Saturday was the first day of a week-long vacation to my favorite vacation spot.
Block Island is lovely quaint isle that sits 12 miles of the coast of the Rhode Island mainland and the south fork of Long Island. It is actually a Rhode Island town (the smallest one) but, I believe, nautically closer to Montauk, L.I. Only accesible via boat (there are four ferry locations on the mainland) or small airplane, it is the essence of a "getaway".
It is tiny - a total of 10 square miles of land. So, how do you do a 17-mile run on 10-miles of land?
This description is for those who know and love this lovely island - the rest of you may need a map. Or just come visit sometime.
Starting on High Street near the town's one school (K-12!), I headed down the hill and into town near Old Harbor, then it was up along the skinny side of the island along Corn Neck Road, all the way to the end, near the North Light house where I turned around and came back down. A right turn along Beach Avenue and then toward New Harbor brought me to West Drive and West Side Road, all the way to the west side of the island. I hooked around Cooneymus Road to Old Town Road which brought me back to town and to my starting point. Bam, 17 miles.
Because Karen and I took the 3 p.m. ferry from Point Judith, we did not get settled into our rented cottage until 5, and it was after 6 when I started running.
Maybe it was the cool evening's ocean air; maybe it was my delight to be back on the island after more than a year; maybe I was happy to be on vacation; heck, maybe I just miscalculated, but I hit the stopwatch at the end and saw 1:59:02!
What? Could I have really done that long run, hills and all, at faster than marathon pace? Maybe so, maybe not. But I sure felt amazing afterward. That old runner's high was back. And it was only the beginning of vacation.
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