Toilets, running, and my last days in Belgium

Belgian toilets have 2 buttons for the flush, so one can choose how much water to use depending on the requirements of the situation. Genius!

What a whirlwind trip this has been! The last few days were no exception. With my heart finally feeling good, I was totally committed to not taking any chances last week to ensure I’d be running well on Saturday. I was a freaking Saint all week! Despite my best efforts, while I was daydreaming about the race on Thurs night, my heart started pounding again. There is a silver lining here—this means that my theory that alcohol was the trigger is out the window (or at least there’s more to the story). On Friday night as I lay in bed, I concentrated hard on relaxing, and my body seemed to respond…and my heart’s been feeling good since. It was pretty telling that I could cause a physical reaction by my thoughts; my latest theory is that I have a physical condition that has many triggers, both physical and psycological. In any case, I don’t think I’ve been doing myself any favors by trying to force myself back into competition shape every time my heart has been “back,” and with that in mind, even though my heart was feeling ok on Sat, I decided it’s time to close the book on running for this year. I think the best thing I can do for myself now is to simply enjoy the rest of my time here without stressing over running success. I’m also going to make this the last time I mention my heart. I’d like this blog to have more appeal for a reader than simply accounting for many times I’ve been through the same cycle (for those keeping track, I’m currently in the top of the 5^th). I’ll just enjoy the rest of my time here, and see some experts when I return. I can’t hide the disappointment of coming here to run and then not starting a single race, but I remind myself that discovering and learning how to manage a physcial condition that, upon reflection, has affected me for quite a long time, is very postive. I’m holding out hope that I’ll still be able to run and stay healthy, and be back next year. I surprised myself how quickly I can get into shape when my heart’s working right, and I’ve got a lot left to accomplish on the track.

I’m going to stay in Belgium long enough to take the GMAT on Thurs, and then move on. The rough outline (dependent on who I can stay with when) is to go to Amsterdam for the weekend, then work my way to Prague and Poland, then find a beach, probably in Croatia. I’d also like to work on my Spanish before I go; I’ll have to spend some time in Spain at some point.

My laptop arrived on Fri! Thanks Dan. What a relief; I can stop shelling out cash at internet cafes, and it’s 100 times more convenient to log on from my room. I don’t know what I was thinking leaving this in the states. Plus it's now easier to upload pictures to the blog. I just signed up for the GMAT a few minutes ago, which will be Thurs morn in Brussels. I’ve been studying intermittantly the last couple months, and decided it’s time to man up and give it a go. I’ll be locked in my room the next few days figureing out mnemonics for every last grammar rule I can think of.

I also got to catch up on a bunch of time-wasting I’ve been missing out on without easy internet access, including taking in every last detail of the Brett Favre saga (read my brother’s take here), and catching up on youtube shorts. I also rented the Ali-G movie. Slapstick and stupid…and completely hilarious.

Time to rehearse the past perfect progressive tense. I had been sudying casully for the GMAT, until I had a hard deadline. Now I’m getting serious!