Committed (two ways).

We just got back from an absolutely amazing vacation to The Bahamas. It was beautiful and gorgeous and I loved just about every second of it (the Atlanta airport is not a fun place to be, however).

I decided before we left that I was going to make every effort to run while we were gone, and to stick to my vegetarian eating plan.

I know, I know. Vacations are for relaxing and having fun. And I was going to suck as much fun as possible out of this vacation -- we don't travel like this often, so this was likely a once-in-a-lifetime trip for us.

But I also know me. If I were to go on vacation and not do any exercise and throw caution to wind as far as eating, I would be a terrible mess and unbearable to be around.

So I decided that I would run when I could. I wasn't going to run the 6-, 8-, 12-milers that I do at home. I wasn't going to interrupt family fun time to do it. But I was going to RUN.

I am an early riser. No matter what time I go to bed, I am awake by 6 a.m. My family, on the other hand, would sleep all freaking day long if I let them. So every morning, I woke up around 5, and would head out to run at 6. Atlantis has a marina that is home to these incredible million-dollar yachts and I ran alongside them for 30-45 minutes. I don't know how far I ran (and I have to admit that's kind of driving me insane), but I figure I did at least 3 miles, if not 4. And that was good enough for me. We walked to Nassau one day, and I figure I burned some extra calories there, too. And I went on a walk most nights after dinner, while Russ and the kids were winding down in the room.

I had read prior to heading on vacation that vegetarian options were not plentiful. I reconciled that with myself, and decided to eat vegetarian when it was possible. As it turned out, it wasn't difficult at all. We ate at buffet-style restaurants for the most part, and there were lots of options. I was able to have a reasonable facsimile of my usual breakfast, and that made me very happy. I did have a small serving of grilled fish two nights, and I had a conch burger (conch is a local favorite) one day for lunch. Other than that, I was able to keep to my original plan.

I do suspect that I gained a little weight, however. Bottled water is very expensive in The Bahamas, so I wasn't able to carry a bottle around with me everywhere, I had some sort of alcoholic beverage with every lunch. And two nights, I had ice cream for dessert. I planned on weighing myself this morning, but  I've decided to wait until tomorrow morning when I have one day of normal eating and water-drinking under my belt.

We got home at 2 this morning, and it was around 2:30 before I got to sleep. I got up at 7, though, and ran my usual 6 miles.

It is possible to keep to a reasonable exercise and eating plan while on vacation, if you WANT to do it.

(And if you don't want to do it, that's absolutely fine, too. :-) )

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After we got home this morning, I put a load of clothes on to wash and pulled out my laptop.

And registered for the 2011 MetroPCS Dallas White Rock Marathon.

I'm going to do it. I'm really going to do it. I'm going to complete a marathon before I'm 40.

December 4, 2011. I'm committed.