John's Chapter Two: My Mexican Marathon Musings

I love running. It can be painful, lonely, and even boring but it's also a beautiful way to explore the world, connect with people, and challenge yourself. When I first came to Mexico to work and learn at Na'atik, I knew I had to incorporate running into my life here.This past weekend I ran the Cancun Night Marathon as a fundraiser to help outfit the school's new library. It was my first marathon outside the US and my first marathon at night. Striding toward the finish line with moon overhead and the sound of the waves in my ears, I had a chance to reflect on what I learned while running in Mexico. 1.  Be FlexibleI got to Mexico in July and in those first few weeks felt like I was running in a sauna. I couldn't go as far or as fast as I wanted. And I was worried. Would I be in shape for the marathon?Luckily the body adjusts, the summer heat breaks, and there are a few things you can do to make it easier. The first is fairly obvious but that doesn't make it easy to do - change your times. Running early in the morning or after sunset helps a lot. If you're worried about running in the dark the tracks are usually well lit and you'll be joined by other people who are also avoiding the heat. The second thing, is adjusting your training. Go short and fast rather than long if it gets you out of the heat faster. I did a lot more short to medium interval work than I normally would getting ready for a marathon. It helped me get in quality running without having to be in the heat for quite as long.Ultimately the key was being flexible. I wasn't going to be able to change my surroundings but I could change how I reacted to them and still be making progress. Of course being flexible also means, being flexible in your expectations. With all the changes you may have to admit that your original goals were to ambitious and adjust.2. Realize there may be a better way to do thingsGoing along with being flexible is accepting that there can be a better way to do things. I could give lots of examples here but my favorite is one of the most simple: water.Before my first marathon in the US one of the most surprising pieces of advice I got was to practice drinking water.  It also turned out to be one of the best. The athletic sounding reason to do this is to get your stomach used to taking in fluids while running so you don't feel sick during your race. The lamer, and probably more important, reason is that you're going to need practice before you can successfully grab and drink from a flimsy cardboard cup while on the move. Even with practice, you end up spilling most of it most of the time.But in Mexico - and apparently most places in Latin America - they don't hand out cups of water during races, instead they hand out little tubes that you bite into. Not only is this much easier to grab when you run by, you actually get a chance to drink most of it!3. Know you're not normal, but that you're also not aloneLiving in the US I got fairly used to be people being fairly used to distance running. It's common place for schools to have cross country and track teams and about 17 million people a year finish a road race. Personally, I've always had the benefit of a close group of friends or team mates to call up for a run. And I had a plethora of races to choose from where ever I lived.In Carrillo and other parts of Mexico there's not quite the same craze for jogging. Nor quite the same infrastructure or critical mass of people. You won't find a community 5k for every holiday. A few of the bigger towns have bike paths that make for good running but many like Carrillo don't. Running in the street or on the sidewalk will definitely get you some questioning stares. And an adult running group has so far proven elusive.It can make running harder and lonelier when solo runs go from being a nice change of pace, or a personal preference, to a necessity. But that's not the whole story. While there is certainly less running here, there is still a group of regulars at the track every week, there's a team for school-aged students, and some of the bigger towns have running clubs that compete regularly and host 5ks. More importantly even if these other runners are few and far between they're still welcoming.Once a Runner talks about the relationship formed with a training partner as "the trial of miles, miles of trials," but I've always found that a bond exists between runners even if they've never done a mile together. There's a commonality of experience and a shared interest that lends itself to fast friendships and easy conversation. I haven't found that to be any less true here despite there being less runners. Whether training on a track, running through town, or in the middle of a race, people are happy to share this common obsession in spite of whatever barriers of language or culture may exist.4. Make use of the time to yourselfSpeaking of language barriers, running has actually been really good for my Spanish. Since I already knew my morning runs were likely to be alone, I left the head phones at home and used it as a chance to practice in Spanish without any distractions.  It ended up being really helpful to set aside time for thinking in Spanish and silently practicing the new grammar and vocabulary I was learning. And while at first I had to consciously choose to switch my little inner monologue to Spanish, now it often starts out that way.It's even better practice when I get to talk to people during my run or immediately after. Being exhausted lowers some of those self-imposed mental hurdles that happen when speaking a foreign language. I'm not caught in my own head trying to make the sentence perfect, I'm just speaking naturally - or as naturally as I can between heavy breathes!5. Run for anotherA running apparel company I really like - Janji - uses the slogan "Run for another." It's a message they embody by having every article of clothing they sell support a clean water project somewhere around the world. It's also a message I find really inspiring. I decided that I would use this marathon as a chance to raise money for Na'atik and asked my friends and family for donations. The outpouring of support was amazing and we raised over $1,100 for the school.There's no doubt that this support helped keep me motivated during the final few weeks of training and those final few miles of the marathon. I wasn't just running for myself any longer, I was running for the school and the friends and family who had supported it through me.All of these lessons apply to more than just my running. In fact they're the lessons I've had to learn about living abroad. First, you have to be flexible to adapt to a new environment, and in the process you might find a better way to do things. When you start doing that you'll realize the things you think of as normal aren't necessarily so, but that it's still possible to connect to people despite these differences. And when you do feel lonely, as everyone does sometimes when away from home, turn that alone time into an advantage. Use it to learn more about yourself, or a learn a new skill. Finally there's no better motivation to get yourself through a challenge, whether it's culture shock or a marathon, than to use it as a chance to help others.I hope you all take a chance to get abroad, make yourself uncomfortable, and "run" for another.

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