What I Did Instead of My Long Run

Several months ago, Mark and I decided to go to Costa Rica over my university's spring break. The first few days we stayed in a fishing village called Brasilito and were just a few minutes away from two different beaches. The last day we went to Monteverde to a much higher altitude and into the Cloud Forest.

The timing of the trip turned out to be less than ideal because of all my impending March and April deadlines, but it was also more than ideal as it allowed me to recharge my batteries. I definitely felt refreshed after some time away because I was on the verge of burn out. Although I did have to bring some work with me, I did most of it on the long plane rides or on the terrace of my hotel with a cup of coffee or a fruit smoothie during the hottest parts of the day.

While I didn't get in my long run for the week, I did get in two shorter runs -- one of 30 minutes, which I dedicated to my friend Sherrie, and one of 40 minutes, which I dedicated to the lovely Irene. Thanks so much to both of you for sponsoring me! Running in the heat and humidity and on sand was definitely a challenge, but it was worth it to see the gorgeous views and hear the waves crashing nearby.

I don't regret my decision to surrender getting in my long run because that choice enabled me to catch up on my rest and to balance a couple of lazy beach days with a couple of days of excursions that involved a lot of hiking. Because of that, I got some good activity and time on my feet even if I didn't log a long run. On the lazy beach days I got in a lot of leisure reading, finishing The Nightingale, Pretty Girls, and Station Eleven.

We hiked out to the volcano El Rincon de la Vieja and to a waterfall nearby it one of the days. I celebrated my birthday by facing both my fear of heights and my fear of dark, enclosed spaces by going cave hiking at Barra Honda. On the way to the cave, we heard howler monkeys going nuts, and our way back to the transport we spotted them in the trees. The vertical descent into the cave was intense. We had to climb down a 60-foot ladder, and some of the footholds were precarious as the rungs leaned right up against the cave surface. Our group got to explore two of the cave system's chambers, which involved a lot of scrambling over rocks and some slightly scary climbing.

In case I hadn't challenged myself enough, we also went zip lining in the Cloud Forest near Monteverde. It was an incredible experience, and most of the time things happened so quickly that I didn't have time to freak out about the heights involved. The only times I felt at all nervous was on the first swing out on something called the Tarzan and on the 800-meter line when I looked down over a gulley and felt a brief second of dizziness before I reminded myself that I needed to remake myself into a ball so that I didn't get stuck out there, which would have been really scary.

We also did an interesting guided night tour in part of the forest that abutted a family farm. We saw a sloth, frogs, scorpions, a tarantula, kinkajous, a viper, and a variety of birds and insects.

My only complaint is that the week went by too quickly. I would definitely go back to Costa Rica as there was so much that we didn't get to see. Have you ever been to Costa Rica? Where was the last place you vacationed?