Weekend Snapshot: Tall Buildings, Treadmills, and Parks

The weekend in Dubai is Friday and Saturday. Fridays are holy days in the Islamic culture, so all offices and schools are closed.

On Friday, mrC and I went to the Dubai Mall to see the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. We purchased our tickets online (about 35 dollars each) to guarantee a spot at the time we wanted. The entrance to the Burj Khlifa is located near the food court of the mall. We printed our tickets at the online kiosk, grabbed a cup of Caribou coffee, and waited for our time slot.

After going through security, we made our way though a series of hallways displaying information about the construction of the tower to the high speed elevator area. We took about a one minute ride to the 124th floor observation deck. The views were amazing!

Afterward we walked around the waterfront and scoped out places for when we return for dinner and to watch the Dubai Fountain show.

Before leaving we walked around the mall a little. The Dubai Mall is huge. In addition to the traditional shopping, inside you will find the Dubai Ice Rink, Fashion Avenue where you'll find 70 luxury brand flagship stores (think Chanel, Versace,  Hermes, Jimmy Choo), a real dinosaur skeleton exhibit, a flight simulator, the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo and more.

With all that walking I hit 10,000 steps on my Fitbit before dinner, but the darn thing is having trouble syncing here in Dubai. Sadly, most of my days look like I have had ZERO steps.

Speaking of dinner, we ate at Texas Roadhouse and I had the best Chicken Caesar Salad. I'm still thinking about it.

Saturday was a lazy day for me. mrC had his check-ride (he passed!), so I went for a run and did some swimming. Since it was already 80 degrees at 6:30 AM, I chose the fitness center. It was much easier than my outdoor run the other day.

My first elevator runfie!

When mrC finished his work, we went to dinner at TGIFs (so many American restaurants!). I had a so-so chicken enchilada. It's nice to eat out and not have to clean up, but I'll be happy when we are settled and have a kitchen of our own.

After another simple buffet breakfast at the hotel Sunday morning, mrC and I took a walk to drop off some laundry and enjoy the local park.

Do you track your daily steps?
What's the biggest mall you've been to?

A Pool Workout, Flip Flops and Rice Cakes

Morning workouts are my favorite thing.

Since yesterday was a non-running day, I decided to do some planking by the pool. Off the top of my head I did as many variations as I could: basic, side, spiderman, with leg raise, side with hip dip, knee taps (cha chas). Most of them are included here.

Now, I've read about people using pool running as a way to maintain fitness through an injury, but I've never actually tried it myself. The closest thing to it that I've done is try out the Alter-G Anti-Gravity Treadmill.

There are two types of water running: shallow water (low impact) running where your feet touch the ground and deep water (no impact) running where your feet do not touch the ground. Since the hotel pool is 1.5 meters (almost 5'), my feet touch the ground, although most of my body is submerged.

After warming up with the plank work, I climbed into the pool for some running. Pool running is not as easy as it sounds and in fact, you don't actually move around all that much. The main idea is to keep your body vertical and pump your legs by driving your knees up as fast as you can while swinging your arms just as you would while running.

After 30 minutes of what I would generously call "interval" pool running, my legs felt like jello. Good thing I packed my favorite bouncy Oofos recovery flip flops to take with me to China. These things make walking with sore or tired legs feel so much easier.

It was peanut butter and jelly rice cakes for my post-workout snack win. We found these and the Smuckers Goober strawberry jar of pb&j stripes at ZOOM, a local market down the block from our hotel.

Have you tried pool running? 

What is your favorite rice cake?
I love apple cinnamon.

Running and Swimming Laps

Since arriving in Dubai, I've been worrying about wearing acceptable running gear, the heat, and where to run in this busy city. After taking an extra day off to let my sore legs recover, I was itching to run again on Wednesday morning.

A couple expats living in the area have assured me that it is acceptable to wear modest running gear while you run. It is not acceptable to wear your running gear into public places, like the mall or grocery. Although I love a good racerback when it's hot and humid, I opted to wear a regular tank top with my trusty Oiselle Distance shorts.

To beat the heat, I got up early and thinking about my GMMRTT early-bird runner friends, I was out the hotel at 6AM. It took my Nike GPS watch about 5 minutes to find a signal, which seriously stressed me out because I was standing on the sidewalk in my running gear. NOT running.

The other day, mrC glanced out of our hotel window (we're on the 9th floor) and noticed a small park with a running track. The 400 meter rubbery track circles around the outside of Port Saeed Plaza and is lined with flowering trees and bushes like jasmine and honeysuckle.

I left the hotel with a goal of running for 30 minutes, but knowing that my body is still acclimating to the temperature change. For example, it was already 74 degrees at 6AM! I didn't count laps while I was running, but instead watched my time and took water breaks every 10 minutes. I ended up with 11 laps around the track before making my way back to the hotel.

After a quick shower and some breakfast I headed to the pool to do some laps there. I don't know the length of the pool, but I did 5 laps (back & forth = 1) twice. Swimming is fun, but it's not easy. It's definitely more cardio than I remember as a kid!

I haven't done a lot of swimming while living in New Hampshire, so I'm thoroughly enjoying this time in the pool. Hopefully, we will have access to one in China too.


Does your GPS take a long time to connect?
Do you like running around a track?

Took My DOMS to the Dubai Marina Walk & Burj Al Arab

After Monday's strength workout, DOMS hit my legs. So instead of taking my usual Tuesday run, I took an active rest day at the Dubai Marina Walk.

The Dubai Marina Walk offers 7K of public walkways, a perfect place to lunch and keep my sore legs moving.

We took a taxi through the city and were awed by the beautiful architecture and the towering buildings. They were everywhere including surrounding the marina.

We spent about an hour just walking around enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. It reminded us a lot of the River Walk in San Antonio only bigger, less crowded, and definitely a better breeze!

Over 200 restaurants, all with outdoor seating options, line the Marina Walk. So it took us a while to decide where we were having lunch.

Neither one of us have a wide-range of international tastes, but we do like Mexican food!

I ordered the Chicken Quesadilla, my favorite menu item and one of my non-GF splurges.

And you can't sit outside next to the water without ordering a strawberry daiquiri. It just isn't right.

After lunch we took a taxi to the Burj Al Arab. This is one of the more unusual buildings in Dubai.

We wanted to go up and take pictures, but we couldn't get past the security gate. The only way to get up close is to book a room or a restaurant reservation. See, it's a luxury hotel...and we're cheap :)

How do you relieve DOMS?

Do you prefer indoor or outdoor seating?

Strength Training in Dubai

I could positively become spoiled by the hotel breakfast buffet. I've had watermelon four days in a row. Multiple servings of watermelon. It's so good.

The last time I did any strength training was more than two weeks ago in New Hampshire at SurfSet class. Yesterday seemed like a good time to get back at it, so I made my way back to the fitness center.

I hopped on the bike for a 10 minute warm up. Ever since physical therapy for my knee, I like using the bike as a warm up for strength training.

The fitness center is stocked with a variety of hand weights, mats, and stability balls and with three other people working out, it seemed like a perfect time to do some Tabata exercises.

I forgot my Gymboss interval timer in the room and had to improvise with my phone to time my exercises. It worked.

Today's Strength Workout 

(using weights 5-10 lbs): 

10 minute bike warmup

:30 hamstring curls 

:30 weighted squats

:30 weighted front lunges

:30 squats jumps

:30 alt. side lunges

:30 weighted squats

:30 arm circles

:30 knee push ups

:30 overhead press

:30 tricep floor dips

:30 knee push ups

:30 bicep curls

(:10 second rest between each exercise)

Yowie. My legs are going to be feeling that for awhile. I probably should've eased into the weights instead of getting all excited like a kid in a candy store. I probably also should have spent more time stretching.

Afterwards, I took advantage of pool again and swam some laps. I wish I knew how many laps I swam the day before so I could tell if I improved any or not. Oh well, a goal for next time.

Today, I'm taking the day off (for my legs) and some sight-seeing after lunch with mrC!


How do you recover from post-workout sore muscles?