Ward off the post Labor Day weekend blues with a little action this weekend.
Coast
Technically, the summer beach season ends Labor Day. At least that’s what the masses think. In fact, with the masses thinking that and the water temperature still summer-friendly (84.2 degrees as of this afternoon at Wrightsville Beach) it’s hard to imagine a better time to hit the coast: All you need is a reason. Saturday’s 9th Annual Longboard Classic, perhaps? You don’t actually need to compete on your Supertanker (12-feet plus in length), one of 11 categories of competition, you just come on out to the north end of Wrightsville Beach (Beach Access #4), wear your suit, wade in and enjoy the action. The action begins at 8:30 a.m.read more
When I sign up for a run or ride benefiting a cause, I usually have some idea what the cause is. When I signed up for The Magnificent Mile on Sept. 19, I had no idea what primary lateral sclerosis or spastic paraplegia were. Fortunately, I signed up at The Athlete’s Foot in Cameron Village last week and Sarah Roberts-Witt was on hand. Unfortunately for Sarah, but fortunately for the cause of motor neuron diseases, there probably wouldn’t be a Magnificent Mile.read more
Sitting in the Hampton Roads Transit bus at 5:44 yesterday morning, a sobering feeling came over me. Glancing around, my fellow runners all had bib numbers in the five digits. More competent looking runners than I bore numbers such as 11256, 18097, 20876. With 6645 plastered across my chest, I felt like a poseur.read more
Thursday evening, I sidled up to two runners midpack in our Fit-Tastic walk-to-run program. (I was in the program last fall, I’m a mentor this year, sharing what insights a year of running has instilled in me.) Both women were pushing it, neither were struggling.read more
Salli Benedict thought she was over-the-hill in 1987.
“I had just turned 40 and I thought, ‘I’m so old.’” Not a sentiment Benedict would tolerate today from her workout class, most of whom are twice that age.
It was the same year Benedict, now 62, turned 40 that she took a “wellness retirement training” course through the Body Recall and started teaching an exercise class for seniors. Initially, the class was part of her job with UNC’s School of Public Health, then she taught it through Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation before it moved to its current home with Orange County. Though the class has changed some to reflect evolving thought on exercise theory, Salli’s Senior Workout, at 23 years and counting, is one of the oldest continuously running exercise classes in the Triangle.read more