Does Hiking Count?

I've been on vacation for the last... 6 days? I'm writing this from a lovely porch on Nevis at about 7 am.

We are staying at the Yellow Cabin in Gingerland, which is the Atlantic side of Nevis. This is one of the least populated places I have ever stayed. Our closest neighbors are goats, donkeys, and monkeys. http://www.theyellowcabinnevis.com/

Don't be jealous. I haven't run a step since arriving (in spite of packing with best intentions), and my body is totally telling  on me. I hope I fit into the pants I need to wear home because it is about 50 degrees colder in Wisconsin.

Nevis is probably not a place I would consider a non-serious runner's paradise; it's amazingly beautiful and friendly, but every where is either directly up hill or straight down. This is typical when you have a dormant volcano as the base for your life. The roads on my side of the island are narrow (about a car and a quarter at most two way points, maybe two lanes if you are driving through a populated area). Side walks are rare too. Add driving on the left and tourists, and I've pretty much decided the roads are not a great idea for me to run on.

What Nevis may be considered is a hiker's paradise. There is every possible terrain to hike, and some of the hikes are very challenging and technical. My husband and I have been hiking around sugar plantation ruins,  beaches (and yes, I consider that hiking), rainforests on the side of Mt. Nevis. We've started off on one hike only to be sucked into another trail that winds alluringly toward the peak.

Between gaining a few vacation pounds and not running, I feel totally derailed in my training. I'm supposed to be working on this goal of a comfortable five miles at a time for December, and here I am, eating like I'm on vacation, and not running.

This begs the question: does hiking count? I hope it does. We will find out when I get home and go out for a run on Monday morning. I'm struggling though. I have a voice in my head that is reminding me constantly that I need to be training, and a brain that can justify another day of not running; I happen to have a husband who is good at this as well. He just informed me that we will be hiking today, and he wants me to have fresh legs for hiking instead of having legs I've run on. He's running this race too. I was hoping he would be more "Let's get a short run in before we hike for 3 hours!" because that seems like training in my head.

Maybe he is right though. Maybe running and then hiking would be too much. Maybe I should not worry, enjoy this vacation, and then come back swinging over the holiday season.

Maybe I should focus on my January goal: seven comfortable miles. I could actually run five miles fairly comfortably before we left, so I really shouldn't be that far off.

At any rate, I'm off to enjoy the last few days on this lovely island with my sweet, stubborn husband.