Monday, February 16, 2015

Back to Reality

There's nothing quite like going from +30 to -30. Talk about being slapped back to reality, haha. We arrived home late on Saturday evening after a bit of a gong show trying to get out of Punta Cana. It rained hard in the morning causing flooding at the airport, which caused our bus to be late picking us up. Apparently everyone else was also in the same boat. When we arrived at the airport it was total chaos. Their computers were also down so the line ups were insane. They came back on shortly after we arrived but the damage was done. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 4:20 but we didn't finish checking in until 3:45 and we were some of the first few people in line for the flight! By the time everyone got through it was almost 5:00 pm. By 5:10 they were calling us to board. By 6:00 pm we were getting ready to take off. It was 10:00 when landed and I was home in bed by 11:30.
The week away was definitely nice and relaxing. The weather was mostly good. The early part of the week was nice and sunny and then the later part of the week gave us scattered showers and some clouds here and there. The resort itself was nice enough but we weren't wowed like we were when we stayed at La Perla in Playa del Carmen. Add to the fact that Gary's jacket got stolen out of our room and, well, let's just say we won't be going back there. Despite all that we still enjoyed ourselves and managed to get some activity in between lying on the beach and having cocktails.
We had a pretty full week of workouts, which, when you're lying around all day vs working, isn't necessarily a bad thing. This is how our week broke down.
Monday: We attempted to swim in one of the main pools. Gong show. It was being cleaned and it was such a slow pool that G and I threw in the towel after about 20 minutes. I think we got about 700m in. We then opted to go for a run. We did 5.6km on the main road just outside the resort.
Tuesday: weights in the a.m and I did a wicked little 5km beach run in the p.m. I think that was the undoing of my left leg. I started to develop pain behind my knee the next day.
Wednesday: I attempted to use one of the stationary bikes in the resort gym. That was an epic fail. I lasted 15 minutes as my feet kept popping out of the foot straps because they didn't stay closed. So I gave up. The water was actually quite calm on Wednesday so I did a short open water swim. A whole 560 meters. Peppered with a lot of floating around, haha.

Thursday: 30 minute weight workout followed by a 45 minute walk along the beach.
Friday: another great little off resort run of just over 7km. It was super hot and muggy out.
Saturday: 30 minute weight workout and then we left.
Sunday: 40 minutes on the bike in the basement.
Thankfully today is a holiday here so I'm still sitting around in my pjs. I think I'll get back on the bike again today and perhaps try to get a swim in at my gym. That means going outside in -23 degree temps. Not sure how keen I am about that haha.
How was your week of workouts? Has anyone braved the cold and taken their workouts outside?

4 comments:

Alison @ racingtales said...

Ooh that temperature drop must have been a nasty shock! Here in VA our temps have plummeted: 7 degrees F Sunday morning (That's -13.8 in old money - I grew up using Celcius in England but having used Fahrenheit for 20 years I've forgotten how to convert!) made for some chilly garage spinning but at least we weren't trying to run outside with the wind chill!

Kudos for getting some workouts in. I find that stressful on vacation when you don't have the same amenities. I once tried to swim in a pool so short it was 5 strokes across - then I tried one of those tethers but hated it. In Puerto Rico running was OK for about 4 miles, but the ocean was way too rough for swimming so I abandoned that. Sometimes it's good to come home and bike in the basement!

Courtney@The TriGirl Chronicles said...

You must have been the only person rocking goggles and swim cap at a vacation resort beach! I'm impressed with how much you got in on vacation.

Wendy at Taking the Long Way Home said...

Yep, I've been out there all week. I refuse to let the cold bother me! At least while I"m running, that is...

Kristen said...

It sounds like your vacation was incredibly relaxing, yet active as well. I love that you kept training and did what you had to do to improvise when need be. Sorry to hear that the rain and clouds invaded during half of your trip and that your journey home was so chaotic. I always dread coming home because I have a lot less patience.

I can’t believe you had a jacket stolen from your hotel room. When my husband and I were honeymooning in Bora Bora, he had a really nice pair of sunglasses stolen. I was livid but no one fessed up, so nothing was done about it.

Are you ready for another vacation yet? :) Would you go back or do you like other places more?