My First (and Probably Last) Marathon

I did it! I achieved one of my lifetime bucket list goals: to run a marathon. This actually feels like a great achievement not because I managed to run 26.2 miles, but because I spent four months steadily working up to it. I ran three to four days per week for FOUR MONTHS! Some people are amazing runners and that kind of volume is not a big deal. I am not. I run because I want to, because the time alone allows me to work through my thoughts without distraction.

Anyway, back to the marathon. Emily and I chose to run the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. The race started at the Space Needle, ran through the 99 tunnel onto the Via Duct and past Pike Place Market. We ran through Pioneer Square and Columbia City to loop around a beautiful park on the waterfront called Seward Park. Finally we ran along the water to the I-90 bridge, over the water and through the tunnel then back to the Century Link Stadium. The morning was overcast and cool with a bit of misty rain here and there, in a word: perfect!

Mile 15 was particularly powerful. It began with a series of pictures of people who had died of cancer or were dying of cancer, people who had runners honoring them. After an appropriate break were pictures of military men and women who died in service with their names, ages, and date of death. I forced myself to stop reading their ages and look only at their faces. So many were so young. They died before they even had a chance to live. The pictures were followed by a long line of military members with American flags.

Since it was the Rock 'n' Roll marathon, there were bands set up along the course. The most memorable were a drumming troop set up under an overpass which made the beats reverberate through our bodies, a mariachi band on top of an overpass, and the Army band set up at mile 25.5. The Army band had the greatest energy and totally made the last little bit of the race amazing. I crossed the finish line all smiles. (Our time wasn't 5:44, it was 5:17)

 It was a great experience. Em and I limped away from the race with sore knees and hips, but I couldn't have asked for a better running partner. She waited for me through numb feet and tight calves and we worked through some knee pain together near the end. Thanks sister for your patience and friendship. Much love!

Adventures in Costa Rica (Part 2)

Because this trip was long and exciting, I thought I should break it up a bit. Part 1 was coastal Costa Rica. Here is Part 2: the mountains, cloud forest, and San Jose.

Places visited:

Arenal (La Fortuna)

Monteverde

San Jose

Pacuare River

Activities:

Proyecto Asis

Arenal Oasis Night Tour

La Fortuna Waterfall

Sky Adventures Park

Rios Tropicales One Day River Rafting Tour

The drive to Arenal was up a steep, winding, crazy, narrow road through beautiful mountain towns. La Fortuna is a small town in the shadow of the volcano. The first morning, we went to Proyecto Asis, a rescue for wild animals that people have “saved” or tried to tame. They have peccaries (wild boar) of two varieties. Both are kind of cute hairy beasts, but smell horrible. They have a musk gland that shoots milky liquid 3 feet in the air. And people had these as HOUSE PETS! Whaaaaa?!! Next we saw spider monkeys. Jesica and Hercules are friendly. Jesica likes to touch people. Anyone near the cage can hold her hand or she will touch their shoulder or arm. We saw more spider monkeys, aggressive white face monkeys, a baby porcupine, parrots and macaws. They had a very cute, but mean grison which is like a weasel, some coatis and a racoon, along with a huge orange iguana that had been hit by a car. In the back, there was a baby sloth! He was so cute, just munching away on his leaves. Hummingbirds were everywhere and a small non-aggressive crocodile variety had moved into the pond. We fed the animals. The monkeys will always be there, but the birds, small peccaries, coatis, porcupine, and raccoon will be rehabilitated and released. Carlos was an awesome and passionate tour guide.

The night tour jungle tour we booked was unbelievable! It was led by Gerald of Arenal Oasis. The tour started with him teaching us about the noise blue jeans poison dart frogs make and where to find them. We saw three of the tiny frogs! Then we started up the trail finding an assortment of frogs, toads and spiders. When we got to a pond, Gerald stopped us and made us wait while he dealt with two fer-de-lance snakes which are highly aggressive and venomous. He let us see them in pairs and took some pictures for us. He chased off the male which was easier said than done. It bit his umbrella a handful of times while snapping at him, it’s body raised 3 feet in the air. The female didn’t move. He moved us to the opposite side of the bridge and shoved her with his umbrella. After a minute it became apparent that something was wrong. Her spine was broken a little further than mid way up her body. Gerald moved her to an island and we moved on. We saw four more snakes including another fer-de-lance and a banded snail eater that evolved with a single fang designed to dig snails out of their shells. There were see-through glass frogs, red-eyed tree frogs (one jumped on Mike’s face!) and a big crab. Near the end, the guide spotted a cicada in metamorphosis. Super gross. Best tour of the trip.

La Fortuna waterfall is very developed and commercialized. The path is a mostly paved staircase down to a huge falls with a pool at the bottom. The water pressure and current were strong so we could only be in a small portion of the pool. A smaller lower pool offered a different vantage. We took a dip then climbed the 550 stairs back to the car.

We drove the winding, dirt road to Monteverde. It’s not far, but at 25 miles per hour with rough roads and driving rains, it took 3.5 hours! The rains started right after our waterfall visit and continued all night. We found the farm I booked on AirBnb easily. The owner was very chatty (all in Spanish), kind and welcoming. She let us into our cabin, which had a small kitchen, two beds, bathroom, and eggs and tortillas for breakfast. We took a nap then headed out to see the estate.

Finca Lluvias de Gloria is beautiful. It’s about 7 hectares. Ermida, the hostess, grows all sorts of crops intermingled: potatoes, coffee, herbs, corn, fruit trees, beans, etc. She also has 2 pigs, a cow, and chickens. Her primary export is coffee, but she grows all sorts of food to sell at the market. We saw a male maut-maut bird. She made us a beautiful dinner of fish, potatoes, cauliflower, carrots, sweet potato, onion, tomato, avocado, plantains and these cool tree growing fruits(?) called tacacos.YUM! There was so much food. She and her daughter ate leftover, beans, rice, stewed meat and corn tortillas. Whaaat?

The following day was Sky Adventure day! The tour began with an hour and a half walk along a trail with hanging bridges accompanied by a naturalist who explained about how the cloud forest eco systems work. Dad would have loved it. We learned about Ficus trees that are hemiepiphytes, meaning they land on the branch of a tree and use it as a base while growing. Once it is rooted, it starts to engulf the source tree, strangles it, and feeds on it. This creates wild hollow trees. We saw a male Resplendent Quetzal bird. He was gorgeous.

Next was zip lining above the canopy. We took a tram up to an overlook with a view of the volcano and Arenal Lake. We stayed with the same group all day. They were really fun. There were two older canadian ladies and a group consisting of an Indian, an Arab, a Russian, and a Brit. Very fun. The longest cable was over half a mile high above the canopy. It was pretty much like flying. The tour included a visit to the herpetarium to see snakes, lizards and frogs. The side with the venomous snakes was closed.

We did a night walk with Kinkajou. It was ok. The guide moved really fast and we had crappy lights, but we saw an armadillo, two green pit vipers in trees, a stick bug, a tarantula, and three glass frogs. If you're looking at doing a night tour, choose Arenal.

We spent a day transitioning to San Jose, the capital. The following morning, we got up super early and walked a km to the Gran Hotel Costa Rica for Rios Tropicales to pick us up for rafting at 6 AM. The drive to the operations center was two hours. They fed us a typical Costa Rican breakfast while we waited for the group from Arenal.

It was another twenty five minutes drive to the put in site on the Pacuare River. Rios Tropicales split us into two groups, English-speaking and Spanish-speaking. Our raft included me and Mike, a German girl, a French girl, and two French Canadian girls. Our guide was great, 15 years experienced and loves the river. The four girls were neither experienced or strong paddlers. Regardless, we had a great time. The river was beautiful. Pristine jungle bordered both sides. We saw waterfalls, crashed through Class I-IV rapids, and generally had a great time for the three hours we were on the river. The water level was perfect, not too low, not too high. Lunch was served back at the operations center before a two hour drive back to San Jose.

The rain was POURING down in San Jose. We opted just to get soaked to the bone and walk back to the apartment since we were already damp and needed to shower anyway. My sandal broke part way back and I was glad I had my sneakers from rafting. It didn’t stop raining that night, but lightened a little.

The last day in Costa Rica, we went for a run to a park I’d seen on a map then headed out for breakfast on a busy pedestrian street in the city. We went for a walk to explore downtown San Jose a bit and bought snacks for the airplane ride. We decided it was time to leave and caught a bus to the airport. It was direct and so easy. Do not eat at the airport. Lunch was super expensive, disgustingly greasy burgers at Smashburger. We paid $27 for 2 burgers and one side of fries. Just don't do it.

If I had it all to do again, I would have planned to stay a night or two on the Pacuare River. It was just so beautiful. I would visit less places. We put 850 MILES (1380 km) on the rental car in 10 days. With a max speed limit of 80km/hour, that's a lot of drive time. Next trip, I want to go diving. There's an amazing island way off the coast with hammerhead sharks

Celebrating 30 in Costa Rica (Part 1)

Last month I turned 30. 30!? To celebrate, I wanted to go somewhere and do something awesome. So I chose Costa Rica, based on activities and ticket prices. I can’t believe 30 years of my life have passed already. It’s a good time to reflect on whether I am where I thought I would be at 30. The answer is a resounding no. In my childhood, teens and even into college, I never thought I would be as brave or adventurous or free as I am. I would have thought I’d have a boring engineering job and be wrangling a kid or two. Instead, I’m successful, highly independent, with a job I enjoy most days, a few great friends, and a partner who keeps me smiling and laughing. All told, I’m very satisfied with my first 30 years and I hope that the next 30 years bring as much adventure, variety and intrigue.

Because this trip was long and exciting, I thought I should break it up a bit. Part 1 is coastal Costa Rica. Part 2 is the mountains, cloud forest, and San Jose.

Places visited:

Playa Agujas

Dominical

Osa Peninsula

Manuel Antonio

Activities

Danyasa yoga classes

Nauyaca Waterfall

Corcovado National Park hike

Costa Rica Surf Camp lesson

Manuel Antonio National Park tour

The day we left, Mike and I woke up at 1:30 AM to catch a 5 AM flight to LAX. When we arrived at the gate in LA for the flight into San Jose, Costa Rica, the flight board read “Canceled”. The Turrialba volcano had minorly erupted, rocketing a plume of ash a kilometer into the air. As such, flights into its airport were being rerouted to Liberia, Costa Rica, about three hours Northwest. I called Budget and changed our rental car pickup to Liberia. Car insurance of $28 per day is mandatory. WTF. Below is a map of all of the places we visited and roads we drove in 12 days.

The roads in Costa Rica are two lane highways with speed limits that change constantly. No one really seems to care about them though. The drive from Liberia to Playa Agujas took about 3.5 hours in the dark. It was terrifying. Semi trucks with angry looking lights bore down on us. The road wasn’t recently paved and a little rough. Plus, passing on a two lane winding, jungle road is not ideal.

In Dominical, we found our resort after a whole bunch of U turns and backtracking. Turns out the road Google Maps (BTW, Google Maps Offline is the greatest!) wanted us to take was UNDER the highway. Villas Rio Mar is a great three-star resort at a really reasonable price ($69 including breakfast). The grounds are beautiful and immaculate with a variety of tropical plants and iguanas roaming free. We were upgraded to a suite in the back of the resort with two king sized beds and air conditioning. It was huge, much more than we needed. The resort has a nice pool, tennis court, concrete mini-golf course and an outdoor “gym”.

Checking out the town, we walked along the beach briefly and looked at some of the shops. A flash and a rumble later, rain poured from the skies. To escape we stopped at Tortilla Flats for ceviche, nachos and fried plantains. Afterward, we walked to Danyasa, a yoga studio in town to see about classes. There was a class in an hour. Yoga was a large class, candlelit, on a second story balcony with a tin roof and netting around the sides. The studio had mirrors on one side, fans, and cool overhead lighting. The class was excellent, taught by a student who was studying there for a month. Thunder continued to rumble through the class.

The following morning yoga class at Danyasa was taught by a girl named Serra who was everything an amazing yoga teacher should be: lithe, flexible, beautiful, with a septum ring and half her head shaved. The class was phenomenal, by far the best I’ve been to (and I have a few teachers I adore). She held poses long enough to make me work, emphasis on form was key, and she even sang a cappella for us in savasana.

On a recommendation, we found Nauyaca Waterfall. Since we had a 4x4, it was an 8 km round trip hike up a steep road to get to the falls. We saw the largest stream of leaf-cutter ants I’ve ever seen and a spotted paca, which is a weird little rodent similar to a capybara. The falls were incredible, double layered. Since we went so late in the day, we were the last people there. The upper falls are taller, stronger, impressive. They crash over large, faceted boulders, spraying mist everywhere. Mike had to climb all over the rocks, of course. The lower falls are beautiful, still powerful, but more demure with a big pond to swim in. Once we jumped in, the rain began to fall. It poured harder and harder until everything we brought was soaked. Climbing out, there were frogs and lizards all over the place. Once we were back on the trail, there was no more rain or even evidence that it had rained. Curious.

On my birthday, we caught a very early breakfast before jumping in the trusty Terios for a drive to the Osa Peninsula where there is a large, highly biodiverse national park called Corcovado. Once we finally arrived in Jimenez and found someone to talk to we learned that you need a permit to hike there and hikes start at 6 am. Luckily, we were given a map and found there are a couple of "community trails" to hike. Le Tigre was about 8 km down a dirt road into a town or village. There were cowboys on horses nodding to us as we passed. We passed a closed ranger station and ran out of road. At the ranger station there was an overgrown path leading up and around the back. A grizzled old man with a machete walked up to the car, told us “pura vida” and asked what we were doing. I told him we were going for a walk up the trail. He nodded and left. Strange.

Before I could overthink it, I grabbed my camera and headed up the trail. Within a short distance, I looked up from the trail to see a large black body hanging in a low palm. I followed it up to see the neck and head of what I believe was a rat snake. Eep! I kept a bit of distance and contiued walking slowly and quietly trying to see a sloth or band of monkeys. At the end of the trail is a lookout with nice views. We saw birds with red bodies and black heads and wings, little gold birds, lots of leaf-cutters, a few butterflies and some lizards, but no more snakes or mammals. The walk down was uneventful. Overall, it was a very sweaty, slow, quiet walk in the rain forest. 

By the time we made it back to the car, the thunderheads had rolled in and I was starving. We stopped at a cool patio restaurant (part of a resort) on the side of the road with amazing views of the Osa peninsula and a toucan in a tree. The rain began while we ate. It was lovely. That evening we caught our last Danyasa yoga class. It was all about alignment. Hard class, but well taught. As I lay in savasana, the rain pounded the tin roof, lightning flashed and thunder crashed around me. Powerful! I believe the next 30 years will be just that.

We booked a surf lesson in town for the last day in Dominical. It wasn’t until 1pm so we went back to the resort. Determined not to miss out on the amenities, we played tennis for an hour then swam in the pool. We chatted for a long time with a retired gentleman with a fascinating life story. He’d recently lost his wife to cancer and this was his first time back to Costa Rica without her. I may have spent too much time in the sun. All too soon, it was time for check out.

Costa Rica Surf School provided a fabulous surf lesson. Surfing was exhausting and fun. The sun was blazing over 3-4 foot waves. Our instructor was named Ezekiel. Mike was able to get up after a few tries and did his own thing for most of the lesson. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out when to paddle, when to stand, etc. I did ride several waves though. Yay me! The lesson was 2 hours with a 15 minute break for water, mangoes and bananas. We were exhausted afterward from fighting to get out past the break. Check out our sunburns!!

The next stop was Quepos, about an hour North up the coast home to Manuel Antonio national park. After Corcovado and reading reviews we decided a guide was worthwhile. Ours was not. His scope was handy, but he mumbled so softly Mike couldn’t hear him and I only caught about half of it. We saw bats, crabs, sloths, lizards, deer, white face monkeys, howler monkeys, and beautiful blue morphos butterflies with their drunken flight. We also saw a coati and a capybara. There were some adolescent white face monkeys wrestling on a lookout tower. The sloth picture was taken using the guide's scope. That cute little monkey in the picture below is pretty dangerous. They're mean little beasts. The one pictured was actually that close. The camera is not zoomed. Playa Manuel Antonio is gorgeous, crescent moon shaped with light lapping waves. There were tide pools on one side. Mike found a cool spotted eel swimming from an inlet to a pool and some sea slugs. My sunburn made being in the sun a little less than pleasant. We did a bit of hiking and headed for cooler climates.

On the road to Arenal, there was a sign with a crocodile on it before an overpass with a lot of tourists staring over the side. We decided to stop and I’m glad we did. The brown river below the overpass was full of huge prehistoric beasts! I counted 27. A group of college kids bought a bag of frozen meat and started throwing chunks into the water. The crocodiles churned over each other looking for a treat. The last bit of meat appeared to be a hip joint from a cow or other large mammal. It bounced off the head of one croc and another caught it. With a snap of it’s jaws, the joint shattered with a sickening crunch. They make dinosaur noises too. Scary!