I'm baaaack

After this past week, I have soooooo much to write about. When I tell you the events of the past 7 days, you'll understand why I haven't blogged in over a week (I promise it won't happen again).

Let's start back on August 5th- remember I was heading out of town on vacation, to Jamaica mon. I got up super early to get my run in before work and traveling. It was a great run because for the first time I can remember, since the beginning of training, it was cool and low humidity! I was able to cruise through 10 miles in 1 hour and 40 minutes, much improved from the 13.1 attempt the week before. My calf was feeling a little better and the act of running did not feel as difficult/exhausting.

It was interesting to run on a Friday; I usually rest in preparation for the next day's long run. Apparently I am in the minority who rests on Fridays. I saw not one, but three separate boot camps going on around the park. I guess my preparation for the weekend is a lot different than most people. I rest so that I can run a crazy amount of miles. Most others work hard so they can have their 'weekend diet' and relaxation. It's kind of funny; they look at me like I'm crazy. I'm definitely looking at them like they are crazy. I only have to make sure my legs continue moving one foot in front of the other. They are up and down on the ground, wheelbarrowing one another around, jumping over appendages, etc. Who's the crazy one?

Okay so let's flash forward to Jamaica :)

Hello sandy beaches and blue ocean.

We spent 3 days and 3 nights with the Hood family in Montego Bay. We got some quality pool and beach time and a little R&R. It was so nice to get away from everything for a few days. I also got to try all sorts of ethnic food. It was incredibly tasty but the after-effects shall be discussed in a future blog...

Jamaican food (start top and move clockwise): Goat stew, Jerk pork, Sweet potato and cabbage, Red beans and rice

I was able to get some physical activity in while on vacay. My motivation to not let it go completely was the fact I had to tackle my first 14 miler the Saturday after vacation, again this will be covered in a separate post. I completely rested the first day, except for the Water Olympics. That was a disaster; Josh and I didn't have the most coordinated team. The next day I cycled for 20 minutes and then thought I would try to hop on an open treadmill. I started to go the pace desired for my speed work but realized I was basically walking. I quickly decided these machines use the metric system. Since I could not remember the conversion for kilometers per hour to miles per hour, I decided to just bump up the speed and run 5K. Monday I did strength training. The gym was small but I was thankful to have something. I didn't really like the idea of taking the streets of Montego Bay by myself. One more comment about the gym was the attire of the people working out. I had a very 'American' outfit on- shorts, running shoes, and a tank. Since there were many international people, it was interesting to see what they wear to exercise: sandals, jorts (jean shorts), no shoes, sunglasses indoors, and hiking attire (hat included).

Okay so now for the most exciting part- Josh proposed to me on the beach! Apparently my birthday gift was not on back order, he had been hiding it for almost 2 weeks. The signifance of proposing around my birthday was highlighted in the last post. We met 10 years ago, on my birthday, when he ate all my ice cream cake. We were fortunate to have Jenny snap some pictures of the big events. Be sure to check out her website: http://jenniferalbrachtphotography.com/ for more pictures.



The proposal



Traveling home was a little rough. We got home at 3:00 a.m., so I tackled the week on about 3 hours of sleep. Luckily the adrenaline of getting engaged carried me through most of it but all the travel and excitement has left me exhausted. On that note, I am going to catch some zzzzzs but I'll continue to share stories and keep the posts up-to-date.

Stay tuned.....