Nb. I actually submitted this in time but for some reason it didn’t post…nvm

So at the end of last week I flew out to Asia with visions of exotic runs through foreign cities and hotel room work out sessions in lieu of a real gym. In practice, I didn’t do any of that. Now partly this was due to my illness sure (yes I’m ill again…I think my body punishes me with illness every time I stop working out for more than two days…) I actually don’t feel too bad but the death rattle is back and I sometimes feel like I’m coughing up a lung.

The other reasons are a bit more complicated. Firstly, I just didn’t really feel safe enough to run in Manila. It’s a great city sure but a combination of crowded streets, poorly maintained roads and chaotic traffic meant that I wasn’t keen on a predawn or night time run on my own (as I’d be out during daylight hours).

Secondly, I actually found myself doing quite a lot more touristy things that wore me out and as a result I’ve actually done quite a lot of physical activity other than running including:

– 2 volcano/mountain hikes (uphill, in the heat and not an insignificant distance)

– Significant amounts of walking (just taking my sister around lantau island, Hong Kong, Manila etc meant I was clocking up an average of 20k steps a day

– a LOT of swimming (we spent the whole of today essentially swimming, snorkelling and then hiking over and over again).

– one or two quick hotel room sessions (press ups, crunches, squats etc)

So whilst I’m disappointed that I didn’t quite deliver on my aspirations, I also don’t think this was necessarily a “bad” week either. Who knows, maybe I’m just making excuses but I’m having too much fun to care right now!

Week 20 is another rest week but I will again aim to get