Still chasing

After my 23 miles in Brussels, I encountered a strange four weeks of running. I started traveling a great deal which made running difficult, more than usual. I was back at 20 miles the next week; I ran them on the upper Croatian coast, in Istria. Starting off in Novi Grad I ran along the coast to Mareda, a small town where we used to have a summer house -- a lot of my childhood memories come from there. From Mareda I made my way on the local road to Umag. In Umag I turned around and headed back to Novi Grad. It started raining, the sun was setting, and road running felt unsafe at times. When I was off the road and on the coast, the route was great.

The island of Korcula was my next Sunday stop. Paola and I spent a weekend there with our close friends. The island is superb -- Korcula city is the new up-and-coming spot on the Croatian coast. The bays on the island are magical, cutting deep into the island; the water is a mix of turquoise and green-blue. After a good Saturday fish dinner, I set out on my Sunday run early in the morning, before 6AM. I left Korcula on the main road traversing the island in the direction of Vela Luka, which is a city on the other side, exactly 46KM away. The start of the run was hard as it was a straight 45min climb to get to the top of the island's mountain. The interior of the island is sparsely populated, but rich with vineyards and olive trees. I passed a number of small towns on my way to Vela Luka. At 8am the sun was already strong and the heat began to pick up. I kept pushing, but at 9 KM from Vela Luka I stopped. I laid on the ground under a cross, quite fitting as I felt almost dead.

From the seaside, we returned to Brussels, and spent the following weekend in Paris. I didn't run much that weekend, managing a boring 12 mile run upon my return to Brussels from Paris on Sunday.

The last weekend I spent it running in the Slovenian mountains, in Bohinj. I arrived early in Ljubljana from Sarajevo on Saturday, 10 minutes before 7AM. That afternoon I was due to leave for New York, after having spent almost 2 months in Europe and in the Caspian, but my afternoon connection from Paris to New York was canceled. Luckily, Air France was kind enough to call me while I was still in Ljubljana and offer me a Sunday alternative. I took it and immediately headed for Bohinj. I put on my running gear and loaded on water. I started off in at the foot of the lake heading in the direction of Savica waterfall. Once there I turned up the hill, towards the Black lake, which was a 1200m straight-up climb - the climb is a difficult one and only recommended for experienced mountain climbers. From there I went to Vogar, and from Vogar back down to Stara Fuzina, and another lap around the lake. Combining hiking and running, I managed the hardest physical endurance test of my life in 4h.11min. The total distance was 23.11 miles. The pace was not impressive, but considering it was a mountain run, I was proud all the same. To save my legs, I finished off with a swim in lake Bohinj, cold but refreshing.

I'm now in Mexico. The altitude is an issue, so I'm not sure what to expect from this Sunday run.