For one full week, I was the most relaxed I’ve been in as long as I can remember.
Wear sunscreen. Remember that song-ish thing?
For seven entire days, I abstained from the internet. No email. No Facebook. No Twitter. Definitely no blog reading.
This dock was supposed to be scenic or romantic or whatever, but every time we walked past it all I could think about was the “LOST” Season 2 finale. WALT!!!!!!!!!!!
In fact, for seven days, I forgot I even have a blog.
During those seven days, I put my Spanish minor to good use and struck up many a conversation en Español. Muy excelente. Te amo. [Upside down question mark]Donde esta el baño?
For a week, I ate whatever the heck I wanted (though, really, that’s true of pretty much every day in my life).
In one week, I drank more strawberry daiquiris and mojitos (my new favorite drink) combined than I had previously in my entire life. Maybe.
Mmmmmojito. Turns out, these drinks are delicious. Yes, the rock I’ve been living under IS nice. Thank you for asking.
For a week, I didn’t care about my running mileage. I didn’t think about my next race or my next goal or my next trip to Central Park. I may have even forgotten about Central Park entirely.
And for one glorious week in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, I finally chilled the hell out and rid myself of the stresses of 2012.
So I’m back.
Hello.
My much-anticipated vacation was everything I hoped it would be. Vacation recaps are (I think) boring, so I’ll present you with a succinctly summed up version of my daily routine at the Azul Sensatori resort, located somewhere between Cancun and Playa del Carmen…
6 AM: Wake up to reserve a bed by the pool. It’s fiercely competitive to snag a good sunny spot at the cool “adults only” pool.
Pool bed. You had to wake up crazy early to reserve one of these bad boys.
6:15 AM: Go back to sleep.
8 AM: Wake up again. Time to conquer the grueling day!
8:20 AM: Go to the gym. Do whatever. Some days I ran 3 miles. Other days I ran 8 miles.
Sweet photo, Brian, thanks for that. But hey, I’ll post it on the internet. Why not?
And some days I skipped the gym in favor of breakfast in bed (I had never had breakfast in bed — I think I’m retiring from becoming a morning runner so I can become a morning bed eater instead).
New favorite thing: breakfast in bed! I was embarrassed when the room service order taker lady asked, “How many people is this for?” and I had to admit that it was only for two people… WE WERE HUNGRY.
10 AM: Breakfast buffet. Stuff myself until I’m silly. A standard breakfast included French Toast and a Nutella crepe. And some fruit. And an omelette.
Breakfast Plate #1. There was never just one plate…
10:30 AM: Lay by pool.
10:35 AM: Fall asleep.
Oh you know. Just taking a nap on my pool bed thing.
12 PM: Wake up. Get strawberry daiquiri from swim-up bar.
12:10 PM: Get second strawberry daiquiri from swim-up bar.
12:15 PM: Fall back asleep, this time on my stomach for Project Get Rid of Summer Running Sports Bra Tan.
1 PM: Eat lunch, either at the lunch buffet (I have a thing for “unlimited portions”) or the beach BBQ. Maybe do a shot of tequila with lunch.
One of us liked this more than the other.
1:45 PM: Back to the pool bed.
1:50 PM: Fall asleep again.
4 PM: Daiquiri.
5 PM: There’s a jacuzzi in our hotel room? Excellent. I will sit in it for five full minutes before getting painfully bored and overheated.
6 PM: Watch the news.
6:45 PM: Pre-dinner mojito.
7 PM: Dinner at one of the restaurants at the resort. The best meals were the two we ate at Le Chique, the resort’s way-too-cool-for-Ali molecular gastronomy restaurant.
Cheers! We are drinking cucumber martinis. Or margaritas. I don’t know. I don’t remember. But they were good.
They got us so drunk the first time we ate there that we committed to coming back a second time (um, at a slightly higher price point…oops) for a 20-course + 6 wine pairings chef’s dinner, served in the kitchen. We felt very cool. Or just very full of alcohol and crazy food.
Dining at our special table in the kitchen! This is a really good picture of my neck vein. It’s my sexiest feature.
With the chef. I loved him. We spoke Spanish to each other.
10 PM: Sound asleep. Another big day ahead.
Needless to say I’m feeling very well-rested and moderately chilled-out after this trip. Every morning on the trip, Brian and I woke up and asked each other, “Should we do stuff today?” We thought about renting jet skis (meh, expensive, and we’ve done it before) or going zip-lining (too much effort), but ultimately we decided — every day — that we just wanted to lay around and do absolutely nothing.
So that’s what we did.
Nothing.
For a week.
Our home for a week. It was OK.
We got massages outside one night, and the experience was lovely despite the crazy winds and the fact that my sheet kept blowing off me (sorry people walking by — that’s my white butt you see, don’t be alarmed).
Only we got our massages when it was dark out. Under the stars. Under the sheets.
But other than that, there’s not a whole lot to report. I wanted to go away so I could get a little detached from real life, and that’s exactly what I did.
Brian learned to use the new “panoramic” feature on his phone. So we have lots of very long photos now. I’m not really sure what to do with them…
I would say I’m happy to be back in the city and ready to get back to my routine, but we all know that’s a lie. When my alarm went off at the cruel 5 AM hour yesterday, Brian sleep-asked me if I was going to put the towels on the pool bed.
No, Brian. I’m sorry. I was off to sweat out a sip or two of those daiquiris.
Soon I’m going to talk about running again. I have some thoughts.
In the meantime, cheers to being home.
It’s all fun and games until you commit to a second expensive dinner…
Double cheers for 3 days of work before some hardcore family time in New Hampshire for Thanksgiving!
BUT WAIT! I was unplugged and now I’m reconnected, so help me out! What’d you do while I was away? And by that I mean, “I know you all ran races, and some of you ran long ones, and I want to know all the details.” Who marathoned? Who 5K’d? Who has a fresh PR to brag about? Do it. I missed you.