Running in SL...

I am in no way a die hard runner like my mother. However, I am attempting the sport. Last year I had a 3 month membership to the UN (United Nations) gym located 5 minutes walk from our center. It was a decent gym with weights, treadmills, steppers, bikes etc. most of which actually worked. But after the first month I didn’t make much use of the gym; some call it laziness, I think I just had other priorities, like resting!

Anyway in February of this year we (me, Gisela and Morgen) decided we should start exercising regularly. We decided to run after work. Our center is close to Lumley beach- a perfect location. We started slowly…alternating walking and running. We would drive a car to a beach bar, then run/walk along the beach for about 30-45 minutes and then hop in the car and drive home. Slowly we worked our way up to running 15 minute stretches, which seemed like a nightmare in the beginning. It really is quite enjoyable (most of the time); I think the beach setting helps!

I am still running, although sometimes only once or twice a week due to clinic running very late. I am proud to say I did my longest run this past week. I ran from the beginning of the beach (Family Kingdom) to the other end (by Atlantic Beach Bar) non-stop; I guess it was a 4.5km run. Sounds pathetic to a lot of people I guess. But it was a running milestone for me.

One of my favorite parts of the run is when we walk from our center to the beach to start our run. That is when we see Mariama and Mohamed. They are the cutest kids. They live in a small shack with their mom and dad, situated between the UN headquarters driveway and the heliport entrance. Every time we walk past their shack, Mariama or Mohamed run up to us with big smiles on their faces. They don’t have much but they have their personalities! They’d make anyone laugh! They have managed to brighten up my day a number of times! Okay, so they’re not smiling for the camera but they’re still adorable!