By Abichal | February 23, 2008
Thursday 22 February
It’s been a pretty good week so far running 1½ tired hours every morning and the last two days run for over an hour each afternoon as well. Last Sunday ran to Boquia again only this time I didn’t run up to Salento. I’m saving that treat for next week. TheBoquia run is about 3½ hours or just under. I had a little water break at the store and spoke to the guy that works there. I didn’t hang about much this time though on the way back I completely ran out of gas and I realised I should have taken something to eat at the store. Half way back there was a tiny store and I got some Chito’s and some candy to see me home. The weather was really warm though not too hot but still humid.
With a generous allowance of 9½ minutes a mile I’m up to 80 miles at least tonight, leaving me two days to run 20 miles. As long as I take it easy and don’t get injured I should make it beyond the ton again this week. I’m still feeling really strong, not tired and the only sore spot is from a little thigh chafing.
Friday 23 February
It was raining again this morning when I left home at 8:30, though the worst of the rain fell earlier so it was just a persistent drizzle. I’ve been listening to my mp3 player the last two days – my how the time flies. I kind of feel like it’s cheating because when I get engrossed in the music I don’t notice the laps at all… duh. But the point is that running without the music teaches one how to deal with running 2½ minute laps for an hour and a half every morning. I experience all kinds of noises from my mind, subtle and not so subtle trying to influence my thinking and one cannot allow these things to have any input during the long races. It is not an option. During the race I listen to music sometimes if I get down at all. The songs I have are a range of moods but I have a few tracks that can pump me up again if needs be. Of course this is not the real answer but sometimes it can get me over the hump, so to speak. Especially when I’m tired. Later in the day. This reminds me of some super moments I’ve had late at night when some kind of ecstasy has flooded me with energy and I feel like I can run forever as fast as I want. Those moments are rare but will never be forgotten.
Anyway, the sun has come out and I can see blue sky for the first time in days. I also have to say that the mountains behind Armenia are awesome in their beauty and majesty. They rise fairly steeply and there’s always clouds around the lower peaks so the high peaks are invisible on a day to day basis. I have only seen the highest peak once or twice since I’ve been here. I’ll take my camera and try and get some shots and upload some photos for you all.
The second run was for just over an hour. The chafing was getting annoying so I didn’t extend it too far and took a few photos of the hills to the North-East of the city. The sun was setting and so by the time I got to within a kilometre of home it was quite dark. It was rush hour though and kids were piling out of school and people were going to church and going home from work - the traffic was hectic.
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Good Mileage
By Abichal | February 22, 2008
It’s been a pretty good week so far running 1½ tired hours every morning and the last two days run for over an hour each afternoon as well. Last Sunday ran to Boquia again only this time I didn’t run up to Salento. I’m saving that treat for next week. The
Boquia run is about 3½ hours or just under. I had a little water break at the store and spoke to the guy that works there. I didn’t hang about much this time though on the way back I completely ran out of gas and I realised I should have taken something to eat at the store. Half way back there was a tiny store and I got some Chito’s and some candy to see me home. The weather was really warm though not too hot but still humid.
With a generous allowance of 9½ minutes a mile I’m up to 80 miles at least tonight, leaving me two days to run 20 miles. As long as I take it easy and don’t get injured I should make it beyond the ton again this week. I’m still feeling really strong, not tired and the only sore spot is from a little thigh chafing.
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Stepwork
By Abichal | February 13, 2008
Ran well this morning for an hour and a half. Knees groaned a bit at one point, not really sure whats going on there. Walked for an hour this afternoon but held off on the run. I want to see if this knee thing is going to persist. Met a guy who lives just up the road and he introduced me to a little stepwork he includes into his routine, 89 steps up and then down - thats definitely going to help.
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Two Sessions
By Abichal | February 12, 2008
An hour and a half in the warm morning at my ususal haunt was a happy occasion apart from some knee sensations. I think my weight is having an impact so I have to adjust by food intake for a while until things look a bit thinner.
I saw a few runners today, maybe three or four, bit of a crowd, relatively speaking.
Tomorrow I hope to run twice. I haven’t got to that point yet for various reasons. But I did walk for an hour this afternoon and that counts so things are looking up again.
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Saddle Up
By Abichal | February 11, 2008
Back in the Saddle
I left about 9 to jog around my local route but there was an event taking place with lots of people so I decided to run a loop up to the north of town and back. It was quite warm and humid again.
Running isn’t very popular here in Armenia. I only saw one other person on the road. I took a slight detour off the main road near the university and I saw a large swimming pool with only two people in it and next to that – a cinder track. There were maybe a dozen people there, not many at all. I have to see if I can use these facilities.
So I ran up to a roundabout that marks the end of Armenia, for me anyway and in the middle of the roundabout is a steam train. Big old machine painted black. I don’t think there is a railway in Armenia so it’s not something that was used locally.
Anyway the roundabout leads north to Pereira south, in to the centre of Armenia and east bypasses the north side of town. This route brought me home in 1:04. No sign of any problem though my knees were complaining more than they have for a while. I think my host is feeding me too well and with a week off running I probably gained something. But no problems is very good. Tomorrow we’ll stretch it out again and see if 2 hours is ok.
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Rest Is Over
By Abichal | February 10, 2008
Tomorrow I’m going to run again. Well, make the attempt anyway. At least half an hour in the morning and then hopefully walk some as well.
This week off has let me focus on transcribing interviews that have been hanging around for ages. An interview with Tarit Stott that’s two years old is finally being worked on. Also I’m working on redesigning the Ultrarunning World magazine into the Multiday Running magazine format as that’s what works or has done in the past however slow that’s been at least it’s happened. I’m renaming the magazine Multiday and Ultrarunning World and I hope I get it finished before I leave Colombia.
But I’m not holding my breath and neither should anyone else… Some people have been waiting for ages for the last magazine. Its kind of hard to stay on top of everything when I live such a transient life. I have my magazines spread across five different hard drives and three different computers and I only have access to one of them right now.
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Easy Times
By Abichal | February 8, 2008
After the long run and my pulled muscle on Sunday, this week has been one of rest with a little walking but no running. I took it as a message that last week was a big week that needed an easy period to recover - so that’s what I’m getting this week, like it or not. I seem to have been very fortunate with injuries and haven’t really happened that much though I do recall doing something in Bristol last year. That was from pushing too hard and fast on a 2 hour run along the Bike path. It’s pretty amazing that I don’t get any really serious injuries in the 3100. There seems to be something that acts as a brake on my speed, especially this last year I felt a delimiter. I guess my slowness protects me from too much damage. I hope I can raise that threshold this year.
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Journey to Salento
By Abichal | February 3, 2008
Sunday morning arrived bright and warm and David, riding his bike and I set off toward Salento, some 24km distant according to my official guide. Not speaking the language is a disadvantage when it comes to knowing whats going on and I was surprised when we took a turning up a track, leaving the road behind. The track was actually marked on the map, however the words used to describe it were not in my dictionary. So now I know what ‘interveredal’ means and why the only means of transport along the road was horse, mountain bike, jeep or trucks hauling away the trees.
However what it lacked in vehicle-friendliness was more than made up for by the beautiful scenery that has made Quindio a national treasure. The road followed the river valley to the village of Boquia where it met the paved road going to Salento. Without cold weather to contend with, the year is a total growing season and the lush vegetation is home to many birds and insects -Â not too many mosquitoes which is a blessing considering how many New York has.
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The sun hasn’t been too much of a problem though I have been caught out once or twice and got burnt. After a few hundred meters this morning the sun came out and immediately I could feel it and I wasn’t wearing a hat. I had thought about it earlier when I was rummaging around in my bag or the thought came to me when I saw a hat. Marvellous I thought, however the route was shaded enough for me to survive and when I got home I found that I had in fact put the hat in my bag. The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing. Usually in the morning there is a little cloud cover and the low angle of the sun is gentle enough not to be a problem. When its overhead though it’s really intense and will burn very quickly.
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It took 2 hours to get to Boquia and there was a shop where we got some water. We sat for a few minutes, relaxing in the mid morning warmth. A man sat nearby told us that it was about 5km to Salento, 5 km uphill so it would be a run walk strategy as the altitude has an affect even though not great, the body still has to work a bit harder. We stopped several times on the way up and I took a few photos. We turned around at the top of the hill where the outskirts of the town begin and enjoyed our descent, restocked with water after we stopped by the river where there was a zip-line that people were having fun on and I took some more photos before we headed back along the rough road. Every now and again I would see a moth or brightly coloured butterfly I have never seen before and then we disturbed a small cloud of butterflies that rose spinning and floating before settling again in the warm sunshine.
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It’s a boon to be here now when New York is coming to the end of a prolonged cold spell and in the UK it’ll be cool at best and its 22-25 degrees here which also means I’m drinking a lot of water. I don’t go anywhere without a water bottle.
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There’s lots of colourful birds as well, sometimes it’s like being in an exotic aviary.
Leaving the country road we headed back into Armenia and with about a km to go I stopped to refill my water bottle and as I began to runagain I felt a tight pain above the back of the knee. I don’t know the name of the muscle but the pain came very suddenly and even though I tried stretching it and running again, it wasn’t having any of it and so I walked back home, satisfied enough with the duration of the run. My watch showed 5:15 when we got back and that probably gave a net running time of a good 4½ hours.
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El Linea
By Abichal | January 29, 2008
This morning we had planned to go to Corcora and were to leave at 7:30 but when I emerged at 7 my host said there was a problem because of the rain it - began about 4 or 5. We talked to another friend and from our conversation I understood that we were postponing the trip until next week when hopefully it would be dry.
So I decided to go for a run despite the rain and I took a few pesos and set off toward Calarca. The River Quindio was in a flood state and even as I watched for 5 minutes I could see it was still rising very quickly. Later I was told that the bridge was called Maria. I have to ask why.
From there it’s a fairly steep climb up the valley side to the top where there is a junction that goes to Pereira and Calarca. Calarca direction is a busy road as Calarca is at the foot of the mountain where the road from Bogota descends and is a junction for Cali to the West and North to Pereira. This was 45 minutes from home so I continued up the mountain road. At first I had thought about making it a 2 hour run but quickly thought that 3 would be better and by the time I got to the 1½ hour point I decided to make it a four hour run, turning round at the 2 hour point. 15-20 mins before I turned around I saw some pine trees and almost simultaneously I felt the temperature drop a few degrees and I felt I had arrived at the alpine level.
On the way back down I had to refill my water bottle at a small roadside shop and that would be enough for another 1½ hours home.
When we came this way last week, the return journey was slightly different from our outward section and this had caused me a little confusion when I was looking for the Calarca road off the road I ran along from where I began my route and because we had stopped at this roundabout on the way back, I thought that I had to take the right-hand turn so it began to get quite hot at this point but only thinking I had 45 minutes to go felt ok. However the road quickly became unfamiliar and worse seemed to go on and on and it was very quiet. After ½ an hour I began to get concerned as my water was getting low and there was no sign of a road heading into Armenia from the North. I finished my water and still no road and I knew I still had to climb some hill off to my left as the road I was on was low down in the valley. Finally after about an hour I came to a junction and gratefully started heading South again but was still a way away from home. Found a small bakery that had some water and finally got in at 4:29:03.
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Plans and Rucksacks
By Abichal | January 26, 2008
 This morning I planned to be brave and try and run to Calarca, a nearby town and venture some way up the long steep road which winds through the mountains to Bogota – a seven hour ride away. I didn’t get very far when the backpack I am using started chafing severely around the neck. It will need a little re-designing before I will be able to use it.
So instead I went back to my normal route and added a stretch of road that heads up to the north of Armenia and back which took me over the two hour mark for the first time.
The weather is humid here and relatively comfortable – it must be in the 70’s to early 80’s in the morning but its often cloudy so doesn’t get too hot. Pretty much ideal conditions.
My hosts are taking me to the mountains for the day so I may not get to run tomorrow but if I can maintain 2 hours plus a day next week, I will be approaching the Golden Gate for the first time in ages. Fingers crossed.
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