Cruisin' for a Bruisin'

I took a week off to go on a cruise in the Windward Islands. My wife and I flew to Santo Domingo and cruised to Antigua, St. Kitts, Barbados, and St. Lucia. We had beautiful weather (once we left snowy Atlanta), and I was pleased to add 5 (!) new countries to my life list.

My biggest anxiety - no, not leaving work behind - was the break in my training. I've only been on one other cruise, and I came back from that 6-8 pounds heavier. This time I enjoyed all my dinners - even had an extra lobster tail on Friday! - but ate mostly fruit at breakfast and lunch (as is my wont anyway), and avoided between-meal snacks, late night buffets, and alcohol. And I came back only a pound heavier, oh boy.

I did run twice, on a track encircling the top deck. It was fun looking out, from several hundred feet up, at the ports of St. Johns (on Antigua) and Bridgetown (on Barbados). When the ship was moving it was disconcerting to run on a rolling deck - my feet didn't hit the ground quite when I was expecting them to; kinda like when I've had too much to drink. I took one abdominals class at the fitness center, but I don't like using treadmills and other such indoor equipment, so I didn't spend much time there.

All in all, not a good week of training, though I probably didn't lose much ground. A good week otherwise, however!