Beach Running

Up at 5:20 and on the boardwalk by 6, I got in a beautiful (cool! bizarre and beautiful and September like weather completely unlike our usual dog days of late summer weather!) 7 mile run. I finished with a few intervals of squats, lunges, and abs and pushups. I love running at the beach more than anywhere else on earth. My favorite time to be out there is at sunrise, the clean air, the quiet, the silence (I'm strictly back to my no music runs again)………Seeing the seagulls, the sandpipers, the dolphins playing in the water, my mind is free and my body just falls into the familiar rhythm of my pace. On mornings like this I feel as though I could run forever. Its very meditative. Its a time where I feel incredibly focused: I am aware of my body moving through space, my footfalls, my breath, my heart beating, and I also feel very contemplative.

Its a strange combination of extreme focus and total freedom of thought. Sometimes my mind is focused on a single issue or something that I'm working out or through, and sometimes I find myself literally thinking about nothing but a single mantra or phrase for the entirety of my run. I come home exhilarated, every single time. I know that yoga benefits my golf game in a myriad of ways. I feel like running is a form of meditation for me, and I know that tomorrow when I sink onto my mat after my run, I am going to be centered in a way that I generally take time to get to in a normal practice without a run first. I keep thinking back to this vacation last year ~ it was the first time that I really ran since breaking my hip. The year before? We were here and I was on crutches and had Brooke here with us giving us full time help. This year? To be truly healed, to feel so free in my body, to have the kids be so easy (instead of being up there running with the jogging stroller I was able to walk while they rode their bikes up and back the entirety of the boardwalk ~ so much change so quickly!)……….its a lot to think about , these concrete milestone markers of time.

I finished my book today and started "The Luminaries" by Eleanor Catton. I got to take about a 90 minute nap with my buddy Jake on the beach this afternoon ~ there is something so incredibly RIGHT about wrapping your arms around your child and laying in the cool shade of an umbrella after being on the go since 5:30 AM. The kids are so amazing ~ just little fish on their boogie boards, making friends and playing wiffle ball, we played a lot of football and even practiced some yoga and handstands late in the day. We were on the beach from 11-6, made an easy dinner after our glorious outdoor showers, and headed up to Uncle Charlies for some ice cream. A few chapters of Charlottes Web and everyone is passed out cold, me to follow in moments. Up again early for a short run and a nice long practice on the beach before anyone wakes up. Sunrise yoga? Yes please.