There are those moments in life that you just want to freeze frame in your mind forever and ever. You will always remember the sound, the smell in the air, the color of the sky and the feel on your skin. This morning at the beach with my cousin was one of those. If I didn't say it before, I'm helping my cousin to train for her tryouts for her new High School's Soccer Team. One of their criteria is that you must be able to run 1.5 miles in under 14 minutes. That's a big requirement if you ask me, but then again soccer is about running, and if you don't like running then you shouldn't be doing soccer. Anyway, I got up at 6:30 AM, took every supplement I was supposed to, drank lots of water, jumped in the shower (why do I shower before running - this is probably a waste of water?) and headed out. I got gas around the corner, decided to run into Starbuck's for, yes - a double shot (This is all Jamie's fault that I'm addicted to these), and made it to my Aunt's house by 8 o'clock this morning. My cousin was outside and ready to go which was totally awesome. We drove over to one of the national parks nearby and began to train.
Probably one of the stranger things I am finding is how genetic some things must be. I only recently found out I have these three awesome cousins, which I can't wait to share with my sister cousin out on the west coast. We say we should have been sisters, and we really are. Anyway, about genetics, isn't it strange to find out that two of your cousins you've never met studied martial arts and the youngest is a musician and the oldest also studies Japanese language. They're all artists in one form or another. Just like me and my sister / cousin. It's truly unreal to learn all of this at this stage in my life. I welcome them with open arms.
Since we both studied martial arts, I brought out some hand targets and we went thru a series of calisthenics, kicks and combinations with an ocean view. The sky was a perfect blue, and the air warm with a breeze that would quit as soon as we finished our warm up and hit the pavement.
As a trainer, today was a test of sorts with no winning answer, just a feeler to see where my cousin stands with her running. Turns out she's great. I'm having her skip Module 1 and jump her up to Module 2. He homework is to train two more times this week in Module 2 and next weekend we will train again, probably earlier then today because it was sweltering by the time we were in the middle of our run.
As for me, I am moving into Module 3 this week and will take my cousin up that level during next weeks training session.
Module 3 is a new sort of challenge because for 20 minutes I have to run for 2 minutes and walk for 90 seconds. The recovery times are much shorter from here on in, so wish me luck.
It was really awesome to be out and about with one very cool, intelligent and funny person that's related to me and then get to see my other two cousins and Aunt before it even hit 10 A.M.
Today I feel very lucky, even blessed.
PS: This photo above is where we trained this morning. It's very cool to live this close to the ocean and still be minutes away from the city.
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