IOP

This past Sunday to Sunday was spent in the IOP, which anyone in the Carolinas knows stands for Isle of Palms. IOP has a very special place in my heart because when I was a young District Manager for one of the Big 3, I was assigned the Charleston district and I scraped together enough money for a downpayment on a condo that was almost directly across Hway 17 from the Isle of Palms Connector in Mt. Pleasant. The floors squeaked, the pipes were made of polybutalene and leaked, only 1 of the 2 showers worked, the carpet was stained, but dang it, I loved that place. Kristal and I got married while I was living down there so it was our first place together. Once she moved in, she promptly put her touches on it. New carpet, and a great new paint job on the walls (our first attempted at painting), and before we knew it, the place was quite livable. We definitely took advantage of living that close to the beach (about a 4 minute drive) as we were down there in all seasons. I love that it still has that local feel to it without the skyscraping hotels and the throngs of sun worshippers.

We stayed at a condo in Wild Dunes. I love having kids young enough that we can vacation when all the other kids are in school. Next year will be our last chance to do that. The place was a ghosttown (probably also because of the hurricane scare from the previous week). We literally had the beach to ourselves.

I only managed to get in 2 runs while on vacation. I was hoping for a lot more, but a teething 6-month old tends to make you want to sleep in in the morning when you get the chance.

Managed to get out on Tuesday for a 4 miler. Went our via the nice wide sidewalks and came back on the beach. That beach running in strenuous to say the least. I was sweating like no tomorrow despite the nice ocean breeze. Stats: 4.09 @ 9:18.

Wednesday: I ran north this time and after a mile and a half, I came to a point (literally) where the land just ended. So I only managed 3.01 @ 9:14.

I did manage to get out today. I am determined to get my mileage up this week (even considering 2-a-days) to make up for my sloth for the last 3 weeks. I spent the morning just trying to clean out emails that piled up and finally managed to get out about 11:30. I paid dearly, but I was determined to get in 5 miles day. I accomplished that, but had to take 2 breaks and really REALLY wanted to take a 3rd break. Ended up with 5 even @ 9:25 pace. Note to self: How bout let's try to get out before the sun comes up next time. WAY too HOT!