Vacation, Shark Attacks and Humidity

Sorry for the general updates lately. I promise to resume blogging this week and hope to unleash a series of blogs in the very near future.

I have now returned from vacation. This was my first vacation in several years that did not involve a race or taking my bike with me. I am the King of short vacations but I never return relaxed. I am quick to jump on a flight to go watch an Ironman or take my bike to another city for 3-4 days. This was different. I left it all behind. Well, I took my running shoes and goggles, in case I wanted to train.

I left Atlanta Wednesday morning for Fort Lauderdale with Jessica. We were appreciative of the opportunity to check into our hotel really early. We stayed two nights at the W Fort Lauderdale. Apparently it had just opened. We both really liked its trendy nature. The down side was the the weather sucked. Wednesday we decided to go to the pool and no sooner than we put down our towels it began raining. This became a theme for the rest of the vacation. Everyday at 12 it became cloudy and by 1:00 it was pouring. Sadly, the storms didn't just pass, they lingered and we never saw the sun again.

On the brightside, we ventured out and had some delicious dinners. Wednesday night I had one of the best pieces of tuna, despite it being overcooked. Thursday we splurged for sushi. We ordered so much that they had to put it on a boat to serve. Our waiter delivered it to us and said let him know when we needed a to go box. At this point, I was determined to put a hurting on. And sure enough, Jess held her own and I devoured the rest.

Friday afternoon we departed for Key Largo and got stuck in the pouring rain for 2 straight hours before arriving at the Ocean Reef Club. We were attending a wedding there so our afternoon mainly consisted of relaxing and then getting ready for the reception.

On Saturday morning, we joined a group and went on a 90 minute kayaking eco-tour through the mangrove forest that encompasses the resort. It was a really cool perspective of the living ecosystem that helps define the area. It was also a great opportunity to see the native wildlife that included crabs, jellyfish, sand dollars and eels. About an hour into the journey, we spotted a pair of 15 foot, man eating nurse sharks. Ok...maybe there were only about 3 feet. I guess they felt threatened as they turned into vicious animals and darted right towards us. In fact, one attacked me directly, hitting my kayak trying to toss me into the shark infested waters. Fortunately, my keen sense of awareness allow me to remain afloat. I suppose I survived my first real shark attack.

We decided to spend the rest of the morning by the pool trying to soak up all the sun possible before the storms arrived. That afternoon was the wedding ceremony and dinner reception followed by dancing. We decided to retire early and not participate in all the late night shenanigans. We got up Sunday and hit the pool a bit longer before driving back to Fort Lauderdale to catch our flights.

All in all it was a good trip. I did manage to run a couple of times. I went out on Wednesday for 45 minutes and then tried run on Friday. My interval run turned into a survival run. I am not ready for that level of humidity. I was completely drenched by 20 minutes. I even got in the ocean to swim Thursday morning but got so chaffed that after 15 minutes I was done. Instead, I took the oppotunity this week to let my body relax a little bit. I did cross train in the form of kayaking, pool and beach volleyball. Hopefully, I will bounce back this week and resume a high level of training.