Internal Mono(b)log

I’ve been here for a few days and have done some training, hit the grocery, and visited with my friends, Richard and Jamuna, but haven’t really been out exploring yet.  Tomorrow I’ll be in Panama City for a 10k race in the morning and take in some of the city sites and sounds in the afternoon.

What I have seen of Panama, I’ve really liked.  The people are friendly and industrious. The economy is booming, signs of crazy growth are everywhere, but the cost of living is still pretty low.  Best, for me, is the climate.  Sunny, warm, breezy, a bit humid but manageable. So far, absolutely loving my stay here.

I’ll post more “Impressions of Panama” toward the end of the trip as I have a chance to see, do, and experience more of what Panama has to offer.

Heat acclimatization has been going well.  Swam in the ocean yesterday at the beach off Playa Coronado (where I’m staying). Here’s a youtube vid of the beach:

I’m back there today and pretty much daily until Friday.

Yesterday I did another training ride out to Punta Chame along a country road.  It’s a nice ride and cranking along on the bike you don’t feel the heat or humidity.   I wore a GoPro camera as a helmet cam and shot the ride, unfortunately the camera’s angle is a bit low so the scenery isn’t as well depicted as I’d like.  I edited the 1.5 hrs down to about 12 minutes.  I’ll post the youtube link once it’s finished uploading.

This morning I did my 1st shakeout run since arriving.  Just a quick 30 minute run.  I went early in the day (8am) and OH MY GOD!  Heat management during tomorrow’s 10k and the 12th’s 20k is going to be SUPER important.  I was a bit surprised, having been misled by the cooling effect of the wind while cycling, just how hot it was.  Sponges, hydration and nutrition are going to be key on both Sundays.

I’ve also had a chance to do a shakeout of the Sportiiiis.  I took them on yesterday’s bike ride and this morning’s run.

On the bike, I had it monitoring primarily my power and during my quick run this morning, pulse.  Just a teaser for now, more detailed review to come, but quckly: ME LIKEY!  This device is everything it’s promised to be.  It seems to work very well and is quite configurable (I need to spend some time, having now used it a bit, to tweak it more to my liking).   Like I said, just a teaser for now.  Stay tuned.