It’s Sunday morning, and I am ready to do my first timed training session. I wake up and take Russo, our foster dog, for a brief walk, which doubled as my warm up. Then I grab my earphones, and put my phone into my running belt, tighten up my shoelaces and head to the beach.

I have decided to do most of my training on the beach for two reasons, first, it is a beautiful place to workout. I firmly believe that working out needs to be just as beneficial to the mind and spirit as it is to the body, so why not pick a place that you love as your training ground. The second reason that I am choosing the beach for timed training is because of the uneven surface. As I found out in the Star Wars Half Marathon, the race takes place on flat roads, uneven roads, up hills, and through dirt paths, I want to make sure that I am used to the uneven surfaces, and even though it is more difficult, I think it will help my foot and leg improve.

So I started the Endomondo app and left the house. I began with a brisk walk and once I reached the packed sand I began to jog. I haven’t jogged since the Star Wars Half Marathon so I was a little nervous, but everything felt great! After a little while I hear the Endomondo voice in my earphones “one mile in twelve minutes, thirty two seconds”, boy that pumped me up, that was a great time for me, and well within the 16 minute mile time limit that Disney sets. So I continued on through mile two, keeping the same pace.

As I reached the start of mile three, I decided to walk for the full mile, I was telling myself that I wanted to get my time for a full mile of fast walking, and that was true, but the real reason that I walked for the whole mile was that I was getting tired. My legs were a little fatigued and getting a little sore. So I walked and got a mile time of 14:07 minutes, not bad, and still well within range of my time.
As soon as I started mile four I jogged again, but since I was getting tired and sore, I would only jog for about 20 seconds and then walk for three or four minutes. I crossed my four mile finish line with a time of 52 minutes, and I was very happy with my results.

I cooled down by walking from the beach back to the house, about a quarter mile and ate a big breakfast of eggs and fruit, then rested for a little while, watching the countdown to Shark Week.

For the rest of the day I felt incredible, I had a ton of energy, and I was in a better than normal mood. Now I try to always remain positive and stay in a good mood, but today was amazing. After resting for a while I went to the gym and had a great workout, then came home and did a little work around the house. My first timed training day was literally one of the best days that I have ever had. I sure hope that this is how I feel every Sunday after my timed training session!