Tag Archives: running

Boardwalks, Lighthouses and Lobsters

Tomorrow morning, we’re waking up early to drive back up north, so our mini-vacay is pretty much over, except for one more breakfast.

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This morning, I woke up and changed into running clothes before I could make the excuse that it was too hot. I ran from our hotel, the Port Royal (LOVE!) to almost the end of the boardwalk and back. It was only about 8:15 by the time I made it back, but I was a sweaty beast after those 3.75 miles. The times I tried running in the Outer Banks over Memorial Day were awful and included a ton of walking, so I was happy for a decent run this morning.

We laid out all day–first by the ocean and then by the pool. You know that little heat wave? Yeah, definitely hit here, too, so we spent at least half of the time in the pool or ocean. Towards the end of the day, we started talking about maybe doing something else, but decided we wanted to soak up every last bit of water and sunshine.

Before dinner, we decided to do a bit more sightseeing and just drove around Cape May for awhile.

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We ended up at the lighthouse, so we basically made it to the end of New Jersey.

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And no, it didn’t smell, thanks for asking.

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I climbed the 199 stairs and tried not to lose my flip flops. My mom chose not to join me, and even from the top of the lighthouse, I could hear her talking to the lighthouse staffer at the bottom. Lessons learned: lighthouses are really echo-y and my mom will talk to anyone.

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I’ve definitely been in lighthouses with better views, but it’s still fun to climb a lighthouse. And I liked this look out the porthole.

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Don’t worry, I wasn’t going to jump.

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Random birdfeeder in the lighthouse park.

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For dinner, we ended up going to the Lobster House. A few people had suggested the Washington Inn, but after a long day in the sun, neither of us were down for such a fancypants dinner.

There was an hour-long wait, but there was also a deck by the water where we could bring our wine, so it wasn’t so bad. The restaurant has a fish market and a takeout area in addition to the regular restaurant, so it’s more like a lobster compound. So I might just move in there.

This bread? TASTED LIKE AN EVERYTHING BAGEL. I usually exercise at least a little moderation around bread at a restaurant, but not this bread.

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And the Fisherman’s Wharf Platter! OMG! This was: half a pound of lobster stuffed with crabmeat; filet of flounder (which, among all the other shellfish was a little underwhelming); scallops,; clam casino; and a stuffed shrimp. It also came with some veggies and red potatoes, but they were honestly a little too underwhelming to show pics of. The fish totally made up for it, though.

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The decor in the restaurant was pretty awesome; it reminded me of an old, old wooden ship.

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Also, they had a giant stuffed lobster on the wall. Apparently this guy was 37.5 pounds, which means a TON of claw meat.

What’s your favorite seafood? My favorites are scallops and lobster. I obviously eat lobster pretty infrequently, so when I do, it’s doubly awesome.

Coolest lighthouse you’ve ever seen/climbed? I’d have to say Bermuda takes the cake for that one for me; you can see the whole island from the top, and it’s so gorgeous.

What Do You Really Need to Run Long Distances?

I got an email the other day from a reader asking for advice about running her first half-marathon.

She said she’d been running a 5K every month since December 2011 and wanted to know if I thought she could be ready to run her first half, the Miami ING (which, looks awesome!), by January 2013, if she trained responsibly.

YES! I wrote back. Most half-marathon training programs, even for novices, are about three months. (Like my buddy Hal’s.)

She then wrote back, “When should I start considering adding extras into my training, or should I even consider them at all? I see a lot of bloggers talk about Gu, compression sleeves and fancy GPS watches.”

Hey J, I’m just gonna answer your question here, okay?

You don’t need a fancy GPS watch. Or compression sleeves/socks. Gu? You probably need some sort of “fuel” beyond 45-60 minutes. Most people do, though there are some people who can get through without any fuel.

[Disclosures: any Amazon links are affiliates; New Balance is a client of mine, but I really just like their stuff, too.]

What You Should Invest In:


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A good pair of sneakers. If you can, go get your gait analyzed at a running specialty store. This is a great way to find out whether you overpronate or not or have any other sort of issues going on. Also, these people work with runners all day long.

I’m currently rotating between the New Balance 860v2 and the Saucony ProGrid Mirage 2s I got just before I got the 860s.

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The 860s are traditional stability shoes and were named Editor’s Choice by Runner’s World last year; the Mirage is a lighter-weight shoe with just a bit of stability. I started running in the Sauconys after the NYC Marathon (so I’m not sure what they’re like for 13+ miles); before that, I was running in Saucony ProGrid Guides or Rides–more similar to the New Balances.

A good sports bra. If that sort of thing matters to you. I was sent the Under Armour Armour Bra to review; it’s supposed to be amazing and tons of research was put into it, but it was just another bra to me.

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The sports bras in my rotation: Nike Pro Compression (because boob compression is SUPER sexy), New Balance Tonic Crop and see that nude one in the back? My gym was selling them peddling them as sports bras, but it was pretty cheap and I’d forgotten a sports bra, so I tried this Coobie bra. Again, I’m not super-picky when it comes to bras, but it worked fine for a run on the treadmill, and I can definitely wear it with normal clothes, which makes it worth a lot more to me than the other sports bras.

ANYWAY, a good sports bra is something you probably need. But good definitely doesn’t have to be a Lululemon Ta-Ta tamer.

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Gu. (Or some kinda of fuel) If you’re running more than 45-60 minutes, you probably need Gu or some other kind of fuel (other suggestions from Women’s Running) to replenish your glycogen stores and keep you going.

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Foam Roller Foam rollers are awesome for rolling out all of the lactic acid and other crap that accumulates in your legs after lots of running. You can get them fairly affordably on Amazon, OR you can just use a frozen water bottle (but a big one–like 2+ liters) or a rolling pin.

What’s Nice to Have But Not Needed


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Garmin. A GPS watch definitely qualifies as a nice-to-have but is not necessary. If you have a smartphone, you can use RunKeeper or MapMyRun–or you can just use a regular sports watch and time how long you’re out and then map it when you get home. Sure, you won’t know your individual splits, but plenty of runners got by for years without knowing their individual splits, and I know plenty of people who have qualified for Boston without a Garmin. Before I got my Garmin, I’d been using the Nike+ app. Caveat: I will say that once I got past 6 miles, it was less than accurate. That was when I decided to ask for the Garmin for Christmas.

Nowadays, Garmin isn’t the only GPS watch option (or maybe it never was the only option, but blogs just convinced me they’d cornered the market). My favorite client New Balance makes a GPS watch as does Timex. Both are right around $100.

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Compression Socks/Sleeves. I finally bought a pair last year–after I’d run one marathon and 8 or 9 halfs, which is to say these definitely aren’t a need, unless you’re having some sort of issue in your legs. I bought CEP compression because that’s what my running store had, but I would imagine you could probably also wear medical compression socks and get away with them for cheaper.

There are so many random things I’ve picked up through a few years of running and blogging about running, but the above (and a thing of Vaseline/Body Glide and a decent outfit and socks) are really all you need. The rest of it is just nice-to-have.

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Oh, I made a super-quick, easy dinner tonight: frozen Trader Joe’s sweet pototo gnocchi with roasted Brussels sprouts and a turkey burger.

Runners, what would you say you *need* to run? What are just your nice-to-haves?