God rested on Sunday, but not me!

Hello Dear Reader,

I'm baaaaaack and more determined than ever after my quick vaycay on the South African coast. Boy (or Girl), let me tell you...I needed a break and didn't even realize the extent until I found myself maxing and relaxing at the beach on a Monday at 12! Has that ever happened to you?

Although I was away from my formal paying job, the side job (running my toochie off) was in full effect! Saturday was spent getting my exercise on with 2 2kg weights that I brought along with me. My primary focus was on thighs, arms, shoulders and abs. Usually, Saturdays are my designated "break" days, but I didn't manage to get to the gym on Friday...oops!

Sunday...oh glorious Sunday...was my long run. If you've been following along, Sundays are usually the only day that I force myself to be at one with nature (i.e. running outside). Even though I try to take outside conditions into consideration on the treadmill (read: running at a minimum of 1.0 incline setting with regular intervals), they're usually a disaster. My knees end up hurting, my shins ache like nobody's business, my asthma decides to rear its ugly head, and I return home with my tail between my legs...nature/streets of Lesotho: 1; Dani's long run: BIG FAT ZERO!

In a strange twist of fate...or maybe nature's attempt to take pity on this poor running fool...my Sunday "long run" was a complete success! Perhaps it was the fact that water from the Indian Ocean cooled me down. Perhaps it was the sun shining, the green grass swaying, and deep blue skies all around. Perhaps I felt too embarrassed to quit, given that there were gazillions of runners, walkers and dinners doing there thing up and down the promenade. Perhaps it was due dolphins jumping out of the water. Maybe it was even because little monkeys were jumping from branch to branch overhead. Perhaps it was the result of keeping my pace with the crashing aquamarine waves. I dunno...but whatever it was that allowed me to run for an hour straight...was pure magic and I feel GREAT!

Yes, my asthma acted up as per the usual, but this time, I focused on my breathing...think Lamaze breathing exercises for preggers...except that I breathed in through my nose and out with my mouth. Whenever I felt my lungs tighten, I'd breath in, in, in through my nose and out, out, out through my mouth.

Because I don't have a pedometer, I don't know how many kilometers/miles I covered, but I ran longer than I ever have. It was magic!

Speaking of pedometers, I imagined that, because I was in a large city, the Apple store would carry the new iPod nano touch...no such luck. The bored sales man guessed that the new nano would hit South African shores in the next few months. Boooo! As luck would have it, a friend from Lesotho is now in the US. I'll be ordering and sending my new running partner to him to bring back. I'm thinking of getting it in blue or orange with the inscription: "Pavement Pounding Playlist", "Better than listening to cars pass", or "Run like a girl!".

After my mini-marathon, I grabbed my weights for a bit of strength training...on the beach! I felt like (and probably looked like) I was in my own workout video. I completed 3 sets of lunges with 20 reps each leg, 3 sets of dead weight lifts (legs apart, weights being pulled up from the ground to mid-chest), and multiple and various arm/shoulder exercises. Stretching, as always, followed.

Monday morning...Holy Hip Hop...I was in pain! Every part of my body ached. My pain had pain! But...it was a good pain...a great pain...a pain associated with hard work and accomplishment! I reveled in it! I basked in the glow of a job well done. Trust me though, I'm not resting on my laurels, because work needs to be done. Specifically, I need to be able to run 26.2 miles in 26 weeks...and I'm behind schedule!

Tuesday was a light day, because, for as much as I wanted it to last forever, may beautiful vaycay was over...time to head for the hills (err mountains)!

This morning, bright and early, my tired body was at the gym for a 40 minute run, and one round of circuit training and stretching. Mad-dog trainer said that on Friday, she will conduct another body assessment...checking for weight and inches lost. I was told that, if nothing has changed, I'm in trouble! Wish me luck!

On another note, my "Staying Active & Raising Money for HIV" crew will be meeting up today for the first time. There's no real agenda set, but I'd like to talk about the big picture and a few details to get us started! I'll keep you posted!

As my computer is currently on loan (with pictures taken after my beautiful run), I'll post pictures of my seaside run later!

So until next time, one foot in front of the other! Keep it movin'!

Yours in (successful) training,

Dani