Arriving home on Friday, I was 7 runs wiser and around 38 miles more knowledgeable about Bahamian locales. In running 7 different routes, I was able to see more of the Bahamas than most tourists (or locals for that matter) and was happy that those miles brought remembrance of posts past to the forefront of my mind once again.
A World Turned Upside Down
In a past post, I talked about the laws governing appropriate running behavior whilst running outdoors. While the law requires runners to run against traffic (thus, on a 2-sided road, you should be running towards cars coming closer). Therefore, at least according to the law, I have been engaging in illegal activity for as long as I have been running. Upon discovering the actual rules, I quickly found myself getting flummoxed when trying to remember which side of the road was legally required of me and continually having to right my natural tendency to be in violation of those laws. Being as my admitted flummoxing is only a few weeks old, it's not difficult to imagine just how confused I became when I arrived in the Bahamas and stepped outside for my first run only to find that the roadways were governed by a backwards system. Under British rule for much of its history, the Bahamians were still driving on the wrong side of the street as dictated by the British driving system. On a two way road, with cars coming at me on the right side and away from me on the left, I was forced to unlearn U.S. vehicular laws and adjust to my current situation. Compounded with having to comply with these new rules, I had to deal with the fact that Bahamian drivers seemingly disregard all driving rules whenever they please and ended up being forced to dodge cars that were constantly weaving in and out of their proper traffic lanes on a whim. While all of this forced me to be more alert, it took away from my ability to enjoy the beautiful vistas in all directions at all times throughout my runs.
Slider, You Stink
Perhaps the biggest problem any runner encounters while on vacation actually occurs as that vacation in winding down. Despite my tendency to sweat enough to flood some small villages, I don't think
I'm alone in this inevitable problem. A week of great runs not only leads to many miles of great sights and sounds but also creates a pile of incredibly dirty, sweat soaked-but-now-dried running clothes that, together with everything else you brought with you, must be packed back into your luggage for the journey home. Aside from my travels to the Four Seasons Hotel in Kona for my honeymoon and to the Saddlebrook Resort for tennis camp in Tampa Bay which offered free washer and dryer machines, all other hotels I have visited only offer the usual hotel laundry service where a t-shirt costs $5 and a pair of socks $3. No matter how much shampoo, conditioner, body wash or other cleansing product you put on those running clothes, there is nothing you can do to rid them entirely of the awfulness and dirtiness that are emanating from them. While I have double, triple and, once, even quadbagged these clothes, I am always paranoid as I get on my flight that any one of my fellow passengers will start thinking that that awful smell their noses have picked up on is coming from my handsome though blushing self.Despite these two obstacles, my trip, like CVSW herself, was dopeness and we cannot wait to run away together for another vacation.
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