What a Few Days at the Beach Reminded Me About Recovery, Fitness, and Health
Table of Contents
I have a bad habit of packing for trips on the same day I leave. It is not exactly a stress-management strategy I would recommend.
This trip started no differently. I was trying to pack, get out the door, and deal with ground turkey that I had thawed and was going to go bad if I did not cook it. I also had baked sweet potatoes that needed to be used. So, while preparing for a few relaxing days at the beach, I was also making a casserole.
I smashed the sweet potatoes for the base, added frozen vegetables, eggs, egg whites, ground turkey which I cooked for the recipe, and a little pecorino cheese on top. It turned out really good. I packed three pieces and took them with me. One slightly chaotic Wednesday morning solved a few problems at once: use the food, reduce waste, and give myself something nourishing and easy to eat during the trip.
The casserole I made while packing: sweet potato, vegetables, eggs, egg whites, ground turkey, and pecorino.
I also packed pre-cooked chicken, hard-boiled eggs, some of the pre-cooked ground turkey, avocado, apples, protein bars, beef sticks, chia, hemp, pumpkin and flax seeds, almond and oat milk, and beef protein powder for quick breakfasts. I was not trying to control every meal. I was simply making it easier to support my body without spending the trip figuring out what to eat. That is the same practical idea I use when I talk about building meals that support steady energy: a little preparation can reduce decision fatigue when life gets busy.
Karla and I arrived Wednesday late afternoon. She had been invited to house-sit and care for the owners’ dog, and she was able to bring someone with her. I was very happy to join her. The house was beautiful, in the Latitude Margaritaville 55+ community near Panama City, Florida, with a pool and hot tub. We took full advantage of the hot tub.
Almost immediately, I noticed another change. I went to bed earlier than I normally do in Atlanta, slept without an alarm, and got great sleep and resilience scores on my Oura ring and Polar watch. I love when the scores match how I feel!
Thursday: The Day That Reminded Me How Much I Miss Volleyball
Thursday was my favorite day of the trip.
We got to the beach around 2:00 p.m., and by about 3:30, we had joined a mixed group of men and women rotating through volleyball games for the next couple of hours. I had not really played volleyball in at least three years, even though the sport had been a huge part of my life for many years. I had subbed in for a few easy, low-key games in Atlanta here and there, but nothing like this.
I was cautious at first. I stayed away from hitting the ball and served underhand because I wanted to respect my right arm. But I moved well on the sand. I got up and down. I reacted quickly. I played well. And it felt like the skills had never completely left me.
That is one of the reasons fitness matters so much to me. Fitness is not only about weight, appearance, or how much you can lift. Strength, mobility, conditioning, coordination, and cardiovascular capacity give you options. They help you keep saying yes to the things you love.
Thursday beach volleyball: movement, play, community, and a reminder that fitness creates freedom.
And yes, I have to include the moment that gave my ego a little boost. A young college student and volleyball player, probably around 20, turned and said, “I want to play on Maria’s team.”
My response was basically, “Listen up, everybody. This 52-year-old still has it!” Everybody laughed. I laughed. And I am not going to lie, it made my day.
That is the spirit I want to keep as I age. I am not pretending age does not matter, and I am not trying to have a 20-year-old body. I want to protect the strength, capacity, confidence, and freedom that allow me to participate instead of sitting on the sidelines.
We played for a couple of hours and stayed at the beach through sunset. Then we had dinner at a restaurant near the beach. I made sure my meal included vegetables. I had brought plenty of protein foods from home but not many vegetables. It was simple balance, not perfection.
There is also evidence that time away can be more restorative than we sometimes give it credit for. A 2025 meta-analysis of 32 vacation studies found that vacations improved employee well-being more than earlier research had suggested, with psychological detachment from work and physical activity among the experiences associated with greater benefit.
Friday: I Felt the Payoff of Fitness, Then I Felt the Cost of Doing More
Friday we got to the beach around 9:30 a.m. to play with a group of women’s only. We played for about two hours, then spent the next several hours enjoying the beach and the water.
This time I tested my right arm more and hit the ball several times. It felt good, and thankfully I did not reinjure it. More than anything, I kept thinking, “Gosh, I miss this sport.”
Then came the run. Here is the thing: I am not going to the beach and not run. I knew we were not staying until sunset that day, and I was not sure what Saturday would look like. So after volleyball, some time to rest, a snack for energy, an adult beverage, and a little more beach time, I headed out for four miles. And jumping into the cool Gulf water right after the run felt amazing.
What surprised me was how good the run felt. My first run at the beach is usually very humbling. In the past, I often had to stop a few times to catch my breath or manage a heart rate that climbed faster than I wanted. This time I did not feel that same need to stop. I have been treadmill running, mostly Zone 2-3, more consistently since August, and I could feel the payoff in my cardiovascular fitness.
So I saw the payoff of exercise in two different ways on this trip. Years of volleyball experience meant the skills came back quickly, while the fitness work I continue to do gave me the physical capacity to move on sand, react, get up and down, and keep playing. Then the running I have done more consistently over the last few months showed up in a four-mile beach run that felt much more manageable than it used to.
That does not mean my body thought Friday was easy. Two hours of volleyball plus a four-mile run was a much bigger total load than I normally do. I did not feel exhausted while I was doing it, but later I could feel my body parts talking to me. My Polar watch indicated that I was overreaching, and my Oura resilience was lower the next morning despite getting a good amount of sleep. I treat wearable data as feedback, not a diagnosis, but in this case the pattern matched how I felt.
Fitness gives you options.
Exercise is beneficial, but the body still has to recover from training stress. A 2026 review on physical activity, performance, sleep, and recovery describes sleep as an important determinant of athletic recovery and performance and notes that inadequate recovery can contribute to performance decline.
Friday Night: The Healthy Choice Was to Stop
By Friday night, we felt more spent. We did not go out. We used the hot tub, ate the food we had brought, watched a couple of movies, and I was in bed around 10:30 p.m. I slept about eight hours and woke without an alarm.
That may not sound exciting, but that is the point. Recovery does not always need another protocol, gadget, or task. Sometimes the right move is to stop adding load.
The food preparation from Wednesday also paid off here. I did not need to make another decision about dinner. I had nourishing food available, relaxed, and let the day end.
Saturday: Recovery Was the Goal
When I woke up Saturday, I knew the goal was recovery.
I started the morning with a quiet 20-minute walk through the neighborhood. Later, at the beach, I took another 30-minute walk. I spent time in the sun, rested, even napped, and did not add another strenuous workout.
I also paid attention to nutrition and hydration. I kept eating protein and nutrient-dense foods, chose vegetables when we ate out, and had electrolytes in my water at all times. Those are small things, but they matter when you are outside, sweating, exercising, and asking more of your body than usual.
Sometimes the right move is to stop adding load.
By Sunday, my resilience had improved again. That does not prove exactly what was happening physiologically, but it matched the bigger pattern: I pushed harder on Friday, backed off on Saturday, slept, ate, hydrated, and gave my body time to catch up.
The Ocean Was Part of the Reset, but I Am Not Going to Turn It Into Magic
I love the ocean. The horizon, the sound of the waves, the light, the water, and simply being outside make me slow down. I feel calmer. I breathe differently. My attention moves away from my computer and toward what is happening right in front of me.
I even brought a book to read, like I usually do, and never opened it. My rule at the beach is simple: I read only when I am too tired to do anything else or when simply listening to the waves, staring at the water, closing my eyes, and relaxing is no longer enough. On this trip, it was enough.
Research on natural environments supports that broader experience. A systematic review on nature exposure and stress found reductions in both perceived stress and several physiological stress measures across the included studies. Research specifically on blue spaces such as coasts, rivers, and lakes also suggests potential mental-health and well-being benefits, although the evidence is too varied to claim that one type of blue space, or salt water itself, has a unique healing effect.
That distinction matters to me. I do not need to turn the ocean into a miracle treatment to appreciate what it gives me. The experience itself is enough: fewer demands, natural light, movement, water, sound, space, and permission to be present.
I was also on my phone and computer far less than I am during a normal workweek. That was intentional, but it did not feel like punishment. It felt like relief.
An eight-day randomized experiment restricting digital media use in young adults found improvements in measures including life satisfaction and mindfulness, with reductions in loneliness and stress relative to controls. That population is younger than most of the professionals I work with, so I would not assume the exact same effect for everyone. But it supports a simple point: constant digital input is not always neutral.
Connection Counts as Health, Too
The trip was not only about exercise, food, or sleep. Karla and I had time to talk, drink coffee, sit at the beach, watch movies, and just be together without rushing to the next thing.
On Saturday evening, we met friends who had moved from Atlanta and whom I had not seen in years. We had dinner, caught up, laughed, and enjoyed being together.
An evening with friends I had not seen in years. Social connection belongs in the health conversation, too.
That is not a soft extra. A large meta-analysis of 90 cohort studies involving more than 2.2 million people found that social isolation and loneliness were associated with higher mortality risk. One dinner does not change your lifespan, of course. The point is that relationships and meaningful connection belong in the health conversation alongside sleep, food, movement, and recovery.
And Yes, I Had a Drink
I also want to be honest about something because I do not want this story to make me sound like I spent four days drinking electrolytes and meditating at sunset.
I drink very little in my normal life, but when I go on vacation, I often choose to have alcohol, especially at the beach. This trip was no different. I brought a canned vodka drink to have in the early afternoon at the beach, and I had one on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Later in the day, I had a sangria on Thursday, a glass of wine on Friday, and another glass of wine with our friends on Saturday.
I am not recommending alcohol as a recovery strategy. It is not one. I am simply saying that sustainable health has room for real life and for informed choices. I stayed hydrated, ate nourishing food, moved, slept, paid attention to how I felt, and gave myself permission to enjoy the trip without turning it into a test of perfection.
Health should support your life, not make you afraid to live it.
That is important to me and it is important in the way I coach. Health should support your life, not make you afraid to live it, unless one is dealing with some significant health challenges.
What I Brought Home With Me
Sunday morning, after heavy rain overnight, Karla and I had coffee, talked, and turned on the outdoor hot tub while it was still sprinkling. Sitting in warm water with a little rain coming down was a pretty good way to end the trip.
I ate breakfast before we left, packed what I had leftover for the drive, and headed back to Atlanta thinking about how many things had supported my health over those few days without the trip ever feeling like a wellness retreat.
That last one may be one of the hardest things for high achievers, especially entrepreneurs. We are very good at doing. We are not always as good at allowing recovery before the body forces us to take it.
This trip also reinforced something I say all the time: health creates freedom. Fitness gave me the freedom to step onto a sand volleyball court after years away and still play. Cardiovascular training helped me run four miles on the beach without the stops I used to need. Food preparation gave me flexibility instead of restriction. Paying attention to recovery helped me know when to back off.
A vacation can create a bigger reset. But recovery cannot be something we save only for vacation.
Connection and time away helped me remember that health is not only what happens in the gym or on a lab report.
It is also why I encourage people to become the Chief Health Officer of their own body: notice the feedback, look for patterns, and course-correct instead of treating every signal as a reason to push harder.
You Do Not Need a Beach Trip to Practice Recovery
I would love to tell you the solution is to head to the Gulf every time your nervous system needs a reset. I am personally very supportive of that plan. Most calendars and bank accounts may disagree.
The bigger question is: what parts of the reset can you bring into normal life?
A vacation can create a bigger reset. But recovery cannot be something we save only for vacation.
Your body is supporting your career, relationships, decisions, workouts, ambitions, and everything else you ask of it. It needs opportunities to recover, too.
And yes, this 52-year-old still has it. Part of keeping it is knowing when to play hard, when to sleep, and when to put my feet up by the ocean and do absolutely nothing.
Ready to Stop Guessing?
If your energy, sleep, stress tolerance, weight, blood sugar, or recovery no longer feel like they used to, the answer is not always to push harder. Sometimes you need better information and a strategy that fits your real life.
Does taking a vacation really help with stress and recovery?
Research suggests that vacations can improve well-being, particularly when people psychologically detach from work and engage in restorative activities. A vacation is not a treatment for chronic stress or burnout, but it can be a meaningful recovery opportunity.
Is being near the ocean scientifically proven to reduce stress?
Research on nature and blue spaces suggests potential benefits for stress, mood, and psychological restoration. The evidence does not prove that salt water itself has a unique healing effect, so I prefer to talk about the overall experience of natural light, water, sound, outdoor time, movement, and reduced demands.
Can too much exercise interfere with recovery?
Yes. Exercise is a beneficial stressor, but training load still requires recovery. Sleep, nutrition, hydration, training history, age, total life stress, and individual fitness all affect how much load someone can recover from.
Do I need to completely unplug from my phone to recover?
No. Reducing work communication, notifications, and habitual scrolling may make it easier to psychologically detach and be present. The goal is not digital perfection. It is creating periods when your attention is not constantly being pulled somewhere else.
What is the simplest way to support recovery during a busy week?
Start with the basics: protect sleep, get outside, create periods without work or screens, choose enjoyable movement, eat nourishing meals with enough protein and plants, hydrate, connect with people you care about, and respond when your body is clearly asking for a lighter day.
How Chronic Stress Affects the Body: The Hidden Cost of Constantly Managing How You Show Up
How chronic stress affects the body is not only about deadlines, traffic, money, caregiving, or having too much on your calendar. Sometimes the stress is..
