October « 2007 « www.arareko.net

Banff Mountain Film Festival 2007 – Day 1

Last night, the Banff Mountain Film Festival began. As with every other year, a lot of friends from the climbing community got together to enjoy a couple of hours of mountain cinematography. Here’s my brief review of the projected films:

First Ascent: Thailand: Nice psicobloc film where David Lama exposes his talent while creating difficult routes in the sea cliffs of Thailand.
Roam: Great action movie. A group of cyclists tour around some of the best mountain bike courses around the world.
Mountains without barriers: Excellent documentary. A trio of 2 blind men and an amputee climb in the Italian Dolomites to promote an event for people with disabilities.
Asiemut: Awesome adventure film. A french couple ride their bikes along an 8,000 km trip from Mongolia to Calcuta. They endure through every obstacle they encounter during their 6-month journey.

Very good for the first day, I’m already looking forward to tonight’s projection…

Cinderella’s toes

This is how my feet look after a deep cleaning I made on them today. I got rid of calluses, detached one blackened toenail and drained a couple of blisters which were full of blood:

I know the picture isn’t precisely cute, but I just wanted to show you how ugly your feet can become because of long distance running. If you’re a woman who’s into modeling high heels, please avoid doing this stupid things to your feet. Don’t tell me I didn’t warn you…

Slow motion

I did a couple of runs recently: 15 km yesterday with Beto, 10 km today with Rubén. Despite my desire to keep running, my body (and particularly my legs) keeps telling me I should have some rest.

I don’t feel any post-injury pain or post-race soreness, the only sensation I have is the huge slowness in my legs. They feel tired and no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to gain speed. I think my body really needs to recover from recent abuse…

Autumn leafs

Back to the endorphine high… After resting for the entire week (having only the daily dose of stretching), today I laced my running shoes again and hit the streets of Toronto. Toronto Marathon took place and I couldn’t miss the opportunity to participate in it

The weather was cool (around 7°C) for most part of the day, so it allowed a really enjoyable run along the “easy” marathon course. I liked a lot this run, as the course went through most of the places where I’ve run before in this city. Every leaf in trees is getting that golden tone that comes with this season of the year. We don’t have that kind of autumn scenery down in Mexico, so to me it was really beautiful!

I finished with a PR of 4:08:35 and cried a couple of tears when I met Güero (who ran the half marathon) at the finish line. I was really happy of my result after struggling with painful hamstring cramps for the last 10 km. Perhaps 1 week of rest wasn’t enough? I don’t care, the pain was worth it and I’m more than happy now

Cooling

So now I’m in Toronto, attending a couple of meetings and a Platforms Workshop with my colleagues from Y! Canada.

After a couple of days from the heat wave that struck the Great Lakes area (and Chicago Marathon), the temperature is finally going down (to 7°C), where it should have been since a couple of weeks ago. Weird climate, stupid humankind…

I feel a little bit nostalgic of having left Chicago, I had a great time there while visiting Poli & Javier. Days are gone by very fast sometimes…

To cheer up my mood a little bit, Poli sent me the first ultrasound photo of her baby. We’re still waiting for the next one to know if it’s a boy or a girl:

New PR!

Yeah, a new PR (personal record) for the slowest marathon I’ve done. That sums up to a time of 4:47:21. Amazing time! For a snail… haha

It’s not that I didn’t train enough or that my injuries came back to life with sudden rage, it was the heat. Heat & humidity reigned over Chicago today, reaching a temperature of 31°C (feeling like 40°C while running), a record for this time of the year. And this had to happen precisely today, during Chicago Marathon.

A big joke of destiny? Maybe, maybe not… but marathon organizers had to cancel the race after 4 hours of being into it. Fortunately, I was able to finish it with what was left of my dignity after struggling through it for the last 20 km.

All I can remember is that the event was a huge confusion between runners’ craziness and collective panic while there were runners fading & falling as dying mosquitoes all over the city. I think I had about 10 showers at fire hydrants along the course and drank more water than all the beer that I’ve had in my whole life. Ok, maybe I exaggerated on the latter, but my body and brain really felt like pudding out of the fridge. At least I had my much desired big tour around the city…

Despite all of that, the feeling of accomplishment is unique and as with everything in life, it was just another test. Maybe a training run for a future Badwater? We’ll see…

Touring & testing

Impatience kills me sometimes… I was feeling bad of seeing such a big city and not touring it by running.

Although I’m going to have my big tour this Sunday, I went out this afternoon for a shorty 11 km run along the lakeshore & downtown. I needed to test my heel’s recovery as well as my body’s reaction to the heat & humidity that reigns over Chicago nowadays.

So far, everything felt good…

Treadmill junkie?

Back to training. I’m doing it light (5 km), just as maintenance. I’m feeling better from plantar fasciitis because of the foot splint I’ve been using by night.

Also, I couldn’t stand still at the view of the treadmill lying alone in the building’s penthouse gym. Just a few kilometers, ok?