Soccer fields

Sunday 7/19
Time: 60:18
Distance: 8 miles

Saturday 7/18
Time: 94:29
Distance: 14 miles

Friday 7/17
Distance: 0 miles

Took Friday off in the hope of improving both of my Achilles/calves. Planned to test out my calves and run shorter on Saturday, but got into a really good groove on the fields at UKZN and once I warmed up I was pretty pain free. The weather was perfect. Morning fog slowly burning off on the fields and keeping the air crisp but not too cold. I literally felt like I was about 13 years old and warming up for a soccer game. In any case, a welcome change from the smoky, exhaust-laden air on most days. By the end of the run on Saturday, I was cranking pretty good. It was great to have one of those days I felt like I was floating. Haven't had one in way too long.

Definitely paid for yesterday this morning, however. Calves were basically fine and nothing in particular was sore, but I just felt like all I could do was move at a crawl pace. Put in an hour, but was pretty beat by the end despite the slow pace.

Weekend highlights:

-Eating ostrich steak for the first time (delicious, if a bit chewy, and not quite as good as the gemsbok Stef ordered)

-Walking into a store at a flea market in downtown Durban and seeing 1) a chair made with the pelt (?) of a zebra face and 2) a stool made from a real elephant foot. Legal? Probably not. Disturbing and sort of bizarrely awesome? Definitely.

-Sitting through an hour of a ridiculous musical variety show production called Salsa Sizzlers, in which a depressed-looking band and 3 enthusiastic female vocalists performed renditions of songs by Christina Aguilera, Carlos Santana, and Shakira. Best quote of the night: "Drug lords are not the only thing to come out of Colombia...next, we'll hear a song by Colombian superstar Shakira!"