Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Ocean Run

I had a dentist appointment this morning down in Kennebunk, so I decided to take advantage of the area for a run since the snow totals are less along the immediate coast (meaning more room on the roads), and plus running near the ocean would be nice. Beautiful day out today also, with sunny skies and temperatures around 40 degrees. It felt tropical.

First point of interest was Parson's Beach, where I go often in the summer for striper fishing or just to enjoy the beach. I stopped and watched the waves for a few minutes before heading back up Rt. 9 to the other beaches closer to downtown. Definitely a lot of fun watching the waves crash on the rocks as I was trotting along.

Just as the road turned away from the shore, it crosses over a tidal river where the sound of a common loon stopped me in my tracks. I stopped to admire two of them in the water, noting their winter plumage. One of them was pretty proficient at catching fish. Twice I saw him dive under and come up with a pretty good sized meal that took him a while to gobble down. Worth noting several dozen mallard ducks also shared the water with the loons.

Another cool sighting as I neared the end of my run as I saw about three dozen wild turkeys in someone's yard. Just about every one of them was huge. One healthy looking gaggle, for sure.

Run felt pretty good. I say pretty good because I noticed a cold coming on yesterday, but I feel somewhat better today. Hopefully this one won't last as long as the one I had last month.

Ran 12.4 miles @ 8:08/mile pace.
AHR/MHR - N/A (new strap coming by the end of the week, woohoo!)
Paved roads.
Slightly hilly.
Around 40 degrees. Partly to mostly cloudy.
Long pants, long sleeves shirt, short sleeved shirt.

4 comments:

Love2Run said...

Great map, I can really get a feel for the smell of the ocean ;-) Hope you can keep that cold at bay.

Ange said...

YOur run on the water sounds perfect today. There is nothing better on earth to me than time on the ocean. Combine it with a run and life is good. So glad you got out there. I hope your cold disappears fast. This one I have is just goign on and on. Get lots of rest and banish it!

mindy said...

Was there swell?

Runner NYC said...

Way to make the most of things! So happy you got such a good run in! Feel better!