Running

This past weekend I put my recent marathon training to the test. There was a huge marathon/half-marathon/10k event in Lima sponsored by Adidas and the main cell phone company here. Since I am a little over half way done with my training, I decided to run the half marathon to see how fit I am. What I found out is that running 13.1 miles is very tough. I had run up to 15 miles successfully in training but the race was quite a bit more trying. During the first 10 miles of the race I felt pretty good and was running on the spirit, energy, and adrenaline of the event. The last three miles my main thought was "I just want this to be over and I have no idea how I will run twice this distance." I was inspired and a bit embarrassed when the elite marathoners (who had started their 26.2 mile race only an hour before us) came blowing by me to finish their race in not much more time than it took me to run half that distance. The satisfaction that I felt after the race was quite overwhelming and I determined that it was well worth the 3 or 4 miles of pain that I went through. The question now becomes am I willing to endure 13 miles of pain for an exponentially more satisfying accomplishment. I have heard about marathons my entire life but never had I realized how incredible of a feat just completing the entire race is let alone running 26.2 consecutive miles faster than I can hope to run even 1 mile. I like a good challenge but I am now getting seriously nervous about the challenge that I have signed up for in July. In the upcoming weeks my training runs will start kicking up a few notches and I will try my best not to blow out my shins, knees, back, and every other part of my body. Luckily two of my fellow volunteers are also preparing for the main event and we have made a tradition of having sleepovers before our super long runs and then following them up with good food and beers (after a few liters of water and Gatorade of course). I must say that, while I appreciate the sense of accomplishment and the therapeutic aspects of running, one of my favorite parts of marathon training is the carbo loading. I may be taking this a bit too far as I have not lost any weight even though I am running around 30 miles a week.
From here on I will be working hard to keep up the motivation to get up and run before my work. At the same time I am also jumping into some big projects. Thanks to all the donations from friends and family we have funded an environmentally themed leadership camp for adolescent boys and are in the planning phase. Aside from this, I am also working on planning the second annual calendar project recognizing women leaders in communities where volunteers are working. Last year's calendar was so successful that we are really looking forward to replicating the project. Since there have been major budget cuts for Peace Corps, we are making some changes in how the project is executed and we will have to raise funds from friends and family once again so keep an eye out for my email begging for your support. I find these larger scale projects to be very rewarding and I look forward to working on these in addition to the projects that take place in my site.
In site, I am working with a group of recycling promoters going house to house and giving everyone sacks to put their recycling in. This is pretty fun work because almost everyone we talk to is excited to start collecting recyclables to sell so that they can help clean up the town and earn a little money at the same time. I think many of them aren't so excited about recycling as they are to figure out what it is that I am doing here besides hanging out in the market eating the tasty street food. I think the door-to-door aspect of my project is something that I should have done earlier on in order to explain myself more thoroughly from the outset.
I am feeling pretty successful lately but I am still in a constant battle to avoid the perils of the Peace Corps. The most recent of these potential obstacles is a tropical disease called Dengue. I have talked about this before but now it is here in Pacora and even my host father got it. Dengue is transmitted by a particular mosquito and the symptoms include flu-like symptoms and body aches so severe one feels as if their bones are breaking. It only lasts a week and goes away on its own but I would still rather avoid anything that doctors refer to as "agonizing." I will be doing all I can by putting on repellent, sleeping under a net, and wearing long pants and sleeves but those mosquitoes are sneaky little buggers and I cannot be completely safe. Wish me luck!