Surreality

It is February 18th, and I am sitting by the pool at Alex’s school. It is nearly 90 degrees, and it is FEBRUARY. I have to keep reminding myself what month it is. I feel so disconnected from the winter weather the Eastern Seaboard has experienced. Honestly, I thought I would miss winter more than I do. I am thoroughly enjoying running, barbequing and just generally being outside . In a few months, that will all change, and I will no doubt be complaining about the oven-like temperatures and overwhelming humidity that plagues Dubai in the summer months. For now, I’m just enjoying it while it lasts.

This week, Scott’s mom and her friend have come to visit from New York. They have been top tourists in and around Dubai, and it has been interesting to see Dubai through their eyes. We are all looking forward to a Desert Safari trip on Friday before they leave late Saturday night.

Last night, we headed to Global Village where we met up with Natalie and her kids. Global Village is like Epcot mixed with a church fair on steroids. There are pavilions for dozens of countries selling local goods, foods from all over the world, dancers, and musicians. Of course, the biggest attractions for our kids are the rides. Swings, roller coasters, bumper cars, the ferris wheel, and the trampoline kept them occupied for hours. Tyler ruled the trampoline with Greg Louganis style, and proved his iron stomach by riding the caterpillar roller coaster twice with Bethy followed by the Miami Dolphins roller coaster all by himself. I can’t wait until he is old enough to ride coasters with me.






This past Saturday, I ran the Predictor, as usual. It was the second week I decided to run two laps around Safa Park instead of one, which makes it a 6.8k race (around 4.2 miles). The first week I did two laps, I was slow, slow, slow. I was so slow that Graham (the ringleader of the Dubai Road Runners), started the wrap up meeting for the race before I even finished. On Saturday, I hemmed and hawed about even going. After deliberating the merits of racing that night with Natalie (who had just completed the Wadi Bih relay the day before), we finally decided to go. And WOW, was I ever happy that I did. I finished the race in 39:59, and I won the bottle of wine for closest prediction of my race time. I had predicted a finish of 40:00. My finish even got a shout out from Graham in the Predictor recap e-mail. I was all smiles, especially considering that I had such a hard time getting my butt out the door that night. Here’s what Graham had to say:

"Not surprisingly a low turn out following Friday's Wadi Bih race. Those who did turn up were either tired from Wadi bih or elated at having taken part. On the elated side was Alison McEllin who got a superb pb of 17:16 for one lap. Equally elated was Cathy Ogur who not only broke 40 minutes for the first time over 2 laps but also won the wine for closest to prediction. Star of the night was visiting runner Paul Holley who did 2 laps in 24:02"

Along with running the Predictor each week, I try to get out for a run with Natalie a few times each week. Keep your fingers crossed for me, because I am signed up for a 10 mile race in a week and a half. It will be the longest race I have run yet. I will let you know how it goes….

On Friday, last weekend, we piled the kids into the car for something completely different. The Dubai Marina & Yacht Club was hosting Dragon Boat races, so we drove down to the Marina to check it out. The Marina is a part of Dubai that has lots of potential, but it is still heavily under construction. It has a vibe similar to Battery Park in NYC. Watching the Dragon Boats glide through the water while we walked the path through the Marina was a great way to spend some time. We saw some interesting sights and stopped at a juice bar on the walk back to the car, where Tyler struck a distinctly California pose.









To take advantage of the amazing weather on Friday evening , we headed to the open beach where the kite surfers hang out. Scott and I hung out on a blanket, while Alex and Tyler collected shells, dug in the sand, and watched kite surfers and kites flying and goofed around. It was great to sit, relax, listen to the waves and breathe in the salt air. ****aaahhhh***** I love the beach and want to make an effort to get there more often. It does something for my soul to sit on the warm sand and feel the breeze off the water.