Motivational Mondays: A Running Tourist

I've always liked traveling. When I was younger, I liked the idea of traveling since I didn't have much money for... anything, let alone traveling. As I got a little older and started to work, I did some traveling.

In my pre-weight loss days, I visited such countries as Trinidad & Tobago, Japan and Germany and went to cities like Dallas and Chicago. I did some sightseeing, some touristy stuff while in those respective locations (all but Germany were work-related trips).

Now that I'm slimmer and enjoy running, I look back and think of those trips as missed opportunities. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed those trips... most of them. But looking back on it now, I could have logged some awesome, memorable and unique runs. I mean, how many people can say they've run in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad? It's a bummer too because Port-of-Spain has a huge park in the middle of the city, the Queen's Park Savannah, or the Savannah as the locals call it. It's a little more than two miles around the diameter of the Savannah, and along one side are these cool Victorian homes called the Magnificent Seven. Not sure if they are government buildings or just some old homes that used to house royalty or British elite (Trinidad was a former British colony) or what. How cool would it have been to run alongside that?

Or how about the Schwarzwald in Germany, otherwise known as the Black Forest. How awesome would it have been to say that I've run in the frickin Black Forest? Or in Munich where we stayed one night? I could easily have gotten up early and knocked out a four-miler the morning we were in Munich. I mean, had I been in the shape I am now back then. I wouldn't have been able to run four miles anywhere in 2004... you get the point.

Grrr....

Well, instead of fretting too much, I use that as motivation. I was a different person when I went on those trips. I looked different and had different priorities. Exercise was not among those priorities.

Now, of course, I love to run. I am a runner. I am a marathoner. When I think of far-flung cities like Seattle (where I spent the weekend), Denver, Salt Lake City or foreign countries like Greece and China, I think of runs and races. I'd love to go back to Seattle and run a marathon. I'd love to run a marathon in Salt Lake City and Denver and Chicago and Phoenix and Athens and the Great Wall of China. Mrs. LB said she is down with me running the Athens Marathon so one day, we'll make it happen.

But I'd also just love to run through such cities, even if no race was involved. No matter how you experience cities, to me the best way to experience any of them is on foot, not in a car or bus or cab or on a train or airplane. So when I run somewhere new, I'm seeing things up close and am taking time to absorb them.

That's what made my first trip to San Francisco so memorable. I got to run past Fisherman's Wharf and on The Embarcadero. I got to run on the Golden Gate Bridge. My first time on the Bridge was on a run. How awesome is that?

Trips to Seattle, Montreal, Mexico City and San Diego in the last 18 months have all included runs, none of them were races, all of them were memorable.

Running has opened the door for many memorable moments, and I'm taking full advantage of them now.

Breathe Deeply

Although I’ve been to three foreign countries now in the last two months, I’m not exactly a world traveler. I’ve been to a grand total of seven countries now but before going to Costa Rica in June, the last international trip I’d taken was in 2006, and before that in 2004.

One thing that I’d not encountered in all my travels before this week was high altitude. I suppose the highest-altitude place I’d visited was Denver, which is about 5,400 feet. I may have driven through a mountain range or two as well.

But Mexico City was different. It sits at an altitude of 7,400 feet above sea level. That’s 2,000 feet higher than Denver. Still, I knew this going in. I was well aware of the altitude, but wasn’t exactly sure how I’d react. I knew that in terms of athletics, athletes unaccustomed to the altitude can encounter all sorts of issues, but I wasn’t going to run a race or bike 50 miles. I was going for a business trip with maybe a workout or two thrown in the mix.

What I learned, though, was not what I expected. No matter what you do – walk, run, sit, stand, lie down, sleep – the altitude is an ever-present factor. It does not care what you are doing; if you are not used to the altitude, it will wear you down.

It wore me down for the better part of the week. Pretty rough.

As I wrote prior, when I first got into town, the first thing I did was to go on a run. I’d say around 2.5 miles or so is what I did, but that’s just a rough estimate. I was fine during the run. I expected to be gasping for air at some point but I didn’t gasp or do anything out of the norm. I struggled a bit towards the end, but it was my fourth consecutive day of running, so that likely had something to do with it.

Afterward, though, I felt strange. I lied down and realized I had a headache. It wasn’t a pounding headache but it was definitely present. Another thing too was I felt quite lightheaded. I don’t know if this is common – it happens to me every now and then – but when I was laying down I saw spots. They were like little spots that appeared and vanished quickly. They just sort of came up on me all of the sudden, tiny spots likely brought on by the altitude.

But the worst thing about the altitude for me was my ever-present state of feeling short of breath. I did not take a deep and effective breath for the entire week I was there. I always felt short of breath.

The only way I can describe it is with helium. Have you ever sucked on a helium balloon? I’m sure at some point of our lives we all have, or at least have been around someone who has. When you suck on that helium (and I’ve done it only to make my voice sound funny, not make me feel funny) you are in essence taking a breath, but it’s not oxygen you are breathing. So while you are breathing something in, it’s not exactly a refreshing breath. It just feels like some gas that isn’t quite serving its purpose.

Since the air is thinner at a higher altitude, it’s not exactly the same type of oxygen my lungs are normally used to. So while I was breathing the air, it was thin and didn’t really fill my lungs properly. So while normally I’d take a breath and fill my lungs with, what, 80-100 percent of capacity, it felt like I was sucking air in and only taking in 50-70 percent at best. It was almost as if I was purposely taking in short breaths. So often, I’d exhale deeply thinking I’d been cheating myself of a full breath of air when instead that did nothing.

My headache eventually went away, but others in our group experienced it too so I wasn’t the only one to have to deal with it. The first full day I was there, I slept a lot too. I think that’s another effect of high altitude: sleepiness.

Anyway, while it wasn’t necessarily a miserable time for me down in Mexico City (except for most of Tuesday when I had an upset stomach and was completely drained because of it), the altitude did have an effect on me. There was really no way around it, though. Some studies have shown that it can take up to 10 days to acclimate to the high altitude.

I didn’t want to stick around another five days to see if I could have taken a normal and deep breath of air.

Of course, the second I got off the plane in San Francisco and walked around that bustling airport in search of my connecting flight, I took my first real breath of fresh air since stepping onto the play in Los Angeles on Monday.

And I've been taking deep, random breaths here at home ever since.

Trip Wrapping Up

My trip to Mexico is all but coming to an end. I'll be flying out in the wee hours on Friday morning. I spent the first few days around the game, doing my freelance work. Thursday was my only real day to see the sights and since one person from our group was sick, we had to stay nearby.

We visited the National Museum of Anthropology and that was fantastic. If you're not familiar with it, this has all the artifacts from the rich-in-history civilizations of pre-Columbian Mexico.

They have many, many awesome displays, and we actually only traversed less than half of the museum (you could go two or three times and not see everything) but we saw lots of the Aztec and Mayan cultures.

And I had my picture taken with this. I think this might be one of my favorite pictures ever.


That's the Aztec Calendar, which I actually learned that the name is sort of incorrect as it was referred to as the Sun Stone. Regardless, I had my picture taken next to it. Just to think of all the history behind that, how famous that is and how inspiring it is and has been to millions of people throughout history... just a bit overwhelming.

Anyway, I'll post more when I get back to the States. It was good to have stayed an extra day but it's also nice to know that I'll be with my family at this time Friday.

In One Piece

I'm checking in from my hotel room here in the sprawling metropolis that is Mexico City. My flight went rather smoothly, customs was a breeze, weather is beautiful, cab ride was flawless.

The best part about my trip, though, was when I got to my hotel. Three colleagues were here already and I went to say hi to them (I'd only actually met one in person). They had workout clothes on so I asked if they were planning on going for a run. One of them said to me, "You're a runner, right?"

"Damn straight."

So they waited for me while I went and put my running gear on. I'm so glad I brought my gear! So, I wasn't even on the ground for an hour and already I was running! I didn't bring my watch or anything so I'm estimating but I think we ran for 20-30 minutes, a good, fast pace. I wasn't actually planning on running today as I ran six miles on Saturday and five on Sunday, but I could not pass up the opportunity. Oh yeah, I also ran three miles on Friday. Forgot about that!

Mexico City, of course, is at a rather high altitude, more than 7,000 feet above sea level. I was tired at the end of the run but I don't know if it was because of the altitude or because I had ran the last three days.

Anyway, what do you think of the view from my hotel room?


That is one ginormous flag. The building down below is an opera house as we're staying in the nice part of town.

Anyway, just wanted to check in from my hotel room. Now to shower and rest up and continue adjusting to the altitude.