2005-03-04, 6:27 p.m.
Vacation was just what I needed. Since I've gotten back, things have been smooth sailing. I hope it lasts! I have a 5k in Napa this weekend and we'll probably go wine tasting afterwards. The weather should be beautiful. Next week, I'm heading to Chicago for a few days, which will give me enough miles for a free plane ticket to Hawaii!
One week in the Dominican Republic with my three best friends. 3 days in Santo Domingo, the first city in the New World...and then four days on the beaches of Cabarete on the northern coast. 7 days of absolute relaxation--a first for me!
Hotel Dona Elvira in Santo Domingo was super cute. We were right in the middle of the Zona Colonial with a quiet secluded pool right outside our hotel room door.
We walked around and observed the old colonial-style buildings. Some buildings (with their wrought-iron gates) looked a lot like New Orleans.
After a few days of "culture," we took a 3.5 hour bus up to the Dominican Republic's northern beach town of Cabarete. A lot of French Canadians holiday on this 2k stretch of beach.
During the day we sat on the beach, swam in the ocean, read, and sipped pina coladas...at night, we went to discotheques thumping with Dominican merengue or cheesy eurobeats.
Why did we choose the Dominican Republic? We wanted a mix of culture and beach (which it was)...and it was only $99 each way from JFK. Also, one of my favorite books is set in the Dominican Republic and I just wanted to see it first hand. It is sad to be back to this cold weather, but I now have the best tan I've had since college. Maybe even high school.
Greetings from the Dominican Republic! After a few freezing cold snowy days in NYC, I've been down in the DR enjoying daquiries, pina coladas, warm sun, clear blue water, beautiful beach, my ipod, Anna Karenina, and mah jong with my three closest girlfriends. I am quite brown now...I don't think I've been this brown since high school. Very relaxed...just what I needed! I also have a lot of bug bites...I hope I don't get malaria.
Another beautiful day...except I'm working. But, I'm working in my pajamas and since I'm working from home, I don't have to spend the usual 30 minutes commuting home as the sun goes down and then running in the dark. It should still be light out when I go for an easy 30 minute run today. My arms, ass, and legs are still sore from our 8.2 mile hike to the beach on Saturday and the boot camp class on Thursday.
I'm heading to NYC on Friday where it is in the low 40s with expected rain/snow...a few days after that, I'll be heading to Santo Domingo where it is in the mid-80s. Can't wait!
Once I get back from the DR, I'll start the 10k training plan. It isn't much different than what I'm doing now, but there's more distance built in on the weekends, which I haven't been good at doing cuz I've been blowing my wad during the week. In addition to the running, I need to rededicate myself to weight training, crunches, and squats. I'm going to schedule myself for a 10k at the end of May. Ideally, I'd rather do it mid-June (so that I have more time to focus solely on improving my 5k time), but there don't seem to be any 10ks during that timeframe. End of May it is, then.
Today was one of those gloriously beautiful California days. Woke up, got dressed, and headed south along the beach.
I've been thinking a lot about running lately. I need to take more days off during the week so that I can do my longer runs on the weekends. I want to improve my 5k time, quicken my pace, and work up to a (comfortable) 10k.
I placed 9th in my age bracket at last Sunday's 5k! Yay! I've already got another 5k scheduled for April...I had a lot of fun and hopefully all the other future runs are as fun.
Been pondering my future lately...what sort of educational path I want to take...or if I want to take one at all...and what kind of professional path I want to take...but, I'm heading to NYC and DR next week--yay!
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