Disappointment, Excuses & Motivation

I'm disappointed in my mileage last month. In January 2013 when I started this journey, I ran 71 miles that first month. Last month I only amassed 61 miles - my goal was to at least hit 71 & shoot for 80.

I have heard and said many times - 'excuses are tools for the incompetent'. So here goes - I only ran 12 days in January. We moved in January, classes started back, I was sick for over a week, and it was freaking cold. Tools or excuses it made for a difficult January. On the morning of 1/31, I had only run 50 miles. I did pull a 10+ mile run that morning in the snow and cold to at least make a final push for the month.

If bridges ice before roads, they must also thaw last

I'm a big fan of putting your goals out there so you can be held accountable. For February, I need to run 94 to match Feb 2013 + the 10 miles I was short in Jan + extra kick-ass miles. Let's hope for warmer weather.

Also in February, we have 2 more beaches planned - Holden and Oak Island. If you're interested in joining, let me know.


If you are interested in getting smaller bits of news and info, you can follow my journey on Twitter at @RunSheatsRun. Follow me, and I'll stalk follow you back.

Ocean Isle Beach

Today we conquered the next beach on our journey, Ocean Isle Beach (OIB). We purposely planned this run at low tide. At both ends of OIB the water comes up underneath a few of the houses.

House meet Beach

Like Sunset Beach, I'm very familiar with OIB. I grew up going to this beach with friends and family. Even living at Sunset Beach the past 2+ years, we still vacationed at OIB with family. The cottage we stayed in was only 7 miles away from our house.

Start of the OIB run

The total run today was 5.84 miles from tip to tip. In the pic below it looks like we were running in the water. Not the case, although we did have to jump several pools to make it to the far end.

OIB Journey

End of OIB run

This is our next beach across the inlet, Holden Beach. We plan on conquering it sometime in February.

Holden Beach (seen from the tip of OIB)

After my original posts about this journey, I received an email asking about running with us on the journey. All are welcome. If you just want to run a special beach, or if you want to run the entire coast - let us know. The more the merrier. If you have a place to stay on any of the coast line, and want to provide a place to sleep and shower, even better.



Tip to Tip: 5.84 miles
Start time: 11:41 AM
End time: 12:34 PM
Date: 1/13/14 (Monday)
Weather: Sunny
Total NC Beach Mileage to date: 9.76 miles

Bird Island & Sunset Beach

One goal for 2014 is to run the beaches of North Carolina. NC has 300+ miles of barrier island beaches. I have been to most, but not all. I'm looking forward to this journey. This is not a race of speed, but a race to finish. I will run the entire way. However, I will stop and take pictures, soak in the moment, and pick up my finds.

The furthest island to the south use to be 2 islands at high tide when I was growing up. Now Bird Island and Sunset Beach are connected all the time. Today I began that journey with my wife starting at the NC/SC line and the beginning of Bird Island. From tip to tip Sunset Beach/Bird Island is only 3.92 miles. This will be one of the shortest islands to run this year. 

To get to the beginning of Bird Island, we ran 1.73 miles from the closest beach access. Got there, reset our MapMyRun apps, and started our voyage. We ran this just before sunset. It was a beautiful day. Our one take find was the bright white sand dollar seen below. 

Tomorrow we conquer the next beach on the other side of the inlet - Ocean Isle.

Tip to Tip: 3.92 miles
Start time: 4:45 PM
End time: 5:21 PM
Date: 1/12/14 (Sunday)
Weather: Sunny @ Dusk
Total NC Beach Mileage to date: 3.92 miles

Old & New Resolutions

Last year I wrote down four resolutions for me to accomplish in 2013. They were…

1. Be more responsive
2. Run 1000 miles
3. No Fries
4. No Soda

1. Be more responsive
Anyone that knows me knows I'm terrible about answering the phone.  I hate answering the phone. I hate talking on the phone. I just don't like it.  So I set out in 2013 to make a conscious effort to answer the phone and not to push it to voicemail. I can honestly say, I did very good during January and February. After that, I fell right back to my old ways- pushing to voicemail. I failed at this resolution.

2. Run 1000 miles
I have written about this all year. Hence the reason for the blog. I did run 1000+ miles in 2013. I continue to brag about this. Read previous posts for much more information.

3. No Fries
You read it right. No Fries in 2013. I went the entire year without a single fry. The hardest part of this resolution was not having fries at Cloos' Coney Island in Raleigh. BEST FRIES EVER! In fact, I still have not had any fries in 2014 because I'm waiting for my first fries after over 1 year to be from Cloos. I hope to make that happen this week.

4. No Soda
Yep, no soda either. In fact I basically only had coffee, water, and alcohol in 2013. No tea (except in Hong Kong), only milk in cereal, and no sodas. I went through some cravings, but all in all it wasn't that hard. I still haven't had soda in 2014.

For 2014 Resolutions….

I haven't committed to anything yet. I'm still working on my list. Any help is appreciated.

However, I have made 2 'running' goals for 2014.

The first is to run a different bridge each month with my wife and sister. It's just something different and should be fun to do. For January, we ran over a bridge that crosses the Neuse River. It's a nice bridge, but the best part is the raging water below.

The second is to run the coast of North Carolina - from State line to State line every beach in NC. I will document this journey this year on this blog.

Year to 1000 in Review

My goal this year was to reach 1000 miles. When I reached 100 miles for the year, my wife snapped a photo to send to our podgies. When I hit 200, she did it again. On the 300th mile, I started catching on....

Some things I notice from the pics….

• I'm not wearing the same shirt in any of them
• I'm only wearing a hat in 2 of them (I'm a hat guy). 
• 7 are in a rocking chair. 
• 7 of the shirts were given to me. 
• 2 are from companies that have been a great support to me and my students - Ruckus & Lone Rider - check them out. 
• 3 of them are from former students - Carolus Apparel, Crank Arm Brewery, & Hurst Landscapes - check them all out. 
• All of them were taken by my wife, except the last one - she's just over my left shoulder. 

It has been an awesome year!

3.43 miles / 1007 in 2013 (Year of Running 13)

As part of @MissZippy1 and her #yearofrunning13, here is my year...

• Best race experience?

This is a tough choice. I really enjoyed running Carrera de los Muertos in Chicago, but I have to say that my best experience was the following day when I ran the Battleship Half Marathon in Wilmington, NC. This was my first 1/2, and I ran it with my wife, sister, and brother-in-law and lots of family cheering us to the end. The company made it my best experience. Running it in 2 hours didn't hurt either.

• Best Run?

The first time I ran over the Sunset Beach bridge. The view will be forever ingrained in my memory.

• Best new piece of gear?

I'm really not a gear purchaser. I would have to say my best new piece of gear is the shirt I received for running in the Carrera de los Muertos. I wear it with pride.

• Best Piece of running advice you received?

Get up and let's go. I constantly heard this from my wife this year. She was a great motivator.

• Most inspirational runner?

Has to be my wife (see previous answer). She never has an excuse not to run, and she never accepted mine.

• If you could sum up your year in a couple of words, what would they be?

Accomplished Goal! I set out to run 1000 miles in 2013. Done!

3.61 miles / 1004 in 2013

I ran today. I didn't have to run. I ran today because I wanted to run. 

I'll use the last couple of weeks of 2013 to reflect and recap on this journey....

Many would expect me to go through a few pairs of shoes if running 1000 miles. I did. 3.5 pairs this year. The last pair looked like a bald tire with the threads popping out when I finally retired them. What really irritated me this year is how many ear buds I went through. I didn't lose any, but I'm breaking out my fifth pair today. My fourth stopped working after my 3rd mile. Four pairs this year that either completely stop working, only one side worked, or gave a strobe like effect of sound while running. Shouldn't these things be a little more durable?