Ocean City and My Second 5K

My Mother, the ever so lovely Daisy, treated us to a week at Ocean City, MD. As a gift of one less week of summer camp to pay for, she kept Rose and Chrysanthemum for the week. I was only able to manage two days off, but boy were they wonderful! This year we stayed in a fabulous townhouse right on the beach. It. Was. Awesome. We had such a wonderful time. My two days there were delicious. And I don't mean in only the foody way. Those of you who have been reading my blog for a minute know exactly how much I love the beach. Pretty much any beach, but Ocean City is my favorite. Something about the boardwalk and let me be honest, the french fries from Thrasher's don't hurt.

I took my beloved Brooks running shoes and I woke up at 7:00 both mornings and ran up and down Atlantic Highway. Not to worry, I ran mostly on the sidewalk so I wouldn't get pummeled by a bus or hungover vacationer. From the house we stayed at on 35th Street, each morning I ran to 70th Street and back. I clocked it on my car's odomoter, and it's a good two miles in each direction. That's four miles each day! Woohoo!

The beach was as I've always remembered it with nice crashing waves and a good assortment of shells to collect. Here are Tulip, Daisy, Rose and Chrysanthemum enjoying the sand and surf:



And here's Chrysanthemum completely buried in the sand:


And me, on the balcony overlooking the beach:

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My second 5K run
I completed my second 5K yesterday. It was so much fun. It was an all women's run, sponsored by the Reston YMCA. On Friday night before the run, I went there to pick up my runner's packet, including my first bib. Number 70. My new favorite number!! The packet included a free pair of running socks, and a bathrobe. Not bad at all for the $25.00 entry fee.

There were well over 200 runners and it was held on beautiful scenery that included the W&OD and Sugarland trails. We spotted a deer hightailing it out of our path at an amazing breakneck speed. All along our route were posters printed with affirmations and ideas to keep us motivated, such as: "Pain is temporary but quitting is forever."

And get this: the hills? They were my favorite part! I suspect it's because my legs are so long, but there's something very satisfying about running up a hill and making it to the top, lungs on fire and chest heaving. Call me crazy, but I find it exhaustingly fun.

There were lots of supporters cheering us on througout the run, and it was an amazing thing to hear people calling out to me "Go on 70!" And "keep it up" or "Do your thang number 70!"

I broke my PR by 31 seconds, finishing at 38:31 (I finished the 5K Fun Run at the Flower's school in May in 39:00). I'm still quite the tortoise, but I'm enjoying getting stronger. Someone told me that I should enjoy the process, and not just the results, so that's what I'm focusing on doing. I have no pictures at this time, but I'm pretty sure they snapped several pictures of me along the way, so if I manage to get my hands on them, I'll post them here.

I've registered myself to run a 5 Miler on this coming Saturday, 4th of July. That means I must spend much of this week preparing my mind and body. I plan to run outdoors on Monday and Wednesday evenings, while sweating it out on the elliptical on Tuesday and Thursday. Friday I'll reserve as a rest day, perhaps I'll do a bit of light yoga to lengthen my muscles some. Five miles will be a personal record for me, so I'm really looking forward to seeing how I do. I'm positive I'll be able to finish the run, but will I run the entire thing? We shall see.

Keep on running ya'll...