Sunday, November 11, 2007

Back to Reality

It is time to return to reality, and of course my work. I tried to get work to keep sending me a paycheck, but they wanted me to actually show up. I though that was pretty narrow minded of them.

The trip to Europe was nothing short of amazing. I cannot possibly begin to journal it all on one sitting. The photo to the left is my lovely bride and I at Park Guell in Barcelona Spain. My favorite place in the entire trip was Barcelona. During our travels we visited Italy (Florence, Rome, Naples), Greece (Mykonos, Santorini, Athens), France (Villafrance, Monaco), Turkey (Kusadasi) and Spain (Barcelona). We spent a lot of that time on a cruise ship with several extra days spent in Spain. What a trip!!

I must confess that in spite of my good intentions, I only ran twice the entire trip. i do not know how those that travel a lot get their runs in. One on my runs was on the treadmill on the ship while it was at sea. That was just short of a treat. It takes a lot of concentration to keep your footing on a speeding treadmill while the floor is moving with the sea waves. That just added to my dislike for spending too much time on the "dreadmill". I had really hoped to get more runs in, but the schedule was just to busy (read I was lazy) to get them done. Now that I am back to work it is time to get back into it.

Of course 2 weeks on a cruise ship did not at all equal to any weight gain on my part. If you believe that then I have some swamp land for you. I am finding the motivation hard to come by. It might be that I need to find myself a spring race to train for. There is nothing like a good race to get motivated for. I have been considering lately on backing off on my mileage and training for a shorter distance. Something in the 10K range. Wit that I would up my cross training and get some weight lifting in. I have never been a big fan of weight lifting but really need to work on my "chicken arms".

Tomorrow however is a new start...

7 comments:

Susan said...

I am super envious of your travels!

Listen - I applaud you for getting ANY running done while traveling through Europe. That in itself is also amazing.

I think you should set your sights on a spring race. Knowing a race is coming certainly helps to keep me motivated!

Maddy said...

Welcome back! It sounds like an amazing trip.

I agree with Susan! Pick a spring race and that will keep you motivated.

For inspiration, check out www.runningintheusa.com

ShirleyPerly said...

Hi Cory! Sounds like a fabulous cruise. It is tough to find time to run when traveling. But I think there are even now cruises for runners, believe it or not, where you run onboard (probably around the boat as well as the treadmill) and probably during the port of calls.

Look forward to hearing what you decide to do in 2008. How about a sprint tri with your buddy?

CewTwo said...

Cory,

Good to hear from you again! I am so glad that you enjoyed your trip across the pond.

I spent 3 years in Europe care of our Uncle Sam and I never got out of Germany or England. It was a great time in my life.

I am looking for my first sompetition in the Spring. Don't know what yet. God luck in finding yours!

Anonymous said...

Amazing! Cruises rock and coming back to reality isn't always fun. LOL

I agree with the others...pick an event in the relatively near future to keep you motivated and going!

Irish Blue said...

I second Susan.

I love to travel. We've been on three cruises, but all in the caribbean. I would kill to go back to Europe again on a cruise or regular vacation.

I always joke with my husband that it's a good thing they don't weigh you before you get on the boat and when you get off. Man, do they like to feed people!

Welcome back!!

Anonymous said...

You guys had a great trip. You visited so many nice cities. I also love to travel, but most of all cities I liked Barcelona. It's no wonder why Barcelona city is so popular. Fabulous architecture, brilliant Spanish cuisine, flamboyant culture and wonderful weather combine to make Barcelona a truly magnificent city. The works of Antoni Gaudi dominate the city of Barcelona.
Also I like that many of hotels in Barcelona are not expensive. And of course a trip to Barcelona wouldn't be complete without strolling down Las Ramblas through stalls selling flowers and birds, the street artists inventing even more intriguing things to mime and be painted up as statues, and buy packs of fresh fruit from the colourful market.