TR Dominican Republic

TRIP REPORT

Dominican Republic

04-10 to 04-13/15

 

Race Results:

Sun, Apr 12/15
Punta Cana Marathon
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Marathon #375 – Country # 124
5:29:11

 I first learned of this marathon when fellow members of the Country Club ran the inaugural race in 2014. However I had a conflict with Boston so I decided I would run this race in 2015 – if I was still running? I almost didn’t make it! Remember I ‘retired’ from running in June 2015 after having a pacemaker implanted. I still hadn’t registered for this race in Feb when I ran two ‘trial’ marathons in the Middle East because I wanted to see if my old bod could still survive a marathon?

 The two trial marathons did not go well.  I struggled through both races and decided that marathons were no longer easy or fun to run. However I wanted to round my total country number off at 125 so I needed two more countries. One of those countries needed to be the Dominican Republic so that I could maintain my claim of completing a marathon in every country in North America.

 My training after the Middle East marathons was not good – my pace slowed down and I had difficulty running more than 10 miles without walking? My longest training run for this race was 16 miles of run/walk. But that was enough to convince me that I could run/walk a marathon.

 A few weeks before the race my training seemed to degrade even more? I found out why a few days before leaving for the DR. My cardiologist called to inform me that my heart had been in A-fib for the past week! My pacemaker is monitored 24 X 7 by a wireless monitor located at home and it automatically sends data to a control center that notifies the cardiologist when there is a problem.

He had scheduled a 1-day stay at a hospital to perform a cardioversion to get my heart back in rhythm.  Nope – that wasn’t going to happen! I was leaving for the DR. I already had an appointment set up with the cardiologist the week after I return so I decided to leave the issue until I can meet with him to discuss what is going on and what is the best solution?  I had already decided that I will not agree to any more invasive surgeries or major medical procedures for treatment of my heart or any other medical issues! But now I had this issue knawing at the back of my mind as I departed for DR.

 I arrived in Punta Cana on Fri afternoon and met up with a friend from the Country Club. Klaus is from Germany and was running country # 93. He plans to reach 100 countries this year and may well be the runner that breaks my World Record. He is only 57 – heck I didn’t even start running countries until I retired at age 54!

 Punta Cana is located on the northeast tip of DR. It is a pretty area with beautiful beaches.  There are lots of luxury resorts located on the beaches. But Punta Cana Village is located near the airport and a few miles from the beaches? Our hotel was located across from the Blue Mall in Punta Cana Village because the race started/finished in front of the hotel. The hotel provided shuttle service to a public beach (Playa Blanca) and a few of the resorts.  The beaches are beautiful but the areas away from the beaches are not! The interior is scrub vegetation and not pretty! And the roads are built so that you can’t see any beaches or coast from the roads? The resorts are located at the ends of side roads so that it is difficult to walk between resorts – a car is necessary! And prices are very high! The resorts are very expensive and meals at the resorts and even in the Village are equivalent to big-city prices in the US? I assume that most tourists purchase cheap all-inclusive vacations at resorts - otherwise it would be an expensive vacation? The main activities are beach, water activities and golf. If you don’t like vegetating on a beach for the entire day then you probably won’t like Punta Cana?

 On Sat Klaus and I picked up our race packets. The race director had kindly reserved Bib # 124 for Maddog. I needed to buy my mandatory souvenirs but there was a problem. There were no souvenir shops in the hotel or Village? I couldn’t even find postcards? The concierge arranged for a tourist shop to send a car to pick me up and take me to the shop. I was able to buy all my souvenirs except postcards? No postcards at a souvenir shop? Then they drove me back to the hotel. Later Klaus and I took a hotel shuttle to Playa Blanca to explore the beach. It is a beautiful beach and the water is clear and multi colors of green and blue. The sand is white and soft. However the water is shallow with lots of grass/weeds that would not be nice to walk through. We were able to walk along the beach to the Westin Resort – a luxury resort – where we found a gift shop with postcards – and stamps! It cost $3 per postcard (with stamp) – proof that things are not cheap in DR! One hour was all we needed to explore the beaches and buy our postcards. It was too damn HOT to stay on the beach! We returned to the comfort of our air conditioned room to watch the Masters Golf tournament.

 Sun was ‘M’ – day! The race started at 5 am to enjoy a few hours of dark and cool temps. It was a cool 75 F and 85 % humidity at 5am! There were about 300 runners running the Marathon & a Half. Both races shared a half marathon loop so we marathoners got to enjoy the course twice! Since water stations were located every 2 Km my strategy was to run between stations and then stop and walk for 30 secs. I figured there was going to be a lot of walking involved so I might as well start early to try to delay the point where I would have to do a lot of walking? When I passed 3Km in 21.08 and a split of 7:09/km (11 min/mile) I was in last place - in both races! That was discouraging for Maddog but there was nothing I could do about it since I was running as fast as I could! I finally caught up to a young runner –about half my age – near 16Km. As I passed him I could tell by his race number that he was running the Half. However he didn’t like being passed by an ‘old fart’ (probably older than his Dad) so he sprinted by me! I wasn’t going to get into a race with someone half my age and besides I liked following him because I just watched him and didn’t have to focus on the course markers. However by 18Km he faded and I cruised by him. By then we started to catch other half-marathoners who were walking and also 10 K runners. The race became very confusing – I wasn’t sure if I was on the right course? Fortunately I soon reached the 20Km marker in 2:22:48 and a split of 7:10/km. I reached the start/finish line or Half in 2:31 and started my 2^nd loop. I knew that the 2^nd half would not be that fast or easy because the sun was up and it was getting HOT! At 22Km I passed another runner – hallelujah – I was no longer in last place! I passed three more runners in the next few kms and caught Klaus at 25 Km. He had started fast to cover as much distance as possible before the sun came up but was now paying the price! We talked for a few minutes and I continued to cruise by him. Surprisingly I was still feeling pretty good? My strategy was working so far but I figured it would get ugly after 32Km? I had already decided that WHEN that happened I would just run 1 Km and walk 30 secs.

 When I reached a water station at 31Km in 3:48:40 my legs started to feel heavy and tired and my pace had slowed to 8:20/Km (13 min/mile). And I was baking! I started to pour cold water over my neck and head in an attempt to cool down. I figured I would have to walk again at 32Km. Strangely when I passed 32 Km my legs had recovered – I felt OK so I kept cruising to the next water station? As I passed 38Km in 4:449:04 my split had slowed further to 8:49/Km but I was still moving! A race support car pulled alongside and dropped off a young kid who stated that he would escort me to the finish line. I looked at him and said “OK – whatever – good luck”! He couldn’t stay with me and when I stopped at the water station at 39Km for a good cool soak and drink a cyclist joined me. He was half my age and in good shape! He informed me that he was training for the Chicago Marathon and he biked and ran the last 3 Km with me. I was the oldest runner in the race (by many years) and I think they were worried whether ‘Pappy’ could finish? There was a problem/confusion with distance markers over the last 4Km and I wasn’t sure how far it was to the finish line and I found that discouraging. Finally I reached 41Km in 5:16:35 and my ‘supporter’ encouraged me to ‘go for it’ and break 5:30. I didn’t really push the pace until I reached 42Km and could see the finish clock was still under 5:30. I sprinted the final 285 yards – my fastest 285 yards of the race – to finish in 5:28:47!!!

 I was very pleased with my time and performance. I hadn’t really struggled during the race and had been able to stick to my strategy of ‘run 2Km and walk 30 secs’. I will try that strategy again in my next race.

I had finished without any problems (other than becoming overheated) in spite of the issues with my heart! I had completed marathon # 375 and country # 124! And once again I can claim to be the only runner who has completed a marathon in every country in North America!

 I walked to the hotel to get my camera and wait for Klaus to finish in 5:48. We took the mandatory finish line photos and then the race director made a public announcement about the two ‘celebrities who had just finished – and we were besieged by local runners wanting to pose with us for photos! Finally we were able to escape and return to the hotel for a shower and rest.

 Later we enjoyed a light snack and a few beer before Klaus headed to the airport for his return home. I had booked an extra night in Punta Cana – believing there might be some fun things to see and do? Instead I stayed in the hotel room and watched the Masters again. It was too damn HOT to go outside!

I am back home and planning my next marathon/adventure. Before this last race I was feeling very negative about the prospect of future races. I had decided that marathons were no longer easy or fun! This race was easier but still not much fun! But I will definitely run one more marathon. I have already booked and paid for a two-week trip to Africa in late June.

 But whether I run any more races beyond that will depend not only on that upcoming race but also what the cardiologist says next week!

 Stay tuned!

 

 

TR Bahrain

TRIP REPORT

Bahrain & Dubai

2/2 – 2-6/15

 

Race Results:

Fri, Feb 6/15
Manama, Bahrain
Bahrain Marathon
5:18:35
Marathon # 374 – Country # 123

 Now where were we? Oh yes – we left Oman and were heading to Dubai for some R & R.

Jurgen and I departed on the same plane but he was meeting and staying with a friend/German expat working in Dubai and I had booked an apartment hotel in the Dubai Creek area. As we departed the airport I wisely bought a 12 pack of Fosters beer in Duty Free because beer/booze is difficult to find and expensive in Dubai. Basically you must go to a Western hotel if you want to drink alcohol. We agreed to meet at the Burj Khalifa the next morning. I managed to walk and explore the neighborhood along Dubai Creek and surmise that it would be difficult to run in the morning because of traffic. I last visited Dubai 15 years ago and this is the only section of the city that I remembered? The city has more than doubled in size and there are new districts such as the Downtown/Financial and Marina districts that didn’t even exist then? There is a new elevated Metro that is modern and fast.

 Jurgen and I met the next morning at the entrance to the Burj Khalifa inside the Dubai Mall. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world at 2717 ft. We visited the observation deck to enjoy the panoramic views and take photos of the city. Later we purchased a daily pass for a hop on/hop off bus to tour the city. This bus tour has three routes and if you stay on the bus for all three routes the tour takes 7 ½ hours! It visits every part of Dubai starting at the Dubai Mall. At first I was amazed at all the new buildings and skyscrapers – it seemed that each new building tried to surpass the next one in height/majesty and architecture. But quickly I felt that I was looking at a huge real estate and economic bubble that has to collapse when the oil money dries up? It has reached a level of opulence and decadence that could only be achieved with unlimited (oil) money! Everything has to be the BIGGEST and Best in the world. A new tower is being built in China that is taller than the Burj Khalifa so they are already planning a new tower in Dubai to surpass the one in China? The Dubai Mall is no longer the biggest so they are planning a new mall that will be so big that it will include a 7Km nature trail inside the mall! It just goes on and on? The malls are huge and filled with high-end/exclusive shops that could only be supported with oil money from neighboring oil countries such as Saudi Arabia who consider Dubai to be a ‘playground’.

 We toured by the Downtown/Financial district to Dubai Creek where we visited Dubai Fort and Museum and the Gold Souk. The Souk has been updated and modernized since my last visit and lost all its charm. We took a 1-hour Dhow cruise on Dubai Creek for another perspective of the city. Then the tour took us along Jumeirah Beach and past the Burj Al Arab (the only 7-star hotel in the world with rates starting at $1500/night) to Palm Island – a man-made island in the shape of a palm tree with expensive homes and hotels. The tour finished with a drive through the new Marina District with its towering skyscrapers trying to outdo each other? By then we were in rush hour traffic and the 10-lane Sheikh Zayed Road was a parking lot! To make the delay longer the bus had to drive through the Mall of the Emirates with its indoor ski hill before returning to Dubai mall at 8 pm! The roads were still parking lots so I took the Metro back to my hotel. I was in desperate need of a cold beer. My 12-pack was now looking like a wise decision. But I also wanted a steak/beef with a glass of wine for dinner and that could only be found at a Western hotel so I walked a few blocks before finding a Western hotel and enjoying a great dinner.

I enjoyed my short time in Dubai but I am not in any rush to go back!

 On Wed morning I returned to the airport for a short flight to Bahrain. I was surprised to find Jurgen waiting for me at Arrivals. In Bahrain. He had flown in earlier and rented a car and was waiting to pick me up. The rental car was a wise decision because it gave us much more freedom and flexibility to explore Bahrain. After checking into an apartment hotel we drove to the north end of Manama to the Seef Mall to meet up with two friends/runners from the Netherlands and pick up our race packets. The RD had reserved Bib # 123 for Maddog.

 We had one full day (Thu) to explore the country. Bahrain is small island country located near the western shores of the Persian Gulf. It is 34 miles long and 11 miles wide. The population is only 1.2 million with less than half being nationals and the rest foreign workers. The capital city of Manama looks like a small version of Muscat and Dubai – modern skyscrapers are soaring to the skies in many new areas of the city. However the old part of the city has not been updated or modernized and looks like a typical city in a 3^rd world country. We explored the old city first and visited the Souk to buy my mandatory souvenirs – souvenir teaspoon, silver charm and postcards. I stopped at a Post office to buy stamps. There were three female workers but only one working and two male supervisors? It took more than 15 minutes to buy stamps with five employees and only three customers?

Then we decided to drive to Saudi Arabia. Both countries collaborated to build a causeway and bridge between the two countries – mainly so the Saudis could drive to Bahrain which they consider as a playground since “Allah can’t see what happens in Bahrain”! There are many casinos/bars/entertainment rooms in Bahrain but they are not evident? All are located in Western hotels and are not advertised but you just need to go to any Western hotel to be ‘entertained’!

 We had a coffee/coke at a MacDonald’s located on the Saudi border – the closest I will ever get to Saudi Arabia since their Embassy refused to even acknowledge my enquiry about a visa a few years ago? After ‘relieving’ myself across the border into Saudi Arabia I felt vindicated and we proceeded to find the start/finish area for the marathon at the Sofitel Hotel located on the west coast. It is a beautiful luxury resort located on the Persian Gulf about five miles from the Formula 1 race track. We drove the course – a 10.5 Km loop along a highway in the desert that we would have to run four times. Then we visited the Formula 1 track and stadium – a lot of money invested for a few races each year? Later we ventured into the interior of the country where all the oil wells are located. Talk about UGLY! I have seen oil wells before – but never with the miles of pipes laid across the surface of the desert to collect and pump the oil to storage tanks. Our last stop was the ‘Tree of Life’ – 400 year-old Prosopis Cineraria tree near Jebal Dukham. On the way back to Manama we got lost since there are few road/directional signs in Bahrain (or Oman and Dubai?). We had to stop at a military base to ask for directions. Thankfully they didn’t shoot us!

 After a long day we ate an early pasta dinner since we would have to leave around 5 am to get to the start line. Jurgen was under some pressure because he had to finish the marathon under four hours to get back to the hotel for a quick shower and return the car before noon since the rental agency closed at noon on Fri. They agreed to drive him to the airport for a 2 pm flight. That meant our two friends and I would have to find a taxi back to our hotels after the race.

 Fri was ‘M’ day. The race started at 6 am. When I left the hotel at 5am I was dressed only in a singlet and shorts. It was ‘cold’  - high 40s F so I had to go back to the room for a throw-away T-shirt. The race started on time – it was still cold and windy so I kept the T-shirt on. The race started out bad right from the start for me! First my heart monitor was acting strangely. Somehow a button had been pushed that turned on an ‘Alert’ tone signaling my HR was below the range I had set. I never activate that tone and it was annoying. It should have gone away after the first mile but it didn’t and it messed with my mind because my HR was lower than it should be? I didn’t want to stop and try to reset the monitor while running in the dark so I tried to ignore it! When I passed mile 4 in 47:52 the damn monitor was still beeping and I felt terrible. I knew it was going to be a long, painful race! Finally the monitor stopped beeping which indicated that my HR was above 120 bpm but it continued to act strangely – or my HR continued to act strangely – throughout the entire race? There was nothing I could do about it – I wasn’t going to quit – so I just tried to ignore it. If I died – I died!

 I stayed with two old farts in my AG (one from Italy and one from Sweden) for the first 10K but then I had to let them go because I was struggling. I had already decided to walk through every water station located every 4 Km but even that didn’t seem to help. And I felt I was under pressure because there was a 5 ½ hour time limit on the race! I passed 15 Km in 1:45:32 and started to worry about the time limit? However I passed the Half back at the Sofitel in 2:29:27 and felt a bit more confident that I could beat 5:30. I finally discarded my throw-away shirt and began the 2^nd loop. But now I was staring to run between water stations – I tried to run 2Km and walk 1 min. By the time I reached 32Km in 3:52:21 I was struggling to run1 Km and walk 1 min! I had no choice but to suck it up and keep the old legs shuffling even it meant more walking. Only when I reached 40Km in 4:59:31 was I confident that I would break 5:30.

 I crossed the finish line in 5:18:35 to complete marathon #374 and Country #123!

All I could think about was “This is no longer easy and no longer fun”! Maybe it is time to quit? But then the RD called me over to the podium at the awards ceremony to present me with a special award – a “Certificate of Appreciation” for achieving a new World Record of 123 countries. Maybe I can run two more countries???

 As my friends and I were searching for a taxi several of the local runners kindly offered us rides back to our hotels. A group of lovely young ladies asked Maddog to pose with them for a photo and then offered to drive him back to the hotel. As always the local runners were gracious and friendly.

 After a quick shower I headed to the airport and a flight back to Dubai. I believe I am now an expert on the Dubai airport. I had four hours to go through Immigration/Customs (again), change terminals via taxi and go back through Immigration and security in the main International Terminal. I made it with lots of time to spare but I did note that I seemed to be coming down with a sore throat? Unfortunately that sore throat became a sever sinus cold by the time I arrived home 28 hours later.

 It has taken two weeks for the cold to go away and my running/training has sucked for those two weeks. I am blaming it on the cold but after the ugly/pathetic race performances in the Middle East I am discouraged about the lack of improvement in my heart/health. I have some important medical tests in the next few weeks to determine if there has been any improvement since the heart procedures and pacemaker. I am not optimistic because I believe I know the answer but I will wait for the results!  At this point I must say I truly regret the decision to have the pacemaker implanted. My running has actually deteriorated since the procedure! I was running faster before the pacemaker? I may be faced with another decision – whether or not to remove the damn thing! I know it is not a simple procedure to remove it and the cardiologists will keep telling me that it is necessary/important to extend my life  - but I keep reminding them that I am not interested in extending my life if it does not also extend my ”quality of Life”! Who knows what will happen?

 Stay tuned!

 

 

 

TR Oman

TRIP REPORT

Oman

1/27 - 2/2/15

 

Race Results:

Fri, Jan 30/15
Muscat, Oman
Muscat Marathon
5:32:26
Marathon # 373 – Country # 122

 It has been so long since I last wrote a trip report that I may have forgotten how? One week after my last marathon and report in May 2014 I went into a hospital to have a pacemaker implanted. My cardiologists had convinced me that this treatment was the only chance I had to strengthen my weak heart muscle if I ever hoped to run marathons again. Eight months later and with lots of hindsight I now regret my decision to accept their advice. My heart & health has not improved after 8 months of pain and frustration!

 So how did I get to this point and conclusion?

 After the pacemaker was implanted it was a long slow struggle to try to get back into shape. The docs said that I should only walk for the 1^st week after surgery but then I could run as far as I wanted. Right! I waited 3 days to start walking but when I tried to run 1 week later I couldn’t run 100 ft w/o becoming totally fatigued. I was not able to do any cross training such as biking/swimming/weights because my left shoulder was sore and I had to be careful not to extend the left arm for risk of dislodging the leads to the pacemaker. Back to square 0 – run 100 ft and then walk. Build up to run 200 ft and walk. After 2 weeks I was finally able to run about ¼ mile before becoming exhausted.

 I continued this slow and frustrating process and we decided to spend July/August in Seattle to spend time with Chris, Ari & our new granddaughter Lauren. A few days each week I would take Lauren for a walk/run along Puget Sound. I enjoyed these ‘walks’ and wasn’t too concerned about the progress (or lack of) that I was making. Near the end of July I was starting to feel better and make some progress - I managed to run 1 whole mile before becoming fatigued and then - a big setback. While doing a simple stretch before a morning run I dislodged the LV lead and it started to fire/stimulate my diaphragm. We had to rush to ER to have the lead turned off. I decided to wait until we returned to FL to have the lead repaired. The lead was repaired in Oct which required basically the same surgery all over again – and thus the same healing and recovery process! However this time I quit feeling sorry for myself and pushed much harder and after 1 month I was able to run 5 miles before becoming fatigued. I was aggressive in building up the long runs to 13 miles and by the end of Nov I started thinking about running a marathon again? I could not run fast but at least I could run slow & long? I started looking for a marathon in Jan 2015 because I felt that I needed a few more months of training. I finally decided on a marathon in the Middle East and then quickly noted that there were two marathons 1 week apart in the Middle East. Why not try both?

 I continued to train and build my long run up to 20 miles. But I was agonizingly slow and just couldn’t seem to improve my speed? Just before leaving for the 1^st race I visited the cardiologist to complain about my HR seeming to be limited to a max of 130bpm? No matter how hard I tried to push I couldn’t get my HR above 130 bpm. An adjustment/tune up of the pacemaker corrected that problem (I was upset that this had not been mentioned earlier by the cardiologist?) I was curious to see if this ‘adjustment’ would enable me to run a bit faster?

 The exciting/fun part of the adventure was that I would be joining nine other friends/members of the Country Club in Muscat to run the 1^st marathon. It was like the ‘good old days’. It had been a long time since I had planned logistics for a race but I quickly determined that the cheapest way to travel to both races/countries was to book a cheap flight to Dubai and use Dubai as a base to fly back and forth to Oman & Bahrain. Soon it was time to depart! I did not have much confidence!

 I flew 2 legs from FL to Dubai and arrived late Wed night. I overnighted in Dubai rather than continue on to Oman and arrive at 2 am. I was able to get a good night’s sleep/rest and continue on the next day. I was sharing a room at the host hotel (the Intercontinental) with my good friend Edson from NYC. I met up with many of my friends from the Country Club (CC) and we enjoyed a pasta dinner at the hotel after picking up our race packets. The RD had kindly reserved Bib # 122 for Maddog!

 Friday was ‘M’ day – Fri is the start of the Muslim weekend and there is less traffic. The race started at 6 am at the back of the Intercontinental Hotel. The temps were in the mid-60s. The course was a Half –marathon loop through an exclusive neighborhood with many embassies and nice homes, then along a causeway on the Sea of Oman and finally through Al Qurm National Park that offered some shade. Sadly I started to struggle right out of the chute. Thankfully Edson stayed with me and dragged me through 10K in 1:12:43 – a 7min/km or 12min/mile pace. However at 16K I had to let Edson go as I struggled to reach the Half in 2:33:37. That was actually better than expected and it sort of gave me a boost and I felt good for the next 10K but then I started to struggle again as I approached 32K in 4:02:17. I had been walking through all the water stations but now it became a strategy of run 1 k and walk 1 min. When I reached 37 K in 4:45:54, it became a matter of making it to the finish line. I started to run 3 min and walk 1 min until I crossed the finish line in 5:32:26. It wasn’t pretty & it wasn’t fun but I finished Marathon #373 & Country #122. I had already realized by the 1^st 10K that any hope/dream of running lots more marathons/countries wasn’t going to happen. I was hoping to run a marathon in Kenya in March but knew that there was no way my body/heart is capable of running a marathon with lots of hills at 7,000 ft elevation. That race was already scratched from my itinerary!

 I managed to stumble across the finish line during the awards ceremony and in time to be presented with a special award for achieving a new World Record of 122 countries!

 After a quick shower and snack I joined a few friends to enjoy a ‘hop on/hop off’ bus tour of Muscat. Muscat is quite modern and upscale – not at all what I imagined. We visited most of the tourist sites in Muscat – the National Opera, the Grand Mosque, Old souk, Marina, Parliament Bldgs, etc. (Photos on photo blog). Muscat is bordered on the North & East by the Sea of Oman and the Jabal Miraywah Mtns on the other sides. The topography reminded me on Reno, NV. Mostly the view is rugged/barren mtns. The only green is where irrigation exists.

 On Sat another friend, Jurgen and I decided to rent a car and do a self-drive tour through the country side of Oman. We completed a 2-day, 500-mile loop from Muscat through the Al Jabal Al Akhdak Mtns that soar more than 10,000 ft above sea level. I was really surprised to find so many mtns. The topography is much like NV and NM – rugged & barren mtns with desert at the base of the mtns. We visited a lot of old forts on a route from Muscat through Bidbid, Izki & Nizwa to stay overnight in Jabreen. There is a network of forts and castles - some built over 1,000 years ago to protect the few rivers and oasis that exist in the mtns and desert. Many of the forts have been restored. On Sun we visited the Jabreen Castle and continued around the mtns (we were warned not to attempt to cross over the 10,000 ft mtns w/o a 4-wheel drive) to Irbi & Ar Rustaq. We visited a natural hot spring (Ayn Al Kasfah) in Ar Rustaq. The spring was fenced off but there were small bath houses (segregated of course) to bathe your feet in the hot springs? We did drive through some desert and past camels but the huge sand deserts are south of Muscat.

 We enjoyed the trip and scenery and were surprised that the locals were so friendly and helpful. After we left the city English was not common but we were always able to find someone to help us when we got lost.

 Oman was a very pleasant surprise and not at all what I expected.

 However now it was time to head back to Dubai for a few days of sightseeing and rest. The story will continue in the next report.

TR Kosovo

TRIP REPORT

Kosovo

5/22 – 5/26/14

 

Race Results:

Sun, May 25/14
Pristina, Kosovo
Kosovo Marathon
5:20:35
Marathon # 372 – Country # 121

 My final marathon and final country! And it wasn’t easy. Running the marathon was actually the easy part – getting to the race was difficult. The difficulty started a few days after the Boston Marathon when I tried to get out of bed and became very dizzy and fainted. Once I managed to get up the dizziness diminished but would continue in short spells and frequently? I thought it might be a side effect of a new (heart) med I had started so I immediately stopped taking that drug. When the symptoms continued for a few days I went to my GP who quickly diagnosed the problem as vertigo. He advised me to do Epley exercises frequently and that did help ease the symptoms but did not eliminate the vertigo. A few days later I tried to do a long run to stay in shape and prepare for Kosovo. Half way through the run I woke up (must have fainted?) to find myself falling and heading for a face plant on the road. Luckily I was able to get my arms in front of me and saved myself from serious injury. But it really scared me. I couldn’t stop running/training so I experimented and learned that if I ran and walked a 12-min pace or slower I could avoid triggering the vertigo and prevent another fall.

 

During the 5 weeks between Boston and Kosovo I had weekly phone calls with the Race Director in Pristina to finalize the details and logistics of the marathon. I had been trying since Kosovo declared independence in 2008 to organize a marathon in the new country. Remember I had completed a marathon in every country in Europe in 2005 when I ran Bosnia? Now I needed to run Kosovo to re-establish my World Record #2. I was lucky to meet a fellow member of our local Running Club who traveled frequently to Pristina on business. He put me in touch with a colleague who lived in Pristina. Maury Wray-Bridges is an American expat and runner and she volunteered to help me organize the marathon. We first made contact in Nov 2013 but nothing much happened during the Christmas period. Finally in Jan 2014 I explained that members of the Country Club planned their races 6 to 12 months in advance and we needed to set a firm date asap. It turned out that Maury and her family were returning to the USA in Jun 20414 so that pretty much set the date for May and we settled on May 25. That date prohibited some members from participating but there is no way to satisfy everybody all the time? Maury and her husband Andrew were enthusiastic and excited about the opportunity to organize the first-ever marathon to be held in Kosovo. Without their help the race could never have happened. They handled all the on-site logistics such as choosing a course, recruiting volunteers and meeting with local politicians and officials. I provided the experience and knowledge to organize a marathon, recruited runners and designed and ordered the race T-shirts, finisher medals and awards. Maury and I made a great team!

 

Since I was supplying the shirts, etc for the race I had to go to Kosovo regardless of how I felt. When I departed for Kosovo on Thu I was still suffering occasional bouts of dizziness from the vertigo. I wasn’t sure if I could run the marathon – I wasn’t even sure how or if I could handle the 24 hours of travel to get there? And the airlines didn’t make it easy for me! A delayed flight out of Washington caused me to miss my connection in Zurich to Pristina. It was the only flight of the day to Pristina. I made my way to the Service Desk where I met another passenger going to Pristina. Swiss Airline routed us to Vienna (8 hrs later) to catch the last flight on Austrian Airlines to Pristina. However when we arrived in Vienna I learned that the flight to Pristina was cancelled! I later learned that flight crews were in contract negotiations with Austrian Airlines and causing flight delays and cancellations to make their position stonger? All the airlines knew what was happening but did not advise passengers so that we could avoid Austrian Airlines. Meanwhile I was emailing Maury and my roommate who had already arrived in Pristina to keep them updated. I was supposed to meet with Maury that evening and drive the marathon course early on Friday. Austrian Airlines put me up for the night at an airport hotel. At that point I did not have any confidence that the flight I was booked on early Fri would leave either? And I didn’t have much confidence that my baggage with all the race equipment would arrive with me? I was wondering what had happened to my new friend/travel companion. Taryn is a young lawyer working for a law firm in DC that represents the Kosovo government in contract negotiations with other countries. When I didn’t see her at the ticket counter getting new tickets for the Fri morning flight I figured she must have given up and gone back to DC? However as I was eating dinner at the hotel Taryn walked in and joined me for dinner. She was booked on the same flight the next day. There seemed to be some comfort in the fact that we weren’t alone in our dilemma and frustration.

 On Fri morning I walked over to the terminal a few hours early to confirm that the flight was really going? It was. While waiting at the gate I met two members from the Country Club who were on the same flight. I started to cheer up. The flight departed on time and I was pleasantly surprised to find that my baggage also arrived in Pristina. Maury and Andrew were waiting at the airport along with Fatlum Grajevci, the Director of the Kosovo Sports Federation, so that we could drive directly to the marathon course to check it out. There had been a lot of rain the past few weeks in Kosovo and three miles of the course were on dirt roads. When Maury and I had discussed the course she had told me about the dirt roads and I envisioned dirt roads in the US -  i.e. country roads with dirt and gravel. However these dirt roads were farm roads – roads that farmers used to farm the fields. We tried to drive part of the road and became stuck in mud! Once we pushed the car out of the mud we all agreed that the course had to be changed to paved roads only. We drove to a small gas station on the edge of the village of Gracanica that had room to park cars and set up a start/finish area. We negotiated with the owner to use his station for the start/finish area. The price - a pair of running shoes!

 We drove west on the planned paved course 2.3 miles to a junction in the small village of Laplje Selo. Then we turned south and climbed a long winding hill (79m ascent) to the edge of another village (Livade). We marked a turn-around at 4.4 miles. Runners would have to run this loop a total of six times. We would locate one water station at the start/finish, one at the turn at 2.3 miles and a third at the turn-around. The course was set. Maury and Fatlum recommended that I caution the runners not to wear any flags of symbols of Albania. The two villages were ethnic Serbs and not happy that Kosovo had declared independence from Serbia!

I asked Andrew to drop me off at the hotel so I could check in and try to squeeze my mandatory souvenir shopping into the few hours I had before registration and packet pick up. The flight delays and cancellations had cost me a whole day that I planned to use to explore Pristina and shop. Luckily Pristina is a small city and I was able to find everything I needed quickly – except for a souvenir teaspoon. I wasn’t surprised to find that they don’t exist in Kosovo?

 I held registration and packet pick up in the lobby of our hotel. There were 18 runners registered but three did not run. Two CC members from the US experienced a flight cancellation (in the US) and one local (expat) runner was injured. Roza offered to be a volunteer and became one of our most exuberant and cheerful volunteers! We lost three runners but they were replaced by three local runners: two Finnish expats including the Charge Affairs from the Finnish Embassy and we had one true Kosovar register for the marathon. Eleven CC members registered for the marathon: 3 from the US, 3 from Germany, 2 from Finland, 2 from Italy and 1 from the Netherlands. This is the largest group of CC members to ever run a race so we designated the marathon as the first CC Reunion.

 After registration we were joined by Maury and Andrew and many race volunteers including the Deputy Chief of Mission from the US Embassy for a pasta dinner at the hotel.

 My roommate Edson and I had to wake early because Maury, Andrew and Fatlum picked us up at 6am so that we could drive the course again and paint distance and direction markers on the road. I painted a 2 and 4 mile mark on the road to allow runners to check their pace and we also pointed turn arrows at the junction in Laplje Selo and Livade. Maury had recruited more than 20 race volunteers and because of the change in the course we had more than needed so she was able to assign shifts so that nobody had to stay on the course for 6 hrs (but many did).

 We were expecting light showers but the weather Gods smiled on us. It was sunny and HOT – great for volunteers but not so great for runners. A professional photographer volunteered to take photos of the race and later posted them to her website http://cmp.pass.us/kosovamarathon. Once she took a photo of the runners at the start line we were ready to start the race on time at 7am. And for the first time in 3 days I was finally able to relax and unwind while I ran the race. There was nothing I could do while running and I had all the confidence in the world in Maury. She was ‘Miss Efficiency’ and had everything under control!

 We had a volunteer riding a bike to guide the lead runners through the first two laps out-and-back. He stayed with the runners for the entire race. I was surprised to find the Kosovo police controlling traffic at the turn at 2.3 miles in Laplje Selo. Maury had written the mayors of the three villages as a courtesy to inform them of the race and they had provided police at the turn and also at the turn-around and I even saw them patrolling the course. By the time the runners reached the hill at 3 miles we had spread out along the course. As I started up the hill I remembered my comment the day before “this hill doesn’t look too tough – but ask me again tomorrow when I am running and not driving”! The hill climbed 79m/260ft over 1 mile. Half way up the hill I figured I would be walking the hill on the next 2 laps – so why not start now? I reached the turn-around at 4.4 miles in 46:00 and looked forward to running back down the hill. The return loop back to the start line took 50:39 due to a pit stop in a farm field. I didn’t have time before the race to perform my usual pre-race functions.  One nice aspect of the course layout was that runners got to greet and cheer each other several times during the race with the 3 out-and –back loops. I stopped many times to take photos of my fellow runners.

 After the first two loops the race came down to a duel between a German CC member, Jurgen Sinthofen, and the local Kosovar runner, Martin Noci. I reached the turn-around on the 2^nd uphill loop in 2:27:44 and a split of 50:15. After the race when I downloaded the data from my watch I was surprised/perplexed to discover that I ran each uphill loop faster than the downhill loop? How is that possible? The short loops seem to go fast with all the great support and cheering from our volunteers at the water stops and cheering for all of our comrades along the course. When I reached the start line at the end of the 4^th loop in 3:21:05 and a split of 52:39 it was already HOT and I knew the final out-and-back loop was going to be ugly. I was only approaching the 2-mile mark when the lead runners passed me on their way to the finish line. Jurgen had a 200m lead on Martin and I knew he was going to win. I completed the final uphill loop in 4:19:22 and a split of 48:15. That was my 2^nd fastest split on the uphill loop but I paid dearly for it on the final downhill loop. By the time I reached the junction in Laplje Selo my legs were shot. I had not been able to do any long training runs in the past month because of the vertigo and it cost me. I decided to walk/run the final 2 miles to cross the finish line in 5:20:35.

I had requested that runners stay in the finish area until all runners finished and everyone cooperated until the last 3 runners behind me crossed the finish line. I presented the Overall Male Winner award to Jurgen. Since we had no female runners in the marathon I presented the female trophy to Mea Kriek who ran the Half marathon in 2:11:23. The first-ever marathon in Kosovo was over and it was a huge success! Fatlum was so impressed with the race that he stated that the Kosovo Sports Federation would continue the race next year. Let’s hope so?

 After a quick shower Edson and I did a walking tour of Pristina to take in a few of the sights and get some photos of the city. I hadn’t had any time until now to explore the city. We managed to visit some of the few tourist sites such as the Municipal Library and the Newborn Monument. Our tour was short since I had invited the Executive Committee of the Country Club to join me at dinner with Maury and Andrew to thank them for their help. It was the first time since I arrived in Pristina that we truly had time to relax and enjoy a nice quiet dinner. Maury had picked a local restaurant that served a typical ‘family’ dinner. The food just kept coming and coming- washed down with local beer!

 Since I had an early flight (7am) I had to go to bed early for a 4am wake-up call. When I checked in I was informed that my connection from Vienna to DC was delayed 2 hrs. During that delay in Vienna I learned about the contract dispute. I will never fly Austrian Airlines again. The delay was longer than 2 hrs and I had to sprint more than ¼ mile at the Washington airport to make my connection. I can’t believe I made it through immigration/customs and security in less than 1 hr? At this point I don’t care to ever get on another plane from any airline. I am tired of being crammed into planes and treated like cattle.

Thus I am glad that this was my final marathon and final country. It is nice to retire on a high note. Marathon #372 and country #121. I established one new WR (121 countries) and re-established my WR #2 of completing a marathon in every country in Europe. It will take many years for any runner to tie this WR!

 Now that I am home and ‘retired’ I am looking forward to taking it easy for a while. No marathon or running goals! No more training. I plan to do some easy jogging as exercise and must find some other activities to keep me busy. In the next week I begin my long treatment program to fix and strengthen my heart. That may affect my activities for the next month or so?

 And look at the upside for you readers! No more reading Maddog’s boring race reports. Thanks for coming along for the ride for the past 33 years. They have been fun and there have been many memorable adventures!

 

 

RR Boston 2014

RR Boston

Race Results:
Mon, Apr 21/14
Boston Marathon
Boston, MA
4:51:41
Marathon # 371

 This was supposed to be my last race report? Due to health reasons most readers knew that this race would be marathon # 371, my 8^th and final Boston and my final marathon! Well 2 out of 3 ain’t bad!

As most of my readers know, a few months before Boston along came a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to run Kosovo and I couldn’t pass it up. More about that at the end of this report.

 So I changed my story to “this would be my 8^th & final Boston & my final ‘domestic’ marathon”. I have run the Boston Marathon seven times before and when I am undoubtedly asked “what is your favorite marathon” I always answer “Boston”. I like the mystique and tradition of Boston and it is one of the few marathons in the world that a runner must qualify to run. Out of my previous seven Boston Marathons there are a few that are memorable and I want to reminisce about:

    1)      My 1st Boston in 1987. My 2^nd most disappointing Boston.
 I had just run my 1^st sub 3-hr marathon to qualify and my goal was to break 3 hrs at Boston. I was on pace at 24 miles to narrowly break 3 hrs. When I passed the CITGO sign at mile 25 my pace started to slow and as I neared the turn on to Hereford St I was afraid that I would not break 3 hrs? Worse- I might finish in 3:00 and a few seconds and I would be very mad at myself. So I deliberately slowed my pace and cruised across the finish line in 3:01:51. Later I realized that if I had only sucked it up, ignored the pain and pushed to the finish line I would most certainly have broken 3 hrs. I vowed that I would never ‘give up’ again in a race. It was a valuable but painful lesson – and the only chance I ever had to break 3 hrs at Boston!

 2)      My 5^th Boston in 1996. My 100^th marathon & 100^th Anniversary of Boston. My funnest Boston.
Runners knew that this would be a special Boston – a 26.2 mile party. And it was! I decided not to worry about time or goals – except to join the party along with 38,000 runners, the largest Boston field in history. The runners and spectators were joyous and it was the most fun I ever enjoyed in a marathon.

 

3)      My 6^th Boston in 2004. My most disappointing Boston.
        Since I would turn 60 a few weeks before the race and I was still running close to 3 hrs I figured this was my best chance to win a coveted AG award at Boston. I trained hard and seriously for this goal. I was running mile repeats @ 6:30 pace and bridge repeats @ 6:45 pace and I felt confident. Three weeks before the race while running a final speed work on a track I tore my left hamstring – my dream was shattered in one short moment. With aggressive physical therapy and meds I was able to go to Boston and ‘jog’ the race in 3:58:06. I promised myself that if I was still running at age 70 I would try a 2^nd time to achieve my dream.

         4)      My 7^th Boston in 2005. My proudest Boston.
                I had no intention to run Boston this year until a good friend, Frank Ouseley, aka ‘the Mad Monk had quadruple bypass surgery and then declared that his wish/dream was to run Boston only nine months after the surgery. I helped Frank qualify for Boston and volunteered to accompany him to Boston and guarantee that he cross the finish line. We did well for the first 10 miles but Frank had trouble starting at 16 miles and wanted to quit. I had to play serious mind games with him to coax him to continue. After walking through the hills at Newton I once again had to play serious mind games to coax him to ‘jog’ the final 5K so we could finish under the time limit and collect our finisher’s medals. I was very proud of Frank and his courage and determination to run – and FINISH - Boston under such difficult circumstances.

So now we return to the present and Maddog is returning to Boston also with heart issues but not even close to what the Mad Monk experienced and overcame.  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep my promise made 10 years ago. There would be no competing for AG awards in my 7^th decade. I had to accept and be happy with the fact that I was still running and able to enjoy what would be another memorable Boston due to the unfortunate events that happened last year. I didn’t expect the mood to be joyous or festive like it was in 1996 but I did expect the 2^nd largest running field in Boston history to be united and determined to show that a couple of crazy/fanatical terrorists could not intimidate or deter runners from enjoying their passion. All 36,000 runners would be BOSTON STRONG!

 I arrived in Boston on Sat afternoon and after checking into a hotel in Cambridge I made my way over to the Expo. It was a zoo! Actually bib pick-up was smooth and easy but trying to get into and around the expo was difficult. I have never purchased any Boston memorabilia in all my previous races but since this would be my final Boston I decided to treat myself and buy a T-shirt and a Boston Marathon jacket. After squeezing my way through exhibits for about an hour I met a friend at a designated spot. Malcolm is writing Maddog’s marathon book. He explained that he was having problems with the size of the book. Each marathon/country needed about 4 pages and there are (will be) 121 countries. Nobody is going to read that many pages! We decided to focus on a specific number of Maddog’s goals and include a specific number of Maddog’s most memorable races.

 My hotel was located in Cambridge and there are not a lot of restaurants or shops in that area and few of them are open on Patriot’s weekend. Rather than mess with the subway I decided to skip my traditional Chinese/rice dinner and enjoyed a nice seafood dinner at a Legal Seafood restaurant near the hotel. But I did order rice with my delicious seafood casserole.

 On Sun I had arranged to meet a new member of the Country Club for lunch. After a few minutes discussion we realized we had met and spent a lot of time together in the past but didn’t remember it? Jeurgen and his wife (from Germany) were on the same ship as Nicole and I when we ran the Antarctica Marathon in 1997. We will meet again in Kosovo in May.

 Mon (Patriot’s Day) was M-day! This year, because of the large field (36,000) of runners, there were 4 waves of runners with 9 corrals in each wave. I was seeded in the 3^rd wave and 7^th corral. The 3^rd wave started at 11 am – 1hr after the start of the elite men. Runners in the 3^rd wave had to board a bus in Boston Commons by 8:30 am for the Athlete’s Village in Hopkinton which is the typical time frame that runners have to begin their odyssey to the start line. I had watched weather forecasts closely since it can be very cold waiting in the Athlete’s Village. With extra security measures in place this year it was not possible for runners to take bags to the start area so I visited a Goodwill store at home to purchase several layers of throw-away clothes to wear before proceeding to the start line. They came in handy since the temps were in the high 30s when we arrived at the Athlete’s Village. However I had discarded all the warm-up clothes before moving to the start corral. But I was glad I had them while waiting in line for more than 30 minutes to use a port-o-potty (they did not have enough for 36,000 runners?).

 The 3^rd wave was instructed to make their way to the start corrals at 10:30 am. We barely made it into our corrals when they started the 3^rd wave at 11:00 am. It took 6 minutes for me to reach the start line where I started my watch and began the race.  As most runners who have run Boston know the 1^st few miles are downhill and you can see runners ahead of you for at least 1 mile. I remembered to run my pace and not get sucked in by the pack but I still passed mile 3 in 30:06 and a split of 10:48. I stopped on the top of a hill at mile 7 (1:15:03 and a split of 10:19) to take a photo of the pack chasing me. I passed mile 10 in 1:46:23 and a split of 10:28 – I was running faster than expected. Runners were serious but joyful and we were inspired by a record 1,000,000 spectators that lined the entire 26.2 miles of the course who were jubilant and noisy. It was the best crowd I have ever experienced at a race!

 As I passed mile 12 in 2:07:43 and a split of 10:41 I could hear the ‘Wellesley tunnel’ ahead. My only disappointment with the race was that they had limited the Wellesley coeds to only the college side of the road whereas the coeds used to form a tunnel and narrow the road down to single or double file for runners. The noise this year was not near as deafening (or thrilling). However the coeds did their best and still held signs up asking for kisses. I almost stopped for a cute coed whose sign said “kiss me – I’m from Florida” but I would have had to cut off other runners to reach her. So I stopped and took a photo of the Wellesley tunnel. I passed the Half in 2:20:36 and I was feeling good. I was way ahead of my predicted pace but figured the 2^nd half would be slower because of the hills.

 When I passed mile 16 in 2:51:21 and a split of 10:41 I figured that if I ran the final 10 miles at a 12:00 pace I could break 5 hrs so that became my goal. When I helped Frank complete his dream in 2005 I had noted after the marathon that it was the 1^st time I ever “saw the course”. In previous years I had been too focused on competing to actually see the course. As I continued at an easy and smooth pace I think I noticed hills that I had never noticed before? I passed mile 20 in 3:36:52 and a split of 10:55 and started up Heartbreak Hill. I always thought it was much tougher and steeper? Half-way up the hill my right calf started to tighten and I became concerned about cramping. I refused to walk until I crested the hill in 3:49:35 and a split of 12:42 (my slowest split of the race). At that point I could tell that the calf was on the verge of cramping and locking up so I wisely stopped and stretched the leg and walked for a short distance to let the muscle relax. I hoped that preventative action would get me to the finish line without cramping?

 However as I passed mile 24 in 4:24:00 and a split of 11:43 the calf started to cramp and I was forced to stop and stretch again. I knew that a sub 5-hr race was in the bag if I could prevent the calf from cramping. When I passed the CITGO sign at mile 25 in 4:39:17 the calf started to tighten again but this time I decided to ignore it and just slow my pace down a little and try to get to the finish line. Thankfully I held off the cramp and crossed the finish line in 4:51:41. Needless to say I was very HAPPY to finish my final Boston and final ‘domestic’ marathon under 5 hrs!

 After a long hot soak back at the hotel I decided to attend the Mile 27 party hosted by Sam Adams at a pub near Fenway Park. Bad mistake! The subway was packed. Every restaurant and pub near Fenway was packed and noisy and the line to get into the party was over two blocks long! I turned around and went back to the area near the Hynes Convention Center where I had noticed lots of pubs and restaurants. Another bad mistake! Everything was packed and noisy. I returned to my hotel in quiet Cambridge and enjoyed a snack of greasy food and fries before going to bed. I had been looking forward to a delicious meal to celebrate my success.

 I am back home and trying to restart my training program for my final marathon and country. As I mentioned at the start of the report a ‘one of’ opportunity came up. I completed a marathon in every country in Europe in Oct 2005 but then Kosovo declared independence in 2008. I have been trying for the past six years to find or organize a marathon in Kosovo. A few months ago I managed to contact an American expat living in Kosovo who volunteered to help me organize the ‘first-ever’ marathon in Kosovo. She is returning to the USA in June so it was organize a race in May or lose the opportunity ‘forever’?

 Fortunately ten members of the Country Club were able to arrange/change their schedules to join me. We will have about 20 runners for the marathon and once again I will re-establish my World Record of completing a marathon in every country in Europe.

 Stay tuned!

 

TR Tanzania

TRIP REPORT

Tanzania

2/27 to 3/4/14

Race Results:

Sun, Mar 2/14
Moshi, Tanzania
Kilimanjaro Marathon
5:17:50
Marathon #370 – Country # 120

 A visit to Tanzania and Mt Kilimanjaro has always been on my bucket list. There were two items in the bucket list.

 1)  Run the Kilimanjaro Marathon  
  2)  Climb Mt Kilimanjaro after the race.
Sadly with recent health issues – especially a heart that doesn’t seem to do well at high altitude anymore I had to forgo the 2^nd item. But I could still accomplish two goals:
  1)      Run the Kilimanjaro Marathon & complete Country #120
  2)      Run my final country

Well, the first goal was accomplished but more about the 2^nd goal at the end of this report.

 I was not looking forward to the 30-hr journey to get to Kilimanjaro – especially in economy class – but I did arrive safely late Fri night. On the 45Km drive to our hotel in Moshi I met a few other runners including a member of the Country Club, Domitilia Dos Santos from NYC, that I had not met before. I didn’t even know she would be there? Most of us in the shuttle were being lodged at the Keys Hotel Annex that was located about 5 miles outside of Moshi and was not convenient to the town or race events. And the hotel was pretty rustic as the brochure had promised. A very poor and slow Wi-Fi was one of my many complaints about the hotel.

 After a midnight beer to relax and unwind I enjoyed about 4 hrs. of sleep before I was wide awake and could not sleep anymore?  Jet lag? At breakfast I met with my new friends and we decided to taxi into the main hotel in town to check out the race HQ. I was supposed to meet up with a photographer/cameraman who was making a documentary about the race and had requested an interview with Maddog about country #120. The documentary film will be broadcast throughout Africa and later be available on You-Tube. After a 15-min interview I joined my friends to continue into the shopping area of Moshi. I was able to find all of my mandatory souvenirs in a few hours and then we enjoyed a pizza for lunch. We quickly learned that Tanzania, like most 3^rd world and hot countries, operates on a different time scale.  Nobody is in a hurry!

 I was supposed to meet other friends/CC members but I did not realize that I was being housed at the Annex and they looked for me at the main hotel and we never connected until the start of the race. I was not happy about the hotel arrangements and the fact that it was not made clear to me that I would be staying at the Annex! Because of the remote location I did not feel like taking a taxi into town for a pasta dinner and was forced to eat a terrible buffet pasta dinner at the Annex.

 The race started at 6:30am in the Stadium in Moshi and the race package included transport to/from the stadium for the race. I asked for a 4am wake-up call knowing that it would never happen (it didn’t) so I woke up at midnight and every hour on the hour so that I would not miss the bus to the start line.

 The temps were in the low 70s at the start but the humidity was low so it felt cool. Fortunately Domitilia and I were able to find the other 2 members of the Country Club and take a group photo at the start. One friend, Jay, who I ran with in Ecuador in 2007 was running his 30^th country and qualified for the CC at the finish of the race.

 My stomach and GI system were feeling better than my previous marathon so I hoped I wouldn’t have any problems or many pit stops? However when I hooked up my heart monitor a few minutes before the start I experienced the same strange problem as the previous race? My HR was only 32 bpm? When I reached 2 Km in 13:07 it had only climbed to 88 bpm but on the 3^rd Km jumped suddenly to the normal range of 130 bpm. I felt less worried about my heart rate but was starting to suffer mild stomach cramps so I knew a pit stop would be needed before the Half. However the first few miles were along a route by our hotel and there were lots of spectators and few bushes and no port-o-potties? There weren’t any at the start either for more than 5,000 runners in the various races?

 As I passed 8 Km in 53:49 and a split of 6:51 another new and strange thing happened? My HR dropped suddenly to 85 bpm and stayed there for the next 4 Km even though I was running a series of hills. How can my HR be 85 bpm when I am running hills? I started to worry again.

 As I passed spectators they were shouting and cheering “Babu”, “Babu”. I confirmed with a fellow runner that word was Swahili for “grandpa”. How did they know I was a grandpa? At least they were cheering me on and not laughing at me! After the course made a turn-around at 10Km I started looking seriously for a bush or tree and managed to make a discreet pit stop near 12 Km. Ahhh! I felt much better and seemed to have more energy and my HR had surprisingly increased back to a normal range of 130 bpm. So I increased my pace and started to pull in two of my fellow CC members who had left me behind at the start. I passed Domitilia near 18 Km as we approached the stadium again. At 20Km the half marathoners returned to the stadium and the marathoners started a long 11Km climb up Kilimanjaro. The ascent wasn’t steep but it was constant and relentless. I passed the Half in 2:28:04 and a split of 7:21/Km but I knew the 2^nd Half would be much slower because of the climb and the temps had now climbed into the 80s.

 I passed another CC member, Klaus from Germany, near 23 KM and continued a slow methodical climb up the mountain. I was able to keep the old legs shuffling until 25 Km and then I had to start walking. I would take short walk breaks or walk short steep sections of the ascent but otherwise I tried to keep the old legs churning until I reached the top of the loop near 31Km in 3:51:29 and a split of 8:20. The next 9Km were back down the mountain. For the next 4Km I felt like I was flying down the descent but when I passed 35Km in 4:22:42 and a split of 7:45 my legs were totally trashed and I knew I had to slow my pace if I wanted to avoid a crash!

 Around 37Km the cameraman came by on a motorbike and started filming and interviewing Maddog in action. What a bitch that was! I was trying to run a smooth easy pace, smile and look like I was having fun while I was pleading under my breath for him to screw off and let me die or at least walk in peace.

Fortunately he finished filming as I passed 38 Km in 4:45:21 and a split of 7:09 and as soon as he was out of sight I started to walk. My legs were totally thrashed from the ascent and then the constant descent and I had to walk/jog the final 4 Km along with a few other runners that were struggling to reach the finish line. Finally as we approached the stadium at 42Km I was able to summon up enough energy to run/sprint the final few hundred meters into the stadium and cross the finish line in 5:17:50.

 I was quite pleased with my time & performance. That was the hilliest and toughest course I had run in a long time. And it was very HOT when I crossed the finish line. After a mandatory finish line photo I went straight to the hospitality tent provided by the travel agency where food and drinks were available. I drank a coke and ate some chocolate to restore my blood sugar levels. However it was so hot that I couldn’t cool down so I took a shuttle bus back to the hotel. I wanted to take a hot shower to soothe my beat-up legs followed by a cold shower to cool down. There was no hot water in my building so I had to make do with a quick COLD shower. Suddenly I felt extremely tired and sleepy and laid down for a ‘short’ nap and woke up 2 hours later.

 I was ready for a greasy snack and some local African beers brewed in Tanzania. My friends joined me for some beers and we swapped stories about the race. Everyone finished much slower than expected? I was looking forward to a nice (beef) steak dinner to replace protein and repair damaged muscle but the damn hotel was only offering a buffet again for Sun dinner. I was too tired to taxi into the city so I managed to talk the chef into cooking me a chicken steak with fries.

 The service at the hotel had been so terrible that Domitilia found the owner and chewed out his butt. He agreed to let us stay in our rooms on Mon until we left for the airport at 7 pm and he also offered us a huge discount on a tour to a Maasai village on Mon. Since our flight didn’t depart until 10 pm we wanted to spend our last day seeing part of the country. We really enjoyed a 1-day tour of the Maasai village of Olpopongi. We learned a lot about their culture. They still live like they have for the past few hundred years. They herd cows, goats and sheep and do not use any modern conveniences – no electricity, no running water, no TV, no internet. Marriages are arranged and a man can have as many wives as he can afford – 5 to 10 cows for a wife! Ten to twenty wives and up to 100 kids is common for many men! Sounds good but each wife must have her own house/hut and divorce is not allowed. The Maasai explained that they don’t have any doctors and rely on herbs and natural medicine from local plants. I am thinking of spending a few weeks at their village to see if the witch doctor can cure my UC?

 When we returned to the hotel to check out I was treated to a steak dinner – a real beef steak with fries – the best meal I enjoyed during my 4 days in Tanzania. But then it was off to the airport for the long, 31-hr journey home.

 I am back home. The jet lag isn’t as bad this way and I am able to sleep most of the night.

 I can start to prepare for my next race. And this where things get confusing. My next race is the Boston Marathon. It was supposed to be my 3^rd goal and final marathon before hanging up my racing shoes? Kilimanjaro/Tanzania was Country #120 and my final country! BUT - a few days before leaving for Kilimanjaro that plan fell apart?

 I completed a marathon in every country in Europe in Oct 2005. However in 2008 Kosovo declared independence and I have been trying (unsuccessfully) ever since then to organize a marathon in Kosovo. Well, I just recently discovered that I have finally been successful. I won’t go into details but I had a ‘one of’ opportunity to organize a marathon in Kosovo in May or lose the opportunity forever. I accepted the challenge and the ‘first-ever’ Kosovo Marathon is scheduled for May 25/14. That will be my final country and final marathon! I can’t think of any other opportunity that could entice me to postpone my ‘retirement’ once again.

 Stay tuned!

 

 

RR Gainesville

Sun, Feb 16/14

Five Points of Life Marathon

Gainesville, FL

5:08:22  - 2 AG

Marathon #369

 

I decided to run this race for a 3^rd time because I needed to run a long training run. My longest run since the Haiti Marathon had been only 16 miles and that doesn’t build a lot of confidence when preparing for an important race. After Haiti I decided to cut back on my training program and just do the minimum amount of miles needed to get me through the next few marathons. I decided to run a marathon as a long training run and I chose Gainesville because it was close and I could drive to it and I had run this race twice before.

 

You would think after 368 marathons that it would be difficult to experience a ‘first’ in a marathon so I was shocked to experience TWO ‘firsts’ in this race. Let me explain.

 

I drove up to Gainesville on Sat and picked up my race packet and enjoyed a nice pasta dinner at Carrabba’s where I usually eat so no ‘firsts’ yet. Sun was ‘M’-day. The weather was cool with a temp of 39 F at the 7 am start – the first time I had enjoyed cool weather for a race in a long time – but not really a ‘first’. There were about 200 runners in the marathon and 500 in the Half. The race starts and finishes on the UF (University of Florida) campus. I wore 2 layers of clothes on top plus a garbage bag and gloves to keep warm – the first time I have had to do that in a long time – but not really a ‘first’. I had to make two last-minute pit stops before the race. That concerned me but wasn’t a ‘first’.

 

A few minutes before the start I hooked up my heart monitor and checked my HR. It was only 32 bpm? That was a ‘first’ (for the start of a race) and really concerned me. I ran a few sprints to see if I could get my HR to rise higher but it never got above 39 bpm. I had bought a new heart monitor/watch to replace the old one that had malfunctioned in the past 2 races. I had wisely practiced with it on a few training runs to be certain that I knew how to use it. But my HR hadn’t been that low since the ablation over a year ago? I wasn’t sure if my HR was actually that low or had I screwed up a setting on the heart monitor? I didn’t want to mess with the watch in the dark so I took off with the pack when the race started. Although I tried not to be concerned I watched the heart monitor every few secs during the 1^st mile to see if my HR would rise? It never rose above 40 bpm during the 1^st mile. Now I was becoming concerned! Shortly into Mile 2 the monitor jumped suddenly to 130 bpm which is the normal race rate for that new watch and I was able to relax after confirming that it stayed in that range. Whew!!!

 

As I reached Mile 2 in 20:51 I took off the garbage bag. At the same time I started to suffer severe stomach cramps and knew what that meant – an emergency pit stop! There was a port-o-potty but it had a line so I found a bush for pit stop #1. Two miles later the stomach cramps started again and this time I was able to use a port-o-potty. Now I was concerned again. The cramps and diarrhea are symptoms of UC (Ulcerative Colitis). Was I suffering a flare-up of my UC? I haven’t had a flare-up in more than a year? At mile 3 I removed my throw-away sweat shirt so that I was now running in a long sleeve T-shirt and shorts – the sun was up and the temps were in the low 40s. At mile 4 I got my answer to the UC question when I suffered severe stomach cramps and had to make another emergency pit stop behind a bush! Two more pit stops were necessary by the time I reached mile 10 in 2:06:18 and a split of 11:58. This was not the second ‘first’ – I had experienced this problem before when my UC was severe.

However as I approached the UF/Gator football stadium at 11 miles I could feel stomach cramps starting again so I decided to use a port-o-potty near the entrance of the stadium for a pre-emptive pit stop to prevent an embarrassing situation in the stadium. On previous pit stops I had noticed that the elastic band in my race shorts was starting to lose its elasticity so I had tightened the drawstring.  I couldn’t waste time trying to untie the drawstring so I yanked the race shorts down and –Oh Crap!- both the elastic band and the drawstring broke. When I pulled my shorts back up they just fell to my knees! There was nothing left to hold them up. This was certainly a ‘FIRST’!

 

I had visions and concerns about running and holding my shorts up for the next 15 miles! However my Boy Scout and military survival training took over. I removed two safety pins from my race bib and folded each side of the waist band and pinned them. The fix seemed to work but I was concerned about how long since the pins were very small and not very strong? After I passed the half in 2:32:33 and a split of 11:56 I noticed a medical station so I stopped and asked if they had any large safety pins. Unfortunately none. When I explained my problem the medical staff used stretchy/sticky medical tape to wrap around my shorts and waist. The shorts felt much more secure but I was going to have a problem if I needed another emergency pit stop!

 

The next 4 miles were my fastest of the race. I had enjoyed lots of unplanned rest stops and now had no worry about shorts falling down and there were no more stomach cramps or pit stops! I recall reaching Mile 15 in 2:54:54 and a split of 11:16 and reminding myself  how good I felt compared to the last time I ran this race in 2012. At that race I was sick with a flu and totally crashed at mile 15 and had to struggle for the last 11 miles. Not today! I felt good!

 

However as I approached Mile 18 in 3:38:39 and a split or 10:37 the stomach cramps returned. Another emergency pit stop was needed. I didn’t want to wreck the ‘fix’ on my shorts because I didn’t think there was any way to re-fix the fix? I won’t provide graphic details (TMI) but suffice it to say I found a way to make an emergency pit stop without dropping my race shorts – and without making a mess. I was back on the road and still feeling good. When I reached mile 20 in 3:53:44 and a split of 11:23 I felt really good energy-wise but my legs were starting to tire due to the lack of long training runs. So I stopped and walked for 1 minute and decided to follow that strategy (run 2 miles and walk 1 minute) for the final 10K. I had no more problems during the final 10K and crossed the finish line in 5:08:22 and 2^nd AG.

 

I was a wee bit disappointed in my time because I knew that I could easily have finished the race under 5 hrs if I had not experienced all the problems. It would have been nice to finish a marathon under 5 hrs before hanging up my racing shoes because I don’t believe I will have another opportunity. But I was happy that I felt strong and good at the finish and now have confidence that I can complete my personal goal # 2 – country # 120 – at my next international adventure.

 

I plan to join a few Country Club friends in Tanzania to run the Kilimanjaro Marathon on Mar2/14.

 

Stay tuned!