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A man’s passion for the mountain is, above all, his childhood which refuses to die.

– François Mauriac

The race started at 6:15 a.m. from Monumento al Caminero and its first kilometers passed through very steep streets till reaching the first dirt road that goes to a small valley before Arco Natural. I ran/power-walked most of that first section, more or less comfortably. The Sun came out and I was able to run all the way through the following valleys, then reached the base of Cerro Pelado. The climb up its hills was strenuous but I managed to pass a bunch of runners thanks to my hiking experience. I was very careful of drinking my Gatorade/water mix constantly and eating an energy gel every 10 km. Everything seemed to be fine.

Then the descent to Cuernavaca began, as well as the troubles… Everything I drank during the uphill run started to bounce all over my stomach. It seemed like the 1.5 liters of liquids weren’t absorbed yet, so I started to feel a very uncomfortable pain all around the belly and below the chest. Running fast during the downhill just made the pain a lot worse, so I had to slow down my pace (till almost walking). I thought it might last for a few more kilometers so when I got to Fierro del Toro it would have been gone. It didn’t happened that way…

Once I got there I made a short stop to recover my breath and to think about a plan. I just had run the last 8 km with a pain that didn’t go away, that wasn’t very “normal” for an ultra. I noticed that despite I had been drinking enough water and electrolytes, I started to show some signs of dehydration due to the bad liquid absorption (no more sweating and a salty crust all over my face). I decided that if I reached Tres Marías and I continued in the same state, I would drop out from the race.

I arrived to Tres Marías after struggling for a few more kilometers. The pain ceased for a little bit, but then I was very thirsty, so I drank more liquids at the aid station. After some words of encouragement from the people there I opted to run the last 10 km to Cuernavaca. There I would decide what to do with the rest of the race, which consisted of running the same course all the way back to Mexico City…

A very dusty and sometimes steep trail followed on our way to Cuernavaca. I managed to trot at a pace that allowed me to resist the stomach pain. I slowly made my way through every kilometer and without glory I arrived to the race’s halfway point in Cuernavaca. It was noon and very hot (30-35°C). It took me 6 hours 10 minutes to cover those 42 km and I wasn’t feeling any better yet, nor happy… I drank more liquids, ate some energy bars, some fruit and rested for a couple of minutes.

It didn’t took me long to decide to drop out from the race at that point. I was feeling like sh*t and wasn’t in the best mood to continue suffering, not today. I told the aid station crew that I was leaving, then walked my way to a bus stop and rode a bus back to Mexico City.

While coming back I thought that it was the right decision for me. Today I learned to stop when things were not going well and before they could potentially go worse. I dug deep for some hours during the run but I came out with a lesson learned, that was my victory for today…

Found it today on my desk at the office and all I can say is that it’s indeed a very rare kind of shirt, nothing to do with a Hawaiian design

the smashing pumpkins – dancing in the moonlight

when i passed you in the doorway
you took me with a glance
should have took that last bus home
but i asked you for a dance

now we were steady to the pictures
i always get chocolate stains on my pants
father says, “he’s going crazy”
says i’m livin’ in a trance

dancing in the moonlight
it’s caught me in its spotlight
it’s alright, it’s alright, the moonlight
this long, hot summer night

it’s three o’clock in the morning, i’m on the streets again
disobeyed another warning, shoulda been home by ten
now i stay out ’til sunday, i have to say i stayed with friends
it’s a habit worth forming, it’s a means to justify the end

dancing in the moonlight
it’s caught me in its spotlight
it’s alright, it’s alright, moonlight
this long, hot summer night

i’m walking home
last bus is long gone

dancing in the moonlight
it’s caught me in its spotlight
it’s alright, it’s alright, moonlight
and this long, hot summer night

dancing in the moonlight
it’s caught me in its spotlight
it’s alright, it’s alright, the moonlight
this long, hot summer night…

the cure – prayers for rain

you shatter me your grip on me a hold on me
so dull it kills you stifle me infectious sense of
hopelessness and prayers for rain i suffocate i
breathe in dirt and nowhere shines but desolate
and drab the hours all spent on killing time
again all waiting for the rain

you fracture me your hands on me a touch so
plain so stale it kills you strangle me entangle
me in hopelessness and prayers for rain i
deteriorate i live in dirt and nowhere glows but
drearily and tired the hours all spent on killing
time again all waiting for the rain…

I was eating lunch today when the phone rang. It was Chalita, who just returned a few days ago from finishing Marathon des Sables and who feels like running anything. His next plan is simple: our Rocky Raccoon team (Luis, Chalita, Toño and me) gets together again and travels to La Grange, Wisconsin to run the Kettle Moraine 100 Endurance Run on June 7. Simple, huh? The downside: there’s only 1 and a half months left to train before the race… :S

After work, I went to Luis’s store to talk about Chalita’s call and his possible brain damage after running so many days under the desert sun. Wrong option… Luis is just in the same mood as Chalita, and even worse… he reminded me of our goal of running the Leadville Trail 100 in August 16. After a bit of math I noticed: that’s 2 months after Kettle Moraine. Then my forecast turned into: there will be lots of pain.

All of you might suggest me to simply say no. I’m sorry to tell you this, but… how could it be that I’ve got such friends if I didn’t had some sort of stupidity/craziness embedded in myself? You do the math now

My next “training” run will be Carrera de Resistencia en las Montañas (84 km of trail running from Mexico City to Cuernavaca, and back) on April 26 (that’s 1 week and a half from today). I’d better start stretching those legs…

Pics are here.

It’s so great to be back home