My best attempt to capture the disorienting magic that is downward dog on the beach.
I gave beach running another shot this morning. I remember doing it on vacation once in Grand Cayman… and it was a hot mess. I ran too close to the waves trying to find a hard flat surface and my shoes and socks got soaked, it was uneven running, the sand was too soft… I actually threw out my shoes after that one. (They were ready to go anyway.)
But being in Maine for most of the summer I’ve talked to two avid beach runners who convinced me to give it another chance.
The trick is waiting for low tide, and finding a good beach. This morning I went at low tide to a recommended beach and ran in my sneakers. I would enjoy running barefoot, but you have to build up gradually so you don’t get injured. I missed feeling the sand on my feet like I do on a walk, but my ankles and knees were happy with me.
It was a little slower than running on pavement, but not the difficult sinking-in-mud feeling I remember from Grand Cayman. The sand was pretty hard, the view was gorgeous, and there’s nothing like taking your shoes off afterwards for stretching and post-run yoga in the sand.
If you’ve never done a downward facing dog with the ocean behind you, it’s mesmerizing. Seeing the ocean waves crashing in upside down is gloriously disorienting… like you’ve completely escaped reality for a few peaceful moments.
In other news… muffins.
I made chocolate chip zuchinni banana muffins this morning from this recipe using the oil-free vegan option. They’re delicious! Made with your own oat flour pulsed in the blender, they were quick to mix up and turned out wonderfully moist. I baked the muffins for 20 minutes and then shut the oven off and let them remain for an additional 10, which was my best guess for modifying her cooking times from a loaf pan. It made 9 muffins.
I love muffins in the morning, especially ones that leave me feeling energized (vs. too heavy or too sweet cupcake type muffins that make me queasy). These were great; filled with whole grain oats, zucchini and banana. I think you could reduce the amount of maple syrup by 1/2 and they’d still be sweet enough.
I’m daydreaming about starting a muffin project this fall and baking a batch of muffins once a week and freezing them so I can microwave myself a muffin any morning my heart desires. My heart desires muffins a lot.
Running
I’m doing some soul searching about running lately. I’m signed up for two half marathons this fall, but I never want to run when I have a babysitter. I want to ride my bike. But I don’t like the idea of being a non-runner. Greg wonders if I’d enjoy running more again if I buckled down and got some of my running ability back; I’m struggling with long runs and speed workouts because I spent so much time doing triathlon training this spring. He’s probably (ok definitely) right… but I’m not sure how long it’ll take me to regain that proficiency and if I want it more than I want to just stick to a few jogging sessions a week in between bike rides and swimming laps.
We’ll see.