From Walking to Running at Dawn on Mae Ramphung Beach
I posted on here in May about my evenings walks on Mae Ramphung beach here in Rayong. This continues to be my favorite and most productive time of day – it gets me energized and positive.
Dawn on Mae Ramphung Beach
I’ve made a few changes to my routine on Mae Ramphung. I’d been walking in the afternoons, but I’ve changed the time to 05:30 am – I’m now on the beach each morning before sunrise.
My initial reason for changing from afternoons to mornings was the weather. It is now the rainy season in Thailand, and if I wait until the afternoon the weather is often too bad to walk. If it is raining in the morning, I still have the option of going later on.
Walking in the afternoons gave me a great tan but after living in hot counties for over thirteen years, this isn’t such a big deal to me. I’d much rather be pale and reduce my risk of developing skin cancer – I’m also saving money on sunscreen creams and hats by walking first thing in the morning.
I originally intended to just do these early morning walks until the end of the rainy season, but it is such a wonderful time of day to be on the beach that I plan to stick to this time. My concern that a long walk before breakfast would mean I’d be tired for the rest of the day is mistaken – I’ve now far more energy than ever.
Mae Ramphung beach isn’t ideally located for sunrises – the eastern side of nearby Samet Island is the best place to go for this. There is something really special about this time of the morning on the beach, and I’ve started taking pictures that I post to my Facebook page.
From Walking to Running on Mae Ramphung
I had been walking for ninety minutes of the beach, but I have the type of body that needs hard exercise. I’m slowly building up to an hour or running each time, and I’m going to do this for five or six mornings per week.
I’m a bit out of shape, but it felt really tempting to try to run an hour from the first day. I stopped myself doing this because I know it can too easily lead to injury and loss of motivation. I started off with five one-minute runs, and I’m not at five three-minute runs.
It feels like I’m holding back by building up slowly, but it is helping me develop the running habit again. It is going to take another eight weeks before I’m up to the full-hour.
My exercise program also fits in nicely with my ten weeks of 5:2 intermittent fasting. It means that by the end of this period of fasting there will be something in place to help me maintain my weight.
The Meaning of Mae Ramphung
I’m always interested in how places in Thailand get their names. I’ve asked a few people about the history of the name ‘Mae Ramphung’, but I haven’t received any illuminating responses yet.
Mae (แม่) means ‘mother’ in Thai and ramphung (รำพึง) can be a person’s name or it can mean ‘to grieve’. So I’m not sure if Mae Ramphung (แม่รำพึง) means ‘Mother Ramphung’s Beach’ or ‘grieving mother beach’. If anyone has any suggestions, please leave a comment.
