Miami...

For anyone who may have begun to wonder if Ant dropped off the face of the blogosphere, - of course not! I will resume my normal two posts a week starting now. So where have I been? Not only was I M.I.A. but I was in M.I.A. - aka Miami! The ladies and I packed our bags and departed for a long weekend in South Beach. And you bet my bag included sneaks, shorts, and a tank top.

Talk about going from the 20° frigid cold of to all the sudden running by my lonesome in 75°! Sidenote: None of my girls could be convinced to wake up early and run before sunning by the pool. It was phenomenal. I headed out of the hotel, down the bay side of South Beach until I reached the southernmost point, to turn around and run up the beach. While the sand slowed me down, I was able to enjoy the beauty of this run even more when I finally turned around and returned to my hotel. I ran this route not only once but the following morning too as everyone else continued to sleep and brunch. Though I must admit, running in Miami along the beach is quite a different experience than running in Central Park where you’re just commonplace. Running in South Beach in spandex shorts is like trolling down the street past a construction site in a blow-away dress.

I'd say that was the easy part of my workout. The hard part? Standing in 4-inch heels each night till the wee hours of the morning! Now that’s a workout. As I danced the night away, my calves felt toned and in the morning while sitting at the pool drinking a cocktail in my lounge chair while reading, Born to Run, the man next to me turned and asked, “Hey, are you a runner?”
“Yes, I am, already done for today though,” I replied.
He looked incredulous. “Yeah? I'm a 'super'-runner too but I can't imagine running on vacation, kinda ruins it don't you think?”
“Absolutely not, I took a vacation from running in the cold to running in the heat!” I responded.
That was the end of our conversation. And all I could think to myself was, "a super-runner" who doesn't enjoy it enough to run on vaca?

What are your vacations about? How do you unwind? Is it strange that my most active activity is the most peaceful and restorative in my life? I’m now suffering the consequences of sleep deprivation and have found myself with a cold.