On April 16, President Obama signed a presidential memorandum “establishing the America’s Great Outdoors Initiative to promote and support innovative community-level efforts to conserve outdoor spaces and to reconnect Americans to the outdoors.” Like most things that involve a proclamation, speeches and four-page memorandums with subsections, it’s unclear what exactly America’s Great Outdoors Initiative actually is. And maybe at this point that’s not such a bad thing, because one of the first acts of the AGOI is to conduct a series of nine “Listening Sessions” across the country, one if which is Thursday in Asheville.
Braving the wilds of Cary
Curiously, when Marcy suddenly sounded like Curly in “We Want Our Mummy,” I thought back to a phone conversation we’d had last fall. I was on the Appalachian Trail, she was in our Cary backyard. I was in the wild, she was in suburbia. I was lounging at my campsite in the woods having tea, she was trying to figure out what to do with the four-foot copperhead sunning on our back deck. Subsequent Googling suggested that the sizable snake was likely a pregnant mama looking for a place to hunker down for the winter after giving birth — to as many as 14 slithering offspring. Marcy’s yelp this suggested that she had found said offspring.
A cool Fourth on the Eno
Death, taxes, a hot-as-blazes Fourth of July — the givens of life here in the Piedmont.
Except this year the hot-as-blazes Fourth took a holiday. Or at least the humidity did: The temperature may have been 90, but the humidity was a dry 30 percent. Perfect weather for a summer hike, perfect weather for exploring the Eno River.
Weekend plans? Three suggestions … or find your own
A run, a hike and a sunset are three of the numerous ways you can get out and explore this weekend.
Coast
It can be hard to find a foot race once sweltering summer settles in — but it’s not surprising that if there’s a race to be found, it’ll be at the coast. A breeze (hopefully) coming off the water and a flat course help compensate for the heat. Two reasons you might consider the 28th Annual Tri Span 5K and 10K Saturday in Wilmington. Starts at the Wilmington Hilton on Water Street, goes through downtown, hangs a right across the Memorial Bridge to US 421, crosses back over the 3rd Street Bridge to Front Street and eventually back to the finish. $30 for either race. More details here.
Oh, and another reason to run: the 7:30 a.m. start time beats the heat.
Gavin Coombs: Getting paced by the best
I figured Gavin was a good runner. He was, after all, one of our coaches. But it wasn’t until Saturday’s training run that I discovered just how good he was.
Gavin Coombs and Sean Kurdys coach the half-marathon training program I’m in. Like other running programs that have sprouted the last few years, it’s intended to get you from Point A (the starting line) to Point B (the finish) in 12 weeks. Our program, designed by Sean’s FAST (Functional And Specific Training) Coaching and run through The Athlete’s Foot in Cameron Village, is roughly divided into two more specific A-to-B programs: Sean coaches first-time half-marathoners whose goal is to simply run and finish 13.1 miles, Gavin coaches experienced half-marathoners who want to improve their times.