Fitness Filled Fall!

Hey Friends,

What a crazy month it has been! Between settling back to the island life, Kyle back in classes, the extreme heat and my new position at work, time is flying!

A few exciting events have happened this month. It first started with the Nevis Running Festival. I participated in the 5k race on behalf of the Special Olympics team. I then ran in the 10k. It was hard work, there were a few hills I was not prepared for, and even at 6 am it is still really hot!

These were some of the participants for the 5k

 











5k Medal                                                                                    10k Medal

I also went on a hike up to some waterfalls. Truly and I took some visitors up the mountain on the long weekend. Before I leave, my goal will be to hike to the peak! I have heard it's pretty intense, so I need more practice with the smaller hikes :) 

This was a cool silo at the base of our hike

My friend's pup was anxiously waiting to continue the climb

Another event I participated in was called the Fit Games. It's a an obstacle course that you can compete in with a team or individually. My trainer signed me up unbeknownst to me! He needed a substitute, and you have to have at least one female on your team. So I only had 2 weeks to train, oh and then he told me the day before the competition that their team has been undefeated so far...so no pressure :/ okay, cool... Anyway the day of the competition they changed the rules a bit which threw off which leg of the race I was completing. However we still managed to finish first! Phew! My other friend who I teach swimming with competed in the individual competition and won first place also! Kyle came out to support us, and managed to catch some of it on film, especially where I totally wiped out! I got a nasty cut on my leg from the tires I was running across. Good times! I'm not sure if I will compete again, it was harder than it looks, but at least I got a cool medal out of it. 

The winning team!

The fancy trophy that allows for bragging rights! The guy on the left was partner for most of the course! 

My friend Val who is also my swimming partner and she won the individual comp! 

The nasty tire burn I got. It makes for a good conversation starter ;) 

We have also started our swim program again. We have a good turn out so far, so I am excited to see how much we can build up our swim club. The Special Olympic athletes will also be involved in some of our classes. Our goal is to build a team to participate in the cross channel swim in March, where we swim from Nevis to St.Kitts. We are hoping to do it in a relay style. I am hoping to train and participate in that as well. Training involves swimming at 6am 3 mornings a week. I haven't really started yet, but hoping to next week. Ha! 

Finally, I completed in another 5k race this past weekend to support the St. Christopher Children's Home in St. Kitts. We ran around the golf course by the Marriot. It was fun to run somewhere different for a change, plus all the proceeds help the children!

This was the group I participated with! 

Currently, I don't have any other scheduled fitness events. I just continue to train for running and soon swimming. My friend on the island is trying to convince me to do the triathlon in November, but that involves riding a bike on these crazy roads, which I have no desire to do. 

On another note, I have been so busy with my new position it's kind of amazing what we have been able to do. Training teachers on implementing a checklist that myself and my colleague created for the preschools has certainly kept us busy. We have seen a lot about how the education system works on the island here. They have a lot of catching up to do if they want to come even close to North American standards, but the good news is they are realizing they need to make changes, so I am happy I get to help with that. Especially after receiving some devastating news that one of my clients I used to work with here passed away last week. She was the first child I worked with here, and one of the reasons I was able to get a job in the first place. I was so upset by this news and disappointed that it got to the point it did. She had been sick for a long time, I am just sad that no one here was able to help her in the way she deserved. 

Anyway, that's how our September went. We also survived hurricane Matthew. We experienced some high winds and some rain, but nothing to crazy like some of the other islands. I'm pretty sure it was still a tropical storm when it was over top of us. It was two full days of overcast weather. We haven't had that in the whole time I have been here...it was actually a little depressing not to see the sun for awhile. The breeze was a nice break though, I was able to wear pants! 

I also had a new experience of playing island bingo! A couple of the spouses of students wanted to check it out so I tagged along. It was actually so fun. It was very loud and the bingo announcer was not your typical guy. He liked to call out numbers by saying O for October and G for Make America Great Again, and N for Nevis and then my favourite was when he said B10 minus 5. Or I16 plus 4. However it was all worth it because one of my friends actually won the jackpot! It was a full card, and right before she got bingo, someone thought they had it but it was a bad bingo! So 2 other people won also so they split the pot of 3300 EC. We then raced to the car and got out of there as quick as possible. People were jealous for sure! But it was a neat experience, and something I never thought I would do here. 

My card was a loser

My friend on the left was the big winner!

So that is the latest update here. Kyle begins hospital rotations this week, and I start my final two courses next week. It is going to be a busy couple of months until December. I'm not sure how much blogging time I will get now. I also will be travelling back to Canada for a week at the end of October for my best friends wedding. So exciting!! 

Thanks everyone for your continued support! We really appreciate it!