First 11K Race

Two posts in two days, you all should be impressed!! This morning was my first race in El Salvador and it was definitely an experience. I went to bed early last night for the early 5:30am wake up today. We left around 6am to get down there and get all warmed up. There were 5 of us running the race and Eileen and I talked before the race and decided that no matter what, we would stick together. We knew going into it that the first half was all up hill but I was not expecting the hills that we actually had. The whole first 5K was straight up hill and I mean BIG hills. There was a point that I was running and I wasn't sure that I was even moving (reminded me of my dad when we went skiing one time :). Well we finally made it to the top or what we thought was the top but it wasn't over yet. The second half was mostly downhill except for a few little hills.

We ran all over that part of the city which I haven't been to or explored too much so it was nice to have some change of scenery. There was a beautiful view from the top too and made all of the effort to get to the top of the mountain, yes a mountain, all worth it. Some of the intersections had police blocking them off and stopping traffic but some did not so we had to cross ourselves, across busy streets. It was an adventure. Overall, the race was pretty organized for El Salvador. I was impressed. We got a really nice shirt out of it too. Our time was 1:08 which I was impressed with because my goal was around 1:15 and considering all of the crazy hills, we did pretty well. I'm not so tired now either. I'm sure I'll be pretty tired later tonight though and tomorrow. Plan for today is to sit around, relax, and run some errands. This 3 day week shouldn't be too bad but I will have 4 extra little bodies in my class. The Exchange Kids from Virginia are coming to school all day Monday and Wednesday so I will have them with me. They are here in El Salvador for 10 days and then our kids go to Virginia in April. It will be an interesting experience, I'm sure but how fun for the kids! I have a professional development day on Thursday and then off on Friday. I'm not sure what I will do for the 3 day weekend. Maybe just go to the beach for a few nights or go check out another part of the country, who knows. Well hope everyone had a great weekend, Miss you all! Love you!