|
April 29, 2007
Day Eight
Last day in Goa
Another run planned today. I was up at 8:30.
My system appeared to be back in order.
I was mildly surprised to find the sky was
completely overcast. The thin layer of clouds
were so white they created a deception of
coolness. The AC in my hotel room furthered
that illusion.
No tricks were required to get out the door this
time. I filled my little hand flask, put on the
Thumps and headed out the door.
As soon as I stepped outside I was slapped by a
stifling humidity. I was instantly dripping and
was concerned my Oakleys might not survive this
run slash swim. I had my shirt off within ten
steps and was regretting I hadn’t chugged down a
bottle of water before heading out.
My goal today was fifty minutes. I spent the
first fifteen winding through the side roads
before ending out on the main road. It’s Sunday
here and the traffic isn’t as bad as the
weekdays. I figured if I ran another fifteen
along the highway it’d be fifty before I got
back to the hotel. Before twenty five minutes
were up I’d stopped sweating and my fist flask
was empty. I was seriously dehydrated. By
thirty minutes the thin layer of haze had burned
off and the temperature went up another five
degrees. By forty minutes I was doing the IM
shuffle. It was about that time some guy on a
scooter buzzed me and let out a war cry in my
ear as he passed. He was hugely rewarded by the
sight of me almost stumbling on my ass in
fright. He laughed merrily as he rode away. It
seems idiots are universal. Another guy on a
scooter coming the other way pumped his fist in
the air, which translates in any language: “Way
to go.” That was nice and I straightened my
back a bit and lengthened my stride. A behemoth
of an Englishman shouted at me from the steps of
a store as I ran past – “Just think Kingfisher,
man! Just think Kingfisher!!!” Kingfisher is
the beer of choice in this area. He nailed that
one spot on. I would have ripped a cold beer
from the hands of a leper at that point.
51:29 later and I was back at the hotel. I went
straight to my room – turned on the shower,
stood under the coolish water and tipped back a
bottle of cold water. I stayed that way for
quite some time.
Three bottles of water later and I was down at
the front desk seeing if a few rupees might get
me on the internet. I figured as it was Sunday
I might be able to do some work in the day
time. I wasn’t wrong. I spent an hour and a
half planning out a few weeks for some of my
athletes and then found myself poolside again to
work on my tan.
A great start to a day if I do say so myself.
Later that evening the four us went to a market
in a village called Paniji. I managed to find a
few trinkets and some cashews to snack on. We
also had a spectacular meal at a restaurant
whose name eludes me.
The three of them wanted to spend their last
night at the casino. We had to be out of there
at 5 AM for a 7 o’clock flight and they figured
it just made sense to gamble till it was time to
go. It made sense to me to do some more work on
the internet while I could get it, then get in
five hours of sleep. Naushad took me home.
Back at the hotel I was denied the internet. It
seemed the cable had gone down. I ended up
getting six hours of sleep. Probably for the
best. |
