By Land and By Sea

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When I stepped out of bed after a night's sleep on Mackinaw Island I nearly tripped into the wall because I still felt some of the sensation I was on a sailboat. This is pretty reasonable considering the previous few days. I arrived on the island after sailing for 44 hours from Port Huron in the Bayview Mackinac Race. I'd been in motion for nearly two full days. So when the ground didn't go anywhere when I stepped down for my morning run my body need a second to reorient and adjust.

The perimeter of Mackinaw Island is 8.2 miles and I aimed to run the whole thing. As a kid and even as an adult, I'd ride my bike around the Island, but this visit is the first time I came as a runner. I aimed to get going pretty quickly because the sunrise would be happening in about 15 minutes. I didn't want to miss that. Even after being out in the elements as much as I had been; seeing the sunrise and set the past few days on the boat, I craved seeing the beauty of the sunrise over Lake Huron. 

Typically the streets of Mackinaw are jammed with tourists and horses, but at 6am none of the hustle started apart from the clip-clop of a few horse drawn wagons with morning deliveries. Pretty soon, I sounded like one of the horses as my feet hit the pavement in an even rhythm. I didn't want to push the pace as much as I just wanted to get reacquainted with ground.

A mile in I spotted the glow of the sun coming up over the horizon. I pulled off the main road to make it to the water's edge and see the fire of the dawn. After a moment's pause, I continued around the road in wonder at the way the vision before me of the road and the water provided a snapshot of my two favorite things of late; running and sailing. 

If you would have told me 5 years ago I'd be having the adventures I'm having now, I never could have imagined it. It sort of makes me wonder what other adventures await. 


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