Easter 10 Miler

Since my friend, John Sarvay, author of Richmond's best blog, Buttermilk & Molasses, was kind enought to give me props for actually running 10 miles on Easter, I figured I should at least write about my run....

My goal was to enjoy it. All 10 miles of it.

That meant:

1. being grateful I was not running more than 10 miles (We will top out our running training for Eagleman 70.3 with at least one 16-mile run in a few weeks)

2. being grateful that my body can and will run 10 miles (if ever so slowly)

3. seeing as much beauty, water, marsh and nature that this 6 mile long island has to offer, while running

After the kid's Easter baskets, and an indoor Easter egg hunt (since, even though we are in Savannah, it was near freezing Easter morning)...we hung around for a while and then I went for my run.

Pop Pop gave me a map of the island, and we marked a tentative run path. He marked out "comfort stations" that golfer's use and said I could find both a restroom and a drinking fountain on any of the island's 5 golf courses -- just to look for a little green building. Unfortunately, taking the route that was closest to the marsh also meant having to look at the map about every half mile to see where I was. All the roads are circles and some connect with golf cart paths. Regardless though, it was a challenge navigating and trying to determine an exact distance for 10 miles. It was frustrating to concentrate on speed, form and direction all at the same time.

It was a beautiful and sunny day, although quite cool -- about 45 degrees. Perfect for running, but it took quite a while for me to warm up after the run.

I started out running down by the Delegal Marina and was blessed by a swarm of beautiful swallows over one of the lagoons.

Here's the photo --It looks like it's flying upside down, and I think it is! They are amazing creatures. The size of a small cardinal, but with a much sleeker body. Black on the top, changing to a subtle (if that is possible) royal blue. Whitish on the bottom, so if you look up into the sky, then tend to blend with the clouds. Very hard to catch on camera as you will see. The swooped up and down and all around me catching sips of water and bugs on the way. Then, as quickly as they appeared, they were gone -- camera shy, I guess.

Then, I walked down one of the only paths on Skidaway that goes in front of the houses down to the marsh. I saw wild boars munching on marsh grasses, and several egrets and heron. Plus, lots of fabulous moss and dead trees in siloutte against the marsh grasses. (Later, when I took Daisy back to this same spot, she kept asking if the marsh grass was prairie -- can you tell we are reading Little House on the Prairie?)

After a quick pit stop, much of the second part of the run was spent navigating through houses and trying to peek between them to catch a glimpse of the water. I had to 86 the plan to run to the North end of the island to the lookout tower when I realized although the island is only 6 miles long, by the time you wind down all of the circular streets you've traveled more miles than you realize. (Going all the way to the observation tower would have made for a nice 15 mile run and I was not in the mood!)

So, I did OK for the first 8 miles, but the last 2 I kept wishing to hop on one of the many golf carts that kept passing me. I was hurting! Mostly my knees. And looking back on my last blog entry, at my thought process for deciding to stick to one half iron race this seasons, instead of two....I'm glad I made that decision. Because when I got home, Mr. Preschool wanted me to go with him and take the kids to the park and I couldn't -- I was just too tired. Now, that isn't right! I mean you should always have enough energy to take your kids to the park, right? We'll we all have good training days and bad ones, and this was just one of those days that took alot out of me.

I'm still not a big fan of Savannah, but I'm learning to like a few things down here. Like don't call the marsh a swamp or someone will get offended! I mean why would you spend a couple million dollars to get SWAMP-FRONT property? And, that boiled peanuts are great! Man, I wish we had those in Virginia. I've decided they'd be the perfect race food. High in salt, and protein, with disposable wrappers. They are alot more like Edemame that these low country folks would like you to think. If you've never had them I will tell you there is nothing like them -- but both me and Daisy both said they taste more like beans than nuts -- which would make sense...since they are, in fact legumes. I'm taking orders so if you want some back home...you better leave a comment!

Daisy started a new Easter tradition, that she says she will now use for ALL Egg Holidays. Eating eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I didn't even know there was an Egg Day, but she insisted there was. Since I haven't found proof of that yet so I'm sure we'll have to contact The American Egg Board and lobby for National Egg Day. And after we get that, then we'll have to lobby for National Boiled Low Country Peanut Day.