Well, I managed to get my passport (thank you, roomie and FedEx!) and get to Nassau without further incident, but not before starting a fun FlyerTalk thread wherein other frequent fliers offered tips if you too are ever dumb enough to forget your passport when you’re in a different city en route to your international destination. Pretty helpful!
Miami was pretty cold – I was wearing my scarf and wool coat when I was outdoors catching the airport shuttle! – but I spent most of the day inside anyway. I debated whether to skip my workout today, given that I’m running the marathon on Sunday and Rachel’s workouts have a tendency to literally kick my butt (meaning, my butt is ridiculously sore for several days), but since I woke up early and had extra time, I figured I’d just suck it up and do it – I’m not running for time on Sunday anyway, so some pre-race soreness shouldn’t affect me too much. The gym at my hotel, the brand new Sheraton Miami Airport, was gorgeous – floor to ceiling mirrors on one side and floor to ceiling windows overlooking a lush green and palm tree-studded golf course on the other side. Furthermore, they had tons of free weights of all sizes… and they were the kind that are metal handled with big black rubber weights on the end – all the better to make me feel badass as I use the heavier ones!
I had the gym to myself, but it still gave me a power trip to see how much weight I could lift. Where just a few weeks ago I wore myself out doing three sets of overhead presses with 5- and 8-pound dumbbells, today I made it through with 15-pound dumbbells. I was also doing dumbbell rows with big 20 pounders, and in my core section, I got through three 90-second planks. Woo! I can’t believe how quickly I’m progressing to higher weights and harder routines.
The rest of the day was filled with lots of work and stress, and I just couldn’t wait to get to Nassau and hopefully start to relax. I just wanted to lie out on the beach, tan, and drink a pina colada! (Okay, so my 6:30pm arrival meant that wouldn’t happen until Saturday, but still…) Unfortunately I got off the plane to find that temperatures here were pretty chilly too – high 50s! I couldn’t believe that I was wearing a turtleneck sweater and was still cold. Next week is my ski vacation; this weekend is supposed to be tropical! White Whine>
But I made the best of it – walked about a mile from my hotel to hit up a local Italian restaurant, then settled in for a night of TV/blog/book catchup (did anyone else watch Off The Map? I was looking forward to it all year, but now that I’ve seen it… meh). But after the stressful week I’ve had at the office, even staying in and getting to do this feels like luxury. Maybe this kind of relaxation is all I need… at least until I can hit the beach tomorrow 🙂 TGIF!
How do you destress after a long week at work?
I find laying on the couch, watching tv and catching up on blogs to be relaxing too.
Apparently, I like to run 32 miles in 2 days around Central Park like I did this weekend.
I hope you have a nice and relaxing time after all that chaos!