Mountain Marathon Trail behind Jaco

I did my first marathon distance last week in the mountains outside Jaco. Because most of it was either steep uphill or steep downhill, i left at 12noon, with some bananas, nuts and an extra bottle of water, as there weren't any Macdonalds on the way.

Monkeys can and do attach themselves to you, this one was trying to get my jelly babies

I started off right across the road from where the 'Maxi' supermarket is, on the dirt road that leads to the canopy tours (3km in) As i ran in, a bull stood in my way, but it seems that they are more scared of humans than British bulls, and it scarpered thank God, as I ran towards it clapping my hands like an idiot.

The track is flat for the first 4km then starts to rise gently - it was really exhausting that time of day in the full heat of the sun, so i tried to slow down when i got to the shade of any trees there. By 5km id almost drank my first bottle of water but luckily theres a waterfall, up the hill a little so i could fill up. After that, the real hell started. Im sure it was about 45degrees hill, it seemed to go on for about 3km , then you get some respite and downhill again, then back up again. It took me about an hour to complete the next 5km and up to the top of the hill, where it flattens out and there is a cooling breeze. Id love to hear some tips on running up hills with a pack on, because Chi-Running doesnt help a great deal. I basically walked the steepest parts, since i knew i had a long run ahead in a remote part and didnt want to end up wearing my headtorch later or sleeping up there, if it got dark (if the snakes and ants wouldn't eat me alive, the monkeys or the drug smugglers would ! )

If you keep following the trail, when you get to the very top, there is a smaller trail in red earth, that goes right and higher - this is the way you should go unless you want a 195mile run round all the mountain villages (which sounds like fun but not in one day) If you get to a surreally located restaurant on the track, in the middle of nowhere which has a sign saying 'no world economic crisis here' at the entrance, then, like i did you've gone about a km too far so turn back (or im sure you'll want to give up after that steep hill and get a lift back from the ATV guys that hang out there, as its too rugged for cars.)

The trail you should be on, and i was on, goes all the way to Hermosa beach and back to Jaco. It undulated randomly up and down hill, and almost none of it is flat, so it does make hard going. And dont stop to eat on the way, like i did - my whole body is now a dot-to-dot book of ant bites. I should mention now that you should have an anti venom kit if your up in these kind of places, as there were a few snakes about, although not quite 6m long Anacondas like Venezuela.

The view is great but its a hell of a hot in the middle of the day

Eventually after another 8-10km or so, the road forks again - you can actually go either way - left you'll pass some farmhouses and you can go for 15km more and get to Jaco beach in a more gentle fashion, and I suggest this road. Theother option is (like i did stupidly after asking the farmers wife in the house there which way was less difficult, she must have understood more difficult) to go right and what looks like your going nicely downhill....however halfway down the trail almost peters out to long grass (which isn't fun going steep downhill on) then you find yourself going down a track that is physically very difficult to stand up, you pretty much have to clamber, and then you find yourself in a quarry. It is in theory a shorter route (about 8km back to the road) but it probably takes at least twice as long, as you have to step down bit by bit, knowing every second that you may be about to hit a dead end of impenatrable jungle and have to climb back up again. After the quarry, its best to follow your nose out of there without getting shot by the (armed for some reason) guards there, and then the track becomes wider and you can gently follow it down to the original road, and eventually back out to Jaco. For some idiotic reason i got into the running mood about then, so i ran down the long road to the beach, just in time for sunset (6.15ish) and ran home that way.

As for Marathon De Sables training, i think that was my best day yet, but the bad news is that 1. i must have ran less than 50% of the distance, and climbed/walked/scrambled the rest and 2. I was aching like hell the next day, which doesnt bode well - i suppose im used to easy little beach runs not these mountains straining my calfs and knees and tendons. Interestingly the steep dowhill was a lot harder than the uphill, especially after a long and tiring day, so i think i'll spend the next week ahead of the race with a fair amount of hill running if i can to strenghten those muscles a bit and get them used to hills (as i beleive there are some in the race)

I think im as fit as im going to be due to my inherent laziness and lack of discipline, but i think i have my Chi-Running down ok now and ill try a 30-40km run tomorrow along the causeway here in Panama City and assuming its a breeze at a decent 5min-5.30km  clip then i think ive done all i can do. The biggest issue ive had here is still running in the middle of the days humidity and heat, but hopefully its the humidity thats the problem (which wont be a problem in the desert!)

Running in Hot and Humid climates

Running in the intense humidity has issues all of its own. I did finally find though a great place in Panama City to run - which was full of other runners around 6-8pm when it was a bit breezy and below 30 degrees c.

The Causeway, Panama City - perfect for running

The place i mean is the causeway, at the end of the Panama Canal - you can knock out 5km there and 5km back, in fact more if you round the block a little at the landward end. Its a beautiful narrow road that connects 4 little islands, lined at time with very romantic restaurants and with a beautiful view of the Panama City skyline. Because of he breeze, it doesnt feel so humid, and so, while of course you still sweat like hell, you can run almost normally.

However i ended up the next week in Jaco, Costa Rica - talk about humidity! The beach is great for running along though, it's about 10km up and down (my battery ran out on my i-pod yesterday so i cant tell you exactly until tomorrow)  Tonight at 7pm i ran a 7km race through Jaco - it was quite well attended, a few hundred glistening, aclimatised, Tico bodies. And one Scottish idiot with a full backpack on, sweating profusely. I went back to the old ways, i mixed honey with my water bottle, which i like to think improved my time (40mins odd)

My biggest problem with running in this hot and humid weather (it was still 29degrees c at 7pm!) is breathing. Just like if you are in a really hot steam room, i found myself struggling to take full breaths, and trying to get air into my lungs took up a lot of the focus of the race. Of course the sweat drips off you instead of evaporating so you sweat more and more and don't cool down, which is probably the root of the problem. Theres a great link about this and the health issues here . (i.e. it's quite silly to do excercise in hot humid weather, you might die)

The starting line, Jaco - so humid even guys with no shirts are sweating like crazy!

And yes, of course its beginning to dawn on me (especially when semi-concious while running in this damn heat) how difficult this marathon des sables is going to be. I have a month and ten days to go from struggling to do 10km with full pack on in the searing humid heat here, to (by 2 weeks) i should be at least knocking out 80km a week including a 30km run or so.

Well, ive knocked the drinking on the head and im eating better now, and every day im swimming and cycling (and surfing badly) so i think im making the right moves at least. I could murder a pizza though right now so i think thats just what ill do.....adios!

My new running track, Jaco beach, Costa Rica

Year Zero

So I made my first ‘hot weather’ run of the season, here in Panama City. And i’m still alive.

Although i understand it was just a mild 31 degrees, I can safely say, it was certainly the hardest 3km of my life (im running 3km and i have a 250km race next month, dammit!).

Note forced smile for the camera -I could hardly stand up

Can you imagine sitting in a very large sauna, just beginning to sweat as some Finn put lots of water on to show off. With running gear and an 8kg backpack on. Then running 3km? Well, sounds easy, if you’re sitting in your bed reading this, or tucking into fish and chips somewhere. Well, maybe i packed my pack too heavy, it jostled about as it had my laptop etc in there (ill bring a towel this time as i’m soaking with sweat here in the air conditioned heaven of Dunkin Donuts)  or maybe it was because i just came from Baltic winter weather last night, or maybe it was just the sheer humidity taking it out of me,  but to be honest I barely made the 3km today. (19 mins by the way in case youre asking,  6 and a bit mins a km)

 From the map there seemed to be three decent choices – a trail in the national park that borders the city, the promenade along the waterfront (its about 3 km long) and the causeway  beside the Panama canal which is about the same. It was a hot day and i had my pack on so i opted for the easiest to find, at the seafront. I walked about and got myself familiar with the city too (ok ok it was noon and i was scared to run in such heat)

Either way it really brought it home to me how difficult and different running several marathons in severe heat  will be compared to running on a nice easy indoor running track back home. How i laugh now at how i nievely thought that running 10km circuits every few days would prepare me for such hell. Fortunately most runners are North European and don’t know what the hell they are up against, so maybe this month of hell in the tropics will give me an advantage when it comes to the race. Either way im going to try 4km tomorrow, i think ill try the causeway then, its about 2km there, 2km back, and ill pack my bag with the same things as ill take in the MDS itself – sensible huh?

 I think tomorrows run will be better as im more aclimatised to the heat (i feel a total dickwad whinging about sruggling over such a short distance already, but i may as well be honest about it)

Chi - Running - It's Not All About Looking Like an Idiot

Some Poor Buggers Feet (taken from googling 'Marathon Des Sable Feet')

 I had a 'Chi-Running' lesson last week in Edinburgh. If you want to see me prancing around like a fat turkey on amphetamines, with tights on, you can watch the video, ill put it up when i work out how to.

Dont watch it if you have a crush on me girls, you'll change your mind, really....

Plagiarised from my trainer Nick Constantines website -

'ChiRunning combines the inner focus and flow of T'ai Chi with the power and energy of running to create a revolutionary running form and philosophy that takes the pounding, pain, and potential damage out of the sport of running. The ChiRunning program increases mental clarity and focus, enhances the joy of running, and turns running into a safe and effective lifelong program for health, fitness, and well-being.'

Despite seeming a bit like a Chinese Eckhart Tolle, the main principles are sound -

1. It's all about biomechanics. You dont see gazelles getting sore knees. Or even cats for that matter. Thats because they move efficiently. In the west, people run like clunky robots, with terrible technique, which is why they end up with niggling injuries that keep with them all their running lives, or keeps people saying total crap like 'yeah i cant run, i get sore knees/back/shins...' doh!  Chi-running aims to allow you to run smoothly and without injuring yourself for long distances.

2. To run ludicrously long distances without getting injured, you need to sort out the basic technique perfectly first. The whole intelligence here is to tweak your technique and improve it so you both speed up dont die.

The Videos (thanks to and another free plug for Nick Constantine from soul in motion ) were extremely helpful. Not only did they show me that actually i'm not all that good looking after all, Nick was kind enough to put me through a structured programme where i could see where I was making small errors in technique, so I could fix them, followed by a powerpoint focussing on where I can improve (In my case i needed to relax my ankles, and watch my footstrike, and increase my cadence towards 175 per minute)

And stop eating pot noodles.

Anyway I recommend the lessons, i'm looking forward to using the remainder of this month (in an extremely cold and icy Baltic Estonia) to run indoors with my pack, get my technique right, and build up to some decent mileage. And to try not to drink more than 3 nights a week. Bring on the Marathon Des Sables!

Fatties of London, You Have No Excuse

 I found that the Capital Ring is actually not a Gay bar in Old Compton Street, it's a ring of running/walking/cycling paths all round London - a kind of 'walkers M25' as the bumf says.

Runners are completely spoiled in London - it never gets cold, and there are hundreds of tracks and paths, by canals, in parks, along motorways...so you London fatties have no excuse, im afraid.

I gave it a shot round Finsbury park yesterday, just the usual slow 10km with the pack on, I think I can start building up the mileage now at last though after a succesful 'Chi-running' lesson in Edinburgh last week (more about this in the next post).

The place was teeming with runners, junkies and alcoholics. Every now and then, i'd come face to face with the mangled up crazy eyes of some nutcase with his can of strong lager, and we'd both look at each other, each of us thinking 'Thank God im not you' . A very special moment.

New Year Resolution

Despite having flu for the last ten days ive finally made the first (hopeless 5km) training run of the year, on the icy roads, before the snow came back on again...I now have 3 months to get into super shape and fitness levels - if its not been snow/icy out, ive been down with flu, so im totally out of shape. However, this is how i plan to change that (got to act serious now - whether i can deliver, theres another story!)

1. January - Im in Scotland, London and Estonia (which is about -15 right now) After being out for most of December due to snow/illness/laziness, my aim for this month is to get back into basic good shape again. I've a chi-running lesson in Edinburgh this week, so i can learn to chi-run with the pack on.  Talking of which, the casino was nice to me last week, so i splashed out and bought all my kit online - i now am the proud owner of lots of dried chicken korma packets, compass, headlight, desert running shoes (they look great shoes actually) and a superlight raidlight backpack. It seems that my weight will only be about 8kg on my back which is fine.

2. February - Im in Estonia, Buffalo, then to Panama. Just in case anyone asks why, its because I am actually homeless, ie i dont have a home. Pretty weird feeling but ill sort that out after the Marathon Des Sable. I'll buy a tent or somthing. Again i'll be in frozen countries and i dont want to humph around winter kit but i think ill have to. I'll be in Panama, which at least will be above zero degrees, from 12th Feb so this is when my peak and most intense training will take place, im hoping by then to be in good enough shape to increase my running distance to 10km short and 30km - 40km long again, with pack.

3. March - Panama and Madrid. I'll have most of this month in the warmer and cheaper climes of Panama City, so ill be able to spend the first week and half pushing my fitness up and maybe looking at other things like speed and diet and so on, and tweaking any kit that doesnt work right. On 20th, ill fly to Madrid, Spain and try to get down to Morocco from there for the race. After 20th, i plan to wind down training and relax ahead of a lovely week long walk/run in the desert.

Fortunately ive been reading up about the Marathon Des Sables. It actually seems like a much easier race than i thought it was - it certainly is no longer the hardest race in the world, although i suppose its still in the top ten. But i imagine if im not careful it is still possible that my last vision will be a vulture plucking my eye out somewhere in the desert.

Winter Training in the Frozen North

 With a foot of snow here in Glasgow, yesterday I trained at the Kelvin Hall indoor sports arena, a draughty old 'municipal' indoor track in the West End to test out if my technique is still up to scratch. Having not really run much in the last month, i decided to run without a pack, and also without any music.

The lack of music was great -music tends to drown out what your body is telling you, although the pace can pick you up when you need it. With no i-pod i could feel that im pretty out of shape (i should train more than once a month maybe?) Anyway my plan now is to use these sessions to up my tempo a bit, and see how good a pace i can keep up for 10km.

No pack also made a big difference, so much so that ill drop the pack for runs this month, and walk with it instead in the snow. It will be desperately boring so i think music is necessary here.

Im still trying to tie in running with a pack with Chi-running - they basically arent compatible and i still have a problem here- chi running is all about being light, using core muscles, not using the legs etc. but a pack automatically loads all your muscles an extra 10% of your bodyweight.

So this month i plan to continue to combine building up the miles with chi-running indoors, without a pack, and walking long walks in the snow with a pack on. It's about 5 miles to the centre of Glasgow from my home so my December training will consist of 2 times walking a week to strengthen the legs and core, and an hour and half run in the indoor track, in between days.

The great thing about being back in an English speaking country are that there are plenty other runners, and clubs and so on i can join to keep motivated, it was pretty cheering to see some fellow sufferers training in Kelvin Hall yesterday !

After this month, January and February have to be hard training months, so depending on business commitments ill maybe move to a warmer drier country to train properly so i can relax a bit in March ahead of the race. This is the slackers ultramarathon after all ;o)