Wind and Soft Sand

At our friend's house for dinner in the evening - we drive 800 miles and we still have colleagues in the next town!

Wednesday I wanted to run 10 miles.  I headed south out of town with the wind at my back. I knew it would be hard when I turned around but I didn't have a clue.  I got past 5 miles, watched the kite surfers briefly who were thrilled about the wind and headed back to town, planning to run the last 3 miles on the beach.  The two miles on the highway were hard. I turned off my Ipod which I couldn't hear due to the wind. I had never run in such hard winds but the worst was yet to come.  When I got to the beach the surf was way up toward the dunes.  The sand was mostly soft again although not as bad as Tuesday.  The roar of the ocean was impressive.  I could see NO ONE and wondered if I was out of my mind.  I progressed very slowly stopping more often than I care to admit.  I would tell myself I wouldn't stop until I had gone a certain distance but I wasn't making it!  There were more kite surfers here and they were flying!  I was glad to see some other humans!  I eventually realized my "running" just wasn't cutting it and decided to head back to the road at the fishing pier.  I NEVER change my "goals" I have set for my runs but it just wasn't happening. It felt good to get back to the road just to be out of the extremely relentless wind.  I made it back to our house, having completed the 10 miles but not quite in the fashion I thought I would.

Wonderful hard sand!!!

Thursday I managed to fit in two runs!  I got up early - although not quite early enough to see the sunrise and managed 6 miles on the beach. The sand was hard and so much better than the last couple of days!  I loved it going my favorite northerly route. There were no dolphins and just a few fishermen some of who were quite unfriendly. Oh well, probably why they didn't catch much!

On the ferry to Ocracoke!

Then we were off to Ocracoke Island on a wonderfully gorgeous day!  The ferry that connects Cape Hatteras to Ocracoke - a car ferry - about a 40 minute ride - is FREE!!!!  Unbelievable!  It was a great day to be there. We rented a golf cart and tooled around. We had a car and had no reason to rent a golf cart other than that it was fun.  We had a wonderful seafood lunch!  Yum!

When we got back to our "house" even though it was late I took off for another run.  I have not been on the beach at the end of the day and it was wonderful. Peaceful and calm.  There were a few surfers and myself.

 Then it was my evening to cook. FAIL!! I told everyone: As Richard Nixon once said, "I am not a cook."

Cards tonight and guess who won!

One of my housemates going out for a sunset kayak ride - gorgeous!

And last but not least Good Luck to all the Boston Runners - especially ESH at Sweat Once a Day my sweet daughter!!!!