El Peñol

El Peñol

After a few days of hectic city life it was time to get back to the countryside. Guatapé our destination. The bonus for me is that it’s at 1900m so it would help keep the red blood cells flowing. El Peñol is the spectacular local landmark – a giant granite rock. Visibly it is 200m high, but in reality it’s triple that with two thirds below the ground. One wonders how such a rock could form at this height without any visible volcanoes in sight, but I guess the world was a different place 70 million years ago. It has a huge ‘GI’ on one side, which is actually the start of 'Guatape' but when El Peñol villagers stopped progress & they are still debating if it’s in El Peñol land (nearest big town) or Guatapé (closer, but only a village).

We stayed in a converted garage at the lakeside hostel while in Guatapé, with the English & Irish-American co-managers making us feel particularly welcome. Typically my first enquiry was in relation to running trails – there are loads in the area – happy days J The great thing about running in the Colombian countryside is that there are always dirt roads with ideal underfoot conditions for running (unless you’re in the depths of the jungle). The locals don’t quite understand why one would want to run and so you can feel a little silly at times. In general though the Colombians aren’t the curious type and stick to themselves, but I do hear the odd giggle from kids as I pass by. Something I get strong encouragement from men, particularly soldiers. A little attention isn’t a bad thing – just makes me run a little harder. Very few locals run, which is a shame as I reckon there could be talent going to waste.

Guatapé is a tourism hotspot. The Colombians flock here at the weekends and the lakes shore is a hive with activity. During weekdays it’s a completely different story with only the odd gringo keeping the tourism industry alive. Not all the activities are active during the week, but for those that are you can negotiate cheaper prices. If you’re into fishing or water sports it’s certainly a place to visit. Not that many foreigners visit Guatapé, which is amazing as it’s so close to Medellín. It’s as if the Colombians keep it as their secret and don’t advertise the area.

View of the lakes around Guatapé from on top of El Peñol

Sunday morning was allocated to El Peñol. We ran the 11km scenic route to the base of the rock. There is a staircase built into a granite crevasse to make it possible for anyone to ascend to its surface and on top there’s lookout tower. The 649 steps are a breeze to the fit and able, but so many people were struggling. The view from the top is among the most spectacular I’ve ever witnessed. The only similar combination of water and land I’ve seen is Ha Long bay in Vietnam. There is water, islands, inlets, mountains, and greenery in every direction. Only thing to be critical of is that it’s largely man made with several strategically placed dams causing the water levels in the area to rise – otherwise it would be a contender for a natural world wonder.

Colourful streets of Guatapé

We were short cash and with no cash machine in Guatapé so after our rock climb I kept on running to the nearest town. The mission was successful, but by the time I got back to the hostel I had clocked up 38km and was truly exhausted. Thankfully there wasn’t much on the agenda for the afternoon other than a stroll around the town. It’s a pleasant place to be, with very colourful streets. Every house has stone panels with unique colourful symbols. The local taxis are the tiny three wheel types that you see in Asia frequently are also very covered in the most colourful images imaginable, frequently with strong religious symbolism. I would recommend to bakery on the main square, but reality is there aren’t many culinary treats available here. We settled on pizza.

Monday morning I got in a 22k jog. After Sharlene packed a picnic and we went in search of a boat rental. Unfortunately it was only possibly to go with a guide which wasn’t what we were looking for. We settled on manpower and took a sea kayak exploring the lake – very enjoyable experience. With a bit of planning you could spend days on the lake exploring, but for us a few hours was enough. Squeezed in another jog in the evening, followed by a few beers and a barbeque at the hostel. Life is good ...

Marsella to Medellín

Solento certainly gave us a taste of Colombian countryside, but my thirst for fresh air and hills was not yet quenched. We met a Mexican-based Colombian tourist in Solento and he highly recommended a place called Marsella for an authentic experience. He likened Solento to Disneyworld, which is hilarious. There are tourists in Solento, but tourism in Colombia remains in its infancy and certainly cannot be compared to the western world. In Bogotá there were no tourists, so for us it was actually good to meet an occasional tourist. Still, we were lured towards the less travelled trail and so decided to venture towards Marsella instead of the traditional tourist route to Medellín. The bus to Pereira and then northwest onto Marsella took about 2½ hours altogether. It was an enjoyable journey as the views were amazing.On arrival to Marsella it was obvious that the locals aren’t used to tourists. The looks we received could be likened to type you get walking into a small old Irish bar at two in the afternoon. We wandered around the pleasant town square and sampled the cuisine. Our waiter was very helpful in terms of tourist information. Bizarrely she kept trying to sell other parts of Colombia – obviously she wasn’t aware of the gem she called home. Far away hills ... There weren’t many accommodation options in the town. There is one place known by the locals but not marked or advertised in any way. There is also an ‘Eco Hotel’ on the outskirts of town. Our waitress called the hotel on our behalf – 90,000 COP for a room (about €36) – expensive for the area, but we decided to ‘treat’ ourselves after hostelling it for the last few days. After our pretty good burger we wandered across the other side of the central square in search of a local taxi. We were greeted by an English speaking local who started telling us his story. There’s always an agenda and it took a while to understand his. The Colombians are extremely friendly and in our experience are always there to help, so we took the time to listen. Turns out he’s a Colombian native who spends most of his time in New York. He was trying to promote his ‘new project’ just 10 minutes drive from the town. He was a genuine guy and obviously well known by the locals so we humoured him by joining him in his Landover to see his ‘nice’ place. He describes everything Colombian as ‘nice’. This was obviously a little risky – he could have turned a gun on us at any stage and taken all our belongings. But our gut feeling suggested otherwise and sometimes you just have to go with the flow and see where it takes you ...

Jorge's Marsella Paradise

Our faith in Jorge paid off as his ‘new project’ was nothing short of spectacular. It turns out that he owns a huge self-sufficient farm in the heart of the coffee region. He had cattle, fowl, pigs, rabbits (yes for eating) and a trout farm providing protein requirements and cultivated fruit, veg, coffee for all the rest. It is a huge place with about 10 full-time workers. They had just finishing building a guest house and outdoor pool and we were invited to be the first guests. The guest house was perfect – everything spanking new and top quality. One look at each other and we accepted the invitation. I was keen to get settled quickly in order to fit in a run before sunset. The hilly 12k evening jog was very enjoyable apart from the odd local dog protecting their territory. I’ve become an expert at handling dogs while running in Colombia, so it was no big deal. That evening after my cool-down dip in the pool we were treated to a fab steak dinner, catered for by Maria the full-time housekeeper. We were treated like royalty. Drinks and fruit to take at our own leisure, three quality meals every day, and staff that attended to our every need. We were their pilot customers and they certainly achieved their aim to please. Only possible complaint was the occasional noise from the dogs and farm animals, but it just fitted it with the place.

One morning we were awoken bright and early – just after 6:15am – to the sound of pigs squealing. It was as if they were being tortured, but turns out they were just expecting food. They’re normally fed at 6:30 and their body clock was kicking in. Now I know where the ‘greedy as a pig’ saying comes from. Once fed they were as happy as that other pig related saying. They pigs were absolutely massive, especially the bigamist boar. It’s a tough life he endures servicing about 10 sows. He’s obviously doing his job as there were about 20 cute little piglets, with another batch on the way. I made the mistake of going over to say hello to be pigs at about 3:45pm one evening. 4pm is another feeding time, so they went mad thinking I was going to provide grub.I was definitely due a speed training session, having been six days since my last. It sounds like confession and the guilt creates a similar feeling. I was going to have to improvise as there is no flat land in the area. A standard time based hill session was an option, but I just wasn’t in the mood. I decided on a broken tempo running up every hill at tempo pace and using downhill as recovery. It turned out to be a bit like a fartlek session. I’m generally not a believer in fartlek sessions unless structured in advance. They can condone laziness if you decide on length of the rep during the session when the body and mind is tired. The hills are defined, so that put a structure on my run. I also make sure to run hard over the top of every crest as during races it’s amazing how many take a breather at the top and lose so much time. There’s always time for a breather at the finish J

There was really no need to leave Jorge’s paradise, but we decided to venture into Marsella to see the sights. There was absolutely no problem taking his 4x4 into the village – there was mutual trust between host and guest at this stage. I even helped out with the corn for a while (don’t tell my dad, as he always had difficulty getting me to work on our own farm). Marsella is a cute little town, but it’s not the reason to visit the area. The amazing countryside is the attraction and we were so lucky to be based in its midst. We visited the unusual cemetery and wandered around the quite streets. If we had more time we could have driven further afield, but we weren’t compelled to leave. There are thermal waters beside a waterfall nearby in Santa Rosa which may have been worth a visit if we had more time.

After three days at Jorge’s place we decided it was time to go to Medellín. I got up with the pigs at 6:30 to fit my run in as it was going to be a day of travelling. Jorge dropped us into the bus station and thanked us for having faith in him. Our trust was certainly rewarded. The stay cost us €110, which could be considered expensive by Colombian standards, but given the full catering and quality of the place and service it was an absolute bargain – a once in a lifetime experience. The bus to Medellín was an arduous seven hour journey. The bus was comfortable, with the Hangover movie to keep us amused, but the continuously meandering roads take their toll. On arrival we got a taxi to the Pit Stop hostel (www.pitstophostel.com). The Pit Stop hostel doesn’t have any Irish connections, but uses the imagery of the drunken Irish to convey its party atmosphere. The Colombian’s seem to associate with the Irish with drinking and the IRA – that’s about it – what an absolutely shame. The Pit Stop hostel certainly delivers on its party image. It’s paradise to those seeking an active nightlife. We weren’t typical guests, but we decided to put up with the noise levels as the room and facilities were good. An Irish backpacker actually died the morning after the night before by the poolside in the Pit Stop hostel last year. In the main it is just harmless fun, but sometimes it just goes too far.

Medellín is a completely different city than Bogotá. Twenty years ago during Pablo Escobar’s era it was the capital of the world’s cocaine industry and had the world’s highest homicide rate, but it’s a completely different place now. It doesn’t feel as safe as Bogotá, but I reckon that’s because there are more tourists around for hard-up locals to prey on. If you’re a little careful and don’t flaunt there's not much to worry about – the same as any major city. There is a huge amount of energy in the city, especially at night. It’s similar to Dublin in character, with Parque Lieras very similar to Temple Bar. The over-ground metro system, including cable car links, makes travel easy. We enjoyed a few top quality meals in the city – Il Castello and Hummus are recommended if you’re ever in the neighbourhood. The restaurant on the top floor of the Dan Carlton also come highly recommended for the views, but we didn’t make it there unfortunately. The city centre is a little grotty and overcrowded, but the outskirts are pristine. Wandering around the centre was worthwhile – we browsed Botero’s statues, the botanic gardens and the San Pedro cemetery. The highlight for me was venturing across this company (San Vincent) specialising in the restoration and renting of classic cars. We stuck our noses in the gate and were invited in to view the 30 odd cars on display. It was a spectacular site. Colombia is a fantastic place for classic car spotting. It’s tempting to go on a hunt and ship one home – maybe next time...

From a running perspective Medellín is difficult. The parks are relatively small and unlike Bogotá the cycle lanes are low quality. There is a particularly good place to run near the city centre airport, but otherwise you’re looking at getting out of the city for long runs. Park Avri is a potential option up a cable car on the metro network, but I didn’t get time to check it out. I did get in my first track session of 2011 in Medellín at their main athletic stadium. The blue track is obviously new as it’s the standard tartan colour on Google maps. Security there was extremely nice and had no problem letting me train there. I got in a particularly pleasing 10 x 1km session. My last session was in Bogotá at 2600m and times were slow. In Medellín at 1500m I was hitting times closer to what I would expect – 3:05/k average. Nothing excellent, but it shows my training is starting to pay off. The lower altitude was a notable difference. I’ve booked my first race back – the New York Gridiron 4 miles on 6th Feb – looking forward to getting back in the game.

Coffee Country

Four weeks in Colombia and I think it’s time to move beyond Bogotá. ‘Beyond Bogotá’ is the title of a book I received from my bro Aidan for Christmas about a journalist who was held captive by Colombian guerrillas for 11 hours a while back, but I’m hoping for a different kind of ‘Beyond Bogotá’ experience. For several reasons being based in one location for a period suited. It facilitated a solid training routine and allowed me to work on a few pipeline projects. Can’t reveal the detail of these projects just yet – everything in its own time. It also suited Sharlene as it allowed her to learn Spanish. It was now time for a true holiday – to enjoy the sites, broaden our horizons and relax. Of course training is still important, but the beauty of running is that you can do it almost anywhere.

We weren’t exactly sure where to visit next.  We know we want to eventually hit the north Caribbean coast, but which route there?  Three weeks is not a lot of time to explore a country the size of the UK, France, and Germany combined so sacrifices were required. We never considered the Amazonian basin – guess the main reason is that it remains a very dangerous area from several perspectives. It’s a vast jungle area occupying about one third of Colombia’s land mass – this means it’s impossible to police and an ideal drug cultivation neighbourhood. The drug agriculture industry and guerrilla activities go hand-in-hand and kidnapping remains a popular pastime for the locals. The second main danger comes from the natural inhabitants and I’m not talking about the crocs, snakes, jaguars or piranhas. The insects there are nasty little disease carrying pests and we are only partially inoculated.  The cost of getting there and around is also prohibitive as flying is the only option and guides are essential.  The reviews from visitors were mixed – guess it’s an amazing experience, but you have to put up with so many irritations on the route.  The pacific coast was also ruled out, primarily due to time constraints. It sounds like an amazing place, but the road infrastructure is non-existent in places meaning flying is the primary form of transport.

Coffee Country

That left two route choices – west via Zona Cafetera or north east via Boyacá.  The eastern route has more extreme sport options around San Gil, but it would be a waste to visit Colombia and avoid coffee country. The western route would also make a trip to Medallín possible. The bus journey west was going to take at least 7 hours as it’s on a different mountain range, meaning winding roads down one range and more of the same up another. A short flight was the logical choice, particular as internal flights are relatively cheap in Colombia. €60 each and we were on our way to Manizales. Naturally I was a little anxious boarding the flight after our recent turbulent travel experience, but there’s only one way to conquer the fear – quickly back up. The plane was a little 20 seat propeller plane – not ideal for nervous passengers. Thankfully the flight was uneventful. I actually really enjoyed the spectacular views from the low flying aircraft.  There were regular changes in direction, as if the pilot was avoiding clouds and mountain peaks. Landing on an unlikely mountain ridge landing strip was particularly amazing.  A road didn’t seem possible here, let alone an airport. It's the Colombian way – normally mountainous regions have their towns in the valleys, but Colombians like build on high ground. Ideal for the altitude seeking running geek J

Manizales is a bizarrely located university town. Its main street is a mountain ridge with all other streets dropping down. It’s a good party city with the student vibe, but otherwise there doesn’t seem that much to do. Essentially it’s a starting point for tours to several nearby nature and thermal bathing parks. We stayed overnight in a relatively basic hostel (www.hostalpalogrande.com) – good for the pocket as it was only €20 for a private room. Meals in Manizales were also economical – three course meal, including fresh juice, for €2. Beat that McDs. We spent the next morning trying to figure out what to do next. The difficulty with travelling around Colombia is finding quality information. Websites are almost non-existent and when available are frequently out of date. Even the normally reliable Lonely Planet is misinformed in places. Thankfully our hostess was a mine of information & wanted to become best buds with Sharlene. Most of the tour operators leave at 6pm, so we missed the boat there as another night in Manizales would be a waste. Car rental for a few days seemed like the thing to do to give us flexibility to visit areas in our own time. Our hostess enquired at the local rental on our behalf and shortly after we were on our way. Unfortunately car rental proved expensive. The cheaper car options available were without insurance. The search for other operators was fruitless, so it was essentially going to cost the guts of €80 per day. Lesson learnt: For renting a car in go with a worldwide company and rent from a big city – less than €40 per day is possible from Bogotá. We eventually opted on public transport and decided on Salento as our destination.

Solento

Travel to Solento involved a three hour trip to Armenia followed by a 30 minute local bus, but on arrival you could sense it was worth the effort.  It’s a quite country village a world apart from the hustle and bustle of Bogotá and Manizales.  The Plantation House (www.theplantationhousesalento.com) was our destination – a hostel run by an English guy and his Colombian wife. We were shown a room, which was basic, small, and beside the communal area. Thankfully Sharlene asked if they had other rooms available as we were then taken to a second building and shown a much better room. Another lesson learned. We ventured down the small town that evening for a soup and trout meal at Lucy’s restaurant, again for only €2. Trout is a local speciality here as there are several farms in t neighbourhood.

Café Jesus Martin - probably the world's best coffee

Next morning we went for a run through the Corcoro valley. I was determined to get a very long run in to recover the weekly mileage total after two relatively easy days. I would run for 3km and then double back to meet Sharlene – this continued for about 12km primarily along an uphill dirt road until we reached Corcoro. It’s a little tourist hamlet surrounded by amazing scenery. We stopped for a quick drink and then Sharlene jogged back, while I continued up the valley. By the time I returned I had clocked up 35km. My longest run in 2011 to date, taking over three hours due to the hills. For the rest of the day we just wandered around Solento. We got a mini coffee tour at the Plantation House – I now know the 24 step laborious process of coffee making. We then went to the most amazing cafe – Cafe Jesus Martin (www.cafejesusmartin.com). Reviews suggest it’s the best coffee in the world and it would be difficult to argue against it.  The owner roasts his own coffee and is meticulous. The coffee and home-baked brownies were divine – a must visit if you’re ever in the neighbourhood. It’s a hip place to hang out – something you would expect in a bohemian city neighbourhood, but not in remote Solento. That evening after our evening consumption we just hung out at the hostel with an English couple (Matt & Mel). They had just been back from a 5-hour hike from Corcoro, which they highly recommended. We were slightly gutted since we had made the journey up the valley without seeing the main attraction. No worries, we had time on our hands the next day to repeat the journey.

Corcoro Valley (with highest palm trees in world)

Next morning we got a quick breakfast and again went towards Corcoro, leaving at 9am. This time Sharlene went via 4x4 up the valley and I set out on foot, keen to get in more running. Sharlene would have about a 45minute head start on the national park hike, but it was a 2½ journey so I had time to catch up. It took one hour for the uphill 11k dirt road to Corcoro and then onto the hike route. At about 10:50 I caught up with Sharlene. She was hiking with a couple (Austrian guy & Pilipino girl) we had met the previous day (it’s a small place).  By 11am we had reached the half way point of the hike (Acaime nature reserve). It was a great hike/jog up. There were several river crossings, often with little more than a few logs wired together to help you across. There was one particularly amazing rope bridge – similar to what you’d expect from an Indiana Jones movie.

Acaime Hummingbird

The nature reserve was home to several hummingbirds. The idea is to watch them while taking in a chocolate con queso (hot chocolate with cheese). You have to pay about €1 to enter the reserve and entry comes with a drink of your choice. I opted for a refreshing orange juice instead of the hot chocolate. Given that we had completed the first part of the journey so quickly we decided to lengthen the hike and venture further up to a waterfall. It was a difficult, but enjoyable, 5km hike. The waterfall wasn’t Niagara, but the views of the sporadic clouds amongst the mountainous jungle background were spectacular. There was a map at the falls, suggesting a circular route was possible around the mountain peak so we continued further. After about another 3km we reached another signpost suggesting otherwise. We were now in the depths of the Los Nevados volcano park and a long way from home. Retracing our steps was the only safe option, particularly since we hadn’t met other hikers in hours and it was due to get dark at 6. We were also extremely low on food – 200g of raisins, some corn break, a banana and a half bar of chocolate is all we had on the entire hike – slightly under prepared J  We were literally making the raisins last by taking a few at a time. It’s frustrating to retrace steps, but there were route variation options for the return trek. Our first variation was a relatively short deviation via Mirador look-out tower – worth it for the views. The second deviation was via ‘La Montagne’. This was a more challenging and risky deviation – challenging as it’s a further 500m climb, risky as it was approaching 4:30pm meaning we had 90mins to complete a recommended 2½ hours hike to make the last 4x4 from Corcoro at 6pm. If was a tough climb up, but we were rewarded with spectacular views and also a soda drink from a local farmer with a pastime of getting the written details of every hiker to pass his land. We jogged down along the dirt road from the peak, timing our journey back to perfection.  All-in-all it was an epic 9 hour journey.

We certainly deserved our pizza dinner, followed by hot chocolate from Jesus Martin.  Excluding the hike it was another 100 mile training week. No tempo session this weekend to allow the body to recover.  The hills are hard work, but slower pace actually allowed the body to recover a little – it’s speed that kills J Leaving Solento in the morning, not sure where to next ...

Metric Man

10 days into 2011 and I’ve ran 230km. Certainly a good start, but a good start doesn’t win the race. I’ve got into a training routine now in Bogotá and it’s working well. As an example, last week was:
- Mon AM: 16km @ 4:45/k
- Mon PM: 10km @ 4:45/k + gym strength session
- Tue: 25km @ 4:35/k + massage
- Wed: 25km /w 6 x 2km off 5mins (6:53/2k avg)
- Thurs: 12km @ 4:50/k
- Fri: 25km @ 4:40/k
- Sat: 16km /w 10 x 200m off 30sec (32sec avg) + gym strength session
- Sun: 30km w/ 18km @ 4:30/k & 14km @ 3:55/k

It all totals 161km = 100 miles and yes I did plan it to be exactly 100 miles. It’s the just the way I am. I find I can’t do a run that has a length of a prime number, particularly 13. Why is this I wonder? I can understand why I’d want to avoid 13, but in general I like my runs to be even number in length or else divisible by 5. Is this normal? I find it very difficult to finish on a fraction – I’ll run around the block if necessary it get in the extra 350 metres. Also, I’m a metric man for all my individual runs, but yet I generally measure my weekly distance in miles. Does this make sense? Guess I measure weekly distance in miles since it’s generally referred to as mileage. Can you give a metric response to a mileage question? Are Garmin GPS watches driving any other runners to this level of insanity? At least we can trust GPS to give relatively accurate results – my 100 mile week is a 100 mile week, no shortcuts. I wonder if all the runners in the 80s were really running the mileage they claim. They probably were as most are obviously hardy, but how could they measure distances? If by car then it is always going to come up short. I know this from measuring the Athlone ¾ Marathon course. For every 10km, the car consistently measured 400m over. My Garmin was very close to the certified Jones Counter measurement method. Small fry I guess when talking about weekly mileage, but not when it comes to measuring a race.

Running pace remains much slower that what I would expect at home, particularly for sessions. It’s certainly the altitude – it feels at least 10% harder. I am adjusting to the altitude as the runs and sessions are not taking as much out of me (unfortunately times not really improving). This must mean my kidneys are doing their job by giving me a natural EPO boost. Oh I hope my body hangs onto the extra blood cells for a while. The half-life of red blood cells is typically 50–55 days, so does that mean I could see benefits for 100 days? I drop from altitude on 20th Jan, so hopefully it will still benefit me for Paris marathon. Time will tell. There is no concrete scientific evidence on the benefits of altitude training, particularly after such a long delay after returns to sea-level. That won’t stop me from carrying out my own little experiment. I’ve been training on my own in Bogotá, but it hasn’t bothered me. It means I’m always training at my pace and I find it helps confidence and motivations levels. Still, I'm looking forward to joining some group sessions again. It will be necessary to get the speed back in the legs ...

It’s been a relatively quite week. We went for a few nice meals out – 80 Sillas (seats), Abasto, & Wok have become our favoured destinations. Wok is ridiculously popular here – the queues are often unbelievable, particularly for the car park. The food is good, but not worth waiting an hour in a car for especially since there are several other excellent restaurants around. Why can’t the people walk a little extra I wonder? Got in a trip to 'The Pub' also - there's an Irish pub in every country. Good atmosphere, but the beer isn't good. The advantage to being at altitude is that you get drunk much quicker than you would at sea level J 

We’re still getting in some TV, although it’s primarily movies now. It’s difficult to find a TV show to replace Dexter. It has many faults, particularly in the latter seasons, but it is addictive. I haven’t had that feeling with any other show to date, but to be honest I haven’t tried many. First movie on the agenda was a motivational one - Prefontaine - the story of the US athletic superstar who tragically died before his peak. I believe it's similar to Without Limits, another 'Pre' movie shot at the same time. It's a lower budget equivalent, but is compared favourably by the critics. I haven't seen Without Limits, so I can't judge. All I can say is Prefontaine is a legend and the movie is definitely one to watch, particularly for anyone into any sports. Next up was The Machinist - interesting movie, particularly from the point of view of exploring the limits of the body. Christian Bale really pushed the boundaries in preparing for the role by losing 28kgs. He was a very convincing insomniac. I’m struggling to lose 6 to prepare for the marathon, so that’s puts it in perspective for me! I watched another Bale movie last night – Terminator Salvation. Surprisingly I enjoyed it. It could never have the raw energy of the first edition or match the effects impact of the second, but it’s a good back to basics movie that sets the series up for another classic – copying the Batman franchise I guess. We’ve also watched some recent releases (don’t ask how). True Grit is the Cohen brothers’ latest and is not to be missed – definitively some Oscar potential. Black Swan is similar to The Machinist in terms of it being a difficult watch and head wrecking at times, but it’s certainly a quality show - one for those into psychological thrillers. 127 Hours is a movie for adventure goers. It’s the true story of a guy who gets his arm trapped under a boulder while canyoneering. It was particularly appealing to me as it was shot in an area I’m familiar with from my Eco Primal Quest Utah experience. I’d recommend it.

The last move watched was Machete. I’m not sure what to say about it – close to being a classic, but in reality it’s a missed opportunity. You’ll enjoy the ride if you leave your brain at home and go into it thinking violent comedy. It just tries too hard. The plot essentially revolves around violence and titty. Guess what the crescendo is? Both violence and titty – amazing concept! It’s got it all – leather clad one eye bandit women, nurses, big guns, pumped up cars and of course machetes. You’re watching the movie and thinking I haven’t seen any naked women in a while and lo&behold one shows up out of nowhere – amazing work from the director Rodriguez J It could have been a classic violent comedy for big boys, but the plot just goes into the complete ridiculous far too open particularly at the end. At least it doesn't take itself seriously - it's already a spoof, so no need for a scary movie equivalent. The casting is excellent. Who knows, it may revitalise a few careers (e.g. Steven Segal, Don Johnson) and it’s certainly set up for a sequel.

This is our last week in Bogotá. Off to pastures new. Will make training a little more difficult, but I’m due a rest week so it could tie in nicely. Don’t know exactly where we’re going yet, but I’ll let you know next week ...

Próspero Año Nuevo!

Festive Lighting at Usaquen

Happy new year to all! Hope 2011 is a good one for you. From a personal perspective, I’m planning for it to be a big one. Time will tell if my plans come to fruition. I was expecting New Years Eve to be a big night in Bogotá, but it was a huge disappointment. It was actually quieter than Christmas. Everyone spends New Year’s Eve with family – at home dancing it seems. We spent the night touring around various neighbourhoods, looking for somewhere to eat and drink. First it was our local neighbourhood – apart from a restaurant for oldies and a small bar it was all closed! Couldn’t believe it – half the places were open at Christmas, so we were expecting a similar deal. Then we got a taxi to Usaquén – it’s normally buzzing. Again, there was no joy. One restaurant open out of twenty (unfortunately fully booked) and absolutely no bars open. It wasn’t looking good. Another taxi to Parque 93. Again it was the same deal – predominately closed. There were only two places open, offering a similar deal – €60-70 for a 3 course meal, wine & glass of champagne. We had little choice and were starving at this stage. Against our own better judgement we went into one of the places. The food was ok – a good fish soup, a main course weirdly consisting of salmon, overcooked steak, and tortilla, and a cheesecake type dessert. What followed was the real issue – it wasn’t really a place to party. We were given champagne and 12 grapes to get into the mood. The 12 grapes is New Year tradition here – one wish for each grape. It just wasn’t happening – the karaoke signing just wasn’t helping and we were confined to our seats. We decided to cut our losses and head for home even before the bells went. Why does New Year’s Eve frequently turn into a disaster? The real world-wide tradition is that it’s a night for restaurants and pubs to rip people off. House parties the way forward ...

Mural from La Candelaria

Otherwise it had been a great week. From a tourist perspective we spread our wings a bit more. It was a very pleasant week in Bogotá from two perspectives – much quieter than normal due to the holidays and the weather has improved substantially. The clouds have been replaced by consistent sunshine and the showers have disappeared. We ventured south again, this time to check out the La Candelaria area. It’s the oldest part of the city, with small cobbled street and pretty old buildings. The streets are amazingly quite, particularly since it’s only a few blocks from probably the busiest part of the city (Avenida Jiménez). There are lots of museums in the area, but that’s not really our thing. I also made it to Parque Simon Bolivar for the first time. It’s a great city park. Size wise it’s probably similar to St. Anne’s or Marley Park, but they use the space very well. The main attraction from a personal perspective are the dedicated running and cycling paths, but it’s also got a pretty decent lake, outdoor gym, and several kids playgrounds.

Typical street in La Candelaria

From a training perspective I got in 95 miles and two strength sessions. Most of my miles here to date are relatively low quality unfortunately. I hope it’s the altitude as otherwise I’m quite unfit! I did get in my first proper interval session since the Dublin marathon – 5 by 2km reps with 5 minute recovery. I was only hitting 6:50s, so poor session especially given the recovery time. Normally I can bang out 6:15s easily enough off 2 minutes. Not too concerned as the altitude is definitely a huge factor and I’m not long back training. My other main session was my Sunday long run as part of the weekly Bogotá Ciclovía. This week I increased to 30km, with 12km at ‘tempo’ pace. Tempo pace is certainly slower than I would expect in Ireland, but I was certainly pushing an equivalent effort so it was a good session. More of the same for the next week with a slight increase in mileage.

Marathon plans are now confirmed – Paris the destination. London and Rotterdam were the other choices, but the Paris organisers are offering the most support. I would have preferred London, but I’m not considered an elite runner by their standards. I thought they might make an exception for the Irish, but no joy. Prep races scheduled are currently three races in three weeks. The National Inter-Counties Cross Country, the Ballycotton 10 Miles, and the Den Haag Half Marathon. Not sure if three races in three weeks is a good idea, so I may make some changes to the prep races. For the moment, all I’ve to do is keep the head down and train ...