some time off

i did run yesterday, but i have decided to take a week off. we are going to GDL with the orchestra tomorrow, and it
s a good excuse to just relax. i need it.

yesterday i tried to run on my fore-feet more, and it felt amazin.g i knocked off 2.5 miles fast with no problem.

8:30, 8:00, plus about 1200. fun.

Race Report: Medio Maraton Las Cabras May 20, 2007

The day before the race was very long and a little strange. If you are interested, read about it in the previous post.


At 5:45, i left my hotel room with Slava to go the starting line, which was about 1/2 block away. It was in the city's center, in the cathedral's yard. Escuinapa is a farily large village, but not really a city and it is built around the main cathedral.

By 6am, the supposed starting time, I was getting confused. There were are bout 15 or 20 runners casually gathered, but not "meta" or "salida", no tents, no loud music... everything in the area was still awash in pre-dawn sleepiness. My running friend and I snuck into the back of the cathedral to listen to the mass. I forgot to take off my running cap and he reprimanded me!

Church was boring, though, so we left. At about 6;15, an old bus circa 1950 pulled up and everyone yelled "vamos!" and boarded as if this is what they were expecting! Suddenly I realized everyone else had a day pack with them. I realized that I missed some important details... again.

The bus lurched out of the village and onto country roads. We drove towards the ocean for about a 1/2 hour, past farms and small bay areasm, villages, and even a huge mango orchard. I had no idea where we were going, but no one else seemed surprised. Out of nowhere, I see on either side of the road hundreds of cars parked in the fields and dirt patches. We stopped near this random parking lot, and I exited the bus to find a grandstand and inflatable "salida/meta". I also found the ground covered with trash and debris, about 150 more runners, and many other people drunkenly wandering in bare feet and a variety of beachy and camping attire, drinking tecate light from cans, smoking, and harassing me. This area gave way to hundreds of food tents, beer gardens, stage areas, and taco stands. The morning sea air smelled of stale beer, BBQ chicken, and salt. A maze of tents revealed itself just past the food area, and barely beyong these tents, within about 20 meters, was the ocean. Runners stood in quiet packs at the edge of the tide waiting for the sun to rise completely, fantasizing about their post-run swim. Other people apparently knew what was coming and even brought towels and extra clothes. Sigh.

By this point it was about 7am, and although the sun was up and the runners had all warmed up a bit, it didn't seem like the race was about to start. The inflatable starting line thingy kept deflating (a bad omen?) and no one was very organized. I warmed up with the kenyans and I wanted to find a bathroom. I assumed I would find some gross honeybuckets somewhere, which at least have a door on them and a hole to squat over.

I was directed by a food vendor to a thatch-roof cantina to find a bathroom. It was a dirt-floored stall with a toilet sitting over a hole and a wooden door which wouldn't close. The toilet was "full" from the night before, and after i managed to balance long enough to do my business, i threw my TP (from slava) onto the giant mound of used paper next to the toilet; a huge monument to sanitation.

Everyone stood around for a long time, but finally the salida was standing up straight and the sound system was working and we were off at about 8am. The sun was already very strong, and i'm sure the temp was in the 80s by then.

At 2 km, I noticed something strange ahead: runners were zig zagging and jumping around like there was an obstacle course. There was a herd of cows and bulls charging us in groups of about 10 or 20 bulls! Small packs of runners were slowing and waiting until the bulls were calm, and then darting past. Sadly, one calf was scared and sprinted across the road and into the barbed fence, which slit his little neck.

Traumatized and worried for my own life, I negotiated the situation and continued. I was running with a friend from Culiacan, and we were looking for 4:30/km. We stayed at that tempos for about 7 kms, but it was a bit fast for me and I slowed to about 4:45-5:00 for the next 6kms or so. I was hoping to stay near Blanca, a woman who is always a bit faster than me. I passed her at some point, and then she passed me, and she was ahead by maybe 600 or 700meters.

The sun was sizzling and runners were dropping like flies. Many people were walking, a few dropped out of the race, and 5 actually collapsed. My friend, who had gone ahead of me at 11km, trying to stick to the 4:30 pace, couldn't keep it up and I passed him at 17km. He was feeling sick to his stomach from the breakfast smells in the village we passed through 2 times. At this point I was holding to a 4:45 pace, and Blanca was in my view. At 20k (the race was actually 22km), her husband, who wasn't competing but who is a very good runner, joined her on the course, acting as her pacer and inspiration. Argh!!!! I could see her pulling away, after I had been steadily gaining for several kms. I stayed strong, though, and I didn't let her out of my sight. Sadly, I wasn't able to catch her, but she only beat me by about 20 seconds. My offical time was 1:44:37, which was disappointing at first, because I didn't realize that it was actually a 22km course! I didn't realize it until laer because the km marks were a little messed up, but according to my watch I passed the 21k mark at about 1:39:50, which means I reached my goal! I wanted to break 1:40, finally!

The best reward was the swim in the ocean right after the race, and finding out that my time was good enough for 3rd place in my category, winning $1000 pesos. Hooray!

After being fed at the post race party and getting to climb the stage to receive my award, Slava and I found a bus back to Escuinapa. We took a good bus from Escuinapa to Culiacan, and we were home by about 8pm. Somehow, I managed to make it to Anthony's birthday party after that, and I finally got to relax, celebrate, and have a beer. What a day!

Goats on the beach: bizarre day in mexico with kenyan runners

We stayed in mazatlan all last week for rehearsals and a performance of "plump jack." I ran every day on the malecon, usually joined by liz, katrina, and/or megan. for or better or for worse, having them with me made me run easier and a bit slower, and I'd like to think that helped me be 100% rested for sunday.

The rest of the orchestra went home, north to culiacan on saurday morning. Slava and I went to the bus station to get a ticket to Escuinapa, and we were directed out of the terminal to some semi-crappy bus on the street, which was headed to escuinapa and about 10 other villages. The bus was scheduled to leave "ahorita."

We left at 1:30, and immediately knew this bus was a mistake! We stopped to pick up or drop off people randomly, about every 100 meters or so, for about 1 1/2 hours. Finally we were free from the mazatlan metro area and the rest of the trip took about another hour. Escuinapa is only 1 hour form mazatlan but it took over 2 hours to get there! To make matters worse, I had a terrible caffeine headache and growing bus-sckness with every stop and go. I felt terrible by the time we arrived to escuinapa, signed up for the race, and got a hotel room. Slava went hunting for some iced tea and a snack, and i crached on the bed for about 3 hours. I woke up with an even stronger headache and the urge to puke, but i forced myself up and out of the hotel. We found a seedy pizza place with no a/c and a menu which included spaghetti. Slava tried to order 3 different pizzas, but the 4th one, with mushrooms, was accepted. Apparently the other options he wanted (other veggies, checken) weren't available because usually no one orders them. I ordered spegetti.

While we were waiting for the pizza, i was feeling worse and worse. I knew i had to drink some coffee for the caffeine withdrawl. the only coffee avaiable in the 5 mile radius was, luckily, at the pizza place. They had those instant freeze-dried crystals, and I accepted. With enough milk and sugar, it tasted fine (although strange with my pasta). I could barely choke down much food, but i managed to drink the coffee and we staggered back towards the hotel.

I bought a strawberry popsicle on the side of the road and suggested we "hang out" in the churchyard and try to talk to the kenyans who were in town for the run. These kenyans were super nice, and proved to be amazing runners as well. They have all placed in or won marathons in Boston, Chicago, Berlin, Mazatlan, etc, and are all close to the world records in various events. Paul Tergat, the world record holder in the marathon, with a time of 2:04:55, is a friend of theirs! And those guys' personal best marathon times are in the 2:06 range. Wow.

Ok ok, we chatted for a while and the coffee was taking effect. I was feeling more human... oh caffeine, I love you!! We went to the hotel at about 10pm, but i couldn't really sleep. I woke up at least 3 times, always dreaming that I had missed the race. Finally the 5am alarm went off and I started my morning like any other early run. I ate some carbs (2 tortillas) and sipped gatorade. I used the toilet at many times as i could, and the time approached to elave the hotel for my race, "Medio Maraton las Cabras" (Half Marathon of the goats). Read on for the full report!