Running Around

The end of June came like nothing and that meant my next challenge was knocking at the door – the Coban half-marathon. We did not get to be an official participant, but thankfully that did not exclude us in any way from participating. Some people might be wondering what I did for training. I must sheepishly say that I didn’t technically, and I have my logical reasons for doing (or not doing) so:
There are dogs that bite where I live, and they especially enjoy attacking large, fast moving objects.
Roads are full of rocks and pits. That is not exactly fun on my knees.
I already do a lot of physical activity including riding my bike, walking miles up and down mountain sides, and agricultural work.
I was not running the marathon to get a good time (I would leave that up to the Kenyans); I was there to try something I had never done before and see if I could finish. Just by showing up, I had won. And I’ll tell you showing up was a little hard because I did get nervous even with my sound logic that training was not necessary.

Lauren joined, for the third time, in this joint challenge. She is the volunteer that lives quite close to me. If you’ll remember, the other two challenges we have done together were:
Ride our bikes up the mountain from my site to her site. The altitude change is about 1 km or so.
Ride our bikes to Esquipulas. 13 hours of biking brought us to our goal.

On a side note, we are thinking of a possible 4th challenge if it’s possible before we leave, but we’re still unsure of what to do.

The day of the race was absolutely gorgeous. Nieces of the family with whom I stay with in my site brought us to the starting line (we actually stayed with them too – thank goodness for them since all the hotels were booked). We stretched and warmed up for an hour and then the race started. The Vice President of the country was there at the start to send us off. The race started off slow since so many people were packed together on the narrow street, but once the people started to spread out, I really got to enjoy what I had never enjoyed before in a competition. Throughout the entire race, people of all ages lined the streets clapping, cheering, and giving us much needed water and support. The best part for me was that I stuck out like a sore thumb; this seems ironic because there are many times when it is not so beneficial to stick out. Whenever I went by a crowd, the crowd got that much louder and cheered, “Go Blondie!” or “Go American!” or “Go United States!” At that point, it definitely felt good to be different.

The race overall went well. I physically had the power to run, but toward the end my legs stiffened up (especially in my knees) and I thought that I was running on peg legs. I barreled on though as steady as I could. I finally arrived at the stadium and finished in 2 hours and 17 minutes (The winner did it in half my time!). For me, it was a very proud moment – I had run a competition without stopping. I had completed my goals.

Once the race was finished, it was all about recovering. I stretched and stretched and even was given a leg massage by a volunteer fireman. We walked an hour (slowly) to get back to the house, had an amazing lunch, and spent the afternoon swimming in a river with small falls. I was definitely sore afterward. Walking down stairs or even a descent was dreadful. After 3 days and some anti-inflamatories, though, that was over. The only real casualty I would have was a huge blood blister that was on my middle toe and equal in size to it. It actually worked its way under my toe causing for the first time in my life for me to lose my nail.

The weekend after the race was the Peace Corps 4th of July party, the only time all the staff and volunteers all get together. It marked the 3rd 4th of July in the last 4 years that I have been out of the country. The festivities included a basketball tourney, a soccer competition against the ambassador and staff (it was very unusual for the ambassador to come; he surely is a man that is not too proud to be with normal people who are not high-ups) a lunch with American food, a dance, and talent show. I also got to meet Lauren’s parents who treated us out to an amazing dinner.

Oh, did I mention I also completed another personal goal of mine – growing out my hair for year. It’s cut now, but I have to say that when it was at its peak length, it was not quite bad.