Before we left for the beach, I kicked off day one of my vacation with an 8 mile long run on one of my favorite local trails. I was in a good mood, it being day one of two weeks off and all, and I was expecting to have a good run. For a late morning in August it was relatively cool outside, and it was even overcast, but it was very humid. I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, but for whatever reason it was a pretty tough run.

If you’re a distance runner, or really if you workout at all, you know there are days where things just don’t feel great. For reasons unknown, your legs feel like lead, you feel tired and lethargic, and your head is just not in the game. There’s a big mental side involved with distance running, and when your head is not in the game that can make things really tough.

So my 8 mile run was one of those where you just get through it and move on. But to get through it, it took a lot of arguing with myself. Especially for the final two miles. Honestly, all I wanted to do was stop and walk. Half of my brain was saying go ahead and just walk. It’s just one run, it’s okay. While the other half was saying come on you can push a bit more. People have struggled through much more than this, keep going. My pace slowed by nearly a minute, but luckily the side of my brain that wanted to push through won. All it took was a little perseverance. And you know what? It may not have been the best run, but it felt good to finish that run and know that I didn’t give in.

When do you argue with yourself? How do you win the fight?

We got home from our vacation at Myrtle Beach yesterday. In total, we had ten full days at the beach and it was fabulous. I always look forward to our annual vacation in August. Barry and I traveled with our camper – we have been staying at the same campground for years now. We were there with my dad, his girlfriend, and my little sister and her boyfriend (they had an adjacent campsite), along with my aunt and uncle (who also stay at the same campground and were on the same row!).

I also had some other relatives at the campground and nearby condos the same week, which was neat. One night we all got together at the open air shelter at the campground and had a potluck dinner. I think in total there were about 20 adults and 5 kids.

The rest of the time was a whirlwind of morning runs with my little sister, watching the meteor showers on the beach at night, going out to eat, and playing card games/hanging out at our campsites as a group.

Barry and I spent a lot of time on the beach hanging out in our beach chairs and reading. In total, I read three books (Endangered by CJ Box, Code of Conduct by Brad Thor, and Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee) in addition to a couple of magazines. I also spent time doing things like Sudoku, crosswords, and other logic puzzles. I didn’t spend much time in the ocean, but I did rope my little sister into a game of soccer one day on the beach!

Barry and I spent our last full day mostly on the beach until a storm rolled in and chased us off. The sky got so dark and then the heavens opened up and it poured as a big thunderstorm started!

After the storm passed, Barry headed back out to the beach. I opted to hang out at our campsite and read my book from there since they were calling for more storms in the evening.

Sure enough, another storm rolled in later in the evening. We were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow afterward, though.

The dogs were along with us, as they often are when we camp, and I think they had a good time, too. They always enjoy getting to explore a new place, and we went on many walks while there. But mainly, they like sleeping in the camper in the air conditioning. 🙂

Overall, a very fun and relaxing vacation. I’ve got the weekend to get all of our laundry done and get back into the swing of things, and then it’s back to work on Monday!

What activities do you like to do at the beach?

It’s Wednesday and that means it’s time for another Wednesday Word! Each week, Debbie from Deb Runs hosts this weekly link up and this week’s word is focus.

Click the image above to join in the link up and to see who else is linking up! I’m keeping things short and sweet today…

When you have something in life that is troubling you, or a situation that is hard to deal with, it’s easy to dwell on it. You put all of your focus on it, and let it seep into all areas of your life. But sometimes the best way to solve a problem or work through a situation is to take a step back. You need to stop focusing on it so much to work things out. For me, running helps immensely with this.

When I am dealing with something in life, going for a run helps me process everything. Sometimes it just gives me the release I need to let go. Other times, it allows me to shift my focus to the simple act of running and get my mind off of things for a bit. Often, the solution will come to you when you’re not dwelling on the problem.

How do you work through trials and tribulations in your life?

Throughout the summer and fall of 2013 and 2014, I did weekly training recaps as I trained for the Thunder Road and Marine Corps Marathons. After getting in the habit, I typically continued to do weekly workout recaps. But then I fell out of the habit, and it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of those. Today, I’m linking up with HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin’ for their Weekly Wrap link up, to recap my week of running at the beach. How fitting that the badge for this link up is a bird flying over the ocean!

I recently shared that my little sister has decided to train for the Hokie Half Marathon, and that we are going to run together in September. Since we are both at the beach, we have been doing our training together, which has been fun! Monday was supposed to be a cross training day, but it was our first day on the beach so we mostly just relaxed. We did take a slow walk on the sand looking for beach glass, though.

Tuesday morning was our first running day. My little sister and I headed out in the morning for a 4 mile run, with our matching handheld water bottles. We are staying in a campground, so we ran up to the campground entrance and turned onto the main road, which has a nice little path along it.

Wednesday morning we headed out for a 3 mile run together. My calves and shins were feeling very sore from walking around in flip flops since arriving at the beach on Sunday. I don’t normally wear flip flops at home. It was also very muggy and humid for this run, but we got it done.

Thursday morning I ended up running solo because my little sister’s shin was bothering her. I got in 4 miles, which included a little trip down into a beach town area (about a mile down the road from our campground) and a fast finish back through the campground.

Friday was a rest day and then it was time for a long run on Saturday morning. My little sister and I ran 9 miles together, which was the longest she has ever run! We got started just after sunrise.

The weather was relatively cool early on, and we had a great run together. For me, it was one of those runs where you feel like you could run forever. I also really enjoyed being along for the ride as R conquered a new personal distance record.

My dad rode along on his bike during our run, and refilled our water bottles halfway. By 8 AM it was getting pretty hot out there! We got it done, though. Nine miles in the books and one step closer to the Hokie Half Marathon.

I pretty much do all of my running on the roads and paths surrounding the campground while we are at the beach. I’m not a big fan of actually running on the beach, although occasionally I will do my last half mile out there. My favorite thing about being at the beach and running is walking in the ocean barefoot afterward. It feels so good!

We’ve got a few more days here, so I’ll be getting in a bit more running before it’s time to head home. Hopefully I can convince someone to play soccer or Frisbee with me on the beach, because I haven’t done either of those yet!

What type of exercise routine do you follow when you’re on vacation?

Having run both types of Ragnar relays, I thought it would be fun to do a compare/contrast of the two.

The short and sweet:

Take a Ragnar Road Relay… Swap the pavement for dirt, vans for tents, a team of 12 for a team of 8, and transition areas for Ragnar Village….. and you have a Ragnar Trail.

The nitty gritty:

A regular Ragnar Relay consists of a team of twelve (or 6 for ultra’s) that traditionally travels in two vans. Conversely, a Ragnar Trail consists of a team of eight (or 4 for ultra’s) and everyone camps in tents at a central location during the event.

Ragnar relay is a point to point course, and utilizes exchange points to transition from one runner to the next. Every runner on the team has his/her own bib (all with the same team number) and a slap bracelet is used as a relay baton. Each runner has his/her own set of legs, and the total distance covered by an individual runner varies.

A Ragnar Trail relay takes place in one central location, and one main transition area (“Ragnar Village”) is used to transition from one runner to the next. Each relay team has one bib on a belt that is passed from one runner to the next. A colored slap bracelet is used to indicate which loop the current runner is running. Runners start and end each leg in the same transition area and everyone runs the same set of three legs and the same total distance.

A Ragnar Road relay requires nighttime safety gear (reflective vest, blinking light, headlamp). There are also a lot of rules about getting in/out of the van and having a reflective vest on at all times during certain overnight hours. Nighttime runs are also the only time a runner is allowed to have a pacer with him/her. A Ragnar Trail relay only requires a headlamp. Runners are also allowed to have one pacer running with them at any time during the event (in our case, my team buddied up with another team and we stuck together the whole time).

At a Ragnar Road relay, you may get wet, if it rains. At a Ragnar Trail relay, you will definitely get wet and most likely will get extremely muddy as well! When you take your rain-soaked self back home, bear in mind that the Ragnar road relay has TSA-approved medals, while the Ragnar Trail does not. In keeping with the camping theme, the Ragnar Trail relay has a finisher’s medal that doubles as a multiuse tool.

You can expect to get a minimal amount of sleep at both relay events. That is just the way it goes at a Ragnar! Both events involve running in the dark in the middle of the night. Both have safety rules associated with the event, although I felt the road relay was stricter. And of course, both relays were a blast and definitely bucket list running experiences!

Having done both, which did I like better?

Overall, my favorite was our Ragnar road relay. I expected to like the trail one more, with the trails and camping and all. But a big reason for my preference for the road relay is the weather conditions we faced at the trail version. I know weather is something that is completely out of the race organizer’s control, but it still has an effect on your experience. Plus we also had two separate downpours during our road relay, so I feel it’s still somewhat fair to compare the two, taking into consideration the weather. However, I am more likely to give another Ragnar Trail a try before I would sign up for another road relay!

Which would you like better: road or trail?
Have you ever run a relay? What type was it?
For those who have done both: What did I miss!?