Imminent Vacation.

Thursday night BB and I fly far far away for ten days to visit some new places that will require me to update my “passport” tattoo. I’m excited, and looking forward to the time off. Off from work, off from hard training. I’m obviously not bringing a bike, and we’re not likely to be swimming, so running a few miles here and there will probably be it. Like we did in Spain last year.

The time off will be very good. Even though I took a few days off in Southern California a couple weeks ago, I still feel like I badly need some time off. Frankly, I feel like I need several months off. But don’t we all. Luckily, I have a lot of vacation time built up. Even after this trip, and the three days I took in May, I should have about three weeks saved. I’ll be taking time periodically over the summer just to keep sane, and do some mid-day training.

Yesterday I did my longest bike-ride yet on the X wing. 20 miles in just over 80 minutes. Then, feeling pretty good despite the heat, I did a 2.5 mile run in 27 minutes. Slow, but effective. These bricks are hard, but I can feel the difference in my fitness. Perhaps if for no other reason than that I’m working out for 90-120 minutes instead of 45-60. The heat changes things too. But I’m feeling like finishing is possible, and I’ll be in decent condition when the day comes.

I’ve been making strides on food too, which is the one thing about vacation I’m not looking forward to: I am not a big fan of pretty much any non-Americanized foods. Even other cuisines that I like, like Indian and Thai and Mexican, I much prefer the American versions to the authentic versions. This trip is certain to challenge me food-wise, which means I’m likely to make poor choices and gain weight.

Of course, sometimes it means I can’t find anything to eat, and I end up losing weight. We’ll see.

BB and I are keeping the trip destination under wraps for now. I’ll post a few pictures when we touch down and we’ll see who can guess where we are. And hopefully, we’ll end up in at least a few places that are really rather remote.