Well summer vacation is officially over and I'm super sad to see it go.

Seriously, I could live at the beach.

I spent a week in Rehoboth Beach with my family doing not much other than soaking up the sun with my nose stuck in a book.



I read three great books and finally caught up on all my issues of Runner's World (I was like three months behind.)

And of course I treated myself to lots of delicious Kohr's Brothers custard.


It was so nice to get away and just relax. I was in bed pretty early every night and awake on the early side too. With nothing to stress me out, I actually woke up refreshed every morning.

But it wasn't all relaxation all the time.

The first day we were there, the Seashore Striders were holding the last race in their summer series. It was a five miler that ran right past our beach house.

How could I say no?

I jogged over to the start line, paid my $25 entry fee and got a really nice technical shirt.


The race started a little while later and the course took us through some of the very nicely shaded roads in a few of the beach communities.

I noticed it was a pretty small race and thought maybe I'd have a chance to win an age group award, so when the race started I took off like a bat out of hell.


How, after years of running, have I not learned that starting out that fast is always a bad idea? Seriously, I am an idiot.

My first mile clocked in around 8:25.

And every mile from there got progressively slower. I positive split the crap out of this race and did not in fact win an age group award.

By the end of the race the sun was really starting to beat down on me and I was enjoying lots of nice walk breaks on the sunny stretches of road.


I did still manage to finish the five miles in 46:47, which was good enough for 126 overall and 8th in my age group. Not too shabby for a random beach race I decided to run at the last minute.


I also got a nice medal for finishing and some delicious watermelon at the finish line. Not bad for a race with a $25 day-of registration fee.


The race was a really fun way to kick off my vacation and I was happy my mom happened to stumble on it when she was looking for things to do.

Sadly though vacation is over now. And I have to say goodbye to the sun and the sand and the waves until next summer.


I guess that means it's time to get back to my regular routine and dive into Marine Corps Marathon training full force!