The Tides of Running....

This morning as i stepped onto the boardwalk to begin my run, a girl whooshed past me.

She’s someone I run “with” quite frequently by virtue of the fact that we run at about the same time every day. Pretty much every time i see her she is doing something different, varying from this very fast run to a fluid, energetic arm-swinging walk.

As my feet fell, one in front of the other, at my usual geriatric pace, I wondered, “Should I try mixing it up like that?”

Back in New Mexico I had a treadmill.

I did vary my routine on the treadmill, but when the scenery never changes you do whatever it takes to make it fresh.

Don’t get me wrong….I loved my treadmill passionately and worried obsessively about life without it here in NZ (even given one of the reasons I wanted to live here was to run on the beach).

So, in New Mexico my routine did look more like Boardwalk Girl’s.

Somedays I would run at my typical almost-too-slow-to-call-it-running pace. Other days I would follow my son, Connor’s lead and test how fast I could get the machine to run without pitching me off. Sometimes I would walk/run hills. Other times I would crawl out of bed and take a leisurely stroll.

Here I pretty much follow the same path every morning.

Run to the end of the boardwalk, continue on past “Cave Rock” on the sand to “Shag Rock” where the beach runs out….and then backtrack.

Today the tide was in and I was mostly slogging through the dry sand.

With breath heaving in and out of my lungs, the thought struck.

I don’t have to do a thing to “mix up” my routine.

Mother Nature does it for me.

Every day I run as close to the water as I can get without soaking my shoes…(sometimes not so successfully).

Naturally, the tide determines my pace, exact running course and running surface.

Today, it was a mixture of soft beach sand and boardwalk concrete.

On my favorite days when the tide is out it’s hard-packed sand all the way.

Every day there are obstacles. From driftwood and other weird things that wash up on the beach (which could be another story entirely). To pools, puddles and rivers of water. To rocks of varying size and shape. I can go around them, jump over them or zig zag between them.

Not such an interesting revelation that

…… once again Mother Nature tops even the most advanced technology.

But….lucky for me

….I found another reason to LOVE living by the beach!

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