Coleman Farm

I packed all my stuff up last night to take with me so that I could head out to Coleman Farm after work today. Then, mid-morning I started feeling guilty - I knew I had to work on the extra project I'll be working on all winter, a weekly newsletter, before I could pick Sam up at daycare - and wondered if I should change my plans to give myself more work time. Ryan told me to go anyway, saying, isn't that why you have this flexible schedule in the first place? Well, I guess when you put it that way.... So, a little after noon, I hit the trails at Bowdoin, out through the Commons, and headed toward Coleman Farm. The sky was clearing and the woods had that wonderful fall smell about them - sort of like you just jumped in a pile of freshly fallen leaves - ahhh... Love that. The blueberry bush leaves had turned a rich red in the pitch pine forest, and the trail was covered with a thin layer of golden pine needles and oak leaves.

Out in Pennelville, the sky was blue and the clouds were fluffy and white over the green fields. Although the most colorful maples had already lost their leaves, it was still lovely out there, looking across the swaying grasses to the treeline beyond. As I ran down the road, I did a double-take and went back to what I was sure wasn't just a regular leaf on the pavement. Sure enough, it was a Praying Mantis, in its "prayer" pose, in the middle of the left side of the road. It's country out there, but not that country and I was sure she'd get squished if I left her as is. I picked her up on a leaf, but she was soon crawling over and around my hand and arm. I put her down on the grass at the edge of the field. Don't know if that's where she was headed, but it had to be better than under a car tire, right? With the Praying Mantis rescue complete, I continued on and turned onto the wide old road that heads out through the Coleman Farm fields to the ocean. What a wonderful place to be on a warm fall day!

I got back to the car happy with my 7.25 miles, and ready to once again sit down at the computer. Nothing like a nice run in the middle of the day to make me smile!

Overcast

Got out this morning for a mellow 4 miles around the neighborhood. Purposefully chose to run along the Heath 2 miles into the run thinking I would be able to see the sun rising above the edge of the marsh. Sadly, it was so overcast, it still seemed pitch black out! But all was not lost. As I was running along the cart path and about to turn on the trail up to the Quarry, I heard a sound to my right that definitely sounded like more than just a squirrel. I turned and caught a pair of big golden eyes in my headlamp. It was a plump porcupine, climbing up the tree at the edge of the path. Neat! That's not a fauna I get to see every day!

Morning Run at Pineland

I snuck out of the house a little before 7am - all was quiet. As I headed down the highway toward Freeport, the sun was rising above the trees, the soft morning light hitting the brilliant fall foliage. Beautiful. I laughed when I turned into the parking lot by the pond and saw Amy's car already there. We weren't slated to meet until 7:45, but there we were, both early :-)

We headed out onto the campus loop and down into the fields. I don't think I've run in that direction at Pineland in forever, and honestly, on a fall morning, with a friend by my side, dew on the grass, the trees lining the fields full of yellow, orange and red leaves, I wondered why. It really is lovely out there, well, at least when you're not trying to race through the fields under the heat of the sun on Memorial Day weekend :-) Ha. We chatted away as we ran along, catching up on a month worth of stories and chit chat. I spotted two deer bounding across the trail as we crested the hill near the yurt but otherwise the trails were quiet.

We got in a nice, mellow 6 miles before heading home to hang out with our respective families on an extra stay at home day, as Sam likes to call our days at home. I arrived home to find pancakes ready to eat - yum! It was a great way to start the day, and always fun to catch up with a friend. Thanks, Amy!

Head of Tides

The plan evolved from the thought in my head to do 20, to maybe 18, to 3 hours per Ryan's suggestion. Well, I ended up shy of that too. But I'm cool with it. For me, it's been a big past few weeks, with the weekends being 22, 26 and 31. My legs are tired, I'm still recovering from the cold I caught a few days before the Snowplug 50k and we had an all-day birthday extravaganza yesterday. Phew.

I headed out under overcast skies around 8am. I decided I would run out to Head of Tides, as I haven't been there out that way since June before the middle stretch of the Cathance trail system gets so overgrown that I just can't venture out that way without my legs getting covered in itchy hives. I took the trail along the edge of the Heath, the cotton sedge set against golden grasses, and wandered all along the river, the water dark, the shallows filled with a film of fallen leaves. It really is beautiful out there. Even more so at this time of year. I took my time, enjoying the scenery, and was happy to get out on the Ravine Loop, one of my favorite parts of the Cathance trail system. As I came down the hill to the stream crossing, I could hardly believe my eyes. A bridge! A bridge! Wow. They had really done it. And done it right, it appeared. Serious.

The new bridge.

They'd been out painting fresh blazes on the extended trail system too, but the trails themselves were untouched, still rugged and only lightly traveled. There are some great stretches of trail out to Head of Tides, and I really enjoyed being out there. I wasn't running fast, but even at that, the trails were making me work for my 11's :-) Was also very happy to find that the trail has been extended (or perhaps I've always missed it?) all way down to a new parking lot right at the falls, with a put-in area for boats and best of all, nice bathrooms. Yeah! 

After a quick stop, I turned around and headed back the way I had come, wandering back along the river and then up to the Ecology Center. I took the trails back to the hiker parking lot along the back dirt road and then took that in the rest of the way. Those final two dirt road miles were definitely the fastest, even if my legs were making it clear they were done for the day. Got in 12 miles in 2:13, and felt no regrets not pushing on further. It was a nice few hours in the woods on a fall morning.

Flora and fauna report: Lots of sparrows and juncos flitting about. Also heard a Pieated woodpecker calling, and saw two deer. One of them completely still, almost blending in with the woods, just watching me pass. Followed a hawk along the back road for a good stretch. All I could see was its profile as it flew along, low to the ground. Was hoping for a glimpse of it up in the trees when it finally veered off the road but no luck. 

Birthday Party Chaos

I started out today with a run down along the river on a lovely, if oddly humid, morning. The woods were calm and quiet, the downed maples leaves a brilliant red at my feet, the leaves in the shallows of the river a rich gold, the sky a deep gray above. I ran the Snowplug 50k loop, so as to pick up the remaining flags in place along the river. I was happy to see they had already replaced the rotting bridge after the field - very nice not to be fearful of falling through a rotting log as I ran across :-)

Then it was onto the chaos of the day - it was birthday party time! Sam was practically bouncing off the walls waiting for her party at the Rumpus Room this afternoon. Since Sam and her best friend Anne are only 4 days apart in age, and Anne very luckily has cool parents we like to hang out with, we chose to do a joint birthday party. Both girls were very excited! As parents, we were fearful :-) But amazingly, the kids were all great. There were no tantrums, no crying, no cracked heads, no major slips or falls. Just kids running around the indoor playroom like crazy banchees! Ha. Honestly, it went much more smoothly than I anticipated, and I know everyone had a lot of fun.

After the party, the family assembled at our house, for birthday party #629 :-) Just kidding, it was probably only #6 :-) Talk about a weeklong affair! We all chatted while Sam and Morgan played, enjoyed delicious pizza from Flipside and feted with yet more cake. Why not?

All in all, a successful day! And now, it is time for bed so I can get up and run 18 miles tomorrow morning...

Ball pit fun!

The birthday girls :-)

So excited

Sam and Morgan

Pinata!!

Fun with Lillie back at home

14 Years

14 years ago today, Ryan and I were married right here in Brunswick, at the Bowdoin chapel. When I look at our wedding photos from that day, we look so young! And I guess we were ;) Now that we have Sam, our anniversary is a bit overshadowed by Sam's birthday, as she arrived to join our family one day before our 10th anniversary back in 2009. But that doesn't mean, I've forgotten the day I married my best friend, running and hiking cohort and the guy who can always make me laugh. Happy Anniversary, Ryan! May we have many more years of fun, running, hiking and laughter together!

I started out the day with a run down to the river. Man, it is hard to see on the trails in the dark, even with a headlamp :-) The sky was still deep black when I headed out before 6:00 am, but as I came out onto Mountain Road, I could see the sky beginning to turn a deep orange along the treeline. Making my way along the Heath was tricky, but I made it down to the river without tripping or falling or running into anything out in the woods :-) The plan was to get to the river, and then run the first few miles of the Snowplug 50k course in reverse so as to pick up the flags. They weren't easy to see in the semi-darkness though! By the time I ran along the Quarry on the return trip, the sky was filled with orange and pinks - a beautiful sunrise. Got in a nice 5.4 miles.

Flying! And 4 Years!

Took Monday off as planned. After a slight bit of hobbling very early in the morning, I spent the day surprised I didn't feel all that badly, considering what I'd done the day before. So, Tuesday morning I was up and out for a run around 6:00 am. Still dark and overcast enough that I needed my headlamp for the powerline portion. I felt like I was flying! Honest, my legs felt good. Of course, then I turned onto Highland Green Road, turned off my headlamp, looked down at the beep of my Garmin and saw that the first mile was 10:xx. So much for flying :-) Ha! Ran the 5-mile loop, which allowed me to stop and pick up all the flags in the final 2.5 miles of the course. Finished up in just under 50:00, which I suppose really isn't all that bad. Although my legs felt good, I also just plain felt tired. So today is another day off. I'll get back at it tomorrow, and am hoping for a solid long-but-not-too-long run on Sunday. Of course, that assumes that I am not completely wiped out by Saturday's events, which includes a joint 4-year old birthday party at the Rumpus Room for Sam and Anne, best little buddies whose birthdays are only 4 days apart. There will likely be 25 kids there, racing around, playing and being generally crazy. Then, we're having the family back to our house for a family party. Whew. I get tired just reading that :-)

And on that note, a very happy 4th birthday to my baby girl, Samantha! It seems truly amazing to me that you are now 4 years old. That the little 6 pound bundle who came into the world on October 9th 4 years ago is now our strong-willed, bubbly, loving, smiling, sassy, smart, inquisitive, sensitive little girl who loves to collect rocks, colors in rainbow patterns, writes her own name, and routinely beats us soundly in any matching game :-) Sam, may you always be as silly, loving and full of wonder as you are now. We love you to the moon and back, little one. Happy Birthday!

Snowplug 50k

Since I was supposed to run a 50k as the mileage culmination of my training plan, we decided to host a Fast Ass race in conjunction with the run, you know, to make things more fun! It's always better to run with friends :-) And because we were down in NC during the time when the training plan said I was actually supposed to run 50k, we decided on this weekend instead. And so the Snowplug 50k plan was hatched. 

I planned a route to mimic, as closely as is possible, the Stonecat loop. Which starts with an uphill less than a mile in :-) So, we routed it up the trail that climbs up Mt. A., then out to Mountain Road, across to the quarry, along the Quarry, and down by the ecology center to the river. From there, the route followed the river for a ways before climbing up to the back Highland Green Road, where we took the long route back to Highland Green road and then back home along the powerlines. It isn't an easy loop, with a fair bit of short ups and downs and some technical singletrack, but with the dirt road, there's some relief, although it's definitely easy to run too quickly along that stretch. 

I lead the first loop, attempting to go out at a fairly easy pace while keeping the boys (and Sara :-)) happy with the pace. It was fun catching up with Ian, Nathan, Jim, Blaine, Mary Beth and Sara as we ran along. Mindy, Val and Rick were a bit behind us. I must admit that right off the bat, I didn't feel great. My legs felt a bit heavy and I've got a bit of a cold that wasn't helping. Thank goodness for the arm sleeves - they're very good nose wipes :-) 

Ian had set up one of his tables in the backyard, which became the aid station, stocked with all sorts of deliciousness. Yum! I had a cookie at our first stop, and then we quickly headed back out. I think I ran a bit too fast on this loop, trying to keep up with the boys but still felt decent as we rolled back into the yard around 12.5 miles. Jim stopped after the first two loops, and Ian had pulled ahead, so it was down to three - Blaine, Nathan and I together - for the 3rd loop. I was still feeling OK, fueling decently and trying to drink more water, on Ryan's insistence. It was cool so I wasn't all that thirsty, but I certainly was still sweating. Nathan pulled ahead around the dirt road on this loop, but Blaine and I had a good run back into the yard. Blaine was happy with 19 miles, so now it was down to only 2. 

Nathan nicely waited for me for this 4th loop - I took a bit of time to go into the house and pee and talk with Sam - and then we were off. I let Nathan pull me along, realizing that I was tiring a bit, but with just enough energy to follow along closely. I really appreciated his company and help out there - thanks Nathan! But again, he pulled ahead on the dirt road and was gone in a flash. And then things went bad - right around 23 miles my hips decided it was time to seize up. Ouch! It was a slow shuffle for those last few miles. I was in a bad place. I was ready to be done. I was feeling down. Why was I doing this? In fact, I walked into the yard, stopped my watch, sat down and told Ryan I was done. He didn't fight me, just asked what I needed. At that point, Mary Beth poked her head out - everyone was smart and was inside in the warm kitchen after finishing up their run :-) - and asked what was up. I told her my hips were killing me, and soon after, Mindy came out and told me that when she'd had trouble with her hips on their last few training runs before Haliburton, that Advil had really helped. We talked it through a bit and I agreed to give it a try. Then, despite a very long aid station stop, I did get up and head out. I just held the thought in my head that I could always take one of many cut-offs and get back home if necessary. 

I was alone out there, and a bit cold, and I admittedly walked pretty much all the uphills, but I managed to keep going, along the course, just putting one foot in front of another. And amazingly, I actually started to feel better! Thanks Mindy! What a good suggestion! The Ibuprofin really did help. I wasn't setting any speed records, but I was moving forward. I did stop to stretch at the Quarry, and actually contemplated taking the shortest route back from there, but realized that was just plain dumb. So, I picked up the pace instead :-) Yes, to 10:30 pace but still. I actually felt fairly strong those last few miles, but damn, if I wasn't glad to turn down Munroe and then stop the second I hit the fence at the edge of the backyard! But there, I had done it. 31.2 miles. 5:49 with all the stops. Done. 

Many thanks to Ryan and John for holding down the fort while we were out running. Sam had a great time coloring and playing Candyland with John, and Ryan cooked up pancakes and all sorts of goodies. And thanks to everyone for coming to join in on the fun! I use the term loosely to describe the running but it was great to catch up with everyone ;)

Lessons learned: Don't try to keep up with the big boys early on in a long run, and add Ibuprofin to the bag for Stonecat, just in case :-) Oh yeah, and I can run a 50k as a training run. Who would have thought it? But now, I think it's time to taper!

Fall

We have had a string of gorgeous October days this week, and today was no exception. It was a bit overcast, yes, but the trees are striking with their coats of red, orange and yellow, and sometimes the clouds on an overcast day are even more interesting than just seeing blue sky above. I headed out around 8:00 for a run on the Snowplug 50k loop. Beautiful along the river with a coating of leaves floating out in the shallows and pooling along the rocks in the quiet stretches of water. My Garmin read 6.17 but Ryan's read something like 6.4 this afternoon. So, who knows? Probably somewhere in the middle, which should be just about perfect :-) Ran at a decent clip for the loop - hard to run an even pace between the first big hill, the singletrack and the dirt roads but easy to run slow in the woods and quickly on the dirt :-) - and added on a bit to get in an even 6.5 miles for the morning. By the time we were clean and ready to go, the sun was shining intermittently through the clouds, and we headed out up Rt. 201 to Rocky Ridge Orchard.

It's a great place to go to apple pick! I stopped first at the bakery to pick up some delicious pumpkin molasses donuts - yum! - and then we headed out to pick apples. We went out to the far edges of the orchard where the trees were laden with fruit. It was lovely out there, looking through the apple trees into the far pastures and the turning trees beyond. On our return to the store, we picked pumpkins and then took a horse-drawn wagon ride through the fields. It was a nice, quintessential fall morning and a lot of fun :-)

Apple picking

Out in the orchard

Gorgeous apples

Happy girlie, climbing for apples

Me and my sweet little girl :-)

How do you like them apples? :-)

Happy on the wagon ride

Hi horsie!

Looking forward to the Snowplug 50k tomorrow! 

Faltering...

Never quite got into the swing of things this week. Tuesday we were all exhausted and out of sorts. Wednesday, I was sure I was going to get up early and run, but that didn't happen. And then Wednesday night, Sam was for some unknown reason up from like 3:30 until 5:00 am, which means I was up too... Needless to say, I didn't get out the door yesterday morning either. *sigh* Running definitely took a hit this week!

But I did get out this morning. With my headlamp shining, I headed across the street and onto the powerlines. At the top of the rise, I could see the light on the horizon - it looked almost red. I ran the Highland Green loop, just to give my legs a chance to get back into the swing of things after not running for 3 days and to give me the chance to not trip and fall in the semi-darkness :-) Didn't need my headlamp after a mile or so, and on the back road, the rose-colored light was hitting the tips of the trees, lighting up the fall foliage on the maples - red, gold and orange. Lovely. Nice to be out in the cool morning air, and be back running!

Fuzzy

Yesterday afternoon, we headed home from NC. We had a fairly leisurely morning, getting organized, spending some time in the garden, going on a final golf cart ride, etc. I got out for a 5.5 mile run on the cart paths and roads - I was planning to run the whole 6.25 route along the paths, but it turns out they were playing some sort of scramble tournament out on the course, so while I thought it'd be closed, it wasn't! Oops. At least I know my way around and was able to hop off the course and take the roads back :-) I was surprised to find that my legs felt pretty good - after 6/26.2/8 over the past days, I wasn't too sure. But my mind, well, it felt kind of tired.

And after traveling yesterday afternoon and getting home late, I felt even more tired. In fact, I believe I said I felt like a frazzled, fuzzy headed, sleepy chicken with my head cut off this morning :-) Always a bit of a jolt to come back to reality, especially when you get home at 10pm, don't get unpacked, don't have any food in the house and have to get the child to daycare and get yourself to work on time the next morning. Aie! In fact, I really should head to bed so I can spend tomorrow feeling a bit more alive!

But first, the final few vacation photos :-)

Happy girlie

Last ride on the golf cart for this vacation :-)

Last Day of Vacation

*Sigh* Always tough when you realize that vacation is almost over and it's time to head back to reality! But before we do that, we had one last full day of fun down in NC.

Despite the fact that I really didn't want to, I got up early and was out the door around 7:10. I decided to just run the same 8 mile loop as I had run yesterday, if only because I could just do it and not have to think about how I was going to get the mileage in by wandering around aimlessly. The first two miles were slow, and I sure felt creaky, but nothing hurt, and I was able to loosen up and pick up the pace as I ran along. I was surprised to find I actually felt pretty decent, and managed to run the 8 miles in 1:15.

It was a lovely morning, cool and sunny, and as is always the case down here, there is a lot to see. With the mix of golf course, ponds, pine forests, grassy areas and the river, it's the perfect area for bird watching, and there are typically a few other creatures wandering around as well. This morning I spooked a male deer, his antlers still small, at the edge of the street, and then down along the path to the River Lodge, scared up a mother deer and her two fawn. Was scared myself but a Great Blue Heron soaring out of his roost in the tree along one of the ponds, croaking his annoyance at my presence. Saw another heron soaring overhead and a Great Egret as well. A bunny jumped across the path, and the bright red cardinals and mockingbirds chattered away in the brush. The pair of hummingbirds who reside in my parent's yard were out early, enjoying the purple flowers of the big mexican sage bush, and numerous butterflies flitted about. Little green lizards lounge in the sun on the porch railings and yesterday we saw two green tree frogs there too!

I was greeted by pancakes upon my return - yum! - and then we rushed about, getting ready to head to the beach. Still windy today, but not quite as cold, and Sam had a lot of fun digging in the sand with the big purple shovel and looking for minnows in the surf with her net. And of course, we stopped at Boombalatti's for a post-beach treat - can't miss their delicious ice cream!

All in all, a great last day of vacation. Many thanks to my parents for having us! We all had a great time!!

Sam building her "house"

Busy digging

Just waiting for the minnows to jump into the net :-)

Cupcakes at the beach!

Keeping Sam occupied on the way home - she wrote out all of our names :-) My smart little girl!

Solo Marathon

OK. Let's face it. 26.2 miles is a long way to run. Meaning anything beyond that is a really long way to run :-) (Insert, what was I thinking bubble here!!) And 26.2 miles and 4:24 (total time including stops) is a really long time to run alone. I really could have used some company today, but since I'm in NC and the partner I was hoping would be running with me is a bit derailed at the moment with a tight achilles :(, I was on my own. I had planned to get out at 7:00 but just as I was opening the front door, the door to Sam's room opened. It's as if she has some sort of telepathy that I'm about the go out and run, since that's exactly what happened yesterday too :-) So I got some hugs and sat for a bit with her before heading out around 7:15, which meant hopefully plenty of time to get home for lunch.

The plan was to run 3 ~8 mile loops with an add-on of 2 miles, give or take, to make 26 miles. I tried really hard to run as easily as I could in that first loop, but it was nice and cool, the roads are flat and what can I say, it was early in the run and I felt good. I don't *think* I was going too fast, but it's hard to know. Those first miles went by the quickest and easiest for sure, with just one potty stop at the bathroom at the River Lodge, and soon I was back to the house with the Garmin reading 7.88 miles. Ryan and Sam had set up an awesome aid station for me on the front steps, and were there to cheer me in. Made me smile :-) I'm very lucky!

Aid station all set up!

My awesome "Go Mommy" sign - I am so lucky!

Sam running me out of the aid station

Sam ran me down the driveway, and then just like that I was alone again. I decided to add on the additional miles in this second loop, thinking it would be easier mentally to do that than add them in on the 3rd lap when I was sure to be more tired and possibly hurting. Luckily the hip held up very well all morning, with only a few twinges here and there. I did a bit of googling, and found the pigeon pose and half lotus pose, both of which really have helped stretch out the outside of my leg/hip/butt the past few days. Whatever would we do without the internet? ;) In any event, the second lap went pretty well and the pace held fairly steady. I ran the loop the opposite direction as the first, with a 2.5 mile out-and-back added on out into the Bluffs. I did however, make a blunder on this loop. I didn't have my pack, only my small handheld, meaning I was stuffing my fuel into my pockets. I neglected to remember that I would be out for longer the 2nd time around with the add-on miles, and only brought one gu and one pack of chews. I've been trying to eat something every 30 minutes, so I should have had one more something. Which meant that by the time I got back to the house, I had missed one of my 30-minute fuelings and was well on my way to going an hour without anything to eat. I stopped and had a few grapes, some Gatorade and a few animal crackers, and headed back out. At almost 3 hours in, my stomach was feeling a bit wonky and I was starting to feel the miles. I really wished I had someone to run with.

Luckily, I have the best crew ever and they took out the golf cart and careened through the community, meeting up with me a number of times on the last loop. It was really nice to look up and see them at mile 19+, at 22 and then around mile 24. I needed it. I did stop at the River Lodge and take a bio break (weird, so many miles in) but I was having trouble eating (story of my long run life) and only managed a few extra grapes and a few chews between the house and mile 22 before accepting fueling defeat.

I was slowing. And I really wanted to be done. Did I really need to do 26 miles? I willed myself past the turn-off that would have taken me to my parent's house at mile 23 by simply walking and telling myself I was just out for a walk :-) and just kept going. The miles were feeling painfully slow, and while I won't tell you how much slower the final 7 miles were, let's just say I didn't quite keep on pace. I also willed myself past the turn-off at the end of the first pond along the berm, but when I saw the golf cart up ahead, I did ask Ryan if I could stop. He asked me if anything was hurting, and since the honest answer was no, except that my stomach didn't feel good, that's what I said. So, of course, he said no back ;) and I just sort of shrugged and continued on. Guess I knew the answer to that one!

When the Garmin finally beeped 25 miles, I told myself I was just being ridiculous and it wasn't helping me to go slowly. Just pick it up, Danielle! And I did, although pace was certainly relative at that point. Ha. When I got to the driveway at my parent's house, I realized I had miscalculated ever so slightly and still had 0.1 miles to go to get to a full marathon. Ryan was there, and I believe I said I'd be da*ned if I wasn't going to do that extra 0.1 miles to get to a f*&#!ing marathon! before continuing past the house and stopping just as the distance turned 26.2. There. I did it.

OK, so it wasn't entirely pretty. But despite my mind's desire to stop (many times), I kept going. I ran a marathon as a training run. Alone (with some awesome crew help, of course). Never thought I'd run a marathon as a training run! Oh, the places we go. So, I'm banking this for Stonecat. Of course, despite that, do I still think it's crazy and scary and unreal that I'll be lining up to run 50 miles in a month? You better believe it! But you can't know if you don't try.

I didn't have much appetite for lunch, but rallied for the early birthday celebration that followed. Never pass up cupcakes and ice cream :-)

Sam and Neenie keeping busy while I'm out running

These really need more sprinkles!

Almost 4!!!

Lots of candles to blow out :-)

Cart Paths in Reverse

Ever have a run where 1 mile feels like it's really 3? That was this morning's run. Ryan's achilles has been hurting him since his run yesterday morning, so it was just me out there this morning. I headed out right after 7am, just as the sun was rising above the trees. The first golfers don't tee off until 8:00 so I had plenty of time going backwards on the course, but even though I was purposefully trying to go slowly, it just felt like I was moving in slow motion. Still, got in 6.25 miles before we headed down to Wilmington to the beach.

It was even more blustery than on Tuesday, with rough seas and whipping sands. I asked a surfer coming up from the beach if the surfing was good. He said, no, but it was better than a day at the office! Indeed :-) We still had fun collecting shells, outracing the waves and digging pools and trenches.

What Else But Photos?

No running today, but a fun morning spent at the Fort Fisher Aquarium followed up by dinner out up at the club. Not too shabby a way to spend a vacation day :-)

Checking out the turtles

Lunchtime!

Looking at the animals in the touch pool

I think he's looking at us...

Playground fun

Queen of the playground!

Climbing

Gotta be fully accessorized :-)

Ready for dinner out