Training Log Archive: Trav

Met our running group (23 of us!) in Punta Arenas, and, along with a further 20 hikers all booked in with Andes Adventures, loaded onto a bus headed for the Torres Del Paines national park. The trip was about 6 hours including a stop at a "penguinary" for a short visit with the cute little waddlers.

We arrived at the park and our home for the next two nights under cover of cloudiness and so had no real picture yet of what was all around us. It's better that way. We had a pleasant dinner and then headed for our dorm rooms (6 to a room--perfectly comfortable and convenient.

The run for the morning was an out and back to the classic "mirador" (lookout) featured in almost all photos of the Torres. I was feeling fresh and so I took off on my own and sped my way up the 9 km to the big reveal. You get hints along the way, but it's only once you've really earned it, that you come over a rocky rise and see the towers soaring straight out of a surreally green mountain lake. They got nuthin like this on Middle Earth, I'm sure of it.

I dwelt on the view for a few minutes, downed a bar and then headed down to meet up with Balogna and the group and then did another trip up to the summit now that I was a seasoned guide.

Ran with B back to the Refugio. Most wonderful first day.

Decided to run to the top of a nearby hill that looked like a good stiff climb. Lots of communication towers at the top to give guidance. Started on pavement rising out of town, which turned to gravel at the 20 minute mark. Kept going, but never got much closer to the hill, which, really, was, effectively a mountain. Got to the base of it at 47 minutes and realized that if I didn't turn around I would be out longer than made sense considering that I was carrying no water and hadn't had breakfast. Easy negative split.

Exploratory run with Balogna around Punta Arenas. It's as far south as the Yukon/BC border is north, so we're expecting a late sundown. Odd town. Sprawling with hints of frontier community, outdoor sports outpost and old time Chilean ramshackle housing. Overall impression is of a thriving busy place.

Conor specified body weight workout in the most awsomely equipped hotel gym of all time.

Mountain run an hour outside of the beautiful city of Santiago. Chris, the local running guru, is our host and drove us up to the nearby triple ski resort in the thin pick of the Andes. Many shared experiences and good story telling. The community of runners around the world is made up of interesting and engaging people.