My hosts were great.  Linda had to go to work but her husband Chris made me oatmeal (with raisins) and a Cafe Latte.

Yes, that’s my pre-running breakfast!!! And with a view!!

So I said my good-byes and headed for the beach.

This is where I grew up.  Jones Beach is where we went all the time during the summer.  During college, I even worked there as a usherette at the theatre.

This time of year, there was NO TOLL! ($10 saved).

It was also pretty deserted.  There are many parking lots and almost all were closed.  I finally found one and parked my car.

ready to run

It was a gorgeous day – high 60’s & sunny (with a breeze). I headed for the boardwalk and found that they had set up a 4 mile run.

So I did it.  I started in the middle so I actually wound up running 5 miles!!!

There weren’t many people around. So I walked around on the sand for awhile.

I even put my feet in the water. BRRRRR!

There were quite a few large shells so I kept a few as a souvenir.

Reluctantly I headed back to my car.  As I was leaving, I noticed another parking lot open and there were cars parked there. 

I found out why.  There was a restaurant open and people were eating at picnic tables. 

I ordered a Nathan’s hotdog with sauerkraut & fries and ate it on the beach!  I just had too!

Then I headed back up north (with a detour past the house I grew up in). 

Happy Running!  Where is your favorite place to run? (I just discovered that mine is the boardwalk along the ocean.)

This past weekend I went to my high school Reunion.  We had a 20 yr reunion and now 20 years later, we have our 2nd reunion (thanks to Facebook).

I went to East Meadow HS on Long Island, NY. There were 960 people in my graduating class – yes, it was HUGE!  I knew probably 60 and was close friends with probably 10 of them.

At this Facebook-organized reunion, there were about 70 plus a few spouses in attendance.  Believe it or not, I knew quite a few people. There were mmy close friends, those in some of my classes, some that I rode the bus with, etc.

It was held at Borellis, our favorite pizza hangout back then, from 11-4 pm on Sunday. 

It wasn’t a fancy Sat nite shindig like the last one.

me, Linda, Don, Nancy, Sue & Joyce at our 20 yr reunion

It was casual.  Everyone chatted and chatted and reminisced. There was a buffet of Italian food and an open bar.

me, Linda, Don, Sue, Joyce & Nancy 20 years later

 Do you think we’ve aged?

I got to see my close friends which was great but I also got to see friends that I hadn’t seen since high school.

Gail (on the right) lives in Vancouver

Lots of picture taking. Cake for dessert.

Afterwards, a bunch of us went back to Linda & Chris’ house (where I would be spending the night). We had dinner and chatted some more.

Linda, Joyce, Gail, Sue & me

 After everyone left, Linda, Chris & I hung out in their hot tub, glasses of wine, looking at the water (Their house is on the water in LI.) and the stars.

What the life!!

Stayed tuned. 

Monday was an even better day because….. (I’ll let you guess!)

Happy Running!

Today was my long run and I had 11 miles on my schedule. It was an almost perfect day – cool (in the 50’s), a little breezy & sun mixed with clouds.

I parked my car at the  Rail Trail and planned to finish my last 4 miles there.

Ready to run

I am always looking for new scenic places to run nearby.  So I thought why not run around a local golf course.

There was one about 1 1/2 miles away. Yes, it was very scenic.

 and at first I thought that no one was playing golf there.

It was very HILLY.  I guess that’s why they use golf carts. There was also lots of  mud puddles from yesterday’s rain. I ran around for a while until I came up 2 guys playing golf.  I’m not sure what they said since I had headphones on but they pointed & I’m sure it was something like “Don’t run HERE!!!!”

I quickly ran in the other direction and then went in the Pro Shop and asked if there were any water fountains.  The guy there said NO! (I wished I had brought some water at this point.)

I passed a sign that said “Closed.”  I figured that it was a safe bet that no one would be playing golf on these holes so off I ran.

posing on the golf course

I continued running around the course making sure that no one was playing golf nearby.  But I made an interesting discovery at each hole.

WATER

So either that guy who said that there were no water fountains was joking OR he meant “Only for Golfers (not for you).”

Finally I headed back towards the Rail Trail.  I wanted to have run 7 miles before the trail so I had to continue into town.  And I had to stop for a cupcake & some water, of course, before turning around.

 
 The trail was quiet today — NO DEER!

My pace was quite slow… lots of stops. As a punishment, I forced myself to run an extra mile!

So 12 miles completed!

Early tomorrow morning, I’m driving to Long Island to go to my High School Reunion.  I’m staying with a friend until Monday!

Happy Running!  Enjoy the weekend!

On Tuesday, I ran 4 miles after work on the Rail Trail.  This has recently become my favorite route since you don’t have to deal with traffic and traffic lights.

Wednesday, it was raining and I only had time for 3 miserable miles on the treadmill before yoga.

Yesterday after work, it looked like it might rain but I decided to go back to the Rail Trail.

Almost 2 miles into the run, which is narrow and wooded, there was a huge deer blocking my path.  I stopped, made a lot of noise, yelled at him to leave but he stayed and stared at me.  I was a little scared.  Do deer attack? I was afraid to go around him and he wouldn’t leave.  All of a sudden, he started walking toward me.  What did I do?  I climbed up a hill and over a guard rail and continued my run on the road.

I ran until my Garmin said 2.5 miles and then turned around.  I decided to go back on the trail hoping that the deer had left by now. When I got to the spot where I saw the deer, I looked around and he was gone!  Phew!

I felt myself running faster.  I was trying to finish before another deer encounter.  Everytime I heard a noise, I froze.  Once it was rabbit.  Then it was a squirrel.

So 5 miles in the books.  A decent run it was.  I could do without a deer in my path, though.

 Today is a rest day!! Mah Jongg tonite.

Tomorrow I have 11 miles on my schedule before I leave for Long Island to attend my high school reunion.

Happy Running! TGIF!

The term “Penguin” came from a man named John Bingham who used to write a column about slow runners for Runners World.  More realistically, a “penguin” is someone who just runs for pleasure or exercise rather than accomplishment or awards.

Then there are runners who are just SLOW!  Don’t get me wrong.  We want to be fast and win AG awards but we are SLOW.

I love reading running blogs.  I love reading race reports.  I am happy for those who PR and win awards.

But I will never run at a pace in the 7s, maybe not even in the 8s. Finishing a Half Marathon under 2 hours…a dream!  BQing…never!

I am competitive but I am NOT FAST!

But I will continue to run and race. 

I will blog about my training runs at 12 min/mi, my half marathon finishes at 2 1/2 hours and my 5Ks at 30 min +.

Hopefully, I will inspire other slow/penguins to run and keep running!!

Happy (slow) running!