Current Status...

I feel like I need to walk around wearing this shirt...

I'm back from Rio but I haven't run in over a week because I strained a muscle in my lower left leg and have been trying to be diligent about resting it. Not only am I dealing with the injury, I'm also sick. I was telling my mom all about how I was feeling last night...

(She decided to call instead of texting a response to all my whining messages)

Exhausted Beyond Words...

Yesterday Kai decided to search for my gray hairs. While combing through my hair she found three (the very three that she gave me). I'm sure there are more but I stopped her at three because really, no one needs to know exactly how many gray hairs they have right?

The past few days have been busy with waking up early(-ish) to run, staying up late for the events, and trying to stay awake for the long commute back home. We have two more full days in Rio and a long day of travel coming up, but right now I am exhausted beyond words. Between that and my three gray hairs I realize I've reached my "no longer a spring chicken" phase in life. 

On Tuesday I ran...

Then we went to see Christ the Redeemer...

Sanya (twin sis) and Me...

Kai being a teen...

Nine point Eight One seconds (& five seconds of fame)...

Last night at the stadium was incredible! The energy was positive and palpable. It was amazing to be present in that moment when Usain Bolt dominated the Men's 100m finals for yet another gold medal in that event...

To witness World Records being broken in the Men's 400m by Wayde van Niekerk from South Africa...

To just be there. It was truly amazing!

The Rio Report: A Once-In-A-Lifetime trip...

It's been a busy trip and my schedule has been completely off, but I'm finally getting a chance to do a quick blog post so let me begin with...

Greetings from Rio de Janeiro!!!

Half of my family is here for the 2016 Olympics and it has been quite a trip so far! It's hard to put all the emotions into words to be honest. This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime vacations so I'm trying to take in all the experience has to offer. What I can say is trips like these require a lot of flexibility and a lot of patience (we are all learning that lesson). Today is going to be another busy day but here is a brief recap of the trip so far:

Day one (-ish):
This was the start of a long day of travel, during which, Kai's phone was trauma alerted (thanks to TSA)...

Our flights took us from Ft Lauderdale to Campinas then on to Rio...

Then and Now...

This morning I ran 18 miles. It's the longest run I've done in a while and I have to say I feel pretty good about it (overall). It wasn't my fastest run and it isn't the farthest I've ever run, but it's still a pretty big accomplishment for this training cycle (especially since nothing is hurting me right now and I have NO BLISTERS!!!!)

I started to wonder how the run today compared with the 18 mile run I did when I was training for the Chicago Marathon last year, so I looked at a few differences in where I am in my training now (based on the run today) versus where I was then (back in July of 2015)...

Right away you can see that I reached these training milestones nearly a month apart. This year has been a busier race year and that's probably why I'm just hitting 18 miles now. Also, the Chicago Marathon is a month before the NY marathon (Oct vs. Nov) so it also makes sense that the training schedule and mileage progression is a month later this year. 

Another thing you will notice is that both runs took place along the beach (Ft. Lauderdale beach for today's run and Hollywood beach for last year's 18 miler) and, in my quest to avoid running in the sun, started around the same time.

A Very Busy Week Ahead...

This week will be pretty busy with travel...

And of course all the stuff that I need to do before I travel will be keeping me pretty busy as well. Thankfully the most important things have been taken care of: I have proper attire :)

Do you think I have enough shirts?