Seashore Run

More running at the shore today. The place where we are staying is right off of Route 1, the road that strings together all of the Delaware coastal towns. So I made a right on Route 1 and in no time was running through the Delaware Seashore State Park. I went 5 miles south and then turned around. All straightaway - no hills, no traffic lights, just a seemingly constant headwind. I also dusted off my Garmin Forerunner, which I rarely use because it does a poor job of picking up GPS signals in Philly. But here on the shore, with nothing to interfere, it worked great and I knew my mile splits exactly for this run, and even calibrated the watch with the highway mile markers, which proved very consistent with each other. Went out easy and still averaged 8 minute miles, went back a bit quicker and averaged 7:30s. All in all exactly 10 in 77:42.<>

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I enjoyed today’s run but would not want to do it on a regular basis. Its just cranking out mile after mile. The same feel as a treadmill, though much more preferable for obvious reasons. There was a good bit of wildlife on the way, including an Osprey that was circling low over my head. The consistency of the scenery and the pace also allows for deep thinking, though I can’t say I came up with anything profound today. I did think some about the Clydesdale competitions in races these days. Anything that gets folks out running, I suppose. Then I thought of the dilemma that must face successful Clydesdales, as the more you train the harder it will be to keep that weight on. So do you actively try to maintain your spare tire, do you go into bodybuilding to replace fat with muscle (or are the successful Clydesdales all super-ripped?), or do you just happily “thin out” of such competition?