May 26

FUEL:
Yesterday, I ate a bit of cactus and a grasshopper.  The cactus might've been pickled or something, because it had that taste.  The grasshopper was fried crispy, although there was still some squishiness to it.  Not bad.  A very distinctive flavor, some of which might've come from whatever spices they're using.  I've loved the food I've had here in Mexico.  I love spicy food and powerful flavors (in general, lots of garlic, lots of salt, lots of whatever), so everything has been great.  The first few days, I had lots of chicken and lots of fish.  The last couple of days, I was feeling overloaded with meat, like I ate so much of it at each meal that my tummy was never not digesting it, so the past 2 days, I went as veggie-ful as I could.  I tend to do that on these trips... overload on meat the first few days, because meals come 3/day, rather than 6/day, so I go for meat so that I can be held over until the next meal, but it's just bigger portions than I'd usually have at one time.  So I spend the second half of the trip craving veggies.  Breakfast every day has been great - skim milk (milk from Taiwan and Mexico taste similar, and different from the kind in the US), and papaya topped with almond slivers and shredded coconut... lots of papaya... so good.

FIT:
Third altitude run.  I think the first 3 days, my head was a little bit swimmy all day, but since then, I've felt more normal.  I seem to be more woooh than normal post-lunch.  I don't know if it's due to my tummy digesting, taking away blood flow that's already lower in oxygen than normal, or if it's just from working all day and needing a mental break.

Anyway, the run went by pretty fast this time.  When you get used to a course or a locale (like a particular gym), you are able to zone out, and that's when the miles fly by.  If a place is new to you, you are on alert every moment, and you keep looking around and noticing things and taking in your environment, which makes every second last longer than it normally would. 

So... ran... felt easier than the previous two runs.  Each one has gotten easier, although part of the reason that the second was easier than the first was that I took it easier and went slower.  My body felt like it could handle going faster today, though.

3.1 in 26:18 (vs. 26:05 on run 1, 27:09 on run 2), 8:29 ave.  Splits> 5:25, 5:18, 5:17, 5:13, 5:03.

Ohh... interesting stat... 190bpm after this run, vs. 168 bpm after run 2.  Much of it just depends on how hard you sprint at the end, rather than how well-adjusted you are to atitude... so getting my RHR would be better, although I don't know how to do that correctly.  Lying down?  While I'm sleeping?  After I wake, I get jittery, so I think that value would get skewed.  Eh... and a bunch of other factor mess it up too... most of all stress, but also probably your digestion, when you last moved any part of the body, whether you get yourself worked up just thinking about your bpm, etc.