An idea is born

I run my first marathon last year. The experience was fantastic- and terrible. In a way I was glad that a tropical rain flooded the streets the last kilometers- no one could see my tears, they were not only for happiness of finishing my first marathon. I believe this picture from the finishline show some of the feelings I had, http://www.marathonpanama.com/irr08/Photos/100_2510.jpg.

Now, I am not a complete rookie, and I have actually run an ultra a few years ago. A 50 k race in Stockholm, Sörmlands Ultra as well as the (in Sweden) famous Lidingöloppet, a 30 k race.
(Note: an ultra is basically any race longer than an ordinary marathon, 42 k.)
But the marathon here, with slightly different temperature and humidity compared to Sweden, was a bit of a test.

The idea was born two years ago. After a surgery, I was doing a terribly boring rehab and was thinking of some interesting goal to set. Rehab is always really really boring, and with a compelling goal I can gather the energy to get through with it. I was then working with Latin America, based in Stockholm. A colleague of mine got a position in LatAm, and asked me to join his team.

The alternatives were Costa Rica or Panama. "Panama? Where the heck is that..?" In the end, I didnt get to chose- Panama it was. When I did some investigation, and looked at the map, something "clicked" inside my head. "Wait a minute- thats a pretty short distance between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Wouldnt it be possible to...?".

Google Earth is the saviour here, but it was not so easy to see if there were any roads between Colon on the Atlantic side and Panama City on the Pacific side. I realized it must be, and measured the distance to somewhere between 60 and 80 km. The path I will take will be approximately 70 k. A bit long perhaps, but possible.

As always, the preparations have gone up and down. A lot of travelling, a lot of work and a climate that makes it practically impossible to run between 8 am and 5 pm because of the heat have been a true challenge.

I have managed not to get hit by the crazy panamanian taxi drivers, the crazy bus drivers or falling down in the 2 meter deep holes that are everywhere on the sidewalks, straight down to the sewers. I have "enjoyed" 2 hour runs on the treadmill, almost as boring as rehab.

But now I am there. 8 weeks left. The 6th of June, the swedish national holiday, I will do my run. I still have a few weeks to do the long runs to prepare, and to test different strategies for food, clothes, shoes and everything else that has to work perfect. Anything works on a 10 k race. Everything counts on a 70 k run.

Now I just have to figure out how to manage my 60-70 km weeks with the truckload of travelling that lies ahead..