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By kilax, February 14, 2015 6:16 pm

Consider yourself warned – these posts will be long and detailed because they’re my journal account of our trip and because I want to share some of the information we discovered there that other people browsing the internets may find helpful. 

When we were looking for plane tickets to Cancún in September, we were actually able to find one that had a layover in Dallas on the way there and on the way back. Awesome! This meant we could arrive and depart Mexico with Gina and family (as they live in Dallas)!

The only odd thing about the flight there, was that it left on a Wednesday night from Chicago, got to Dallas that evening, then left for Mexico Thursday morning. I had never experienced a layover split over a day like that before! But (despite a delay and getting in really late), I discovered I liked splitting the travel between two days like that – it felt like I was wasting less time traveling splitting over two days (rather than spending one day of travel like we did on the way back). And of course, it helped that Gina’s husband, Steve, picked us up at the airport and we got a few hours of sleep at their place before our Thursday am flight!

Luca and me on the shuttle to the airport!

When we booked our tickets, we chose the row behind Gina, Steve and Luca on the flight. Which meant there was a bit of this going on:

Hee hee!

Every person on the plane seemed in great spirits on the flight from Dallas to Cancún. Hmm… I wonder why?! Maybe something to do with the weather? It was actually pretty chilly in Dallas when we left, at 31°F! I made sure to check the weather back home too…

Nope. Nopenopenope. Adiós cold weather! This trip seriously could not have been at a better time of the year!

Hola, Cancún!

We arrived in Cancún in the late morning and took a previously reserved (thanks, Steve!) Super Shuttle the 35 miles to Playa del Carmen. Someone had warned me that the Cancún Airport is really confusing and that even if you have a reservation for a car or ride, tons of people will be giving you transportation offers and you won’t know where to go. Yes, people were there offering rides… but there was only one way out of the airport and it was super clear where to go for what you wanted. Ha ha, makes me wonder what the heck happened to that person that they gave me such a warning!

Waiting for Super Shuttle. This Christmas, there was a gift from my parents marked “for Kim and Gina” and it had two matching pink hats in it! Gina and I loved them! And so did Luca. Ha ha. We had to get him a hat the day we arrived. Steven and Steve bought their hats the next day…

As I mentioned, we rented from Airbnb. Originally, we were looking at resorts, but I was hoping the five of us could share a suite together, and that wasn’t very affordable at a resort! And while I love love love being around Luca, I didn’t want to be in a family friendly resort full of other people’s children. And… I didn’t want to feel “stuck” on a resort compound. So! Airbnb it was!

Our rental ended up being great! It had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room and kitchen, front desk security, a serene interior courtyard, and a roof top pool! (And super nice neighbors)

The only problemo? Location. And not location to the beach. It was at a great location for that – just four blocks from the beach and three blocks from 5th Avenue (the 30 street long pedestrian-only avenue FILLED with shops and restaurants). And I will mention, two blocks from the only vegan restaurant in Playa del Carmen – and that was all by chance!

Nah, the location problem was right next door – the ADO bus stop. It was on the opposite street to the living room/bedroom Gina and Steve took, and it was quite loud. Other than that, the place was great!

After unpacking a bit we ventured out for our first meal. We didn’t even make it two blocks before we settled on a Mexican (of course) restaurant! I ordered the first of many dishes of delicious fajitas I would have there.

During the meal, I realized I hadn’t looked at the exchange rate, at all, and didn’t want to use the data on my phone to look it up (we added international call minutes/a bit of data to our phone planes but I didn’t want to use it too much). So… we just went with whatever the restaurant charged us (the bill total was provided in pesos and US dollars).

Now, this took awhile for me to figure out. The whole money exchange thing. A few people told us that most places will take US dollars or pesos. So, before we left, I got out a few hundred dollars in US currency, and planned to just use that. Easy, right? What I did not know though, is that if you pay in US dollars, you are likely being charged the commercial exchange rate (which most places had set at 12 pesos to 1 dollar) rather than the exchange rate of the day (which was commonly 14.85 pesos to 1 dollar, while we were there). So while you can pay with US currency, you might be paying more than you would with pesos, based on the rate you exchanged US currency for pesos in, or the rate your bank charged you to withdraw pesos from an ATM (which we ended up doing at the end of the trip). Blah blah, money mumbo jumbo. Overall, I am sure we lost a few bucks here and there, and it doesn’t bug me, but if that sort of thing would bug you, it’s something to think about before you travel!

After lunch we had to walk to the beach, just to check it out!

Aww, yes! This is why we came! Warm sun, sand and water = instant happiness!

But… we didn’t stay long. Duty called, and we wanted to get a few things from, dun dun dun – Walmart! Our place was literally a block away! Super cheesy to be going to Walmart in Mexico, but also, super convenient.

We made sure to get the essentials:

Then it was back to the beach for realzies, swimsuits and everything!

It was later in the evening and the water was a bit cool (and oddly stinky – maybe to do with the tide?), so we mostly just lounged around.

This isn’t documented in a photo, but I am pretty sure we made Mexican food (beans, rice and guac) for dinner! And we had our first encounter with a new friend…

And, that was Day 1! Day 2 brings an exciting adventure to Cozumel on what we lovingly named the “Barco del Barfo”! Ha! Stay tuned!

Comments (14)

By kilax, February 13, 2015 7:59 am

Highlight of the Week: Running in Playa del Carmen!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday | February 2, 2015: 5.5 m run (incl. 3×1 mile) + 6.5 m bike + teaching strength class
Loc: treadmill, Time: 55:55, Pace: 10:10 avg, Difficulty: hard, Felt: horrible
Bike Time: 30:00, Pace: 13.0 mph, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: resistance bands, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: good!
Tuesday | February 3, 2015: 5 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 6°/9°, Time: 53:01, Pace: 10:36 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: too cold
Wednesday | February 4, 2015: 14 m run (first 5 w/Kelly)
Loc: LSC, Time: 2:19:18, Pace: 9:57 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: clunky and tired
Thursday | February 5, 2015: rest
Friday | February 6, 2015: 5 m run (w/Gina)
Loc: Playa del Carmen, Temp: 64°, Time: 47:35, Pace: 9:30, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | February 7, 2015: 5 m run (w/Steve)
Loc: Playa del Carmen, Temp: 68°, Time: 50:52, Pace: 10:11 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Sunday | February 8, 2015: 6.5 m run (first 4.3 w/Gina)
Loc: Playa del Carmen, Temp: 66°/68°, Time: 1:00:19, Pace: 9:17 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good

Notes:

• Monday was NOT my day. Speedwork on the treadmill felt so hard (I have a theory that our treadmill is faster than it says. I’d like to think that is the reason I felt like I was about to fly off the back. Ha ha.), and I messed up the workout tracker on my phone during my bike ride. It made me feel stupidly frustrated.
• In fact, I felt a bit rushed and meh the first three days of the week. I knew I was trying to cram workouts in before I left for vacation on Wednesday night and that didn’t feel right!
• But! Everything was super relaxing and chill on vacation in Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Ahhhhh. It was my first time in Mexico! I absolutely loved running there! Our condo was really close to a bike trail that lead to several good places to run and I took advantage of it. It was so nice to run outside in a tank top and shorts!

Link to Training Week 276

Comments (22)

By kilax, February 12, 2015 9:46 pm

Gosh, I got so lost in this knitting project for my snister that I haven’t posted in over a week!

Ja ja ja, just kidding, I haven’t quite moved to that level of obsession yet.

I was actually taking a blog/social media/texting break while we were in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, with our otra familia, Gina, Steve, and Luca, for the past week!

In August last year we decided it would be fantastico if the five of us traveled to Mexico together. Gina and Steve had gotten great recommendations for Playa del Carmen from a family member, so we found an affordable airbnb rental, and booked tickets in September (which happened to be just the right time to buy a few summery things on clearance for the trip!).

Booking in September was far enough away that I sometimes forgot we were going at all! Then I would remember during the beginning of a long run and spend the rest of the run daydreaming about what it would be like to soak up the sun in February. Ahhh.

It. Was. Great. I’ve never traveled anywhere else with such fantastic weather – cool in the morning (great for running!) and at night (great for going out!) and nice and warm during the day (great for the beach!). I was astonished that so many shops didn’t even have doors on them – could the weather really be that nice somewhere, year-round? Ha ha.

I wasn’t very familiar with Playa del Carmen (or any town in Mexico really – the closest I’ve traveled to it outside of the states is Aruba) before going, and honestly didn’t do a lot of research before I went. I knew I wanted to be lazy and hang out at the beach (check), see some ruins (check), and snorkel (check).

More to come in future posts…

What’s cool though, is that if I mentioned I was going to Playa del Carmen to people who had already been there, they raved about it! And I can see why – it has something for everyone – beaches, excursions, cenotes, scuba/snorkel, bars/restaurants, shopping… and it’s safe to be in town and explore.

I’m so happy we chose to go there, and especially with Gina and fam! And can’t wait to write all about it… once I get some rest. It’s been a long day of traveling back home!

Comments (18)

By kilax, February 3, 2015 12:15 pm

It’s been over seven (nearly eight!) years since I graduated from college, and as evidenced during my lunch break, I still find myself in an odd state of panic when I go in to an arts supply store. Sigh.

The massive selections of pens, markers and pencils, rows upon of different types of paper, easels and canvases, paintbrushes, triangles, t-squares, stencils coming at me from all directions… AHHHHHHHHHH! SO. MUCH. STUFF. Why am I here again? What do I need?  Are they going to have it all? How much is it all going to cost?! What will I forget this time?

I remember the first time I went to the art supplies section of the campus bookstore in college. It was the first day of freshman year and I was given a list of things to buy in my architectural studio class. I didn’t know what half of the things were on the list. I had no idea how much it was going to cost. Hours, three stores, and $250 later, I had what I needed (with a LOT of help from Steven, driving me around to the shops off campus, and telling me what the things were I was told to buy). Next step – figuring out what the instructors wanted me to do with it all…

Looking back now, the amount of discomfort I felt then, and every time I went to get supplies (typically once a week, sometimes several times a day) should have been a sign. A sign I was in the wroooooooong major. Shouldn’t I have been excited, to an extent, to go shopping for supplies to build and draw things? Shouldn’t I have gotten some enjoyment out of it? I bet a lot of my classmates did. For me it was always dread, dread, dread. An icky feeling of anxiety and discomfort I still feel now when I go to an art supplies store – and I certainly wasn’t there to buy drafting or model supplies today!

Comments (58)

By kilax, February 2, 2015 6:03 am

I typically wing the majority of my race “training.” My training “plans” tend to consist of me looking at the calendar to see when the race is, then back tracking weekend by weekend to see what kind of long runs I should do to get ready. Then I just do whatever I feel like the rest of the week. Super dedicated and purposeful, no? Ha ha.

This spring is a bit different. I am doing the same 5K in February and half marathon in May that I always do, but I also added a goal 5K in March and an ultra in April. That’s kind of all over the place. So I actually wrote myself a training plan. And have actually been following it, for the first four weeks. Gasp! So I CAN follow a plan!

Of course, note that the plan only consists of a day of speedwork and the weekly long run. Ha ha, so, still, not a plan. I am still winging the other five days of the week.

Note: this plan has since been revised – the 2×2, 2×3 and 4×2 sessions are only to be done 1x, not 2x (that would be cray cray!)

But I am finding it really helpful that I did write this plan. Or maybe I should call it a guide? Either way, it’s been kind of tricky to keep track of what I should be doing to prepare for a 5K PR and an ultra simultaneously (and what about that half?). I forget, from time to time, why I have such a long run on my calendar if I am training for a 5K. Then I remember, “Oh yeah! The ultra!” then think “good thing I wrote that all out.” Ha ha.

Time is getting away from me. I feel like I have all the time in the world before these events, but I don’t. My goal half marathon is three months from today. Three months out is when I started doing really focused training for the Dallas Marathon, and that was all I was focusing on! Oops. I hope this plan/guide can get me where I need to be, since I can’t seem to keep it all straight in my head. (Now, if only it could take care of my eating for me, too… cause you definitely can’t out run a bad diet!)

Are you a plan follower or do you like winging it?

Ahh, I just love to wing it and do whatever I feel like. I really struggle with being told what to do, every day… even if it’s something I wrote out! Ha!

Comments (9)

By kilax, February 1, 2015 5:02 pm

Highlight of the Week: Teaching cycling class at Efit on Saturday!

Monday | January 26, 2015: 8 m run (w/Yvonne (all) & Kelly (first 5.6)) + teaching strength class
Loc: Grayslake, Temp: 14°/14°, Time: 1:11:15, Pace: 8:53 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Strength: ankle/hand resistance bands & dumbbells, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: meh (mentally)
Tuesday | January 27, 2015: 6.3 m run (incl. 6x”800,” 5.8 w/Kelly)
Loc: LSC, Time: 57:17, Pace: 9:06 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: pretty good!
Wednesday | January 28, 2015: rest
Thursday | January 29, 2015: 8 m run + 15 m bike
Loc: hood, Temp: 33°/33°, Time: 1:17:15, Pace: 9:39 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: okay, took legs 5 miles to wake up
Bike Time: 54:49, Pace: 16.5 mph avg, Difficulty: medium/hard, Felt: good – excited to try the workout at Sat class!
Friday | January 30, 2015: teaching strength class + 4 m run (w/Dawn, incl. 2 miles @ her tempo) + 12 m run
Strength: resistance bands, Difficulty: easy, Felt: ok
Loc: LSC, Time: 40:47, Pace: 10:12, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 30°/29°, Time: 2:02:12, Pace: 10:11 avg, Difficulty: esay, Felt: okay – took legs forever to warm up
Saturday | January 31, 2015: teaching cycling class (17.7 m) 
Bike Time: 53:53, Pace: 19.7 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great – psyched to be teaching cycling
Sunday | February 1, 2015: 4 m run + teaching fitness boxing + 6 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 27°/26°, Time: 42:48, Pace: 10:42 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: fun to run in the snow!
Strength: boxing and body weight workout (w/Lebert Equalizer), Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: treadmill, Time: 59:15, Pace: 9:53 avg, Difficulty: medium, Felt: physically fine, sweating like crazy!

Notes:

• I ran indoors three times this week (twice at the indoor track and once on the treadmill) and my body seems to be dealing with it much better than before. I remembered to switch directions half way through, at the track, and I think that helped.
• Ugh, the treadmill. I suck at it. No mental strength, what-so-ever. But we have a blizzard happening right now so I’m happy to have the option to use it! I don’t even remember the last time I used ours… I think it’s been at least three to four years! The funny thing is that when Steven and I trained for our first “distance” race, the Wisconsin Half Marathon in 2009, we used it for almost every single run!
• I had a lot of fun teaching my first indoor cycling class of the year this Saturday. I have one more at the end of the month. That was actually the next weekend class I was going to teach, but it seemed so far away! So I added a fitness boxing class on the 14th, too. (There are four instructors, and we rotate who teaches what which weekends).
• I am four for four with my speed sessions this year! Next week is three mile repeats – eek!
• And speaking of being four for four, where I am after the first month of the year? Well, since you asked (ha ha ha, riiiiiight)… I ran 202.4 miles in January, and (indoor) cycled 74.7. I taught eight strength classes, two fitness boxing classes, and one cycling class. I did four strength sessions on my own. And I did not snowshoe. In February, I would like to do more strength sessions on my own, and get out there to snowshoe, at least once! We have the snow now!

Link to Training Week 275