Brooke vs. Running

Today my trainer showed up for our workout session promptly at 5:30pm, as promised.

The first time we “trained” I thought it would be a breeze—a little walk down by the river, maybe a lingering climb up the hill to see the sunset, a brisk jog down the steps to the river and back. I mean, after all, she’s thirteen.

I asked her how far we would walk- she said 22 coconut trees. She said she would know it was time when her legs started to get “hard”. So we walked around 22 coconut trees about thirty times until her legs were “hard”, and then she said it was time to run.

Run? Who said anything about running?

In an effort to get back into the habit or running and to not be outrun by a 13 year-old, I followed her lap after coconut-tree-lap, but eventually fell behind around the 15th tree. She flew past me having already been up and down the stairs twice. At the foot of the stairs, she jogged in place and clapped for me to keep going. I had a scary flashback to sophomore year cross-country camp, when I came in dead last and everyone clapped for me just to finish.

I made it two laps the first night—running around 22 coconut trees, and up and down the stairs twice. Sabrina gave me a cup of water and told me to go home and eat vegetables. She said she expected to see me tomorrow at 5:30pm, sharp.

I went straight to the nice, cold shower and, afterwards, covered myself in cortisone cream. I don’t know which was worse, the 45 mosquito bites my glistening bod attracted, or the lovely heat rash.

Today I completed 5 laps and thought I was having a heat stroke. Sabrina laughed and laughed while I rolled around in the grass wheezing. She said by April I’ll be in good shape. Ms. Ida said by April I will “reduce”. Reasons I am certain I will not “reduce”:

• Choco-bananas
• Tortillas
• Fried tortillas
• Fried plantain
• Coke in a bottle
• Hiding from Sabrina at 5:30

With this experience, I have discovered the best and worst feelings in the world:

Worst- running in Belize
Best- cold shower and PJs after running in Belize

Next up: Brooke vs. Language