Running for life

This post will mainly be photos of my everyday life here. Sorry to those of you who are dying of urge to be updated about the latest political turns in the country. But you never know though, it is highly probable that a few comments slip through.

ok, I do know that you are all very eager to hear how the running competition went... Ok, before I go through it minute by minute I just have to show a few photos of the old center of Caracas. Today it is a poor barrio, with houses badly taken care of and worn out empty public buildings, etc. I went there on a hip hop festival with a friend and it was a very nice experience. I really liked the atmosphere, the houses and what people were doing there. Most of the poeple in the barrios are in favor av Chavez, these are the places where his specially constructed proyects are supposed to be implemented. And walking around a few blocks I was pointed out a few of the initiatives to reconstruct houses (e.g a music school, a social center) and put in place activities for the people living there. The graffitti painters are supposedly a few of the best ones in Caracas. They were indeed impressing!
Listening to the hiphop groups later on that evening was very nice, but man, I hardly understood anything. The slang was quite dominating, but with a translater by my side I got to know that many songs were about the dislikeness of the police, the prejudices about the barrio and politics. There was one female rapper, yeih!

I had to leave early that evening since I was getting up 5 am the following morning to be ready to run 10 km with 8000 others at 7.30 am. Me and Oriol, a spanish intercambio, and a few of the others from the running team at the university were participating. All participants were sponsored with a t-shirt and a hat! I picked up my and Oriol's bags the day before and I was overwhelmed when I saw that I, in addition to the hat and the t-shirt that Oriol got, also had been given a razor. Since I am a girl and would be running in shorts and possibly even in an armless top, I of course would be needing it! Yee, thanks!
Ok, so I had decided to meet Oriol at a certain place at 6 am, but since I was worried things might go wrong (well, you just never know) I thought I'd better bring the cellphone, in case we wouldn't find eachother. To be able to get down to the competition site I needed bus money and of course I had to bring my keys. Well, quite soon after meeting up with Oriol (which went without any problem) I realised that these belongings of mine could turn in to a slight inconvenience. Where to put the fricklisch things when running... Well, it was time to really challenge those dormant braincells of mine. Quickly I tore apart some toilet paper that I also had with me (once again you never know!) and wrapped it around my keys and three coins (the change from the bus ticket, worth about 70 öre), the other piece of paper I put around my cellphone. The key-coin-package I put in my sock, by the ankle and the cellphone I couldn't decide if I should hold in my hand or put in the other sock, but since it is quite big I finally decided to hold in my hand. Well, thanks to those hardworking braincells of mine I was kind of open to the possibility that the keys wouldn't stay on the exact same place in the sock as I put them. During 10 km and what... a few thousand steps, you just can't be sure that anything you put in a sock will stay there. But to avoid unpleasent surprises I ran back and forth quite a few times, jumped up and down and did ALL I could to simulate the rollercoster ride that awaited the keys, to see what happened, but not the slightest movement. It was like I had glue on my ankle and then wrapped 10 meters of silver tejp around it all. Convinced of the safe arrangement I felt prepared to do the race of my life.
I tried to elbow my way through the mass of sweaty and hairy men, to get a better starting position (it was a hot tips given my trainer), then the national anthem, and then finally the starting signal.
Ok, the first meters: tripping ant-steps, not really possible to give all in this moment
The following 10 meters: trying to concentrate on where to put my feet so it wasn't above someone else.
On the 11th meter: the god damn keys (the ones glued to my ankle and wrapped with silver tejp) are suddenly alive and decide to go for a little trip, down south. Oh no, was my first thought, and followed by, this can be a problem. And what can I say, unluckily for me they obviously felt very comfortable at a position where they kind of ate my flesh, little by little. The following 9 km and 989 meters my concentration was unproportionally directed at that little spot on the foot, maybe you can see it on this illustrative photo...
Well, apart from this minor mishap I can't say that I am very satisfied with the race. I got very tired after 7 km and had to play the most outrageous mindgames just to trick the body to move forward.
Entering the finishing stretch I didn't have much left to give, but there was a bunch of girls standing on the side watching and cheering me on, so I found some nonexisting energy and took it all out... expecting to reach the finishing line within a few meters. But what I thought was a normal and a the only suitable type of cheer (you know the cheer which means: ok you have done an excellent job and there are only at most 2o meters left) turned out to have been a seductive and lying cheer, which actually meant: this is not the finishing stretch at all, it is more than 500 meters to go, and if you take it all out now you will be crawling over the finishing line.
Once I realised that I felt a little vindictive and considered for a few seconds if I should turn around, run back to them and inform them about their misunderstandning concerning the cheering and the devastating effects it can have. But I didn't, instead the anger gave me the last pieces of energy I needed to make it over the finishing line. And I can tell you people, it was all worth it, they gave everyone a bag of fruit, and in there I found apples. They gave them away! Of course I went back 4 times and took a new bag, oh, it was a truly happy moment!

I am sorry, after having written so much about this very important race I got really tired, and I think I have to stop here. Only one thing... the week after the race the trainer at the university took me aside and spoke to me in serious words:
Lina, next race (!! what, another one?!?!) is in november, and I want you to do 38 min. Can you promise me that?
Hm... well, I don't think I will be able to do no 38 minutes (lina answering)
Ok, I am sure you can do it, but you have to train hard!
well, I will train like I normally do.(lina thinking)
Ok, 25 min, light jogging in the morning before school
ha... sounds a little bit over kill, I have never liked running in the morning but 25 min should be managable (still lina thinking)
And then you come here in the afternoon and run with us
Wholy cow, not in this lifetime that I will be training twice a day to make some stupid time (lina tinking)
Well I cant promise anything but I will do my best. (lina saying, and this is the ultimate evidence of my slight... well I guess one could define it as difficulties of saying no...)

The photo is arranged, the race didn't take place in my garden, and it sure wasn't any grass anywhere near.

That will be all for this night. I have done other things than running, but that is another story!

So long!