Over half way done. Time flies

So, time is flying now. I can't believe we have already been here for over two weeks. It has been an amazing time so far and I'm sure it will continue to be. Goran has now left and we have become friendly with the Australians (the ladies are just excited they have all 4 seasons of Gossip Girl) who are very cool and down to earth. You would never guess they were Olympians.
Long Run

Looking out towards where we would be running. We went way out into the hills in the distance.

Ladies getting ready to run

We headed out last Sunday with a local runner named Victor so we could do a long run someplace besides Tangamanga. We drove for about 45 min and the fact that he spoke no english made it hard to grasp if he really knew where he was taking us. We pulled of the road and found our way to a dirt road. However it looked sketchy to say the least as there were dogs running around and run down houses and had a strange vibe. Victor said he would ask if it was safe to run here and park our car for 2ish hours. He came back about 3 minutes later and said it was not safe and we must leave right away. We turned back towards SLP to find someplace else. Clearly Victor did not really know where he was taking us. So we drove about 5-10 min backtracking at which point he tells me to turn off again. Once more we pull into another little residential area although it does not seem quite so sketchy. We do get some odd stares from the locals though. Luckily a local had just finished his run of 97 minutes and told Victor where to run. from my rough translation of their conversation it seemed to me that Victor, who was about to take us running through the small town, learned from the local gentleman that if we did that we risked being attacked by dogs. So he told Victor a route around town. The 5 of us headed off although no more than 2 minutes down the road dogs come barking at us. Luckily they stop and after that we have no more dog trouble, just some cattle and sheep.

However we have trouble of another sort. We are at 7500ft now and it is a scorching day with no shade and is super windy. Brie takes the run out hard, although she later denies it. The way out was a gradual uphill but luckily with a tale wind. About 5 miles out we enter a small little farming town with some houses and the people living there are astonished to see us although I wave and they seem friendly enough. We continued on until 42 min at which point we headed back. We quickly realized we would be running back into a block headwind. It was brutal to say the least. I haven't felt like that in a long long time. Victor pushed the pace all the way back and I trailed off the back just hoping to make it back. I made it back in what seemed like forever. Brie was already there while the other 3 added on. While Brie and I were there discussing the brutality of that run we glanced to the highway and saw a mule limping his way across the road towards us. After almost being hit by a number of cars he makes it to us and we see it is limping because he is tied to his hind leg. It just continues wandering off. The other 3 roll in with Addie being last as she ran longest (she is running 110+ miles per week up here). We quickly load in the cars and head back to SLP ready to sleep. Being the google earth fanatic I am I measured our route upon return and see that the ladies were averaging somewhere in the neighborhood of 6:45-50 pace. Not bad considering the terrain and conditions.

Brie thinks she is recording the donkey but forgot to press record

Kimmy and Victor finishing up their run
German Silva (2 time NYC Marathon Winner) will be taking us out next Sunday for another run and we are all stoked for that.


Outside of long runs they have also been nailing all their workouts and seem to be adapting very well to the new environment.

Ladies cooling down after a workout

Sadly I may have been overdoing my comeback as my hamstrings have been shot since I did a couple 300's with Kimmy on Tuesday in 50-52s. I hope it's nothing too bad and look to be running with the ladies on their workouts tomorrow.

In non-running related news we heading out on Tuesday night to celebrate our last night with Goran who left to head back to London yesterday. We found our way to Buba's Delicious Pizza. It was delicious indeed and a nice change from the usual fare of the training center.

I headed out one night with Goran to time his hill repeats. The picture doesn't show it but it was an insanely steep hill overlooking the city. A very impressive workout.

In work related news I have seen that I will be leading crews in the Grand Canyon when I get back at least until April. I am stoked on that as I think it is the best time of year to be there.
That's all for now. I should be back in SF on the 26th and 27th of January and if you are in the area let me know as I would like to see as many folks as possible.

Adios