My Trip, In Runs

So it was impossible to keep up with my regular running schedule while backpacking across Central America...especially with a breakup that frequently brought me crying on me knees while running, crazy travel days, amazing beaches, and better things to do...but I was able to get in solid regular running...

I didn’t run as much as I should have. I ran almost daily, but my long runs were few in far between. Excuses included: getting my heart broken so running was difficult; staying in places not conducive to long runs; the beach sounded more fun than running for eight hours; not enough time.

December:

15^th: 1:15:18 (Panama City, hot along the water, decent pace)

16^th: 1:00:28 (Bocas del Toro, legs felt tired, 3x speedbursts)

17^th: 1:34:07 (Bocas del Toro, legs, chafing, thirsty, beach!)

                PM Run: 18:07 (with Chris)

18^th: 47:22 (Bocas del Toro, with Chris, we didn’t have enough time before snorkeling to do more)

19^th: 59:13 (Bocas del Toro, with Jarrett, on beach)

20^th: 1:01:00 (Bocas del Toro)

21^st: 1:01:08 (Bocas del Toro)      

                PM: 1:12:18 (Bocas del Toro, on beach, love it!)

22^nd: 1:00:56 (Bocas del Toro)

                PM: 1:02:28 (Bocas del Toro, fartlek)

23^rd: 1:01:08 (Bocas del Toro, with Rio)

24^th: 1:02:09 (Bocas del Toro)

25^th: 2:07:15 (Bocas del Toro, ran all the way to Bluff!)

27^th: 1:44:19 (Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, on the beach!)

28^th: 1:25:43 (Santa Teresa, hills)

                PM: 51:58 (Santa Teresa, beach sunset, ahhh!)

29^th: 1:44:23 (Santa Teresa, beach with a Tico I met)                               

                PM: 59:55 (sunset barefoot beach running)

31^st: 1:22:17 (Leon, Nicaragua, got lost)

January

1^st:  4:28:30 (Leon, awful chafing, low 90s, sunny)

2^nd: 2:32:14 (Leon)

3^rd: 58:20 (Leon)

5^th: 2:10:47 (Little Corn Island)

7^th: 1:31:09 (Little Corn)

8^th: 1:12:28 (Little Corn, ankle hurts)

9^th: 31:03 (Little Corn, ankle hurts)

10^th, 11^th: Time off for ankle recovery and travel days

12^th: 1:00:23 (Granada, ankle mostly okay)

13^th: 1:01:26 (Granada, slow)

14^th: 1:11:04 (Ometepe, trails, bushwhacking, yay!)

15^th: 22:44 (Ometepe, had to stop because chased by wild dogs)

16^th: 1:01:01 (San Juan del Sur, hills, beach inc barefoot running)

17^th:  1:05:56 (San Juan del Sur, barefoot each running)

19^th: 1:33:48 (Xela, Guatemala)

20^th: Climbed a volcano instead of ran, so hard!

21^st: 1:13:21 (Xela – with Luis, a Guatemalan I met on the street)

22^nd: 1:12:52 (Xela, with Luis again)

                PM: 1:20:44 (Panajachel, hills!)

23^rd: 1:14:29 (Panajachel)

24^th: 1:16:42 (San Jorge, hills)

                PM: 1:05:09 (San Marcos, hills)

25^th: 1:09:39 (San Marcos, hills)

                PM: 48:00 (San Marcos, hills)

26^th: 1:13:43 (San Marcos, hills)

27^th: 1:13:43 (San Marcos, hills)

28^th: 1:22:34 (San Marcos, hills)

29^th: 1:01:05 (San Marcos, chased by a weird local)

30^th: Tikal

31^st: 2:04:49 (Bullet Tree Falls, Belize, part with Rio)

February
1^st: 1:06:02 (Bullet Tree Falls, Belize)

2^nd: 3:25:26 (Bullet Tree Falls, Belize)

3^rd: 1:53:26 (Bullet Tree Falls)

4^th: 1:15:26 (Caye Caulker)

5^th: 1:01:39 (Caye Caulker)

6^th: 20:15 (San Pedro)

Malpais y Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

I could stay here another week. Surf, sun, watch the sunset, run, eat, nap in hammocks, beach, beach, beach. 

My hostel has tons of hammocks, great vibe, neat kitchen and layout, cool peeps. I've been spending the days on the beach, with breaks for running, avocados, Trits (amazing ice cream treats!), chats abt life and traveling and philosophy with other travelers, practicing my Spanish, swims, shell-hunting, surfing and fun. I love it here.

Toilets in Central America - from my hostel in San Jose

San Jose, Costa Rica

Dangerous. Dirty. Ugly. Boring.

These are just a few of the adjectives you might hear applied to the capital of Costa Rica. Travelers joke about it, but it's really unavoidable since most buses and roads lead to San Jose...so you must enter and exit it more than you want.

After a treacherous border crossing from Panama, Brian and I ended up in San Jose for a night; he to figure out where to go next, me to take a 6am bus the next day.

We talked; we wrote in our journals; we saw a crazy parade with 5,000 horses, like a Wild Western party gone absolutely drunk; we ate; we slept; our dorms were in a hallway. Ah, hostel life.

It was just a night, and an afternoon, and it's a place to say goodbye.

Surfer Chicas

Today I saw the cutest thing - two little girls learning how to surf. What an awesome thing to learn - to not fear the ocean, to enter a male-dominated hobby, to harness the power of the waves, to connect truly with water.

I'm in a total surf town, which I love. (I just came from Bocas del Toro, another surf town, but this town is quite obsessed with surfing, as opposed to just loving surfing.) Malpais y Santa Teresa are quite the place - I got here, ate, hit the beach to go surfing, did a run along the beach...and am feeling muy contenta. My hostel is chill with heaps of hammocks, great people, boards everywhere...if I can just satisfy my random ice cream craving (I never want ice cream, but today have wanted it all day), it'll be a perfect night.


And let's let the women continue to dominate the waves, and teach our daughters how to surf because there's nothing more amazing, more empowering, more fun than a little girl knowing what to do with the waves.

No Such Thing As An Easy Trip

This is from an email I sent earlier today. Traveling isn't always fun...

My journey today has been quite crazy. I woke up at 520, pulled stuff together, out of the hostel by 540. It was pouring rain, disgusting. Me and my pink umbrella, Brian (also going to San Jose), Natalie and TJ (headed to Panama City) went to the water taxi from Isla Colon (the island in Bocas del Toro where we were staynig) to take it to the mainland. We were aiming to grab the 6am bus, but as Panamanians are on Tico time, things did not proceed as smoothly as we hoped. 

We did not leave until 635 am, and Natalie (and others) were freaking out. Despite our boat having a cover, we got wet. When we got there, I tripped on the slippery dock getting out of the boat, and dropped one of my bags into the water. Luckily, I got it out, just losing a water bottle (and everything in the bag got soaked).

We hopped in a large taxi, planning to take it to Changirola, but this French girl sharing the cab was also going to San Jose, and told us we should take the bus w her from Sixoala, this border town.

So, we took the cab to SIxaola instead, waited in the rain for immigration to open. I dropped my credit card ina  puddle and would not have noticed if Brian hadn't pointed it out to me. We got stamped, and crossed.

It was pouring rain. One of those absolutely disgusting depressing days. The kind of day you might as well be at work because it’s too disgusting to do anything else.

The crossing was awful. It was an old railroad bridge covered in wooden planks. There were holes, it was slippery, and it did not feel safe. I was okay but started freaking out in the middle and Brian had to stop, come back, grab my bag, hold my hand. Scary.

We got to the other side and had to wait for immigration to open. The bus was at 8am, but as the time slowly ticked on, we began getting nervous. Finally it opened, but it took them forever to process anyone.

The French girl cut the line, and we followed suit. I explained to the guys we were cutting that we had a bus in 10 minutes, and they were pretty nice. We got stamped, no problems, which was good b/c you need proof that you are leaving Costa Rica (and a plane ticket from Guatemala is not good enough – they want to see a bus ticket from Costa Rica to Nicaragua, or whatever. Crazy, right?).

Finally, we get stamped again, and search in the pouring rain until we finally find the bus. We’re soaked, my knee is hurting from tripping and we’re stressed.

We buy our bus tickets and hop on the bus, which proceeds to drive on bumpy dirt roads to San Jose.

I survived the rest of the bus trip, got into a taxi with a driver who ripped us off, and had to cross through this crazy horse parade to get to our hostel. Good thing the hostel has their own pineapple drink...I'll be drinking some for sure.

dominical, costa rica

i hadn't planned on staying so long in dominical. i had hoped to head down to the peninsula de osa, but if i did so, flights back were going to be crazy. i ended up spending more time in this fantastic town, and loving every minute of it. it was jam packed full of fun and eating lots of mangoes, and flew back, yet i did a lot!
i'll start with a later discovery--my love for surfing!!! i didn't discover this until after i met shaun. he offered to teach me surfing--and i have had offers before but for some reason, i accepted. the next day, super nervous (but knowing to at least wear a tank top while surfing--just swimming in dominical pulled my bikini top sideways and too many people saw my boobs!), i arrived at shaun's room. he showed me how to wax the board, and then i carried it down to the beach. he showed me techniques, told me when to paddle, showed me how to paddle, when to jump. i did it repeatedly and kept falling off and finally, he said, "one more time."

and then i surfed! i was standing up! of course it wasn't for long, but it was awesome!

we kept going for a longer time after that. it was super fun and i couldn't believe how much i loved it!

my final day, i decided to look for a surf school. i mentioned it to my rad friend brett, and this guy he was talking to turned out to teach surfing...we hit it off really well. i went back to his place (where i had chilled the first night) and i read a book he wrote abt surfing. then we surfed for about two hours and i was MUCH better! he was super impressed and said with practice, i could be an average surfer in six months--"and i don't tell that to anyone! you are one of my top five beginners." i was shocked. i had tons of fun, stood up only a few times, but it was SUCH a blast and such a high. it's amazing. i'm looking for a board now.

but i did other things! i swam, i relaxed on the beach. i talked with locals--surfers, ticos, others. i hiked at hacienda baru with forest, sharing special moments like you can see below.

one day, brett and i also hiked down to a waterfall on a trail covered with muck and mud and horse poop. it was worth it when we got to the waterfall--absolutely amazing.
i also took a day trip to corcovado national park which was totally awesome and amazing. the mangroves were really beautiful (on the boat ride there) and we saw monkeys and coatie (i am spelling that wrong). it was awesome.

i also met a lot of beautiful people--hippies, surfers, travelers, ticos. i met this amazing man below on our hike back up from the waterfall. brett and i chatted with him and he gave me bananas. he was so sweet and i miss him. he made the poopy trail totally worth it.

manuel antonio

next stop--manuel antonio! after an outrageous bus ride including a stop in puntarenjas (dirty beaches, friendly people, though it's supposedly super dangerous), i arrived in manuel antonio. got my dorm bed sorted out, then immediately donned my bikini and headed to the beach. i swam, walked alone, chatted with people, including a rather persistent tico who wanted to practice his poor english (and also take me out to dinner, which i politely consistently refused). after the beach, i headed back to my hostel, went running on this amazing hill with an awesome sunset view. i showered, ate with two american girls from my hostel, and then the entire hostel piled into this surfmobile (a pickup truck with a metal box above the back of the truck where we piled!) and headed out for drinks. yummy strawberry coladas and musica and dancing and fun...
the next morning i woke up early and ran down to manuel antonio park. a stream makes entrance a little difficult, and while i was pondering the choices, a middle-aged german-speaking man pointed to his back. i hopped on, he took me to the other side, while all of his friends laughed hysterically, as did i.

the park was empty just after it opened. manuel antonio park is famous for its wildlife, but all of its trails lead to beaches. i swam alone at various beaches (no one else around) in calm, calm water. i took photos, admired scenery, examined flora and fauna, scanned the treetops for wildlife, saw more insects than ever. a really lovely morning.

monteverde, costa rica

i started off my trip in monteverde, which is the center towards the northern part of costa rica. as it's in the mountains, it's rather colder than the rest of the country (which i discovered, and i was quite cold at many points!). i had a blast, despite the nighttime temperatures necessitating two blankets on my bed!

in monteverde, i started off by doing a bridge walk. in santa elena preserve, bridges and trails are built high up so you are at the treetops--with amazing views and a unique experience in the park. i met up with some rad boys--these three argentinian boys--pablo, carlito and federico

i also went on a dusk hike, where i saw a white-faced monkey, a sloth (woohooo! it was actually moving too!!!), a tarantula, various insects, birds, and learned a lot about nature.

after, we went to a bar, los amigos, which was filled with ticos, dancing and smoke. i was tired so i left early.

the next day, i awoke early, did a long run (getting lost in the mountains, and practiced my spanish by asking for directions many times!), and then ate a quick breakfast of mangoes and yogurt. i lost 4 pounds in costa rica, simply by eating lots of fruit and less heavy things. oh yum, i LOVE the food!

after, we did ziplining. it was SO fun! you fly through the air on wires. it was absolutely brilliant--i felt so free and amazing! after ziplining, i explored monteverde a little more, and then made a kickass hostel dinner--pasta with tons of veggies, inc avocados! the avocs in costa rica are absolutely delicious!the next day was super crammed--i woke up early, caught the 615 bus to monteverde, went on a guided nature walk which was awesome--i saw the beautiful quetzals!!! also saw tons of birds, learned lots. my guide was super knowledgeable and passionate and spoke about global warming. we stopped by the hummingbird gardens which were really beautiful, as they were filled wtih the fluttering birds. after, i hiked alone which was an amazing and spiritual experience. i was completely alone, hiking, seeing beautiful animals and creatures (not even sure what a lot of it was). after, i went to the cheese factory (to get kickass coconut ice cream!), then got a terrific lunch at stella's (yum yum!), then went on a tour at the butterfly gardens (super interesting and beautiful), followed by a tour at the orchid gardens. it's amazing i still had energy to go out that night to hear michael play and drink pina coladas!

nature

hikes alone
guided tours
butterflies
frogs
ocean
transport hell
meeting new people
laughing at things that will only be funny tonight

costa rica, continued

wake up 530 am. eat yogurt and fruit.
take 615 bus to monteverde cloud forest reserve.
guided tour
go to hummingbird garden
walk around on own, in middle of nowhere
walk back, thinking
monteverde cheese factory for homemade coconut ice cream
stella's for lunch, one of the best sandwiches of my life
butterfly gardens--amazing
orchid gardens tour
run 90 minutes in the hills and beauty of costa rica--great views of penninsula de nicoya
eat more vegetariano casado--yum
going out with hostel friends to see band

life is good. life is exploring. life is learning about myself. life is learning about others. life is about experiencing and exploring and observing new cultures.

i can never stop traveling. i just wish luna was in my backpack, and t holding the toiletries in his bag. ;)

costa rica thus fa

transport hell
san jose prison

pura vida en monteverde
hiking
canopy
trees
swinging through a line 200 meters above the ground
too much fun
backpackers
being reminded who i am

i'm off to costa rica

i don't know where i'm going but i hope to have fun.

sometimes, you need to do the things that aren't ordinary for you

i have been agonizing over where to go next. i had decided on turkey and morocco, but somehow, didn't feel excited about it. i was reading a lot of stuff that sounded interesting, but i keep being drawn to india...india is the #1 country i want to go to, followed by tibet, nepal...and then fiji and indonesia, amongst other places. i want to go to argentina, chile, peru...

so t and i had a talk, you know, that talk couples have after they've been together for a while. no, not the down-on-one-knee-talk; the practical talk. the i-need-to-figure-out-if-we-are- traveling-aka-celebrating-getting-married-so-i-don't-use-all-my-vacation-time-talk. oh, maybe it's not such a common talk.

anyway, so chances are good we'll be going to bali in dec. if not, well, then i'll go someplace for three weeks solo. i hope that we are celebrating our love by traveling around another country.

so i still have extra vacation time. i could totally wait for my race-filled next few months (march: sarasota half marathon; april: boston marathon; june: quebec marathon; july: jay ultramarathon challenge; november: nyc marathon; possibly also moab ultramarathon), and i do have burning man...but i kind of want to go someplace warm. plus i've been depressed and hating the winter.

so i randomly checked on expedia to see what the prices to costa rica were....without taxes, less than two hundred u.s. dollars!!! i think i have to go!

so i debated. i asked my mom if she would mind (i'd be yet again missing her birthday), "GO!" she was actually encouraging. t was a little miffed as he had wanted help--he'd be moving in while i was gone--but he ultimately thought i should go. everyone told me, "GO!"

i'm a huge planner; i spent MONTHS planning for my other trips. this is very different. this is spontaneous. if i had known, i would have spent more time brushing up on my spanish, staring at maps. instead, i just bought my lonely planet guidebook today, and i'm skipping novels for spanish textbooks and flashcards.

i'm so excited. this is huge....11 days in a spanish-speaking country, exploring rain forests and beautiful beaches and snorkeling and running and being alone...it's a little scary, but those are the things that make me grow.