Sweatin' it out in Costa Rica

I had completely forgotten what it was like to sweat without moving. Humidity is something I have not been accustomed to in, er, probably 12 years since I moved to California. Nonetheless, the humidity in Costa Rica was kind of refreshing (probably since we were right next to the Pacific Ocean). It was also a great opportunity to sweat out poolside drinks and fried plantains.

Some exercise occurred while in Costa Rica, as promised.

Hiking: My friend, Noelle, and I hiked in Manuel Antonio National Park, at the Pur Vida Gardens near Bijagual, and at Carara National Park. These were definitely more leisurely hikes - up to 3 miles each, but we did see a lot of wild things like leaf cutter ants, giant rats (Agouti), ardvarks (Coati), and a million plants and flowers.

Here is a picture from Carara National Park. I'm  standing by a tree with a very large buttress. I'm glad I didn't get a big buttress while in Costa Rica, although I did drink a lot of water. HA! I slay me.

Swimming: As expected, the resort did not have a lap pool, but I tired to go on "underwater adventures" as much as possible. Yes, I brought my goggles and went swimming in the pool which curved around the back of the hotel under bridges, near little waterfalls. The other tourists probably wondered what the hell I was doing, but damnit, I got some laps in! I also swam a little bit at the Manuel Antonio beach, and at the Los Suenos beach, but was kind of afraid to go out too far. When you are the only one swimming, you start to wonder what kind of ocean creatures are out there!

Running: I ran 3 miles on the treadmill our first evening, and did two additional beach runs (3 miles, and 4 miles) while on vacation. Not bad.

Here is the lava beach just out front of our lovely resort. The water temp was 80 degrees. No wetsuit needed here.

Yoga: Noelle and I took yoga class at the hotel. The instructor was American but she taught the entire class in Spanish. Here are some fun yoga terms en Espanol:

Vaca y gato = Cat and cow

Bebe Felizidad  = Happy baby

El Perro con la Cara Hacia Abajo = Downward Facing Dog

(Ok, that last one I had to look up online. But, when she said "perro" I knew what she was taking about.)

Extra points: Como se dice (this pose) en espanol?