Andrea's Brazil Journal #6 - Final Weekend in Rio de Janeiro (Day 2)

FINAL DAY in Brazil. And it definitely did not disappoint! Here's a map of a few of the areas we visited in Rio -

The Ipanema Beach is about 2.5 miles long, so I ran the length of the beach and back, with a little extra thrown in there. They close the road next to the beach on Sundays so there was lots of space to run and lots of people doing just that. This beach is most beautiful in the mornings because it is east facing - directly in the sunlight. I took my camera with me running, like a true ultra-marathoner!

I had to get a few running photos on the beach in Brazil so Jon took a few for me. I finished off the run with a dip into the ocean. I could get used to that!

Jon's friend recommended that we visit a small local's beach a little farther away from the touristy spots. On our way out to this beach, we got to see - up close - some of the favelas in Rio. They are very poor areas with a lot of crime and houses built upon each other. I heard that there are some favelas that have over a million people! They are located all throughout the city on hilltops, and the city is really trying to clean these areas up in time for the 2013 World Cup and 2016 Olympics (they have a long way to go).

We finally made it to the beach! The location, the views, the atmosphere....it was just perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better afternoon at the beach in Brazil.

The local Brazilians are awesome at boogie boarding! They were throwing in 360s and jumping the waves. I was also quite impressed with their abilities with a soccer ball. Several groups were playing a hackie sack-type game with the ball and they definitely have skills! They also have "different" bathing suits! :)

You can tell that I was happy to be there!!

Great times and some great memories. Now back to reality :o)

Andrea's Brazil Journal #5 - Final Weekend in Rio de Janeiro (Day 1)

After a long work week in Sao Paulo, my co-worker Jon and I were ready for a little fun in the sun. We flew to Rio de Janeiro on Friday night for our final weekend in Brazil.

I woke up the next morning for my long run. Rio has a beautiful lake called Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas with 4.8 mile loop. The views are spectacular and I ran a few laps around it. There were lots of local running clubs with tents, stretching areas, and trainers along the path - it seems like Rio has a pretty active running community.

Then Jon and I headed up to Sugarloaf Mountain. We found trails off the beaten path with lots of viewpoints. 

We spent the rest of the day at a couple beaches - a beach near Sugarloaf and Ipanema Beach. I tried to get over my fear of the ocean and swim for a while -  it was COLD but fun!

One more blog from Brazil coming up....

Andrea's Brazil Journal #4 - Sao Paulo (Day 2)

The second day in Sao Paulo was fun! I ran at Ibirapuera Park again for a super slow, easy run. After walking around the whole day yesterday, my legs were tired!

My coworker Jon and I ventured into a more "locals spot" of the city called Vila Madalena. We stopped into a very artsy restaurant for lunch.

This area is famous for its graffiti art. There were alleys full of this type of art and it was unlike anything I had seen before - definitely some weird art, but lots of creativity. Cool stuff, for sure! However, I can't say that I wasn't a little nervous going into these alleys!

We walked by a cemetery, and it was totally dramatic. The statues and depicted scenes on the graves were quite a spectacle.

The day ended with a Samba party. We came across this gathering of about 200 people crowded around a band of 15 or so playing the drums, guitar, shakers - you name it. It was a cool experience. Samba music is very upbeat and the people were really into it!

The rest of the week in Sao Paulo was devoted to working (a lot!). Luckily we started working late in the mornings most days so I could get in some solid mileage.

My favorite weekend of the trip (back in Rio) coming up in the next post......

Andrea's Brazil Journal #3 - Sao Paulo (Day 1)

I flew into Sao Paulo on Friday evening. On Saturday and Sunday, my co-workers and I toured around the city and found some pretty fun things to do.

Saturday morning I went for a longer run around Ibirapuera Park, a beautiful park in the heart of Sao Paulo. It had a 4-5 mile dirt loop that made for a perfect morning run.

After running, my coworkers and I found a huge food market downtown - quite a bit different from those in the US. Lots and lots of meat - dried fish, sausages, etc. Also, they had huge blocks of cheese and an amazing selection of local fruits (many of which I had never even heard about).

After the food market, we walked around the city and did a little souvenir shopping.

 

Check out the price tag on a pair of Asics shoes (equivalent of $380)!

Dinner was at a churrascaria - a Brazilian steakhouse where the waiters constantly bring around a variety of meats to try. It was delicious, and I probably ate 16 oz of red meat that night! Good for my iron!!

A fun day! More to come from the rest of the weekend.....

While she was gone...

Andrea running on the beach in Brazil this weekend. I think she is trying to make us all jealous!

Andrea returns from Brazil tomorrow, after being gone for 17 days! She'll be posting lots of photos and stories this week from her time in Sao Paulo and another weekend on the beach in Rio. She would have blogged more during the trip, but her internet access has been spotty and slow. She did manage to send me the picture above before she got on her flight back to the states this evening...

So what did I do during the time she was away?

• Ran 326 miles including some of the hardest workouts of the training cycle - Exhibits A - B - C - D - E
• 2000 perfect pushups
• 650 perfect pullups (and yes I just did extra pushups and pullups to make these numbers come out so round)
• Watched some really bad movies, including Cowboys and Aliens and Underworld: Awakening. 
• Resisted the temptation to go see the Hunger Games without Andrea
• Loaded about 200 new songs onto my ipod. That helped with all the solo miles.
• Invented a new beverage (26.2 Dew) that I will not be drinking at Boston, because I didn't make the cut for personal fluids on the course.
• Read Once a Runner for about the 20th time
• Ate lots of spinach. She doesn't like how I like to add a pound of chopped spinach to all casseroles (although my iron levels are superb, so clearly its not hurting me!)
• Probably also ate too much candy, but I ran 20 miles a day, so who the heck cares?!?!
• Spring cleaning of the condo
• Sleep. Lots and lots of sleep.
• Didn't think about the Boston Marathon at all. Not even once. OK that's a total lie. But I swear I didn't spend more than 7 hours per day thinking about it. I even made a new rule - no thinking about racing after 8pm, otherwise I can't fall asleep!

So really... nothing really that much different than normal! I'm very much looking forward to her return tomorrow, though.

All a guy really needs - every possible type of Diet Dew

I sent her this picture a few days ago... so I guess we'll see if she actually comes back... she might have actually gotten on a place to south pole after seeing this! :-)