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)

Managua

We got to Managua late, which little intentions other than sleeping and saying goodbye. It was a sad but wonderful night. The hotel felt very American, despite the nasty Nicaraguan at the front desk. We had air conditioning! We had hot water! We had lots of pillows, sheets, blankets, and no bugs! It felt very weird. After a bit in the room, we headed to dinner, which felt American, though B. did have steak Nica-style, which meant with rice, sauces, platanos (which he lovingly gave to me), beans, chips. I had pasta primavera, which I am pretty sure I could have found at any chain hotel restaurant in the U.S. After, we went to our room, to share more goodbyes.

The goodbye had more meaning than it normally would have, and I was in tears. To feel a love this strong, to have experienced such a wonderful, amazing thing, to enjoy someone so much, to feel such a ferocity inside me…this is something so rare and I feel so lucky to have felt it. We felt asleep intertwined in each others’ arms, kissing each other even in our sleep, turning over to wake up and tell the other we loved them. Sleeping with B is a most amazing experience, like nothing I have ever felt before.

I woke up, happy because I was in my love’s arms, sad because I knew what today would bring. We quickly readied and left (B had a 7a.m. flight back to the States), and I cried much of the time in the airport. I am typing this now from the airport, and feel this loss, this pain, this sadness like never before. It’s like when someone makes you feel so incredibly and amazingly complete…that’s all I want. It’s weird. I have been in love before, but with B, it’s different. I forget to eat. I forget how tired I am sometimes (though this trip, B will tell you I did sleep a fair bit), and have stayed awake beyond my normal capabilities. I don’t care about anything, just about being in his arms. This, of course, can be a dangerous thing, but a very wonderful thing as well. I had a lump in my throat like never before. Things will be different when we both are reunited. I know I’m en route to an amazing place right now, but this totally kills me – all I want is to be in his arms, even if I were in snowy NY/PA instead of interesting hot Guatemala.

Love. It’s something you can never predict. It’s something that doesn’t make sense. It takes control over you in ways you don’t think ordinarily. Sometimes, you can’t make it work – and that sucks. Love’s just not enough sometimes, you need more.

I love B more than anything. This flight to Guatemala – it’s time for me to cry, to miss him. I’ll keep on missing him. Although I’m going to be doing amazing things, going to amazing places – Xela, Lake Atitlan, Tikal, Antigua – at the same time, I really just want to be with him.

As I sit in this First Class plane seat (not sure how this happened, but I’ll enjoy it), I am not thinking of the crazy day’s journey ahead (How will I find a bus to Xela? Is it possible? Will my flights connect smoothly? What’s next? Will my journeys be okay?), I’m mostly thinking of B., with his cute glasses, his sore lips, how he holds me, and mostly, how I’ll miss him so much.

San Juan del Sur

The ferry from Ometepe to San Jorge, then a cab to San Juan del Sur. Our cab driver didn’t know where the place was, and neither did we. After asking a few people in San Juan del Sur, we discovered we were actually staying in Playa Madera, down a crazy road. The cabbie tried to rip us off, I negotiated down and he dropped us off at the bottom of a wicked hill that sucked to walk up with all our stuff.

We stayed at a really cute place, Buena Vista Surf Club, in what B nicknamed “the bat maternity ward” or “the bat cave” because he said it smelled like bats. I could smell nothing in our cute thatched roof “tree house” but we both did have some weird itching, swelling of the lips (so hard to kiss!).

The beach was a steep hike down that hill, which was so awful mainly because the gravel was loose and it was quite easy to slip. We were beat after our traveling, so we chilled on the absolutely amazing deck and watched the sun set and read. I lent B “The Count of Monte Cristo” which I had devoured before meeting him, and he couldn’t put it down. I was glad he liked it, but I realize Dumas has his attention until he’s done with it. Right now, I am sure B is reading it.

BVSC had a communal dinner, which was filled with quite yummy food and conversation. After dinner, we chilled a bit more, then headed to our treehouse. We slept good as the howler monkeys were fairly quiet that night.

I woke up early and went running with one of the other girls in another treehouse. We ran on the beach and struggled with the steep hills as well. After, B and I did yoga with a yoga teacher on the deck – the deck with a view of the waves, the sky, trees. It was one of the prettiest places I’ve ever done yoga. I kept looking during asanas at the waves, which helped steady my balance many times.

BVSC had a communal breakfast, which was outstanding. I preferred it to the dinner. They served pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit, yogurt, granola, toast, cereal, and other things, and yes, we ate them all. After breakfast, we decided to rest a little before heading to the beach.

I ended up having a wicked scary asthma attack. My breathing did not feel good for hours, so I sadly decided not to surf (esp after my bad time surfing in Malpais/Santa Teresa). We chilled out for a bit until I felt strong enough, then we headed down to the beach. We swam, read, walked and B taught me abt tidal pools. We watched hermit crabs run around the sand – they’re so cute.

Another communal dinner, reading, writing, another night of sleep in the Bat Cave. The morning repeated itself: running (this time, alone on the beach), yoga on the rooftop deck, communal breakfast. I rented a board and headed out to the waves. Feeling nervous, I mostly played in the whitewater, which was fun but I prefer the real waves. B and I talked abt why I’m so scared now and he recommended maybe I take another lesson (even though I know how to surf) to rebuild my confidence. I think I will, or else see if a good friend will help me out (like Shawn!). We ate lunch on the beach, with yes, 6 drinks for the two of us. I was tipsy only for a little bit.

“Are they watering these drinks down or have we developed an immunity to Flor de Cana?” B wondered.

Sadly, I told him I think we were building up an immunity. My tolerance for alcohol has skyrocketed. What I drink now without feeling anything would have me very, very drunk a few months ago.

After an outdoor shower and a little more reading, B and I hopped in a cab to Managua. Our cab driver was really nice, and stopped for me at a grocery store (I wanted to try to find the often-elusive delicious Trits, two sugar cookies with a thin layer of chocolate sauce, ice cream, and whipped cream around the edges), and I got us all ice cream in Masaya.

Ah, Ometepe

Many backpackers told me, “Oh, there’s nothing to do. The volcano sucks to hike – seriously, it took me eight hours and I was sore for six days after.” That in mind, B and I only planned two days there. We wished we had spent more.

We got to our amazing eco-lodge, Totoco, which is located high up with views of Concepion, Maduro (kind of – often hidden, but you can climb it right from Totoco property).We stayed in this awesome little thatched-roof hut with a private porch with a hammock and table and chairs, super lovely bedroom, and bathroom with self-composting toilets, and best of all, hot water. (You learn to adore hot water when you shower without it for too long – or really, any amount of time!) We started off with some mojitos, lunch, and enjoyed the scenery. We got massages, which were really excellent, and chilled in the hammock, and looked at the stars.

We spent a day hiking on a trip. Apparently, it takes most people 7-8 hours to do this hike and we did it in less than 6. We hiked through a coffee plantation, stopped at the coffee farm (Finca Magdalena, where we were luckily able to eat some delicious platanos con queso, my favourite Nica treat), saw some petroglyphs, and hiked to a waterfall. The waterfall was small but lovely, and B and I cooled off in it. The hike was fairly easy, but close to the waterfall, it was rather steep with some challenging technical footing. Great running terrain, and I couldn’t help but get excited for the Fuego y Agua 100k, which hopefully will happen in February 2012. B and I drank more mojitos and caipirinhas, swam in the pool, relaxed in the hammock, chilled.

We had hoped to do horseback riding as well, but decided to take it easy. We ate a yummy breakfast,, relaxed, drank tea, talked, chilled in the hammock. It was the most romantic place and neither of us wanted to leave.

I hope we’ll both be back. I plan on doing the Fuego y Agua 100k, but B has art shows then, so not sure if he’ll come or not. But hopefully…

Granada

Everyone raved about Granada. It was a lovely city – beautiful churches, brightly-coloured buildings, neat streets to explore. We didn’t do too much – relaxed, walked around, sampled different street food, went into some churches, climbed a church tower to the roof for an incredible view. We went to a few museums – El Museo del Mia, the museum at the San Francisco Church, the chocolate museum (hardly a museum, and sadly, the chocolate and chocolate-flavoured tea they gave us to sample were not anything delicious). Best of all, I visited the Granada Library, talked with a librarian. It was super interesting (all in Spanish, so B was bored), and inspired me to want to do something MORE w/ my librarianship love. B bought a pretty neat hammock from this awesome center, and I was tempted to buy one for my parents (but decided not to on account of the expensive cost of shipping, along with too many stories I’ve heard from people who have lost things mailed home). We left, excited for Ometepe.