Breakfast in Hotel Mision Catavina I was thanking my lucky stars that Rafael turned up at 5am and not 4 as I had such a late night and needed the extra hour in bed. I munched a burrito on the way to yesterdays finish. So I was off and running at 5.25am. Nice and cool. It was easily a new record early start time, by a long shot. The 21km run into Catavina I felt so strong zipping along the road. There was very little traffic at that early hour. Soon the sun was up. By 6.30 it was already starting to heat up. It’s probably at San Diego levels by now. I can’t keep track of the days on this run, I guess it doesn’t really matter every day is the same to me. I thought it was Sunday morning and not Saturday. This run was glorious, It felt like a Sunday morning run with my running club MSB back in Dublin. Inevitably my thoughts turned to food. I thought of the wonderful breakfast I was missing back in Hotel Mison Catavina. Yes eggs benedict would really go down really well now. I shook my fist at the sun and shouted in my mind.. ” Shame on you making me miss my breakfast, You hot devil! ” Then I realised it was not the suns fault I missed my breakfast, This is a self imposed death sentence Then all the the planets and the stars aligned, a great flash of wisdom reached this part of Planet Baja! Of course I would be running past the hotel at 21km! Yes I will survive a stay of execution one more time. Ah yes, running on I left the Hotel Mison with eggs benedict lining my stomach. I felt strong, able and like a soldier going off to battle with the great enemy in the sky. I had, had a break for an hour and a half. Waiting outside for me were Jose Luis and Rafael. On I ran for another chunk of this desert peninsula. Baja is over 1,700km, over 1,000 miles long. The famous Baja 1,000 (mile) rally runs the length of the peninsula takes place every June. I was told that the rally drivers drive like Hell taking incredible risks. In fact, the roads are not closed, so deaths are inevitable. From what I can tell the northern and southern sections are the populous areas with the central area where I am now less so. As mentioned in my last blog this area also has much less traffic, about 300-350 vehicles while I am on the road. On the times that I ave run on my own I have also noticed that the drivers here are very courteous. A bit further on at km 33 for the day I stopped for about 20 minutes under a shady tree. It was now beginning to heat up and I was suffering. The lads joke saying with all the slow driving that they are more tired than me! An off duty police officer friend of the lads came out and gave us a couple of Cokes each. Jose Luis wrenched off the metal cap off the glass bottle with his Browning 9mm. He held the pistol pointing down to his groin area as he yanked the cap off the bottle, the thoughts of it! I was told that in the past this area had a bad name as there was no police force here. It was common for American people to get stopped on the highway and to be relieved of their luxury cars, rv’s, boats etc. Many people from all over Baja buy US vehicle, typically Californian and just leave the registration plates on them even though they are supposed to replace them with Mexican plates, very few do. I have seen plates with US registration dates as far back as 2006, presumably it was much easier for the ‘ commandeered vehicles ‘ to blend in with these in the past. Now in an effort to bring law and order to the place, police officers like Jose Luis and Rafael come in here from other towns for 7 day shifts. They are on call 24/7. The area has been cleaned up of a lot of it’s problems. Americans now drive at will up and down the peninsula. The road cut up due to road works. I ran a 10km section, most of it uphill covering my mouth and nose every time a vehicle went by. I stopped a couple of times, it was really brutal going. I pulled on all the reserves of my competitive career as an extreme runner that kept me going. Than at 49km with the lads gone on to wait for me at the finish a couple of cars stopped. I was told one was a Japanese, there were a couple of other nationalities that I didn’t get. One of the men came out to take my photo. I asked him did he have a soda. He said Root Beer soda or Coke. I said Root Beer. Then he said We got Root Beer, Coke or Sprite. Root Beer! I replied. Then he went on, We got Coke or Root beer! Then as in a race I snapped, for its very normal and expected for the crew person to take the stress from their runner. ” Anything! I am very tired. Can you give me the Root Beer please? ” A scurry was made for the cooler. I did not stop. I think it was the Jap that ran after me and gave me that delicious cool Root Beer soda. It tasted so good in the 37 degree heat. Then I told the lads if they wanted to talk about my run we could meet at the next km marker but advised them to put away their beers as my friends the cops will be there! I never did see them as I cantered up to today’s finish line. I fell into the patrol truck. Rafael had been doing the driving. I was in the middle between him and Jose Luis. And just like finishing one of those 48 hour races from years ago a sudden tiredness hit me at the finish. It was always funny then as the winners are called to the podium, dressed for the presentation in our hot tracksuits. As usual these occasions go on for an unbearable amount of time as the top 3 men and women stand close together, eyes closed, swaying around almost knocking each other off we would catch and hold each other before finally being allowed to sit on the podium. It was this sudden tiredness I felt as we drove back to the Hotel Mison Catavina. I was really scared I would fall against Rafael as he drove, so much so that I almost asked them to stop in order to trade places with Jose Luis. On the way Jose Luis told me that there is a huge interest in my run along the peninsula, news has spread like wild fire. Nobody has ever heard of anyone running the length of it before, especially at the hottest time of the year. He said that in the next town there are many people that want to welcome me. I am working on a rest day tomorrow. The difference in my expended effort for today’s first 21km in the relative coolness of the morning and the late morning and early afternoon was very evident to me. I promised myself I would start as early as possible each day. That’s a phenomenon of this sport of ultra running as most call it but I prefer the expression extreme running, is that no matter how shattered we are today we are generally confident we can do it all over the next day if we want to. My insatiable passion and desire to pull this world run off is the fuel that drives me forward Back in my room I needed a short nap of about 30 minutes before facing the shower. I did not want to crash out for the entire evening so to ensure I didn’t I played one my AC/DC albums on my ipods external speakers! It worked! Don’t know why I didn’t set my alarm, brain fry I guess!

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