Ship happens

The 18-day cruise from Rome to Lisbon produced the expected results: much less running than usual (about half) and much more eating than usual (about double). This, in turn, resulted in the usual gain of a pound a day. Now let me see... a pound a day for 18 days... How many is that? Oh, never mind. I'll figure it out sometime, and/or I'll weigh myself.

Although there were a few days where I managed to run on dry land, those were few and far between, because we were busy with other stuff most of the time. In addition, those runs were short - only a few miles for those same reasons, as well as this one: I often had already gotten my early morning run in for the day. If you've concluded that my running for this time period was somewhat less than optimal, you would be correct.

Here's a rundown of a typical Dan run on the MS Sirena.

The fitness center doesn't open until 6:00 A.M., and here it is, five-something. What to do? Run in circles on deck 10, of course. Running in circles, you ask? Isn't that awful, you ask? Maybe. But not always so much. I have options, you see... I can:

a) Run the 13 laps per mile recommended route. Yes, that's a lot of turning. But even here, there are options within this option. You see, I can run counter-clockwise (the usual direction, though I'm not sure why) or clockwise. See? All types of variations. I do a mile in each direction, but can only run clockwise when no one else is about. Today, I'm alone up here. Regardless of direction, I can only handle so much of this, so there's option b.

b) When I get tired of all that turning, I can do something else: add the two short aft hallways to the route. When I do this, it's only about 8 laps per mile. Another advantage is that I now (assuming that I'm going the accepted counter-clockwise direction) do two left-hand turns and two right-hand turns, and I don't even upset any fellow walkers or runners. The only disadvantage is having to do 180-degree turns at the end of each hallway. When I get tired of this, I can graduate further to option c.

c) This one only works when no one else is about. I can start in one direction, say clockwise, run one aft hallway, then turn and change direction all the way around the other way, in this case, counter-clockwise. When I get to the end of the other hallway, I turn 180 degrees and reverse direction one again. Now it's only five laps per mile, at least for each complete - going each way - circuit. The advantage here is that I'm constantly changing direction and my turns are completely evened out. Of course, I can only do this when I'm completely alone. 

d) By the time I get a few miles sorted out as described above, it's 6:00 and (Bob's your Uncle) the gym is open. I hate that mill, but it prevents me from running in circles or U-shaped thingies (c). I can only take so much milling around, so I will often revert myself back to option a again. 

And that's it. I will say that running outside has the advantage of being in the fresh sea air, watching the sun rise, and observing our visitation to a port or two. My running will, I hope, not take too very long to get back to normal. Then it will be time to travel again.

A rare run on dry land. This one is on Tenerife in the Canary Islands.