Breaking Waves in Barbados

I stepped away from reality for a few days to attend a friend’s wedding in Barbados. What a piece of paradise. I was proud of myself for waking up diligently every morning to run. Before I left I frantically searched online for running groups because I wanted to run routes that I would’t know as a visitor. I didn’t have much luck, but while there I learned that there is a thriving running community with set runs daily throughout the island.

You’ll find a group on Carlisle Bay starting around 5 am in the morning. I believe that group also meets on Saturdays in another location for a long run. I’ll check them out the next time I am there. I can say that there is indeed a group that runs at 5 am because I could see them from my hotel balcony every morning as I willed myself to get up and head over to the beach to join them.

5 am to 7 am is prime time at most beaches for locals, there are early morning swim groups runners, some bring their horses to wade in the water and there are a few dog walkers, so I wasn”t worried about leaving early because I was in good company. The people were friendly, I think I said “good morning” at least 20 times during one run. As the days went by,they got accustomed to me and became part of the morning routine.

My first run was not at the beach, it was at the race track, called the Garrison. This was a nice track, with a few distance markers. I was a little hesitant because I was there while the jockeys were training their horses and you have to cross their track to get to the inner track. But it worked out because there were a few other people walking the track. There’s also an open gym area with equipment, I’m not sure if anyone can use it, but it seemed occupied throughout the day. The first lesson I learned while running is that I needed to start way earlier than 7 am. The sun was punishing and there was no shade, but I kept going because I didn’t want to get behind in my training but I was happy to stop. The inner track is about 0.9 miles and the outer track around the Garrison is a little over a mile. I think if I were to run this route again, I would choose the outer ring because there is some shade, but you do have to deal with some traffic. I enjoyed it and I think the school girls waiting for the bus found me peculiar and entertaining.

The remaining days were spent running on the beach. Boy was that tough! Running on uneven surfaces, dodging the water, jumping over the crabs and trying to save face with the built in audience on the beach gave me a good workout. It was easy on my knees but challenging on my ankles with the twists and turns, but overall I felt great. It was always a race against the sun, because as you know, there’s very little shade on the beach.

I also found some serenity with running on the beach with the sound of the waves, the overall calm of the early morning and the tenderness of the clouds before sunrise, at times I didn’t feel like I was running at all.

Of course I did take some time to relax and walked miles on the beach each morning. SInce I was there for such a short time I wanted to maximize my beach time. Here a few photos from my 6 am walk on my last morning there. I found a much longer beach route on the last day, It is a continuos route from a part of Carlisle Bay all the way to Rockley beach. I guess that’s how these things work. I’ll be sure to try it next time.

One amazing break was lunch at Cin Cin by the Sea. All thoughts of watching what I ate went into the ocean after seeing this amazing restaurant with a very tempting menu. If you ever go to Barbados be sure to check it out.

This was the sunrise during my morning walk before I left for the airport.

Crabs are out on the beach early in the morning and if you are lucky you may see a turtle. I saw lots of baby turtles on the beach, so do be careful

The horses from the Garrison on their way to their morning swim. Lucky horses!
Ok so I gave in and got a cocktail at Cin Cin. I wanted another, but hey I’m training for a marathon!