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Moments of the Week (Mar 18-24)
Said farewell to my cousins and 100 pounds of our stuff. It was a treat to have them over and then a relief to lighten our future travel load.
We have a 3 day weekend in June and considered a last trip to the Philippines, Vietnam or Thailand. We decided on the former so we could visit Bauang, Pagdalagan Sur. What’s so special about it? It’s the barrio where both my parents grew up and it would be amazing to connect our kids (their grandkids) to this place. Who knows if we’ll ever have the opportunity again.
M & I are handholding J, again. Trying to teach him the basics of managing a schedule and the secrets to consistency before HS. One step forward, two steps back. He’s a project.
A former San Ramon student of M was in HK visiting family. She since graduated from NYC and now works in LA. Pretty cool to see examples like this where students grow up and reconnect. It’s a sign we are getting old.
M went to her 1st therapy session. It’s provided by the school and she’ll work through some personal conflicts. I’ll only share that there were progress tears.
On Friday we boarded our plane at 930pm and sat on it until almost 11pm because of delays. A stopover in Bangkok at 1 am (12pm local) and then we sat on the plane again for 2 hours while all around us, staff switched, the plane was cleaned and refueled, and passengers were exchanged. A 8 1/2 hour flight to Addis Ethiopia followed. We arrived at 11am (6am Addis). Our 2 hour layover turned into a direct sprint to board our flight to Cape Town. 6 hours later, we arrived at 7pm (1pm local). That’s nearly 24 hours of plane time. Because of the international time changes and number of connections, we had the following airplane meals: 2 dinners, 2 breakfasts and then lunch.
I woke up at 1am and couldn’t go back to sleep. And then it was a full first day with an epic solo trail run, a Bo-Kaap Walking Tour, The Two Oceans Aquarium, The Waterfront, and the Table Mountain Hike Up & Gondola ride down.
I’m Writing a Memoir
A big milestone... I chose a cover. I wrote a piece about it and I’ll share it tomorrowish.
Did you preorder Beyond the American Dream yet? https://a.co/d/cfRUclw
For every order till the release on April 23rd, I’ll run a mile.
How can I make it interesting?
Run all those accumulated miles in one week?
Alternate miles with a family member?
On trails?
In a costume like Pete the Panda?
How can I do it so that it incorporates the theme(s)of the book?
Unscripted
Misadventures
Momento Mori
Togetherness
Just Do It
Minimalism
Golden Age
Send me your ideas.
On The Move
Run With Me on Strava - 36.44 mi, 2,963 ft
Took it easy until Thursday and then I may have strained my foot. Took Friday and Saturday off.
Group Runs:
Tuesday Sprint the Straightaways
On the beach loop, run the straightaways and recover on the bends.
Thursday Bottle Run
A 25 min out and back. Goal is to run as far as you can on a set course, place your bottle and return within the time limit. Go over and you are out.
I was considering a Saturday afternoon run to reset my body from all the travel but my swollen feet and legs said no.
I got one run in and it was special. I was already up since 1am, but for safety reasons, I had to wait for the sun to come up. The original plan was to make random loops in the suburbs and get to the trailhead to take a peek. The trailhead sucked me in and I kept thinking:
“I‘ll go just a bit further”
“I’ll see what’s at the end of the bend”
“I made it this far, I might as well get to the end”
I never made it to the end. What I thought was a short trail went on and on and up and around. I eventually turned back, but on my way home, I came across another trailhead where a running group of a dozen or so people took off. I had to chase them. This route was a gentle roll and I got into it.
And the views. I was sandwiched between the cliffs of fog topped Table Mountain and the of Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
I think that for every like, It would be better if you ran them all at once to make it interesting.