The last few weeks I've been meeting up for brick workouts (a bike loop followed immediately by a run) with my friend Maria. She is a long-time veterinarian who is heading back to school next year, changing gears from small animal practice to lab work and teaching. Her summer and fall athletic events schedule is slightly more ambitious than mine --complete with century bike rides and a possible addition of a 1/2 iron-- but we are fairly well matched in our fitness level at the moment.
We've been meeting up twice a week at Manasquan Reservoir in Howell Township, NJ, which is about 45 minutes away from both our houses. The reservoir is a municipal water source and a 1,200 acre park with a boating, biking, fishing, a wilderness preserve and a well maintained 5 mile perimeter trail that we run on.
I suspect the place is hectic on weekends, but when we come on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, it is pretty peaceful. There is usually a school group or two out to look at the nesting birds and other woodland creatures. In the past two weeks we've seen a gardener snake, a baby turtle, monarch butterflies --including one that lead us in to our running terminus today-- and countless warblers.
Our bike loop is one that Maria has done with her Team in Training group; it is 10 miles of rolling hills on quiet roads that wander through horse country. Even I --so skittish on the bike-- feel peaceful and happy riding here. I find it hard to believe this resource is just a mile off of Rt. 9, a bumpy thoroughfare dense with strip malls, gas stations and roadside billboards advertising the services of slip and fall attorneys.
Working out with Maria ensures I get my bricks in, and chatting with a friend makes everything more fun.
Maria and I will both be at Jersey Shore Triathlon on June 21. Come out and cheer us on!
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