The Layman’s Anecdotal Guide to Running in Ecuador

Reading: 1493 by Charles Mann

Two years ago if you were to have asked me if I enjoyed running, I would have scoffed at and called you crazy. After years of competitive horseback riding and spending eight-hour days in the saddle, running was my trainer’s ultimate punishment for a horrible ride. So, it would be all too cliché to say that I came to love running while finding myself serving in a developing country.

Embrace running the trails

Instead, it happened during the three months prior to coming to Ecuador. I was seeing a guy who was training for a marathon, working a part time job as a sales clerk and had nothing better to do with my time than drink beer while worrying how I was going to survive the next two years of my life without IPAs. (My horse was injured and it was hellishly cold—bars are a great substitute for the barn.) Plus, one of my equestrian friends from college, who was serving in Senegal, had warned me that riding would not be an option while in Peace Corps. She advocated expanding my yoga practices, the boy suggested running. For some reason, the boy won.

By the time I made it to training in Tumbaco, my need to be obsessively involved in something had prevailed and I was hooked. As in, I have stopped pouring of Eventing Nation riding forms and now subscribe to Runner’s World emails. However, all of you who do run know that running in Ecuador is completely different than running in the States. Thus, I present you with the Layman’s Anecdotal Guide to Running in Ecuador. 

1. Start slow… if you are new to the masochism that is running it is best to easy your way into things. Not only will your body thank you, the likelihood of it becoming a habit instead of a whim are much higher. Coaches recommend that you only up your mileage by 10% percent every week. It is also worth remembering that walk breaks, especially when, starting out can be worth taking. After too many years of living to the mantra “pain is weakness leaving the body,” I tended to be a bit thick headed when it comes such advice. So let me save you the hassle of figuring this out the hard way—they really do help. It took me until mile nine of a half marathon and the prodding of an Ecuadorian track coach, who had taken pity on me, to convince me that some times it is better to walk and recover than to plod along at a snails pace.

2. Know your routes… it is kind of like knowing your Peace Corps emergency consolidation point. People always ask me if I have ever felt unsafe while running in this country and the truth is no. But that is largely due to the fact that I have never ran anywhere that I did not know was safe for me to run. Whether it is in the campo of Guayas, the river walk of Cuenca, ciclovía of Tumbaco, or the cow trails surrounding Paccha, I always have a clear idea of where I am going. Now, I am not saying that you should only have one route that you always run because a. boredom is the quickest way to kill your running mojo and b. if you know your routine, it is easy for someone else to learn your routine. Just plan how are you are going to mix things up. How is that for an oxymoron?

3. There will be unforeseen hazards… like dogs, cows, buses, drunk men, washed out roads, etc. I have found that a well-aimed rock is useful against at least three of those. Although, I know one PCV that preferred a homemade concoction of ají y ajo. As far as the sidewalk/road situation in this country, I like to think of it as a type of urban hiking. Therefore, the corollary would be urban trail running. Basically, embrace the unexpected terrain, unanticipated obstacles, and the random stranger that is going to stop and chat with you for fifteen minutes while completely unaware that at one point you had a pace goal. It is worth noting that the general rule of thumb is to run against traffic. I guess it is better to see the bus that is going to hit you than have it take you out from behind. The obvious exception to that would be blind curves, at which point you should move to the outside.

4. Cross train… okay, lets be honest, a part of all of us runs to avoid the dreaded Peace Corps fifteen. Well, the quickest way to lose fat is to build muscle while increasing your cardiorespiratory endurance. Or to steal an axiom from the Great Cult of Crossfit, “strong is the new sexy/skinny/slutty.” Lo que sea. My weapons of choice are pushups, sun salutations, and headstands. Mostly I just have mad ganas for Michelle Obama’s arms and a combination of pushups and headstands provide a fairly complete upper body workout. Sun salutations are a great kinesthetic form of stretching and also tone the entire body. (There is a lot of new researching promoting this active stretching over passive stretching to prevent injuries, but that is a whole other can of worms.)

5. Do not get hung up on petty, first world preoccupations… the right kind of shoes, yoga pants, tempo track shorts, headphones, etc. After having some great Ecuadorian work out buddies, the one thing I have learned from them, aside from the idea that working out in a garbage bag is great weight loss method, is that what you wear to get sweaty in does not matter. If Americans spent a little less time worrying about our arch support, compression shorts, and the wicking capacity of our t-shirts and more time actual doing the activities those things were intended for, perhaps we would not have the reputation of “the Fast Food Nation.” I would rather run in a pair of ecua-shoes than Asics any day. But I am also one of those weird barefoot running people, so if you ever want to talk about your phobia of flat feet and passion for natural arch support, I am here for you. As for the head phones/music/iPod dilemma, my only comment is that Peace Corps will have no sympathy if you call and tell her that your iPod was stolen while you were running through the local bananero. Oh, and please do not try the garbage bag idea unless you have ganas to see the medical office due to extreme dehydration.

Idyllic half marathon finish line - Salinas, Santa Elena

6. Set reasonable goals… to keep yourself motivated, but be sensible about them. Races are a great bench march to work towards and there are plenty of them to do in Ecuador. But do not tell yourself that you are going to run a marathon with only a month to prepare. You either had no intention of actual doing so, are going to be very disappointed, or end up injured. Unless you are a superhuman, in which case, please proceed. Instead keep the goals small: running five days a week, working up to 25 miles per week, or mile PR are all really great ones to keep you on target without defeating yourself in the process.

7. Listen to your body… there is a fine line between pain that you should work through and pain that you should rest for. The only way to really be able to distinguish between the two is to have an intimate understanding of your body and its limitations. For example, I know that there is a very big difference between the soreness in my gluts while running hills and the soreness in my ankle at mile two. Running through the first one is beneficial. Running through the second one will have me out of commission for the next week as old injuries die hard. One of the best things my riding trainer taught me was to remember your rest days, as they are some of the most important days in your training routine. Without them, your body does not have time to fully recover and without recovery, there is no improvement.

8. Running buddies are your friend… granted some days they may offset your pace, but others you may offset theirs. However, they provide great accountability, a little added security, and there is some communal aspect in collective suffering. Not to mention that I felt a new sense of accomplishment when I could hold a conversation in Spanish while struggling to breath. It also is a great way to integrate, share a piece of your weird gringo lifestyle, and I am sure there is a way that it applies to one of the community health program goals. Within Peace Corps, I believe there was once a volunteer running club, but it seems to have fizzled with the “Lost Omnibus.” That being said, if there is any one interested in starting up a Hash House Harriers running club, me avisas porfa.

9. Remember this… do not ask yourself “will I run today?” but “when will I run today?” Quesoso, I know. But the point is that 75% of the time, there are options that are going to be more appealing that running. It takes some gumption to drag oneself out day after day to go running. But if you play the mind game with yourself that not running is not an option, suddenly the decisions comes to down to a scheduling one. At which point, the outcome is always the satisfaction of finishing that final mile.

The view to beat

10. Make it your own… we all know that Peace Corps can be extremely stressful at times and consequently all find our own ways to cope with that stress. For me, my coping mechanism during the most difficult times of my service has been running. It is the only moment that I have had every day that has been completely mine. It did not matter if my counterpart failed to show up, the meeting did not happen, every thing in my garden died, or my host family continued to feed me chancho. Running was the hour-long escape that I had to sort my thoughts and clear my head before round two of what tended to be an emotional ass kicking. Yet, some days the only thing that motivates me is the memory of the plateful of empanadas I had the night before.

But then there are the exhilarating moments when your find yourself running above cloud filled valley of saturated greens with the flowers splashing flecks of colors into the scenery. You are racing the bus to mile seven, trying to make your distance before your ride up the mountain passes you by. At that moment there are no guides or pointers, no motivation or deterrents. Just the soft, rhythmic sound of your footfall on gravel and a focused clarity. That is, after all, what it really is all about.

A nicely edited version of this story will be appearing in an upcoming issue of El Clima.