve Jones and Allie Rosner, the leaders of The Good Race initiative.  We left from the Roanoke Civic Center early on a fine summer morning and split into two groups - one walking and one running.  It was refreshing to share stories, to know I could hang in with the group and to experience some social time while running.  I like the solitude of running, but this was good.  And I learned things.

I felt great and I was breaking in my new Komodo Vibrams that I got in Roanoke.  We ran along Tim Tate's urban trails.

5.38 miles
57:25

The Hills of Roanoke

So I ventured into the hills around Roanoke as I went to a 4-day conference of United Methodists in Virginia.  My colleague, Tim Tate, loves running here and put me on to the urban trails around the city.  I checked in at my hotel near the airport and ran across the shopping mall parking lot to find a trailhead.  Once I was on it the city disappeared behind trees and I met people walking and running along the creek.

Oh, yes, there were also hills!  But I felt good.  Vibrams were working fine and I was beginning to imagine that I might be able to do this whole thing without real shoes.

5 miles
54:37
I noted that I felt awesome.

Beach Bounce Back

Bounced back with a good run on Assateague.  This was near the peak of my feeling good before the toe issues started cropping up.

4.56 miles
54:35

So Bad I Can't Remember

I don't remember what made this run so bad, but my notes tell me it was bad.  Joel graduated from high school.  I went for a long run.  And it was not pretty.

6 miles
1:15:02

Around the Block

An easy run around the block.  Feeling good.

2.59 miles
27:38

Holly Grove Becoming Routine

Around the Holly Grove loop.  Feeling good.

4.25 miles
45 minutes

Metompkin Island Biathlon

Did the kayak/run biathlon thing again today. Beautiful, low humidity, 80-degree day so I set out for Parker's Creek Landing and took the short jaunt over to Metompkin Island (about 2 miles out). The island is growing more substantial these days. It has sometimes had large washover areas, but it is developing more substantial dunes with dune grass cover. The beach is really wide in many places. I'm liking this island.

Ran down to the tip and back, then north and back for an hour long run. You can see how much the island has shifted by comparing my run route (in blue) to the white outline of the island that Google has (from a few years ago, I'd imagine). I didn't run out into the water as it seems to show.

Saw a few small sea turtles. Kept my distance from the nesting birds. (Like Smith, during this time of the year the island is closed for most of its length above the high tide line.) But loved, loved, loved this day.

4 miles paddling
5.6 miles running
1 hour run

Pony Up for Assateague

Got out to the beach at Assateague for a short run. Ran into these girls just north of the parking area. They didn't make very good running partners. (One rolled in the sand on her back soon after this photo.) But not something you see every day.

The tally today:
29 min.
2.7 miles