Sometimes you need a little motivation to jump-start your adventure engine. For those times, we’re here for you.
Coast
The best incentive to train for a marathon? Sample the atmosphere of a race. The live music (often), the camaraderie and support (always), the adrenaline, which gets you past “the wall” at mile 20.
The pending changing of the seasonal guard is evident this weekend. At the coast we have a sweaty 5K that ends with a bracing dip in the brisk Atlantic Ocean; in the Piedmont, the Eno River Association’s weekly Winter Hike Series is drawing to a close; and in the mountains there’s the opportunity to hike in snow — in 50-degree temperatures.
There’s a half marathon at the coast and a thoughtful hike in the Piedmont this weekend in North Carolina. And, weather permitting, you can do the unexpected in the high country: go snowshoeing!
Coast
Saturday’s Ocean Isle Bridge Run for Food half marathon has been a recent topic of conversation in our household. Our oldest is running the race; a cross-country runner during his days at Enloe High School, this is his first 13.1-miler. We’ve discussed what for him are the unknowns: the advantages and disadvantages of a long flat course, the impact of a usually constant ocean breeze/wind/hurricane-force-blow, the weather. We’ve discussed pace and a target time. All of which has made me wish I was in condition to run a half marathon Saturday at Ocean Isle.
Resolved to get out more in 2014 but need to ease into it? We’ve got two birding programs that promise a mix of mellow movement and awesome outdoor exposure. And if you’re looking to up your competitive resume in the year just begun, we’ve got a run in the mountains in a lesser-known natural area. Regardless of where you currently fit into the movement spectrum, it’s a good first weekend to an active new year.
Fall is a great time to be outdoors in North Carolina; this weekend there are several ways to enjoy the season: hike a swamp at the coast, run a marathon in a Piedmont forest, paddle a mountain river — at night.
Coast
Lots of people go to Merchants Millpond State Park, almost all to paddle the cypress- and tupelo-peppered millpond. But the park, nestled in the swampy northeast corner of the state, also has hiking trail (it even has backcountry camping). Saturday, you can tag along with a ranger on a nature hike through the park, a good opportunity to learn about the swamplike environment. Bug spray recommended.