Out for a run

I was pleased when I realized on the flight into Asuncion that there were some organized run in Asuncion, or one at least. Lucky for me the half marathon that took place today also had a 10k option. In an effort to keep myself running and exercising I signed up for it online two days after arriving in country…and so I ran today. Not that that tells the whole story. I must say that I should be used to things not going quite the way I expect them to when I first arrive in a new country (I’m not sure if things actually go the way I expect once I’ve been around longer or if I just change my expectations). I went to collect my number and chip on Friday evening only to find that they had no record of me in the system. That’s funny; the charge has cleared on my credit card so I know I registered. With a bit of help from a friend (my Spanish is still nonexistent) they sorted it out and re-registered me without making me pay. Sadly it meant that I didn’t get my name on my number which meant less cheers. Oh well.

This morning my friends picked me up on the side of the main road at 7am. I have to tell you that Asuncion is pretty much dead on a Sunday morning. In fact, it was still quiet when we had finished our race and tried to go find brunch around 10:30. I guess we started so early though so that they wouldn’t have to close off the streets when traffic was really around…especially as the race pretty much just went straight up one of the main thoroughfares and then turned around and went back down it. At one point I was bit nervous about the fact that I was running down the yellow strip in the middle of the road while cars were driving by on either side of me. Huh. Always a new experience when you run a race in a different country. Happily I finished without any incident, in a time I could be happy with, and pleased to have had a chance to look at some of the neat buildings that line many of the streets here. What a way to spend the morning.