Rest Day, Kind Of

After a long day in the sun yesterday, I figured I better take it easy today. After sleeping in, I got up and began writing some letters to people back home (former students and ex-coworkers). Then I played my friend Audrey's violin for about 3 hours. It was pretty nice to sit down and really work through some pieces I haven't played in a long time. Maybe I'll have to give a little concert sometime.

This afternoon, I got on the computer and was doing a little bit of research on different running/triathlon/aquathlon races I could participate in over the next year. I have pretty much made up my mind that I am going to participate in the Dubai Marathon in January, and there are several 1/2 marathons I could do leading up to it. I also noticed that aquathlons (any combination of swimming and running) are much more popular here than back in the States. I saw several on the schedule that were a 2 mile run/short swim/2 mile run, and there is one that is an 800m swim, followed by a 5k run. I think that would be a great way to mix up my long-distance running, and I think I'd probably do okay in an event like that with my swimming background.

After doing all that research, I felt really excited about working out. So I kind of threw my "day off" mindset out the window and decided to go to the gym to workout for a while. I came back to rest for a bit (and to wait for the outside temperature to drop), then went for a good hard 6.5 mile run along the Corniche.

Finally, after working out, I felt more productive, so I wrote a few more letters, went to take care of some things I need in order to get my travel visa to India, and took my clothes to the dry cleaners.

After today, I totally feel re-charged for my big 2-day work week . :)

Good night from Abu Dhabi,

Matt