I'm on a Boat

Growing up near the Lake of the Ozarks has left me with a love of being out on the water.

On. Not in.

Never, ever, in.

Too many fish and other scary things that will nibble your toes and eat your legs and kill you.

Trust me on this. I just know it's going to happen to me any day now.

Anyway, for as long as I can remember, we've always had a place at the Lake. One of my very favorite things to do when I was there was to wake up early, head out on the deck with my Bible and a cup of coffee and watch boats come out and the sun rise over water.

Later in the day my mom, sister and I would gather round the dock and watch dad get the boat out and take bets on how long it would take for him to have a nervous breakdown.

But once we got out on the water, well, let's just say nothing beats falling asleep in the front of the boat with the sun and wind in your hair.

I've missed the Lake. I've missed the boat. I've missed being out on the water.

So when our super-awesome friends called us on Wednesday to ask if we'd like to go out with them on their boat, I got a little giddy.

More than a lot. I think I was bouncing around the house.

Either that or I had six cups of coffee too many.

Let me explain Vero a little bit. Our town is situated on the Indian River - an inlet of ocean water between us and the barrier islands - and on the other side of the barrier islands is the ocean.

We went out on the Indian River - smooth, calm water with lots of sailboats, kayaks...

And dolphins. Lots and lots of dolphins, just swimming right by the boat.

Sorry, Lake of the Ozarks. I love you, but I love dolphins more.

We rode out to Round Island - my favorite part of the ride. It's a lagoon-ish area full of kayakers and manatee...the manatee were swimming right under us. It was pretty cool.

Thanks to Sara and Gray for such a great afternoon.

And our Captain was awesome!

Today I Love: Our sweet friends who invited us to spend the afternoon with them and the fact I got a suntan on January 2nd.

Play

The weather here is perfect right now. Low 70's in the morning, a slight breeze coming in from the ocean. It just begs a girl to go outside and play.

However, my right knee and hip still like to scream at me from time to time due to previous years of full and half marathons, added to the 14+  hours I spend on my feet at the hospital, so I'm honestly a little tired running. I'm still putting in three or so miles here and there, but it leaves me wanting to do something more. Something epic.

Something that involves more than sitting around the house in my pajama pants on my days I don't work.

Even though I really, really want to sit around the house in my pajamas on the days I don't work.

November is my motivation. This is my birthday month, the month I turn the big 3-2 and want to put in some serious miles on the days I don't have to wear scrubs and hand out medicine.

I might, might be freaking out about getting older. The more I see of 60 year olds with heart problems made worse by obesity and diabetes on my unit makes me want to stay as active as possible. I refuse to get older and use that as an excuse to be lazy.

Age is what you make of it. My almost-70 year-old neighbors run marathons.

Get outside, people!

So to celebrate, I bought myself a bike. No excuses about knees and hips - biking is a fabulous cardiovascular workout that even people with knee and hip replacements can do.

No. Excuses.

There is a really sweet bike shop down the street from our house called Orchid Island Bikes and Kayaks. Bikes and kayaks. How can you not fall in love with this place? The guys inside are a plethora of knowledge about everything cycling.

Plethora. Wow. I haven't used that word in awhile. Glad to know the English major in me is still alive and kicking.

Anyway, I think the guys saw this new-to-cycling girl coming from a mile away, because I walked out of the shop with a brand new bike that cost more than our house, plus a helmet, tire pump and a brochure of local bike trails.

And forget Huffy and Schwinn. I'm now officially in love with Trek bikes.

Thank you bike guy at Orchid Island. I'm now a believer in the power of specialty shops and not just buying something off the rack at Target.

Even though I still like buying things off the rack at Target.

I've really been missing my Missouri bike trails, especially during the fall. I remember riding some serious curves and hills on the west side of the South Creek Greenway with my dear friend Sarah, listening to Barlow Girl and Superchick to get us pumped up to rock our miles.

So I am very super-excited to discover some local paths.

This morning I set out with my favorite Camelbak and decided to try out the Jungle Trail - a packed sand trail that is 7.4 miles in one direction along Vero's barrier islands.

I'm so, so glad I did this trail.

It. Is. Amazing.

Flat as a pancake, but amazing.

Things I liked: The scenery and discovering native Florida. However, I will always have a special place in my heart for my Missouri trails that wind through the woods and over creeks and streams. But palm trees, mangroves, manatee areas and the breeze off the water is pretty sweet too.

Beautiful coastal houses didn't hurt the scenery much, either. 

Things I didn't like: The sand was mushy in some areas, which made pedaling my skinny hybrid tires a little difficult. Made for a great heart rate and calorie burn, but decreased my average mph.

Things I wish for: The lizards to stop freaking running out in front of me. Scares the bejeezus out of me every single time.

This was a fun little discovery on the path. So very cute.

All in all, a fantastic ride that I will definitely do again. And again and again. 

Total ride summary via Garmin Connect: 

Bike - Jungle Trail

Mon, Nov 5, 2012 9:00 AM Eastern Time (US & Canada) By runnergirl2027

Activity Type: Road Cycling | Event Type: Fitness | Course: Packed Sand

Distance:	14.50 mi
Time:	1:30:00
Avg Speed:	9.7 mph
Calories:	933 C

Sunday, Sunday...

I did something today that I've never done before.

I wore shorts and a t-shirt in mid-October.

And went to the beach.*

This is about as far out as I'll go.

Things-in-the-ocean-that-will-eat-my-legs-phobia and all that.

"A message in a bottle!" I said.

"Nope," said M. "Just somebody's fo'ty."

So sorry, Missouri...I just didn't miss you that much today.

*I've actually been to the beach before, just not in mid-October. And just to clarify, we went after church. And lunch. And walking the apartment dogs who, we discovered, shredded a newspaper and some of M's student's homework while we were at church. Fabulous.