It’s probably been over a year since I had the pleasure of running along the beach!! It was so invigorating and exciting and fun – that I just have to share it with you! 🙂

But first, let me take a selfie…or two actually!

At the start!

And the half way point (1.55 miles)!

My husband, Evan, and I always find it more enjoyable to spend our July 2 anniversary (8 years now!) and the 4th of July holiday in 75 degree weather instead of 110! So we escaped the Phoenix heat and drove to Dana Point, California. Dana Point is just minutes from Laguna Beach to give you a point of reference.

When Evan asked me if he could go meet a buddy for lunch that beautiful Thursday afternoon on the 3rd of July, lots of fun alone-time ideas came to mind!! Should I spa? Should I pool? Should I read? So many options – but then, a fantastic idea came to me that blew away the others – RUN ON THE BEACH!!  🙂

I’m so happy I made that decision because opportunities like this do not come up that often!! With my iPod and my Garmin watch ready to go, I headed to the beach, breathed in the fresh ocean air, and put foot to sand! Here’s one of my famous selfies while running! Man, I just love these! It’s definitely a skill I’m continuing to perfect! 😉

Check out some of the beautiful views I captured!

At the half way point, I paused my Garmin and took a moment to reflect.  It just so happened that a remix of Gotye’s song, “Hearts a Mess”  (Joe Hardy 3AM Mix) starting playing on my iPod at that moment. I’m a huge fan of Gotye (considered in the Alternative genre) and the 6 minute 5 second remix of this song just seemed to create the perfect soundtrack to the moment I was having.

I’m actually listening to it as I write this post and it’s bringing the moment back to me! Seriously – chills down my spine!

  There is nothing quite like having a moment alone on the beach during a run on a gorgeous day. The scene of waves crashing against the rocks, the rich greens and blues colors of the ocean, the sun shining on the water creating a crystal effect – all invoked feelings of happiness, awe, and gratitude for having the good fortune of spending time in a place like this.

As serene as many of the moments were, this run was also like an obstacle course run which involved me trying to dodge waves, children who didn’t remotely look where they were going, giant tangles of seaweed, flying frisbees, people flinging sand for their sand castles, ping pong balls and boogie boards – but all in all it was a BLAST!!!  Another great thing about the run – I didn’t care at all what my time was! How can you really compare road running to battling sand and other obstacles right?! Sometimes you have to put pacing aside and go with the flow!!

Oh something to remember for the future – I probably should have worn an older pair of running shoes. I’ve rinsed my shoes off many times but I still CANNOT get all the sand out LOL! And every time I wear the shoes now whatever socks I wear became covered in bits of sand! Oops – run on the beach, get wet right?!

So tell me – where are YOUR favorite places to run?!! Treadmill? Trails? Beach? Road? Desert? Forest? Your own neighborhood? I’d love to hear from YOU!! 🙂 🙂 🙂