My 20th Anniversary

on Fire Island.  We began going there early on in during my Brooklyn Law teaching days.  Pre-kids, pre-running.  We have been back almost every year.  Since our daughter just turned 17, we officially declared this our 20th anniversary on the island.  As the east coasters know, Fire Island is a barrier island just east of Long Island.  Its 32 miles long, a couple of blocks wide and you get there by ferry because there are no cars.  Each "town" has a ferry dock, and maybe a grocery store.  Only a couple of towns are big enough to have much more.

As I ramped up my running, I learned the joys and curses of beach running.  Endless solitude is one of the joys, burning calves are one of the down sides.  This weekend, I got out for two runs (shoes on with compression sleeves).  One was an 8 miler from Ocean Beach to Sailor's Haven and back, the other a 4 miler going the other direction.  At 9 in the morning, there are few on the beach and the beach seems truly endless, especially since Hurricane Sandy flattened  most of the dunes, effectively widening the beach.  Most of the houses survived intact but lots of decks and stair cases to the beach are gone and only partially rebuilt.  The island looks a little beat up, which it was, with lots of debris and construction materials lying around.  The rush seems to be on to finish everything before the high season in a couple of weeks, but every time there is a down pour all work stops and everyone gets real nervous.

None of this affects the beach which was gorgeous one day and soggy the next.  And yes, I felt the burn.  Just wish I could train there for a full summer.