Easy four miler

I ran an easy 4 miles at lunchtime yesterday and my legs felt great. My stride was as free and easy as it's been since I hurt my hamstring in April. I think the week of low-level activity in Costa Rica must have helped a lot. I did a fair number of hikes, but all were slow, with frequent stops to look at animals and plants. The whitewater rafting, rappelling and ziplining were all fairly easy, so I had an active but restful week.

I think it helped that I was very good about stretching every day while I was gone. Last night, I spent some quality time with my foam roller and I was happy that some previous hot spots seem to be better.

Today, we celebrate my son's 16th birthday. It's hard to believe he's that old already. I still remember driving him to day care every morning, sharing a box of animal crackers along the way and singing along to his favorite songs on the radio. He was such a sweet young boy, but by age 16, that's long gone. I don't mean that in a bad way, but he's grown up and quite different. My son's friends on the trip made numerous comments about how we have a very similar sense of humor. I felt like I got along really well with his friends, for the most part. Every once in a while, I had to act like a chaperone and make a decision that wasn't always popular.

Anyway, we are taking my son out for dinner tonight and then leaving for California in the morning. I'll do another easy 4 miler today after work.



Poison Dart Frog - You have to eat their stomachs to actually get poisoned, I believe. We ate no frog stomachs on the trip.



Howler monkeys - This photo was taken through a telescope, so the quality isn't great.