As I returned from Tahoe to Flagstaff back in mid-October and was preparing for 5 weeks in the backcountry of south-east Arizona I received an email from Kimmy telling me of plans she had made with 3 other professional runners to head to an altitude training center to train for one month. They were looking for an "assistant coach" to go down and run with the ladies and make sure things ran smoothly(nice pun ehh?). She informed me that if I was interested I could go. Well it didn't take long to decide I was interested and so I made sure I could take time off from work and then informed Kimmy I was in. The next day I went on my backcountry project.
Upon getting back from the backcountry I slowly found out more details about where we would be going and how long we would be there. We will be at La Loma Altitude Training Center in San Luis Potosi, Mexico which is about 200 miles north of Mexico CIty.
Link to La Loma website
While it sounded like there would be 4 ladies going down, I believe it is down to just 2. Kimmy and Bri Felnagle.
Kimmy and I arrive in Mexico City tomorrow evening and Bri arrives the following day at which point we will drive up to San Luis Potosi.
So in preparation for this I have been running more in the last month than all of June-November combined, which means I have run more than 5 times. So I am hardly in good running shape, and I'm sure the ladies will be kicking my ass for the first week or so, but I am hoping the fact that I have lived at altitude for the last year will help me not be so embarrassed. In fact I will be coming down 800ft in elevation in relation to Flagstaff! So it should be a piece of cake.
I received my first passport ever upon coming home for Christmas and am very excited that the day I got my picture taken I had a new haircut which will be on my passport for 10 years.
I will be their driver for the duration of our visit and from everything I have heard and read it is an absolute delight to drive in Mexico City(sarcasm). Every website I have been to says the worst thing you can do is drive in Mexico City. So that will be fun.
At least they drive on the right side of the road down there.
As far as brushing up on my spanish skills. I haven't. But I did buy a small spanish/english dictionary of common phrases today. So I hope that with my vague recollection of what I learned in my spanish classes will help me get by with minimal embarrassment.
Of course, as most of you could guess, I am terribly excited at the prospect of eating a ton of Mexican food while I am down there.
Since getting back home from Flagstaff and arriving at the airport I have been quite busy visiting friends and family. I was able to stop by Paly and meet up with Himmel for lunch. The I continued onto Pleasanton to meet up with Ben where I had a lovely dinner with his family. We then drove up to Davis and stayed with Keith and played Frisbee golf late at night on campus which was highlighted by commandeering a scissor lift in a construction zone.
The following morning Ben and I made our way up to Sierra at Tahoe to hit the slopes after a ton of snow hit the sierra the previous week. Conditions were amazing and it was great to get back out in the snow. After a day of skiing we drove back down to the Bay Area and met up with Bri and having an amazing dinner at Cactus Taqueria in Rockridge. Awesome chile rellano with carne asada plate! We continued on to Studs Bar in SF to watch Arran's band play. Buscho was there freshly returned from Germany which was an added delight. The show was awesome. Ben and I then returned to his place.
The next morning I made my way home and had a spectacular Christmas with family.
I have since made my way to the Bay Area today with my new MacBook Air which I am currently typing on and eagerly anticipating my trip to Mexico. That is all for now. Time to find a place to sleep. I shall blog again from Mexico!
Adios!
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