Ice Ice baby

So today’s blog is about ice. The average temperature in Panama is somewhere between 20 and 35 degrees, although according to google it‘s the humidity that is the real challenge - how do I prepare for that? I started my Panama training on the 1st of January on the beautiful east coast of Scotland in freezing conditions. The plan was to complete a 5k run a day for 31 days to kickstart my new regime. I woke up early on day 1 with “Eye of The Tiger” playing in my head as the sunlight streamed through our bedroom window. It was Scottish sunlight which is strictly for display purposes only and offers little warmth or comfort. I was about half way around my first run when the snow started to fall!

This was the pattern until the end of February. Preparing myself for a hot and humid tropical ultramarathon by slipping and sliding across the ice and snow in weather so cold that my fingers were stinging even with gloves on. I took a few tumbles too (on a fairly popular running route) where, on both occasions, I quickly recovered my poise and pretended nothing had happened..... but my ego and large African bottom were left equally bruised.

While this period did nothing for me in terms of warm weather conditioning, I’m prouder of making it through those two months than I am of the bigger and faster runs I’m doing now. It was dark, and grey. It was miserable outside and it was a grind mentally and physically to motivate myself to get going every day.

Most mornings I was setting off before the sun was up to beat the morning rush of feeding and dressing a toddler and baby. Daily, a little voice in the back of my mind with a Scottish Zimbabwean accent said “go back to bed“ or “you don‘t need to do this today” and sometimes the only thing that kept me going was the fact that I had roped others into completing the January challenge on Strava and would have been mortified if I failed it myself.

I kept going though and completed the challenge. It’s warmer and brighter now and those voices have gone on holiday until the next time the clocks change. I’m amazed how much easier it is to keep training when it isn’t miserable outside. I’m also still allergic to the cold as I recently discovered when doing my first post-run recovery swim in the North Sea (I’ll save that story for another day.) I still have no idea how to prepare for running in the humid heat of the rainforest, but if it snows while I’m there ..... bring it on! I’m ready!