Joggling in the OC (part 1)

I spent the weekend out in Ocean City, MD.  My wife had a 3-day conference out there, so while she was toiling in class all day, I just puttered around the beach for 3 days.  I thought it would be fun to bring my bean bags and do a little joggling in this new location.  It was a lot of fun!

Day 1:  Assateague Island (3.3 miles)
As soon as I saw the bridge to Assateauge Island, I knew I wanted to run over it.  Better yet, I knew I wanted to joggle it.  It was a skinny little pediatrian bridge over the bay, but it had a very high arc.  It was quite impressive for a pediatrian bridge. 

I parked in a small lot on the mainland.  There was no one around, but just seconds after I pulled into the parking lot, another car pulled into the lot.  This set off my internal alarm.  But when I took a closer look at his car, I saw an “Ironman Finisher” bumper sticker.  I immediately felt much better (kind of like seeing an AT sticker on a car).

It was crisp, but very sunny as I set out joggling over the brige.  The winds were a slight factor, but the bigger issue was the sun in my eyes.  Heading up over the bridge, I had to squint real hard.  It made for tough joggling.  I had visions of dropping a bean bag, and watching it fall way down into the bay below.

I stopped when I got to the top of the bridge.  It was too beautiful.  I felt a little weird about joggling out here, like I was missing full range of views around me.  So I took a minute to look all around.  The ocean was in the distance, and the bay was directly below me.  In the distance was the silhouette of Ocean City.  The seagulls were chattering, but all else was quiet.  It was a nice moment.

I finally headed back down the bridge, and along the bike path to the beach.  I could hear the Ironman Finisher slowly coming up behind me.  I joggled on steadily, glad that the cross-winds of the bridge were behind me, and that I was no longer angled up into the sun.

“I don’t know how you do that,” the ironman said, finally up about even with me.  “I can’t do that standing still.  I am really impressed.”

This statement baffled me.  An ironman is impressed with me?  That’s when I realized that joggling, at least at my level, is a big sham.  Believe me, I am blown away by those who can joggle faster than I can run, or who can joggle a marathon.  That is talent, and I am impressed.  But to joggle an easy 3 mile run?  It looks a lot more impressive than it is.

I ran with the ironman for a few minutes.  I told him about joggling, and he told me about the recent half marathon they had in Ocean City.  It sounded like a good race.  Finally, he told me he was only doing 3 miles, and didn’t want to distract me.  Then he took off, and left me behind.

I joggled along happily, realizing I hadn’t made any stupid drops while chatting with this stranger.  I also came up with the brilliant idea to follow him, because then I’d know I did roughly 3 miles.  After all, he did seem to know the area.

I followed the ironman into a parking lot, around a closed (and locked) gate, and along a barren road.  He got farther and farther ahead of me, but luckily the road was a straight line, so I could always see him.  After what surely seemed like more than a mile and a half, he was still running way, way ahead of me.  That’s when I realized the flaw in my plan.  He as probably doing a one-way run.  He was probably camped out on the beach, and would have someone drive him back to his car on the way out.  So, I was following him to who-knows-where.

I found a little cut-through path, and followed the bike path back to the bridge.  The wind was again tough on the bridge going back.  And the bridge seemed much longer the second time.  But I got back to my car feeling good.  I’m not sure how far I ran, but I’d guess about 3.3 miles.  It felt really, really good.

On the way home I found a donut shop that lets you create your own donuts.  And in a matter of seconds, I un-did any exercise I did that morning.  But it was all worth it.  It was fun, and I was on vacation.