A Spa Stay-Cation

My spring vacation is coming to an end and it will be back to work on Monday. I am at a point in my longevity at work where I have a great benefit of earning a lot of vacation leave. But we are at a point in the economy where having the money to get away for every vacation is not affordable, and maybe not even desirable. Like other people, I find that get-away vacations can be pretty spendy. And I should not feel too sorry for myself, since we were blessed to be able to spend over 2 weeks in Ireland just last fall! So, like many other people are doing these days, I have been taking one of the very popular "stay-cations."

If I had chosen to afford to go away to a dream destination somewhere, I would have chosen some kind of spa resort. Since instead I would be home-based, I had to ask myself, "Why?" What would I expect if I went to a spa resort? What would be the benefit? And what would I expect to experience there?

My main thoughts on that were: I would expect to work out quite a bit, to get a massage, to eat some healthy and attractive "spa" cuisine, and get a facial.

I experienced all those things over the course of the two weeks. I worked out a lot, in addition to running according to my Jeff Galloway schedule - including a 20-miler. In keeping with the budget theme, from the library I checked out a cookbook from Canyon Ranch Spa. I haven't tried all the recipes I tagged, but my favorite was a grilled vegetable and goat cheese sandwich wrap. The sea scallop stir-fry was a winner too. I booked a massage and when Casey got to my left shoulder, it was a good reminder how long it had been since I had a massage. Far and away the most deliciously decadent thing I did, however, turned out to be the facial.

I haven't had a salon facial for about 25 years. For this one, Connie had me lie on a massage table, cozy between two downy comforters, under which there must have been a heating pad on to cozy it up. It was instant relaxation. I'm not sure what all potions and lotions she used, and I didn't really care - it was just an hour of bliss, with relaxation-type music playing in the background with windchimes and birds chirping. In a lull while one of the masks or moisturizers must have been doing its magic, Connie put some lotion on my feet and gave me a little foot rub. The facial also included a little neck and shoulder massage. I almost fell asleep.

This Thursday, I had a fun workout at the gym with my personal trainer, Rey. Rey is a very encouraging guy, a good listener, and good at selecting exercises to help each of his clients meet their personal goals.

As a task-oriented list-maker, it wouldn't have been a vacation if I hadn't done a little - very little - spring cleaning, made some cookie dough to put in the freezer, and gotten the dishwasher repaired. And I only did work-work a little over 1 day of the two weeks. We started the vacation with a visit to the Egyptian exhibit at OMSI; I got a book at the library to help me get started with this blog process; I visited my friend Marilyn, formerly of DMV, now of Evergreen Bible Church, and showed her some of my Ireland photos; and I bought some pansies at Shorty's nursery and finally got them planted yesterday - today, Nature is doing the watering and then some!

I have enjoyed my "spa vacation," and accomplished most of what I wanted to. With every vacation it gets a little harder to go back to work, and I am glad we have a mutual target of retiring in 4 years. My next stay-cation is coming up for 1 week, the end of May-first of June. Hmm...what should my theme be?

Nice Day for a Run!

Wasn't Sunday the quintessential gorgeous Northwest spring day? Sundays are my long run days, and the beautiful weather made it a little easier to hit the road. The previous Sunday's combination of cold, rain, and leg cramps was one of the worst runs I have had, so I needed a little extra motivation to get out and try again.

When I say "run," I really mean run-walk-run, the Jeff Galloway technique of running a few minutes then walking a minute, repeat.

This Sunday I ran from home, out 112th/Gher Rd/94th (is there a road in Vancouver that goes any distance without changing its name?), to Padden Parkway, west to Hazel Dell, looping back at 99th Street and Hwy 99, back to 78th/Padden and returning home the way I came.

I have run along Padden Parkway several times now, and I really enjoy the parts along the wetlands. I have seen ducks, Canadian geese, a heron, and many types of birds, including my favorite - the redwinged blackbird. The part I don't enjoy as much is the intersection at Andresen, where there are so many lanes and so much traffic due to Costco and Home Depot.

On a long run, it can be important to have some mental distraction. There are a couple of things I have seen on pretty much every long run that add some humor to the exercise: a banana peel and an ambulance. The banana peel has humor just as part of classic comedy; the ambulance is maybe a little dark humor, when I imagine myself hitching a ride home in case I get too tired.

Where Padden Parkway crosses over I-205, the bike path has a foot bridge that goes up and over, and comes down almost in the backyard of Crossroads Community Church. On the way home I was thinking of stopping to do my Jimmy Cagney impersonation ("Look Ma, top of the world!"), but there were a bunch of bicyclists coming and going, and I just had to say it to myself.

I felt on top of the world, completing my chosen route, logging my miles, being on track for my race day 9 weeks away, even if I did get a little sunburned!