Last days in Peru.

So I had this well crafted blog post that I was writing while on the plane to Cusco from Lima. Thought I had it saved and definitely did not so here goes my second post from Peru. 

I had my fears about running in Cusco. Not that it's a dangerous city because that isn't the case at all. Cusco sits nearly 12000 ft elevation. Running at this type of elevation was sure to be a daunting task. The day we left Lima I was able to get up early and run on the malecon once more before flying out to Cusco. This gave me a chance to adjust to the altitude upon arrival. Man was that much needed!  My first day in cusco I felt slight nausea dizziness and fell short of breathe easily. 

The first run wasn't too bad at all. I definitely could tell the difference in oxygen intake as I was struggling at a 12 minute pace. Cusco is an absolutely beautiful city!  Stone roads which look gorgeous but can be a pain to run on. Each run in cusco was from our hotel to the central plaza (plaza de armes) with a loop around that and back. Luckily my garmin gps watch worked here as well. 

Today was our visit to Machu Picchu and the town of aguas calientes. We arrived yesterday and after a small lunch I was able to run there for the day. The climate was very different and the altitude much lower. Extremely humid with killer Mosquitos everywhere! This run I took a dirt road that leads to Machu Picchu.  Since we were up at 4 am today in time to get to the gates before 6 am I opted to run after our trek.  After spending about 8 hrs at Machu Picchu summiting huayna Picchu as well as hiking to the grand caverna and temple de la Luna we headed back to our hostel for some food and then took a 3+ hour train ride back to cusco. 

With all that being said I just finished my run. The cusco town square is happening tonight and tomorrow we'll be headed back home at 2 am. Planning to get my 3rd run in before breakfast in cusco and enjoy the city one last time. Today was a very long, very exhausting day although absolutely amazing and I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

I've added a couple pictures from my journey. One is of the stone roads in Cusco I was running on and the other is of Machu Picchu with Huayna Picchu (which we cloned today!) towering in the background. 

#kreedrun365 #run365 #rsd324 #keeprunning. 

Running around the world.

So in the past 48 hours I've managed to run in two states and on 2 continents!  

During a 14 hour travel day yesterday I decided to run in a crowded Atlanta airport as one of my only options since we wouldn't arrive in Peru until 1AM. Running in a foreign country that I'm unfamiliar with at 1AM is a little more risk than I'd like to take. Luckily I was wearing my back pack so I just looked like a fool running to his terminal to catch a plane.... Until I made it to the end of a terminal and turned around and ran back. Awkward. Oh well. I'll never see these people again and it's for the love of the run!  

This morning was my first day waking up in Peru!  Literally across the st from our place is a running track at barranco tennis club. Planned to run there for the day and give myself time to explore later but since it was locked up for members only we decided to hit the streets of Lima.  My brothers gf, Teal (She has a great blog as well btw so check it out!  Travelwithteal.com) came along on the run today and we had a beautiful run along the "malecon".  This is a sidewalk or boardwalk type of path that has amazing views looking out from the bluffs over the pacific. I'm so glad the track was locked and we decided to just run in the city instead. There's not many things i dislike more than running on tracks and treadmills. Not sure which is the lesser of the two evils. 

Running in a new city is one of the best ways to explore and discover new things!   We accidentally came across punta de Los suspiros. Or the bridge of sighs which is an iconic old wooden bridge that I planned to check out sometime this week. Otw back over the bridge there was a couple taking wedding photos looking back out at the ocean from the bridge. 

All in all its been a great start!  I'll end it here so I can enjoy a piscola and check out the city!  

#run365 #kreed #travelwithteal #gystpodcast #getyourshittogether #lima #peru #barranco #piscoandcola #piscola #salud