Togo: I'm wrecked

So Friday evening before dinner, I decided to work out for the first time in 5 weeks with Tom outside on the veranda. We were doing a high-intensity workout in quick intervals, which I thought would be fine since I was in decent shape back home. However, after 20 minutes total, I was getting the spins and was convinced I would either pass out or throw up, which has never really happened to me. I ended up sitting on the floor sipping on Propel for a good half hour until I was ready to stand up. I think part of it is that I am pretty out of shape, but Tom thinks it is because I am dehydrated here and am not used to working out in this heat and humidity. In any case, I was pretty sore all day yesterday and beginning yesterday evening to right now, I am having the worst muscle pains I've ever had. Most of my muscles are a bit sore as usual, but I've got some serious pulled muscles in both my quads - so bad that I have trouble walking without having my legs buckle under me, my thighs would hurt just from touching my mattress this morning when I was sleeping, and I have to put my hands down on a seat first and lower myself down so I don't collapse. Hopefully the muscle pain will go away soon though, and I'll be ready to try out this workout again!
We have two other Foundation colleagues in town this week, one staying at our apartment as our third roomie. There were scheduled protests today against the government here in Lome, and though we didn't run into any crowds, when we left the hotel where we had lunch with our fourth colleague this afternoon, we were definitely glad to hop into a taxi within a few minutes as the atmosphere felt strangely more tense than usual. Though Togo has quite a turbulent political history (the president's own brother just attempted a coup a couple months ago), Lome is safe for expats if you just exercise proper caution and common sense - don't worry!

Side notes on Lome:
- apparently, as my Lonely Planet explains, and as some people I've met have confirmed, Lome used to be the "Paris" of West Africa in the 70s, and you can see how this is true from its picturesque location on the beach, simple route planning, and tall chic buildings (at least formerly, as they look noticeably aged now). However, with political instability over the last couple decades, very little has been done to maintain/rebuild the city and this is quite remarkable when driving around Lome.
- I have yet to witness this, but every Sunday morning at 6, as a tradition that started some years ago when the President insisted that everyone do more exercise, hundreds of Togolese people crowd the streets of Lome and go running for hours! It is apparently really fun, so I hope to join in at some point this summer, when my legs are less incapacitated...

:)