Fear, Loathing, and Happy Valley

FEAR
I started the day reading all the updates from the Namibia race. The current Four Desert race started and concluded with a crazy technical climb into and out of the Grand Canyon of Africa. In America, don't we use mules (and helicopters) for this sort of thing? Competitors who fall into my fitness and speed level took 13-15 hours to complete 38kms. Wow must add mountain climbing to the workout routine...

Mental note- figure out where the Grand Canyon of China is and make sure not to go anywhere near it.

LOATHING
I love my job. I work for a great company filled with smart people, and we do interesting work for challenging clients. Some days though nothing seems to work out quite like it should. You do everything possible to make it better and things only seem to get worse.

Yesterday was one of those days. I loathe those days.

HAPPY VALLEY
After my endless work day, I headed to the Valley for training- squash match and run. I endured an intense 45 minute-schooling by my teammate (a 40+ mother of two with a full time job), who reminded me that while my fitness has improved (take squats and lunges off tomorrow's strength plan) , my squash shots still need lots of work.

Then I headed out to the heat and humidity. I blitzed around the track in old squash shoes and new ipod. I ran 10km fast. Phew, feel much better about the rat race.

Apparently, training goes a long way in the urban jungle too.