So, two weeks ago, my dentist, and former neighbor, calls me and asks me to run this little “Sea Isle” run in his summer hometown. I say sure…and we chit chat a little. He says he’s feeling dead legs, etc. and wondering if it is his age. He’s 11 yrs. older than me. Then he sneaks in the small, overlooked detail that this is a 10 mi. run at 5:30 p.m. on the sand in the summer heat. YIPES! If you peek at my log, you’ll see what a yipes it was to have agreed up front without checking the distance. But, being the hard-headed athlete I am, I just figured I’ll have to squeeze in a couple of longish runs between then and now. And, I’d simply do my best within my limits of not being trained. Besides, I wanted to hang out with my dentist and his wife and kids after the race, as they are lovely people and it’s always fun to be around them. Race day dawned with electrical storms that were supposed to reoccur late in the day. But, they never materialized. However, it meant I had to decide on a race outfit that would work rain or shine. I ended up going with the sun outfit of a nike border skirt with a psychedelic swirl pattern, white singlet, old orange nike frees, and a carpy old adidas white headband. And sunglasses. Met up with dentist ½ hour before the race and made our way to the start. We decided to run, well, all out, for the first mi or so to get off the promenade and through the soft sand. Then we’d settle into our rhythms and split up. Executed plan. I don’t know what the temp/humidity was but it was sticky hot. By mile 2, I wanted to die. Literally. I was having abdominal cramps, which I’d never experienced before. Luckily, I had opened a young coconut before I left, and was carrying the coconut water in a water bottle. First sip didn’t make me feel any better. In fact, I thought I was literally going to fall over from the increased cramping. I started thinking of exit strategies from the race. Then I took another sip or two. Didn’t feel any worse. By mile 3, everything was OK. (whew!) Also, by mi. 3 we were running south and into the summer breeze. TOTAL relief. We ran back up onto the promenade – saw Mr Nono and our two kids cheering for me. Also, a lot of other folks calling my name. Turns out the Stewarts Root Beer folks had met my husband and kids and were all cheering for me as well. Right before the end of the promenade, someone else yelled my name. I looked back and it was Mrs. Dentist. Waved to her and kept going back out to the sand. I was over 5 mi at this point and knew I could haul it home. I was impressed by the crowd support for this race. In addition to the official water stops, many other folks provided water, oranges, etc. along the route. It was intense and so fun! Really helped keep a smile on my face. The race after the promenade continued to the southern end of the island where we turned back and then finished ankle deep in the water. (Tide wasn’t as kind this year as other years apparently.) The ocean water was delightfully under-average temperature and there was a long line of running shoes along the water’s edge and a lot of happy runners swimming in the ocean. I was glad that our race numbers were waterproof, as I didn’t think to remove mine before my plunge. I enjoyed my post-race swim with my 4 yr. old daughter, who was standing ready in her swimsuit. I finished in 1:31:47, which is not what I was hoping. I was shooting for under 1:31:00, but wasn’t willing to hurt myself to try to attain it. I knew by mile 6 I was in trouble as I wasn’t noticing that I was running with slower-paced runners. But, WHAT A RACE! I had a GREAT time. I would definitely do it again next year, and maybe I’ll even train for it. After the race, my 4 & 1½ yr old walked the 8 blocks or so to the party at my dentist’s place. Great food, great company, and a lovely Tequila Sunrise capped off the evening. As we were driving home, Mr. Nono paid me quite a compliment. He said, referring to my completing the race, “You’re a machine.”

Nono: I think that's a HUGE effort, especially the way you fought through the cramps and brought it home. All your placements are just terrific and a 9 minute pace in that heat is very admirable, especially with little preparation..way to go. DickyG

Fantastic job on little training! Loved the report. Glad the cramps went away. 5:30pm race?? Who's idea was that??

It's all about getting low tide for flat surface running with firm footing. We have a lot of hot races here in the summer. Many others start at 9 a.m., which is too late here at the coast too. Maybe I need to start agitating for a summer run that starts after the weekly fireworks display at 10:30 p.m. in my town. But if I mention it, I'll be elected R.D., and I wouldn't know what I'm doing! DickyG, thanks for the kind words. Afterwards my dentist and I talked about what both of our training lacks: SPEEDWORK! (well and besides the fact that I took June off while moving )

Hi Nono (The Machine), A late-afternoon summertime race is challenging enough on the roads - never mind running on the beach! You did great, given the challenges of the race, the lack of proper training, the cramping, etc. It sounds like a fun time with lots of greta support, and a terrific party with Mr. Dentist afterwards. Congrats on a great run, and thanks for the terrific RR! Jay

Nono, Congrats on the great last minute race at Sea Isle. You must have had a good training schedule! Because of the surface and conditions, I have never run this race (even though it is only 20 miles from home)