I went to Kenya again and Zambia for the first time. It was a quick trip for work. I did four days of research transparency presentations (IPA, APHRC/CARTA, and MCA Zambia) and then went to Livingstone and Victoria Falls for fun.
George's cousins
Evening runs after the Kenya workshop featured zebras, wildebeest, and gazelles
It sucks to be so close to where the coffee beans are grown and yet have to drink crap imported instant the entire trip. (And it's a real economic problem, since sub-Saharan Africa does little value-added processing of its natural resource exports.)
A tad better than a skunky Tusker I had earlier in the trip
Incredible
Big
Africa can do thunderclouds
Met up with my friend Francis, who CDT folks may remember.
I also took a 15-minute flight over the falls in a microlight, which is basically a lawnmower with wings. I saw elephants and hippos above the falls. I didn't pay the extra $20 for the video though, and you're not allowed to bring a camera for safety reasons, so just watch this other person's video and say "Wow, that looks cool." Because it was.
It's Tuesday, I'm back in Berkeley, and I just ran my first Hardrock last Friday/Saturday in 34:42. I wanted to record thoughts immediately after the experience, because it was hard , and now that it's been a few days, I'm already forgetting the pain. [I don't want kids, so you'll have to insert your own reference to childbearing here if you so desire.] Start The race started at 6AM. I slept reasonably well the night before in my truck just behind the school gym where the race starts--Silverton is very low key, so it's easy to dirtbag inside the city limits. I did, however, have a bit of GI non-normality, but it didn't seem like a big deal. I started in shorts, T-shirt, and a windshirt. As expected, the windshirt soon became too warm, likely because of the clouds that were obviously going to bring rain sooner rather than later. First Climb I started maybe 30-40 deep in the field, going faster than I'd ever climbed in training, but not feel...
Just a little bit hotter and a little bit worse! I finished my second Hardrock last week. It was a fun experience. I ran 1 hour 47 minutes slower than my 2017 time (in the same counter-clockwise direction) but it was a million degrees hotter, the course is two miles longer, and I took an additional 1.6-mile wrong turn. I placed essentially the same: 35th this time, 36th last time. I feel like I normally finish as the median runner, but when the going gets very tough, I do relatively better. I think the easiest explanation might just be that elevation wrecks some really good runners and I barely notice it up to 13,000 feet. Thanks, genetics. Or, when a race is high enough and steep enough that almost everyone is hiking, I'm a relatively fast hiker with better endurance. Regardless, it worked out reasonably well for me again. Training I've been telling myself since last October that I should hire a coach to write a training plan for me, or at least write a plan myself. ...
What are the middle tires (the ones that often don't hit the ground) on an 18-wheeler for? Are they so the trailer doesn't get high-centered? Is it just a convenient way to carry spares? Both? Are they adjustable so that they do hit the ground and help spread the load? [EDIT: I learned later this day that yes they can be lowered when carrying heavier loads.] Also, what's next? From Fairbanks I'll fly to Durango, Colorado to run my third Hardrock. If... OK, I just got awesome footage of a fox crossing the river. That was amazing. (Interesting to compare to having seen wolf pups play on my last trip with no camera. Which will I remember better--through my own eyes,...
the victoria falls airplane ride does look really cool. jealous, babe. and i like that flower photo, obvi.
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