White Sandy Beaches and Plently of Snow

I have been a runner since my father took me out on the road in our neighborhood when we were little kids. I kept running through high school and college as exercise and stress relief. I played lots of sports and am a total joiner, I love activities! When I started traveling it became harder to be apart of any sports teams or clubs because I never knew my schedule or where I was going to be and anytime I was in one place particular I knew I would be leaving soon. Since running only requires a pair of shoes it was an easy thing to continue. It is also a great way to see new places, a 6mph pace is just about right to see a lot of things in a short amount of time. Little things you might miss if you were zooming past in a car. It has also turned out to be a good litmus test of the type of people in an area. When arriving in a new place I will head out on my morning run and wish every person I pass a Good Morning! It's shocking, since I'm from New England, but I like to greet people and be greeted as they pass. I have found some very friendly environments (the caribbean) and some snobby ones (San Fran) but mostly people smile or respond as they jog along. My running app has little tips for every day and yesterday it said, "Don't forget to smile at other runners. Most are friendly and don't care how long you've been running, just that you're out participating and enjoying their sport." It's true, we're all out there having a good day or a slow day or a first day, but we're out and that's awesome!





So last week I packed up my shoes and my sailing gear and headed south to Antigua. I took a plane this time and was there for a Superyacht Race. Superyacht racing is a special kind of racing. Not thrilling like AC72 sailing and not competitive like dinghy sailing but it's a whole other spectacle that I personally love to watch. There is a grand piano aboard the yacht I race on and we move that beast around the course just as seriously as we would any other race boat. It's just a baby grand after all. We had a good week sailing and I had a mediocre week of running. I managed to fit in a couple of my favorite runs and hiked the goat trail with some friends. Antigua is probably my favorite Caribbean island to run on. Many of the flights were canceled coming back into the North East so I used my extra day to run to Rendezvous and join up with a beach bbq.

Yesterday after work I bundled up and headed down to the beach. It was a beautiful afternoon and not too cold. The sidewalks are icy and the roads are only cleared to the yellow lines so there is no shoulder to run on. It makes for a good adventure and trying not to slip on the ice helps pass the time!

This morning I headed across the bridge for a 10k trail run, not really thinking through the fact that there was a blizzard last week and the woods are full of snow. The trail ran around a pond in North Kingston and was packed down for only about 1/2 of it! Deep snow running is actually pretty fun! Luckily it has been cold and the snow is still fluffy and thank goodness for Smartwool socks, feet are wet but still warm! Who doesn't love a little contrast? White sandy beaches one week and woods full of snow the next!