Fastest Gams in the West

This may seem impossible to believe, but I won a running race last week! It has never happened before, nor will it ever happen again, but the fact it could even happen ONCE is amazing and exciting!

While I have been running since 2003, I am not what you could ever qualify as fast. I'm not that into distance running like my friends Linden and Jake, or distance walking like my friend Kim, but I do enjoy a good run for the physical and mental benefits of vigorous exercise. Since the Chicago Marathon over 5 years ago, I haven't really gone back to long distance running, never really running more than 3-5 miles at a time.

Recently I started training for a half-marathon (13.1 miles) in Coban, Guatemala, that would have been May 17. Unbelieveably, the half-marathon was CANCELLED due to SWINE FLU. It is still totally beyond my how a runner with the illness would show up to run 13.1 miles with serious influenza. Not only that, but it's an OPEN AIR race! Where are people in close quarters?! They would be running! Furthermore, there's only been like 1 documented case in the whole country, a little Mexican girl. I still cannot believe it. Oh well, the point is, I have been training for long distance runs lately, which apparently helped me.

So I was at the gym on a Friday afternoon, and a female personal trainer at the gym approached me to ask if I would be interested in running in a race for mujeres fuertes (strong women) in honor of Mother's Day, but on Saturday. It is important to note that this entire conversation occurred in Spanish, not English, so I thought I was getting myself into a little race for ladies, so of course, I said yes, and signed up.

Later, I talked to a girlfriend who was told about the race -- in English. It turns out the race was a "Last Woman Running" kind of competition, in which women would run until they couldn't any more, and the last woman still running would be the winner. A bit different from the friendly, small competition I had understood this to be!

Remember, we're in Guatemala, and women running outside in a small race is not recommended for safety reasons. So, the race was on treadmills at the gym, which was good news to me, because I frankly find outdoors long-distance running to be hard on my knees (hills, concrete), and a little boring, too. So, I was still excited to do the race because I wasn't going to get to compete in the long-distance race I was planning on in Coban, and this seemed like a great substitute to put that training to use! Plus, it didn't involve traveling 4 hours away, just for a race...

"Animo, Beth!"
("Go Beth!")

Rules: You couldn't drop your speed below 5.0 mph (7.0 kph on Guate treadmills b/c they're on the metric system here :), and there was a judge watching you to make sure you were running. You could take one 1-minute stretch break in the two hours. The race would be stopped at 2 hours if there was more than one woman still running (still not sure why they stopped it at 2 hours). At the end of 2 hours, if there was more than one woman running, the race would be judged by each woman's total distance.

James made me a cute little sign that said "I'm running for my mom, Jackie" in Spanish, to put on the treadmill, since the race was in honor of Mothers' Day.

So, Saturday morning, I ran against 7 other women for the title. I brought James' little video player and watched episodes of a guilty pleasure HBO series of mine, Big Love. I got lost in the shows, and time went by really fast! There were still 4 of us running at the end of the 2 hours, and I had run the farthest, 20 km! I started a little early, and did a 1.5 mile warm-up before the race, bringing my grand total to 13.4 miles, a half-marathon! So there was a little ceremony and I got a certificate and a free month's membership for June.

Since I will never be in a race with only 7 participants who all have shorter legs than me ever again, I will go ahead and count this as a stroke of good luck, and I am nonetheless proud of winning. But we all know what they say about being in the land of blind men... ;)

The Gatorade sponsor guy, and those of us who ran the full 2 hours
I got Primer Lugar! (first place) and defended my Mom's honor

Linden "Marathoner" Mueller

The Mildrens would like to give a hearty congratulations to

Linden Mueller
Marathoner Extraordinaire!

Linden completed her first-ever marathon in Berlin, Germany in under 5 hours!


We are so proud of her!

If you'd like to congratulate Linden yourself, go to her blog and post a comment.

Sidenote: We'd also like to thank Rob for being there and running most of Linden's training runs with her, for giving her daily emotional support, and for believing in all of Linden's goals and dreams. We love you, and we are proud of you, too!!!

German July 4th

This was our first Fourth of July celebration without fireworks, country music, or a park full of people decked out in red, white, and blue. Despite missing some good old American patriotism, it was nonetheless a great day!

Before the day really began, James roused the four of us into singing a spirited version of the Star Spangled Banner (with James taking the high parts), including impromptu marching, saluting the curtains as a flag, and fabricated cymbal crashes. That was about as much a part of the American way of the holiday we spent celebrating our independence.

As noted in the previous blog post, we started the day with bread and coffee, then made our way out for a stroll around the pedestrian shopping district, enjoying the simple ability to walk around outside in a city. Since the weather here has been pleasant, we made our way to an outdoor cafe, and had baguette sandwiches with locally brewed pilsner beer, and read our books, wrote in journals, and watched the good-looking Germans riding their bikes or walking their dogs.

James at the Turmchen cafe

After spending a few hours relaxing at Turmchen cafe, we met back up with the Muellers at the apartment for a nice 6-mile run in the nearby forest we had previously run in. Although James and I have been mainly confined to gym workouts and treadmill runs over the past year, we have felt in good enough shape to partake with Linden and Rob as Linden is training for the Berlin Marathon (26.2 miles) in September. The forest running has been amazing for our eyes, souls, and legs! We have truly enjoyed our time outdoors, in the soft, lush, green forest with a safe, wide running path. (more on running in a future post)

Running in the German forest

After the run, we went to an end-of-year barbeque at Linden's university. It was Linden's last day of school for the semester, and her coworkers wanted to celebrate. With a few exceptions, her coworkers were mainly German or Scottish. So the food was German: meats, breads, and potato salads (no true barbeque flavors, mainly bratwursts with mustards and lots of--you guessed it--good bread) and the entertainment was Scottish.

Chunky playing the bagpipes

One of the Scottish blokes (nickname: Chunky. Pasttime? Hill running) had brought along his set of bagpipes, and he was really good at it! After serenading the Americans with the three American songs he knew (Amazing Grace, Star Wars, and In the Jungle), some of the other Scottish teachers suggested dancing, so we moved ourselves to a nearby patch of land for some true dancing--Scottish style!

Before Chunky started up his bapipes again, he taught us all how to "Strip the Willows," a male/female separated dance, focused on couples, pair-by-pair. First, the woman strips the willows (dances a short jig with each man in the line). Next, the man strips the willows on the female side of the dance line. Finally, each partner goes down, stripping the willows on each sides, and jigging with their partner in the middle in between each new person in the line. It was breathtaking, and quite an exercise! After, we were also impressed with Chunky playing the bagpipes the whole time!

Nicolas and I "stripping the willows"
(A Scottish partner dance to bagpipes)

James and Anike stripping the willows

Rob and Dominic stripping the willows

After the party, we walked over to the Mueller's friends' house to chat a bit before heading home. It was another full, fun-filled day!

Chunky let Linden try the bagpipes...
With Linden's clarinet background, she impressed us all!

Carrera Avon: Solo para Mujeres!

(Title Translation: Avon Race: Only for Women!)

A group of teachers (and babies!) before the race...photo taken by the school director herself who participated in the race!

Last weekend many of us lady teachers participated in a run sponsored by Avon (pronounced Ah-BON) to raise money for women's health care. Only women were allowed to register, and the race was "sold out" at 4,000 women! I chose to run the 10K, which is 6.2 miles. Other than CAG teachers, our awesome Spanish tutor Patricia (pronounced Pah-TREE-see-uh) was there, also. She's the best!

Patricia is in the red jacket

The race was on a beautiful day of course, and it was on the main , flat street of Guatemala City, Reforma. In most aspects, the race was like American races; some people were decked out w/belts holding carb shots and water (for a 10K? I know....it was a little overboard), Nike gear, and New Balance shoes. There were fast sprinters who won and many people who walked. Lots of women were wearing the pink shirts they got for participating, and lots of women were out there with their kids. It was fun to see the men as only volunteers, or cheering their spouses on!

In other ways, the race was very different than American runs. For starters, the race didn't begin until 8:00 a.m. in a major city. In the U.S., most races seem to start at 6 or 7 at the latest. Also, there were many women racing in jeans, jean shorts, or shoes other than tennis shoes. Odd! But hey, whatever gets the job done! Also, instead of your typical water station where you run by and grab a cup, down the drink, and keep going, they had bags of water! You just had to tear into the baggies with your mouth and suck out what you could. I thought it was hilarious, but having a drink in a baggie is actually pretty common...you can get water, juices, and even beers by the baggie here sold at stores, so it must be a cheaper way to go. I also wonder where all of these women are training/running on their own time b/c there certainly aren't that many women at the gym when I'm there, and I can only assume they don't chance running on the street....

A classic Pre-Race Stretch Pose!

4,000 women!

It was a really great experience to be running outside (for once) in such a beautiful country, and enjoying the company of other women! Guatemala City never looked so good. Or pink.