A Good Sweat

I'm sitting here at the Daytona Beach (Florida) International Airport, in the shadows of the Daytona Speedway, waiting for my plane to take me back to Pennsylvania, so I thought I would share some thoughts.

I had a chance to run about three times down here on the boardwalk that runs through the Smyrna Dunes Park.  The boardwalk goes through a turtle nesting ground area and is about a mile and half long hugging along the ocean.  It's one of the my favorite places to run here or anywhere.  But, it does take some getting used to.

My first run was 3 miles and I was dying.  It is soooo hot when there is no breeze off the ocean and the sun is beating down on you.  The second time I went out, I did 3.7.  Juuuuuust a little bit longer.  And, finally, on the third run, I figured out there is a right way to run the boardwalk.  If you go counter-clockwise you get to see more of the ocean, Daytona Beach in the distance and the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.  But, more important, you get a real nice breeze and the sun is behind you when you are finishing up when the breeze is still. 

So the third time out, I did 4 miles.  And, each time, I was drenched in sweat.  You know the kind.  The kind when, even when you take a shower afterwards, you are still sweating.  At the end of the run, my legs were wobbling, my clothes were drenched, I was hotter than hotter could be but, after I got some water, I felt like I accomplished something.  And, I couldn't wait to run it again the next day. 

For some reason, a run is different, in me, in Florida than it is in Pennsylvania.  If I ran in the same conditions at home, I would be complaining.  But, here, I was loving it.

I would much rather run in Florida in the hot and humid than Pennsylvania in the cold.  It just feels better.