On May 3, I ran the Patagonia Running Festival Marathon. This race is held in Torres del Paine National Park, which is in southern Chile. I traveled there with Marathon Tours and Travel (MT&T).
Monday, April 28
I flew to Atlanta, where
I connected to an overnight flight to Santiago, Chile. I’ve done lots of flights to Europe where I
stayed awake on the overnight flight. I
do that because sleeping on the flight would make it more difficult to adjust
to the local time zone.
Traveling to South
America is different, because there isn’t a significant time difference. When the U.S. is on daylight time, there’s
only a one-hour difference between Minneapolis and Santiago.
I was going to have some
early mornings on this trip, so I needed to get sleep any time I could. I waited until the meal service was over, and
then I dd my best to get some sleep. I
managed to fall asleep three or four times, but I kept waking up because of
noise and turbulence.
Tuesday, April 29
I arrived in Santiago around
7:00 AM. After clearing
immigration/customs, I took a taxi to my hotel in Santiago. The people in my tour group were arriving at
different times on different flights, so we were on our own to get to the
hotel.
I got to the hotel a little
after 8:00, but check-in wasn’t until 3:00.
I paid extra to get an early check-in, so I could go to a room right
away.
MT&T provided a welcome
brunch at the hotel. I already had a
breakfast on my flight, so I wasn’t that hungry, but this was my first
opportunity to meet other people in my tour group. I didn’t eat much, but I drank three cups of
tea.
After the brunch, I did a
strength training workout in the hotel gym.
Then I took a long-overdue shower before going out to explore the neighborhood
around the hotel.
There were some days when we
were busy all day. Tuesday was one of
the few days when I had time to get out for a run. I joined one of the other runners in my group
for an easy training run in the afternoon.
We followed a greenway that was near our hotel.
After my run, I joined a few
other runners on the patio. We talked
until it was time to go to an evening reception with drinks and
appetizers. None of the runners I was
talking to at the reception felt like walking to a restaurant for dinner, so we
had dinner at the hotel.
I went to bed early, and got a
full night’s sleep. I really needed
that.
Wednesday, April 30
We had a buffet breakfast at
our hotel. Then we left on a day trip to
Valparaiso. On our way, we stopped at a market
in Casablanca.
Our walking tour of Valparaiso
lasted about three hours. That included
a few shopping and coffee/bathroom breaks.
We saw some colorful neighborhoods.
Valparaiso has some good murals, but many of them have been ruined by
graffiti.
Next, we went to a winery in
Casablanca. We toured the winery, had
wine tastings, and ate lunch there. They
have an excellent restaurant. It was the
best meal I had in Chile.
On our way back to Santiago, we
encountered heavy traffic. It was
frustrating how late it was by the time we got back. I wanted to get to bed early, so I had a
light dinner at the hotel, and then I tried to get to sleep.
I was tired, but I couldn’t
fall asleep. My alarm was set for 12:45
AM. When I was still awake at 10:00, I
started to stress about it. I never got
to sleep that night.
Thursday, May 1
We needed to be in the lobby at
1:30 AM for a 2:00 departure to go to the airport. I never got to sleep, so I was already awake
before my alarm went off.
I tried to sleep on our early
morning flight to Punta Arenas, but I wasn’t able to sleep on the flight.
MT&T had three separate
itineraries, so we were split into three groups. I was doing the 7-day itinerary. When we got to the airport in Santiago, we
were joined by the runners who were doing the 11-day itinerary. When we got to Punta Arenas, we were joined
by runners doing the 5-day itinerary.
Those runners had to fly to Punta Arenas on their own.
Altogether, there were more
than 100 of us. We left for Torres del
Paine National Park in three motor coaches.
The ride took about five and a half hours, including a stop for coffee,
snacks, and a bathroom break.
During the first half of our
bus ride, the terrain was mostly flat.
The wildlife we saw included guanacos, ostriches, and flamingos.
After our snack break, we
started to get views of the mountains, but they were partially obstructed by
clouds. As we continued through a
valley, we saw leaves in color. In the
southern hemisphere, it was autumn.
As we got closer to our hotel,
the sky cleared up, and we had views like this.
We got to our hotel around
3:15. That was much later than we were
expecting, so the afternoon itinerary was rearranged to accommodate any runners
who wanted to go on an afternoon hike.
Most of us went on the hike.
MT&T picked our race
packets and brought them to our rooms.
Besides my race bib and T-shirt, the race packet included a water bottle,
a warm headband, a buff, a lanyard, five gels, two energy bars, trail mix,
cereal, two packages of drink mix powder, two packages of gummies, two candy
bars, and a jar of honey. I also got a
hat, a lanyard, a luggage tag, and a thermos from MT&T.
After we all checked in, we had
a briefing on the various activities we could sign up for over the next few
days. The only activity on Thursday was
a hike to the confluence of the Serrano and Grey rivers. Where the rivers meet, you can see a
difference in the color of the waters from the two rivers. Along the way, I saw a variety of geese I had
never seen before.
I wasn’t expecting to see an
aid station on our hike, but at the confluence, there were people from the
hotel who set up tables with coffee, hot cocoa, water, and cookies.
Most people stayed for a while
at the aid station. A few of us hurried
back to the hotel. I was one of
them. I wanted to have time to catch up
on a few things before we met again at 6:30.
We had dinner at 7:00, but we
were told to meet at 6:30 for a surprise.
Out surprise included a Patagonia barbeque and some entertainment.
The barbeque wasn’t our
dinner. We still had a full meal
afterwards. During dinner, I was talking
to a few of the other runners about all the extra food and gear we got in our
race packets. One of the challenges
before going home would be figuring out how to pack all the extra stuff without
having to check a bag. Some things might
have to be left behind. At some point,
someone suggested a new game show: “Check It or Chuck It.”
After not sleeping at all the
previous night, I slept well Thursday night.
Again, I really needed that.
Friday, May 2
We didn’t have to be up early
on Friday, as our excursion didn’t leave until 9:00. That gave me time to do a workout before
breakfast.
It was the day before the race,
and we had an all-day excursion called Lookouts and Race Course Recon. We started at the hotel and drove backwards
along the course, stopping at various lookout points. There were five different race distances, and
we also stopped at the starting point of each race.
Several times during our drive,
we saw groups of guanacos.
From the start of the 11K race,
it’s possible to get s good views of the mountains with a river in the
foreground. Unfortunately, the mountains
were completely obstructed by clouds. As
we continued driving, the clouds gradually cleared up. This is the view from a lookout point that’s
near the start of the half marathon.
We had one more lookout point
before reaching the marathon start.
We saw where the marathon
starts, but there isn’t a good view of the mountains there. Then we continued along the road to other
lookout points.
This region frequently
experiences strong winds. It was an
unusually calm day. It was so calm that
you could see a reflection of the mountains in the water at our next stop. Unfortunately, the tops of the mountains were
obstructed by clouds.
We made an unscheduled stop
when we saw this guanaco looking over a valley.
We made a lunch stop at Laguna
Azul. Then we headed back.
We made different stops on our
way back, so we could see two waterfalls.
Our last stop was a lookout
point at the top of the last hill on the marathon route. From here we could see our hotel and the
finish line of the race.
We had some free time to relax
at the hotel. Then we had a pre-race
briefing, followed by a pasta dinner.
The briefing was supposed to start at 6:30, but it didn’t start until
6:45. The briefing was still going an
hour later, which made dinner late. I ate
quickly and went to bed as quickly as I could.
I got the room cooled down
before going to bed, but I kept the window cracked open, so the room wouldn’t
warm up during the night.
For the second straight night,
I got a full night’s sleep. This was
already going to be a tough race, and it wouldn’t help if I had to start it
without enough sleep.
Saturday, May 3
Saturday was race day. Since the race was point-to-point, we had to
take a bus to the start. The bus to the
start of the marathon left at 7:00, but we were requested to be in the lobby at
6:30. Those of us who were with MT&T
took a group photo before boarding the bus.
It’s possible to get a weather
forecast for the national park, but the park is large, and I’m not sure where
the weather station is, so I didn’t know for sure what the weather would be
where we were starting. I was expecting
temperatures in the 30s with a 70% chance of rain. I had no idea if it would be windy.
I opted to wear tights on my
legs. On my torso, I wore a rain jacket
over a long-sleeve polypro shirt. I
brought both gloves and Gore-Tex mittens.
I brought a warm hat, but I wore a cap over it. Basically, I was assuming we would have rain
at some point, and I didn’t want to be caught unprepared. We were advised to wear a buff, in case it
was windy. I chose not to, because it
would get sopping wet if it was raining.
For the same reason, I didn’t wear gaiters.
We reached the start area about
30 minutes before the start. We were
able to stay on the bus before the race, so I didn’t feel the need to bring
extra layers. They had a gear check, but
I didn’t need to check a bag.
This is a cupless race, and one
of the tough decisions I had to make was whether to use a reusable cup or carry
a bottle. I had packed a bottle, but I
didn’t have room in my suitcase for a fuel belt, so I would’ve needed to carry
the bottle in my hand. Having a bottle
would’ve allowed me to drink between aid stations. There were only six aid stations on the
course.
I had a cup that I could clip
to my fanny pack, so I wouldn’t have to carry anything. With the cup, I could fill it and drink at
aid stations, but I couldn’t drink in between.
I opted to go with the
cup. I made a point of drinking a cup of
sports drink before the race, knowing I wouldn’t get another chance until 11.2
kilometers into the race.
The start was slightly uphill,
and I was surprised how many runners started at a fast pace. I followed the faster runners until the first
turn. Then it got steeper, and I let more
runners get ahead of me.
In general, this race had a
downhill trend, but it was also rolling.
Even during miles that were mostly downhill, there were usually one or
two places where the road turned uphill.
On the uphill sections, I was forced to slow down.
We were running on gravel roads
with lots of rocks in the road. There
were also lots of ripples in the road. I
had to watch my footing constantly, so I often had to keep from going too fast
on the downhill sections, so I wouldn’t be in danger of tripping.
I didn’t bring my phone,
because I didn’t think it would be a good day for taking pictures. Early in the race, we had clear skies. We had some great mountain views, but I wasn’t
able to take pictures.
After a couple miles, I started
to notice the wind. It wasn’t too strong
at this point, but we were running right into it.
At 11.2K, I reached an aid
station. I drank what I could, knowing
there wouldn’t be another aid station until the halfway point.
For the first seven miles, my
pace varied, but I was averaging about nine minutes per mile. Then I started the first of three tough
uphill sections.
There were only about 100
runners in the marathon, and by now we were getting spread out on the
road. As I starting this climb, I could
see a few runners farther up the hill, but they quickly disappeared around a bend.
I thought I could run up this
hill, but as I neared the top of the first section, I noticed my pace wasn’t
much faster than a walking pace. Rather
than wear myself out, I switched to walking until I reached what appeared to be
the top. Then I resumed running.
That wasn’t actually the
top. As I turned the next corner, I saw
more of the hill. The hill continued
around two more bends. In all, it was
about a mile long.
By the time I reached the top
of that hill, I was getting hot and sweaty.
My polypro shirt is good for wicking moisture away from my skin, but the
rain jacket was trapping that moisture.
That hill left me tired, but
the next few miles were mostly downhill, so I was able to recover. I wasn’t running quite as fast as I did in
the early miles, but I was still running splits between nine and ten minutes.
Running downhill, I wasn’t
working as hard. I was still running
into the wind, so I cooled down quickly.
I wouldn’t feel hot again for the rest of the race.
After about 11 miles, I started
to feel a few drops of light drizzle. I
was wearing polypro gloves, but I also had Gore-Tex shell mittens in my
pockets. My plan was to put the mittens
on when it started raining.
I was only two miles from the
next aid station, where I wanted to drink and use the bathroom. Those things would be more difficult with the
mittens, so I waited.
After a minute or two, I no
longer noticed the drizzle. I felt like
I made the right decision about the mittens.
Before I reached the halfway
mark, I ran up a couple more hills that forced me to take short walking
breaks. These hills weren’t long, but
they had sections that were steep enough to be tiring.
At 12 miles, I started to feel
the drizzle again. I was starting to run
by a lake that I recognized from our recon the day before. In the distance, I could see a building that
I knew was just past the halfway mark.
The wind was getting stronger
now. I could see waves on the lake. I was still running into the wind, but just
past the halfway mark, I would turn and head in a more southernly
direction. The wind was from the west,
so after turning, the wind would be at my side.
I was expecting an aid station
with bathrooms at the halfway mark, since this was also the starting point for
the half marathon. I ran past the
banners that marked the start of the half marathon, but I still couldn’t see an
aid station. The aid station was around
a corner, in a spot where there was more space on the side of the road.
For the previous few miles, I
sometimes saw a group of four runners who were farther up the road. Sometimes they would disappear around a
bend. When I could see them, they were
usually about half a mile ahead of me.
At the aid station, I caught up
to them. They had all stopped to eat and
drink. I filled my cup to take a quick
drink. Then I headed to the row of
portable bathrooms.
I took my time in the
bathroom. I wanted to make sure I
wouldn’t need to make another bathroom stop before the end of the race.
To use the bathroom, I needed
to take off my gloves. As I got back
onto the course, I started walking up a steep hill. While walking, I put my gloves on again. Then I pulled on the mittens.
By now, I had fallen behind the
four runners I caught at the aid station, but I caught up to two of them again on
this hill.
The race had three tough uphill
sections. I had already run one of
them. My recollection was that the
second one was right after the halfway point.
The hill I was on was steep, but it was also fairly short. I was expecting something longer.
The wind was getting much
stronger. Now, I could see whitecaps on
the lake. I was relieved that I was no
longer running directly into it.
After more than a mile of easy
running, I reached a longer section that was uphill. This was the tough hill I was expecting. It was similar to the first hill in that I
couldn’t see the whole hill at once.
I had made a turn just before
starting up the first part of this hill.
I briefly had the wind at my back.
Just as I reached the point where I expected to walk, a strong wind gust
helped push me up the hill.
By the time I finished the
second long uphill section, I had passed another runner. Then I noticed that the drizzle was turning
into a steady rain. My jacket was doing
a good job of keeping my torso dry, but my tights and shoes were wet. I could see rain dripping off the brim of my
cap.
I told myself I was two thirds
done. As far as distance was concerned,
I was really only about 60 percent done.
More significantly, however, I had completed two of the three tough
uphill sections.
In theory, the next several
miles were easier than the early part of the race. There weren’t as many hills. In spite of that, I was more apt to take
walking breaks on the hills.
Just before 17 miles, I reached
another aid station. I wasn’t expecting
to see it so soon. I was expecting it to
be at 28K. I probably remembered that
wrong. It was actually 27K. Unclipping my cup was more awkward now that I
was wearing an extra layer on my hands.
Clipping it back onto my fanny pack proved to be even more
difficult. I had to come to a complete
stop to do that.
As the rain continued, puddles
formed all over the road. The previous
two days, the roads were dry and dusty.
It was quite a contrast.
I was starting to gain ground
on another of the runners who I had frequently seen ahead of me. Of the original group of four, she was now
the only one who was still ahead of me.
At one point, she was more than half a mile ahead of me. By the time I reached the Weber Bridge, I was
only about a minute behind her.
The next aid station was at the
starting point of the 11K race. That was
just on the other side of the bridge. I
was about to catch the runner in front of me, but she didn’t stop at the aid
station, and I did.
After drinking at the aid
station, I had more difficulty clipping my cup back to my fanny pack. I had to take off my mitten. Wearing just a glove, I still couldn’t get it
clipped. Water had soaked through my
mittens and the gloves underneath. My
hands weren’t numb yet, but they were so cold that I didn’t have enough
strength in my fingers to hold the clip open.
After trying futilely for two or three minutes, I finally gave up and
put my cup in my pocket. Then I zipped
that pocket shut. I was done drinking.
After stopping for so long, I
was much colder. While trying to clip
the cup to my fanny pack, I had to lift the front of my jacket. That allowed the front of the shirt
underneath to get wet. Also, I had been
standing in the cold wind for too long. The
rest of the race wasn’t about pace or distance.
It was about enduring the cold long enough to finish.
With about nine kilometers to
go, I turned a corner and ran by another aid station. I skipped this one. After turning, I was running directly into
the wind. I would have to run into this
wind for a long time.
The woman ahead of me was at
least half a mile ahead of me, but she sometimes stopped to walk. We were on a long flat section, and I wasn’t
slowing down for anything. I was getting
to be intolerably cold, and I was fighting to get to the finish at the best
pace I could manage.
I was noticing water under my
jacket. Some of it was from when I
lifted my jacket for so long trying to clip my cup to my fanny pack. The back of my shirt also felt wet. Maybe it was getting in around my neck and
running down my back. My sleeves wete
also wet. Maybe the strong wind was
blowing water into my sleeves. The more
depressing possibility is that the jacket I thought was waterproof realty
wasn’t. At this point, everything I was
wearing felt like a wet rag.
I was running through a section
without any distinguishing landmarks.
There was flat grassland on either side of the road. Obviously, running into the wind was tiring,
but it was also cold. My face started to
feel numb. My thumbs and some of my
fingers were getting painful. I pressed
on.
I caught up the to woman I had
been following. In response, she picked
up her pace. For a few minutes, we ran
side by side. Neither of us said a word,
but we were motivating each other to keep running.
With about four miles to go, my
legs were getting really cold. I was
worried that I would get hypothermic and start to lose circulation to my
legs. I needed at least 40 minutes to
finish the race, and I didn’t know if I could make it.
I eventually pulled away from
the woman running next to me. Then I saw
two more runners in the distance. Could
I possibly be catching up to two runners who had previously been so far ahead
that I never saw them before? No. These were the last two runners from the half
marathon, which started later than the marathon. I gradually caught up to them. Then I passed them.
By now, my hands were no longer
painful. Now, they were numb. I pressed on.
What else could I do? There
weren’t any more aid stations with medical personal. I was now on my own. I had to finish. That’s why cold conditions scare me more than
hot conditions. If you’re too hot and
you stop running, you cool off. If you’re
too cold and you stop running, you get colder.
With less than 5K to go, I went
past the entrance to the national park.
Ahead of me, I could see the bridge over the Serrano River. After crossing that bridge, I would start the
last of the tough uphill sections. This
was probably the toughest hill, but I was glad to see it. When I reached the top, I would be within
sight of the hotel and the finish line.
I crossed the bridge and
started up the hill. The first part was
runnable. After turning a corner, I
reached a section that was much too steep.
I had to walk it.
Most of the course was dirt
roads, but the first part of this hill was paved. With good footing, I was able to power walk
it. Going up the hill, I passed another
walker from one of the shorter races.
When the hill leveled off, I
was able to run again. I still couldn’t
see the viewpoint at the top of the hill.
Then I saw that there was more hill ahead. I wasn’t even halfway there. As the road got steeper again, I had to do
more walking.
When I finally got up to the
viewpoint, I was able to run again. Just
past it, I could see the 40K sign.
From here on, it was all
downhill or flat, but now my feet were also getting numb. They felt rubbery.
I had to go down a steep hill
to get down into the valley where the hotel was. Running downhill without being able to feel
my feet was scary. As I reached the
steepest part of the hill, I also had trouble feeling my quads. Running into the wind had chilled them.
The descent was uncomfortable,
but I got it done. The rest was
flat. I had to go past the hotel, and
then turn and run on the grass. After another
sharp turn, I could run toward the finish line, which was behind the hotel.
As I approached, I took off
both of my mittens and held them in my left hand. I needed to stop my watch with my right hand
when I crossed the finish line. I was
barely able to do it.
I finished in 4:23:01. As soon as I received my finisher medal, I
went into the hotel. I was thankful that
the race finished right behind the hotel, because I needed to get out of the
rain and the cold wind.
They had an assortment of race-race food, including empanadas, pasta, bread, and Patagonian barbeque. They also had an assortment of local beers. I had to skip all that for now. I headed straight for my room.
I had to ask one of the other
runners to take my room card from my fanny pack and unlock my door for me. I couldn’t do it. My hands wouldn’t work.
With numb hands and feet,
getting undressed was challenging, but I needed to get out of all the wet
clothes.
Before I could take a shower, I
needed to warm up my hands in the sink.
When I could feel my hands, I took a long hot shower. After several minutes in the shower, my feet
still felt rubbery.
I eventually dried off and got
dressed. Then I went back out to enjoy
the post-race food. I got some food and
beer, found a table that had just been vacated, and I was joined by a few friends
who had finished earlier.
I eventually learned that I
placed first in my age group. In theory,
the awards were supposed to start at 3:00 PM in a room called the Salon. The Salon was being used to treat runners who
needed medical attention, so they did the awards ceremony outside instead.
By the time the awards ceremony
started, the rain had stopped, and it was a sunny afternoon. It was still cold though, so I had to go back
to my room to put on warmer clothes. I
put on two jackets, a dry pair of gloves, and a dry hat.
Awards started with the 5K
race. Then they did the 11K, the half
marathon, the marathon, and the 50K. I
had to wait a long time before they got to the marathon, but in the meantime, I
saw several others in our tour group win awards in the shorter races.
In the evening, MT&T had a
dinner for us. At the dinner, they
recognized everyone in our group who won an award. People who weren’t at the awards ceremony to
receive their awards were able to get them from our MT&T guides.
After dinner, I saw several
runners the bar, so I was hanging out with them for at least another hour.
I usually sleep well after a
marathon, but my sleep was restless that night.
I only managed to sleep for about half the night.
Sunday, May 4
It was a clear morning. From behind the hotel, I could finally see
the mountains without any clouds in the way.
[morning mountains (2)]
After breakfast, I went on an
excursion called Grey Navigation. We
were driven to Grey Lake. From where we
parked, we walked about a mile around the south end of the lake. Then we boarded a catamaran. We cruised to the other end of the lake to
see the Grey Glacier.
Grey Lake is between the Andes
Mountains and the Paine Mountains. We
had good views of both mountain ranges.
Grey Glacier is part of the
Patagonian ice sheet. It’s the third largest
mass of ice in the world. Only
Antarctica and Greenland have larger ice sheets.
There are three branches of the
glacier that terminate at this lake. We
got close-up views of each branch.
After getting back to the
hotel, I had some free time on my own.
That gave me time to do a workout.
It turns out we didn’t all get
the same things in our race packet. Upon
learning that, one of the runners organized an exchange. Before dinner, we could drop off items we
didn’t want to bring home and pick up items we wanted to keep instead. I dropped off a few food items I knew I
wouldn’t eat. I also dropped off a water
bottle that I knew wouldn’t fit in my suitcase.
In exchange, I picked up an extra headband.
Monday, May 5
Monday was our last full day in
Patagonia. One of the excursions offered
that day was an all-day hike to the base of the Three Towers. People doing that hike wouldn’t get back until
late in the day, and they would eat dinner later.
We had to be in the hotel lobby
by 2:15 Tuesday morning for the long drive back to the airport. I didn’t want to have a late night when I
needed to be up that early, so I chose to do a shorter hike instead.
For this hike, we left before
dawn, and drove to a trailhead that was about 15 miles from our hotel. When we got there, it was still before
sunrise, but there was just enough light to see the trail. From there, we hiked about two miles each
way, stopping at three viewpoints. Our
first viewpoint was at this waterfall.
The second viewpoint is a place
where other runners saw a beautiful sunrise the day before. By the time we got to this viewpoint, it was
starting to drizzle, and there were too many clouds to see much of the mountains. After pausing for a few minutes, we continued
to the final viewpoint. We had a nice
view of a glacial lake, but the mountains were still obscured by the clouds. On the plus side, I got to see a caracara
flying overhead. Our guide said there
were two, but I only saw one of them.
After we got back, I had lunch
at the hotel bar. After doing some
packing, I went for a short afternoon run.
I ran out and back along the last part of the marathon route. Two of my friends ran the same route, but
started about 10 minutes after I did. I
met them as I was coming back up the hill and they were on the way down.
We had a buffet dinner that
started at 7:00, but a few other runners were ordering dinner at the bar as
early as 6:00. All of our food was
included, regardless of whether we ate with the group or on our own, so I also
ate an early dinner. My alarm was set
for 1:15 AM, so I got to sleep as early as I could.
I woke up a couple times during
the night, but I may have slept for as much as four hours. That’s way better than the night before our
first long travel day.
Tuesday, May 6
We needed to be in the lobby
with our luggage by 2:15 AM, but there were some things that I couldn’t pack
until morning, so I was up an hour before we needed to leave.
For the entire ride, it was
still dark outside. The lights inside
the bus were kept off so people could sleep.
I wasn’t able to sleep, but I relaxed with my eyes closed for about half
of the trip.
On our flight back to Santiago,
I struggled to keep my eyes open. I was
dozing off intermittently for about a third of the flight.
When I booked this trip, I
didn’t know when we would get back to Santiago.
Rather than risk a tight connection, I chose to spend one more night in
Santiago and fly home the next day. I
had originally booked a hotel in the same neighborhood where we stayed before,
but that was before I knew how horrible the traffic is near the city
center. At least four other runners were
staying at a Hilton Garden Inn near the airport, so I changed my reservation
and stayed at the same hotel. That made
getting to and from the hotel easier, but the hotel was in a less exciting part
of the city.
Two of the other runners
staying at the Hilton Garden Inn were on the same flight. After we arrived, I called the hotel to ask
when and where we could catch their airport shuttle. The directions to the shuttle location were
sufficiently complicated that they asked for my phone number so they could send
me instructions via a WhatsApp chat.
After leaving the terminal and
walking across the street to a parking garage, we needed to wait next to a specific
parking space. Our instructions were to
follow the llama signs to the mountain signs.
I’m glad I called. I would never
have found this myself.
The three of us were all going
to be on the same flight Wednesday evening.
When we checked in, we asked for late checkouts. We
were each able to check out at 5:00 PM for no extra charge.
The three of us had lunch together
in the hotel’s restaurant. Later, I went
for an afternoon run. On the map, I saw
what looked like a greenway, but there was no way to get to it. I ended up running on sidewalks through a
mostly industrial neighborhood.
The three of had dinner
together at the hotel. Two other runners
from our tour group arrived on a later flight, and we saw them at dinner.
I got to bed later that night,
but that was OK. I didn’t have to get up
early on Wednesday.
Wednesday, May 7
I slept as late as I could
before going down to breakfast. I got at
least eight hours of sleep. It was nice
not having to set an alarm.
My flight to Atlanta wasn’t
until the evening, so I had almost a full day.
There wasn’t much around this hotel, so rather than try to see any more
of Santiago, I spent the day at the hotel.
I did some strength training and some running, but otherwise, I just
relaxed.
The airport shuttle leaves
every hour on the hour. After we check
out, we’ll take the 5 PM shuttle back to the airport. That’ll give us more than three hours before
our overnight flight to Atlanta. Wish me
luck on getting sleep on the plane.
