Costa Rica: The Coastal Challenge 2009
The countdown is on, 48 hours to race start
Jacqueline Windh / 30.01.2009
Yup, the pre-race jitters are starting to hit. Averaging a marathon a day for 6 days... am I up for it?I’ve had a great week here in Dominical. The heat and humidity are pretty oppressive. It really is jungle here, steep slopes coated in a tangle of trees and vines falling right down to the back of the palm-lined beaches. I’ve seen several toucans on my runs - both the huge chestnut mandibled toucan (the “fruit loops� bird, with its large yellow bill and yellow bib and red underparts) as well as the smaller, but much more colourful fiery-billed aracari, and legions of leaf-cutter ants traverse the tracks like mini-freeways carting green tractor-trailers. And I’ve also thoroughly enjoyed daily stretching sessions and core training on the beach. I have no doubt that this acclimatization period will serve me well.
It’s also been a great opportunity to test gear. What works in a cooler climate does not always work in the tropics, and I don’t just mean the obvious things like your clothing. Other things change - somehow your shoes fit differently, and your pack chafes in places it has never chafed before. I’ve been able to try out different clothing options - trying to find the balance between sun protection and not over heating, as well as test various combinations of different trail runners with different insoles, and try out my gaitors and test different hats. I’ve also been able to check out how much liquid I consume per hour, to get a better idea of how much to carry with me each day.
I can see, from looking at the terrain here (which must be somewhere around mid-race), that there will be a lot more elevation gain and loss than I had expected. Being the “coastal� challenge, I expected a flat route, where the big challenges would be heat and soft beach sand. But I realize that the route is going to have to wind inland frequently, and every time we go inland it means a big elevation gain as we head up this steep coastline.See All Event Posts
