I failed. I didn't go running the day after the Cheese and Wine party
(tuesday). I wonder why...:-)
Indeed, I was feeling well, but slightly tired and I woke up at 8am,
which means that I would have to go out quite late, in the heat...and
run while feeling tired.
And something I have learnt in all my running activities is that when
one feels not in shape, better not insist. This is where injuries can
come.
Moreover, the next day was meant to be the Day Trip, with a goal for
me: climb the Cerro negro volcano as fast as I can, training with my
sticks for difficult climbs, in the heat...in the perspective of
future races I would like to do in French Alps, in the upcoming years
(such as
La
Montagn'hard : I recommend watching the video).
Sadly, a landslide has cut the road 2km away from the starting point
and, despite my desperate attempts to still form a group of "strong
people" to go there and do the extra 4km walk anyway....we later
learned that the entire road to Cerro Negro is closed and we'd have no
chance to go on it. That infortunate, though I hopefully have another
chance in the upcoming two weeks, where I'm supposed to come back and
climb the volcano with Elizabeth (but, I of course will not leave my
beloved one alone on a volcano!).
So, I ended up staying on the beach at Las Pe itas. And, as I
explained to No l, on days where I *decided* to run, I *need* to run.
It's like a drug as you'd guess.
So, I went running on the beach..:-). In the early afternoon, during a
very hot day (probably the best weather we ever had, which makes me
even more regret "my" volcano), about 34 C, no shade...and some wind,
and sand...:-)
Running on the beach is not as hard as one would imagine as long as
you stay at the limit of the water, where the sand is compact. Indeed,
this is even good for articulations as the sand soil is of course soft
and absorbs impacts. The only drawback is that this beach is quite not
so flat and this is sometimes like running across a hill all time long.
Anyway, I went north up to Poneloya, up to the point where a river
blocks the path along the beach, then I headed back. I had originally
the intent to continue south-east, past the place where we were, up to
the start of Juan Venaco island. However, the face wind when comign
back, as well as the very hot sun, really achieved me....and I decided
it would be wiser to stop. I however couldn't resist running IN the
waves, which means I now have very humid shoes (but I have two pairs
of those...:-))
Today (Thursday), was a more standard run in Managua, with No l and
Ralf. We once again went to the South suburbs hills. All three of us
were suite tired as it seems, so we chose a quite slow pace and,
still, the climb was not that easy. We went the same way I went with
Ralf a few days ago, but we didn't enter the "dogs path" this time,
but rather tried to continue the road south.
After 4.5 km, we had however to stop because the path didn't go
further and, anyway, I think it was enough for all of us..:-)
The way back, we tried another way, which was not particularly
touristic (close to the National Soccer Stadium....a not so impressive
stadium, but soccer is not the national sport here in Nicaragua, where
people are more in base-ball or boxing).
Both GPS traces:
See you tomorrow for yet another GPS trace..:-)
