It’s officially summer, and that means beach trips are just around the corner. And beach runs, of course.
Personally, I love running on Ocean City’s boardwalk. Probably just about any boardwalk, really. The sights! The energy! The ocean breeze! The flatness! The occasional water fountain!
But even I have had some tough-ish runs in this wonderful setting, and it’s not hard to figure out why: sometimes, during a summer vacation at the ocean, it’s hot.
I try to confine my summer outdoor runs to the morning, but once in awhile I’ve been forced by circumstance to knock it out in the late afternoon. This unfortunately means, among other things, dodging crowds and surviving in the hot sun. Makes those water fountains look extra good, right?
One solution here is to run intervals to conserve energy, but sometimes it’s so hard to start running again once you’ve stopped, amirite? Well, if you find yourself on Ocean City, Maryland’s boardwalk, I can help you out. Feast your eyes on the Candy Kitchen:
No, I’m not suggesting you duck in for some restorative fudge and a milkshake to go. (Although don’t let me stop you.) The secret here lies in the fact that there are, oh, I don’t know, 87 Candy Kitchens on the boardwalk alone. YES THAT’S THE ACTUAL NUMBER. (No, but seriously, there are at least four or five over the span of less than 2.5 miles.)
So, all you have to do is: run to the next Candy Kitchen. Then walk to it. Repeat. Or walk 30 seconds every time you get to a Candy Kitchen. Whatever. There’s no perfect formula but you’ll never run or walk tooooo crazy far and I promise you your run will get done. I can always promise you this. You can do it!
Or, like, just get some fudge and call it a day. It’s vacation!
Don’t forget, you can follow FRoA on Twitter @fairestrunofall and on Instagram @fairestrunofall. If you have any questions or thoughts, leave a comment or email fairestrunofall@gmail.com. See ya real soon!