Right before starting, I was a bit worried that I wasn't going to break 50 minutes. I'm far from being a runner, and I was told this course was somewhat hilly. A month ago I had run 50:23 in a pretty flat course.

So my strategy was to go hard up the climbs, let loose on the downhills, try to get a negative split and hope that my overall endurance would carry me in the end.

Km 1 4:38 (too fast)
Km 2 5:15
Km 3 5:07
Km 4 5:06
Km 5 4:08 (downhill) (24:16 5k)
Km 6 5:02
Km 7 5:33 (uphill)
Km 8 5:15
Km 9 4:04 (started to sprint way too early)
Km 10 4:31 (downhill, but I was trashed!)

It's funny, but I had put so much effort into going hard up the climbs that I was really tired for the last 2k's. Also, I picked up the pace a little too early (thinking that instead of going sub-50, I could also beat my PB of 47:54) and was pretty much out of fuel by the time I got to the last Km. I got passed badly on that last kilometer but was thankful that it was mainly downhill.

This race was definitely all about the mind for me. If I hadn't given it my best, I definitely would have finished in the low 50's again. I'm very happy with the result, and it gives me some kind of hope that I can improve my running.

Couldn't possibly warm-down. So many people and friends. This is the race with the most participants ever held in Venezuela (7600 registered though only 5600 raced).

Waited for Mayde. She had yet another PB (51:12); what a year this has been for her! 23/292 in AG, 133/1686 female and 1570/5606 overall.


I just haven't trained the run all that much lately. Also, I need to teach my body how to suffer in anaerobic mode. I simply spend too much time training aerobically throughout the year. With a little tweaking to my training plan (to altogether include serious running, that is), I'll beat my PB soon; it's less than a minute away now.


Excellent race. If I'm still in this part of the world next year, I'll give it another go. And I usually don't care much for the stuff given at races, but the race shirt was an awesome Nike dri-fit with the names of all the cities this race was being simultaneously held and in the shape of Mexico, Central and South America.