It's so easy when on vacation to think you'll get lots of stuff done. I have re-read a good portion of The Non-Runner's Marathon Trainer by Whitsett, Dolgener & Kole. This is a great book, even if you already have a marathon or two under your belt. The shoe advice (duh) and some of the nutritional info is outdated, particularly if you are vegetarian, but I did a few searches online for training programs specific to being unshod, with no results. If you have found something, I'd be appreciative if you pass it along.
I haven't done much running while here. We did an easy three miles a few evenings ago, but a bruised heel, which really hurts, has kept me from anything more ambitious. Repeat the mantra, this will pass, this will pass. . . The extra oxygen here is great. Running in NM at 6000 ft. elevation equates to 20% less oxygen. I like to think when running at home, I'm scamming the system by training under more rigorous conditions that will pay off in San Diego in June. Sidebar: I have considered the Shiprock Marathon in NM in May. The course runs throug hthe Navajo reservation, starts at around 600 ft. elevation and slowly drops all the way to the finish.
This is my first real trip to Mexico, other than a few trips across the border in TXand CA, which surely don't count. Although it could well be argued that spending a week at an all inclusive resort with a bunch of chain smoking Europeans isn't exaclty capturing the essence of the country either. While loud and presumptive, at least Americans seem to smoke less.
Note to self: be willing to a) research and b) pay more for day trip tours. For $50 each, we went to Chichen Itza a few days ago. Twelve of us were crammed into a van meant to hold a) fewer people or b) people who believe in the joy and social benefit of soap and hot water. The one hour (promised) ride was actually three hours, only made more enjoyable by the rather obtuse cassette tape that played ABBA, U2, some Mexican rap and long hair 80's rock - over and over and over. Our guide, and I use the word some loosely, was a large tired woman whose first language was German, but she also spoke English and Spanish. I'm sure she wasn't hired for a) her knowledge of the Mayan Peninsula, b) her ability to convey specific instructions about the day's agenda or when to be back at the bus or c) her sparkling personality.
All that aside, the runis at Chichen Itza were truly spectacular. It's one thing to look at glossy photos in Nat Geo, but another to see the carvings and buildings and learn a little more about the people who lived there a thousand hears ago, developing the calendar we use today. The buildings are all the more impressive when I consider that they were built without benefit of pack animals or the wheel. There were many vendors in the area itself, mostly selling the same things, table after table - "silver" jewelry, obsidian statuettes adn chess sets (did the Maya play chess?). We did buy two wooden masks carved by a fellow who had his wares set out under some trees and was working on a small statue with nothing more than a simple one blade knife. He did beautiful work and had a good heart. His wife worked with him and held up a huge umbrella over us when it started to rain. I don't think either of them hit 4 1/2 ft. high.
There is much poverty here, along with much garbage - from the ubiquitous plastic bottle to leftover building materials - which we saw through the windows as our van drove past tiny pueblos. Most homeowners seem to have converted their living rooms into tiny restaurants, replete with perfuntory plastic chairs, dim lighting and a small child holding menus, watching traffic go by. There are many basketball courts in these villages - did we create this most American sport of basketball from the Mayan "toss the ball through the stone hoop or lose your head game?" It's easy (or simpistic) to make the connection.
I could go on and on - happy running.
I haven't done much running while here. We did an easy three miles a few evenings ago, but a bruised heel, which really hurts, has kept me from anything more ambitious. Repeat the mantra, this will pass, this will pass. . . The extra oxygen here is great. Running in NM at 6000 ft. elevation equates to 20% less oxygen. I like to think when running at home, I'm scamming the system by training under more rigorous conditions that will pay off in San Diego in June. Sidebar: I have considered the Shiprock Marathon in NM in May. The course runs throug hthe Navajo reservation, starts at around 600 ft. elevation and slowly drops all the way to the finish.
This is my first real trip to Mexico, other than a few trips across the border in TXand CA, which surely don't count. Although it could well be argued that spending a week at an all inclusive resort with a bunch of chain smoking Europeans isn't exaclty capturing the essence of the country either. While loud and presumptive, at least Americans seem to smoke less.
Note to self: be willing to a) research and b) pay more for day trip tours. For $50 each, we went to Chichen Itza a few days ago. Twelve of us were crammed into a van meant to hold a) fewer people or b) people who believe in the joy and social benefit of soap and hot water. The one hour (promised) ride was actually three hours, only made more enjoyable by the rather obtuse cassette tape that played ABBA, U2, some Mexican rap and long hair 80's rock - over and over and over. Our guide, and I use the word some loosely, was a large tired woman whose first language was German, but she also spoke English and Spanish. I'm sure she wasn't hired for a) her knowledge of the Mayan Peninsula, b) her ability to convey specific instructions about the day's agenda or when to be back at the bus or c) her sparkling personality.
All that aside, the runis at Chichen Itza were truly spectacular. It's one thing to look at glossy photos in Nat Geo, but another to see the carvings and buildings and learn a little more about the people who lived there a thousand hears ago, developing the calendar we use today. The buildings are all the more impressive when I consider that they were built without benefit of pack animals or the wheel. There were many vendors in the area itself, mostly selling the same things, table after table - "silver" jewelry, obsidian statuettes adn chess sets (did the Maya play chess?). We did buy two wooden masks carved by a fellow who had his wares set out under some trees and was working on a small statue with nothing more than a simple one blade knife. He did beautiful work and had a good heart. His wife worked with him and held up a huge umbrella over us when it started to rain. I don't think either of them hit 4 1/2 ft. high.
There is much poverty here, along with much garbage - from the ubiquitous plastic bottle to leftover building materials - which we saw through the windows as our van drove past tiny pueblos. Most homeowners seem to have converted their living rooms into tiny restaurants, replete with perfuntory plastic chairs, dim lighting and a small child holding menus, watching traffic go by. There are many basketball courts in these villages - did we create this most American sport of basketball from the Mayan "toss the ball through the stone hoop or lose your head game?" It's easy (or simpistic) to make the connection.
I could go on and on - happy running.
