Training

Training
I decided that I needed someone to push me to train, especially if it is going to have to be in the afternoon or evening, a time when I fear combating with the sun. I decided that my little sister would be perfect for the job. She is athletic, when she wants to be, and being an eleven year old she does not have too many other obligations.
We started training on Thursday. We left around five thirty, so it would not be completely hot. We didn’t do too bad running two villages away. She had trouble keeping up, which resulted in her walking and me running back to catch her up to me. My favorite quote from her was, “For a fat person, you are pretty fast.” It is really funny how no matter what your body type is here, you are considered fat. Part of the reason is that it is an insult to call someone skinny.
Being a pre-teen my sister was quickly distracted by the boys in the neighboring villages. I learned quickly that if I want to be serious with my training, I might have to find a new training partner, or train on my own. We had to walk home because of this factor. We did make one side trip to hang out with some of the girls in her class. The girls are so cute, and like normal they went to my hair to check for bugs.
The second day we were fighting with the clock, as we had to be back home for the start of the Sabbath. So we made the mistake of going out at 3:30. I would suggest to anyone in Samoa, or thinking about coming to Samoa to not spend much time outside at 3:30. It is still way too hot a time of day to be outside. Within seconds my shirt was dripping from sweat. This of course didn’t help my little sister’s training mentality, so we spent the time with a good balance of running and walking. Of course the heat did not stop her from being distracted by the boys. (Should we play games with the boys, or can we stop and talk to them?)
Next week, I am going out for a real run several days during the week. This may mean that I may have to go out twice a day, once by myself, and once on the distracted fun with my sister. No matter what happens it is still better than no training (which is similar to my approach to the 10k!).