Most of this week was “at the beach” in Ocean City, NJ. Note I didn’t say “ON the beach,” as I think running on sand is just cray-cray. I sit on beaches, I run on roads. If I run on sand, I’ll receive a one-way ticket to plantar fasciitisville, which is a horrid place to visit.
All of my running workouts in these early weeks are under orders from Coach Erin to be “easy”, because at this point, I just need to build up the mileage on my feet. Week three we’ll start with the speed/track workouts, which I am just demented enough to be looking forward to. Srsly.
Exercising on vacation can be very hard, but when grandparents and aunts and uncles come along, it’s way easier because there are built-in babysitters. Thank you Mom, Dad, John, and Melissa for allowing Dan and I to get in some serious workouts this week.
NYC MARATHON WEEK TWO: 19 MILES TOTAL
MONDAY: Rest day. On the beach. Awesome.
TUESDAY: 18 mile bike ride. I went with my husband and we did a loop around Ocean City, going over my favorite bridge, the Route 52 Causeway. It was very windy, and the wind caused me to white-knuckle it on the downhills of the bridge, while experiencing little pulsing heart-attacky adrenaline surges. In other words, fun!
Finger on the lens AGAIN. The wind made me do it.
WEDNESDAY: 3 miles, which I ran a tad faster than I needed to, but it was drizzling and I wanted to get home because my husband was bringing back donuts.
“Mmmmmm…donuts…”
Later that day, I played 18 holes of golf with my dad and brother at the Atlantic City Country Club.
Duffin’ it in the marsh.
This place was so old-timey Atlantic City, it would blow your mind. For instance, the men had a gorgeous, plush locker room with oak lockers, leather couches, huge tv’s, and card tables. How do I know this? Because all players, both men and women, have to go through the men’s locker room TO GET TO THE PRO SHOP.
Plush, comfy, and huge. That’s the old AC trolley bell in the foreground, so it’s historical too. This was only about 1/3 of the room.
If you are a woman, a staff member will check the men’s locker room for you and let you know if it’s clear to go through to the pro shop. So I walked though feeling awkward and sheepish, praying that the staff member was correct and being ready to shield my eyes at any moment. And if that’s not welcoming enough for you ladies, may I present to you the ladies’ locker room, which was down a small, darkened hallway:
I felt so…welcomed.
So, lemme get this straight: Golf as a sport has taken a beating in the past few years and its numbers are on the decline and this course (a private one) expects to survive by alienating half of the potential golf-playing population? GO FOR IT, BROS. SOLID BUSINESS PLAN.
THURSDAY: Fueled by more donuts, I had the most awesome run with one of my Ragnar teammates, Schuy, who was also vacationing in Ocean City that week. Where did we run? Over the Route 52 causeway, of course. During those 4.4 miles, we chatted about the following: Schuy and her daughter are in training for a half Ironman triathlon in September…seriously badass. Also, my husband and her brother-in-law were probably member of the Ocean City Beach Patrol at the same time back in the early 80’s. And finally, we spoke of that magical Ragnar weekend, where time seemed to stand still, the heat was cranked, tutus were donned, and friendships were forged. Someday I will find the words to write about how transformative that experience was for me, but for now I leave Thursday’s recap with some BAMRs (BadAss Mother Runners) on the Best Bridge For Running Ever.
BAMR Powers…ACTIVATE!
FRIDAY: I rested. I ate more donuts. (Dot’s in Ocean City is DA BOMB.)
SATURDAY: Poof! And just like that, our week at the beach was over. We packed up and headed back to Connecticut. I was too tired to sneak in a run before leaving, so I ran 4 lovely sunset miles when I got home.
SUNDAY: Long run day! After a 7 month hiatus, my BRF Lori and I finally got to run together again and we were all:
And then we were all
and before I knew it, we had cranked out 8 hilly miles. Week number two was IN THE BAG!
Do you run on vacation? Do you run (gasp!) on sand? What’s your favorite donut? Have you ever walked through a men’s locker room on purpose? Are you more Spongebob or more Patrick?
Let me (and the world) know in the comments!
See Nancy Run. 
Hahhaha…this is excellent! I also run OCNJ — Mom and Dad live there, North end, so I am often running the Longport Bridge: in fact, next time you are there, let’s run my fave loop: over the causeway into SP and back over the new 9th St. bridge to the boardwalk! Fun 10 miles! As for men’s locker rooms, I work in the golf industry, so I have indeed been in many a locker room…. 😉 I will let you know how Springfield CC’s are after Monday’s outing :-0 But I am sad to say: NO DONUTS for me….they repeat on me 😦 And the only time I run on sand is if a seagull is chasing me.
I am not a runner so live vicariously thru my sons (Steve) , daughter in laws (Schuy) , and three granddaughters (Avery) wonderful adventures and fitness! I thoroughly enjoyed your article! As a longtime resident of Ocean City and mother of two former life guards, I think there could be some debate about the BEST OC donuts (Brown’s?) from family members but i happen to agree w/ YOU ;-))
Best wishes and happy trails, Sally
OMG….that was funny post. Keep up the great work and way to rock training week #2
Thanks, Freedom!
Great recap! The locker room comparison is fantastic. No running on the sand for me-I run on the road on vacation, strategically end my run at Starbucks, and walk barefoot on the beach back to the condo with my little slice of caffeine heaven. All while the rest of my condo sleeps.
No donuts??!!!
Nancy I don’t run but I do love reading your running blogs. Keep them coming. Stay on track for the New Your City Marathon. You have such a way with words.
I definitely run on any trip I can just to find new routes and new sights. And donuts?!? I live for donuts! Crazy about the locker room situation, too. Way to knock out some more solid training.