Rocking that *International* Paradise

Last Sunday morning, I woke up to the sound of soft rain on the roof.  A never-ending drizzle had started the afternoon before and never really stopped in Guatemala City.  My thoughts toward the rain were not pleasant. It was the morning of the Pacaya 10km race, which is one of my favorites each year.  The trail is difficult, but not impossible, and the views the entire race are breathtaking.  I had run it the past two years, with a slightly better time my second year than my first.  Though I hadn’t explicitly trained for this year’s 10K, I knew I was in pretty good shape and thought I had a chance at finishing well.   But… rain .   There was already a facebook message thread between some of the people going with me to the race.  Two had decided not to chance the rain and mud, and a few of the others were waffling.  Resolutely, I added that unless I heard the race was cancelled or postponed, I planned to drive there and make a ga...

Last week was definitely one of “those weeks.” I feel like I tried to take on everything. And, I sort of accomplished it…but some days it didn’t quite seem worth the effort (and some days it did). Last week, I: -Organized and ran3 days of bake sales and pizza sales to raise money for a young girls’ orphanage in Guatemala with a group of amazing 7th grade girls. We raised a whopping Q2975 (about $400) so that was definitely worth it. -Supervised 8 hours of DI practices after school as our team got ready for the National competition, which was on Saturday. -Hosted a dinner party at my house, went out to eat, attended book club, picked up my race packet for the City 10K Night Run, went to the movies, and spent one night baking for those bake sales I mentioned. (You do the math…I was busy). -Ran a total of 10 miles over the course of 3 days in order to prepare for aforementioned race. -Visited a Children’s Hospital with a few other teachers. -Submitted my application to grad...

Annette picked Carrie and I up at 6:15am this morning.  The plan was for her to drop me off to run the half marathon, and then she and Carrie would wait for me at the finish line.  The Max Tott Half Marathon is the oldest race in Guatemala, I think.  This year was the 78 th edition. The race starts in Zone 1 of the city, then winds through Zone 5 and up into Zone 16, passing through my home turf as it then cuts down onto Blvd. Vista Hermosa in Zone 15, past Campo Marte, and along 10 Avenida to end at a stadium back in Zone 5.  Unlike the Guatemala City Half Marathon held at the end of August, this route is anything but flat.  The race includes two serious climbs and a handful of smaller ones with a total elevation gain of 1000ft.  The route (and my pace, if you're curious). I had been training well, but the last two weeks just hadn’t felt the greatest.  I told Carrie and Annette on the ride there that I was not really nervous, but I ha...