Beautiful Beach Run

 This past weekend was my second-annual "girls weekend" with my best friends from high school. Last year a bunch of us went to Mackinac City and the island. This year we had a smaller group, but we had a blast in Traverse City. I honestly can't remember the last time I was in Traverse City in the summer.  It was wonderful. Beautiful beaches, fun shops, so very relaxing. It was pretty toasty and I wanted to sneak a run in. So I was up and at 'em before 7 on Saturday morning (never sleep well first night in a hotel anyway).  I went for a very relaxed 4 mile run along the bay with many stops to enjoy the beach. It was wonderful.

 Sun rising on the beach. It was actually much lighter than this, but above was how my camera captured it. It's beautiful, so I'll take it. :)

Pre-run.

This beach is right outside our hotel. Seemed like a great place to start!

I stopped for a bit along a rocky stretch of beach.

I climbed down these rocks.

And put my toes right up to the water.  I seriously considered taking my shoes off and going in, but it seemed messy to have to put them back on. And since I wanted to finish my run without sand between my toes (ouch) I kept my shoes on... 

 

My post-run view.  After I finished, my friends were still sleeping/quiet. I grabbed my book and just sat out on the beach for awhile, enjoying the warm morning and cool breeze with some crummy hotel coffee.  It was a great way to start the day.

 

And this is just me being stupid. :)