WHAT HAVE I DONE?

As soon as we got to Miami on Wednesday I began asking everyone I met if they were running the ½ marathon or the full.  Everyone I met had some injury and had backed down to the ½ or even some to the 5k.  I didn’t even know they had a 5k.  Well, today I finally found someone who is running the full marathon and by the end of the day found a total of 5 runners out for the full.

I think the real reason for the lack of full runners is twofold.  First, the heat and humidity is unreal.  I feel my running in Florida has trained me pretty well for the heat.  However, the humidity here is twice what we have in Florida and just looking out the window makes you sweat.

The other factor is the fumes.  Yes, there are 60-year-old cars that are just beautiful, but they have failed to have them tuned up and the exhaust is exhausting!   Even running tonight along the ocean the fumes from the cars and motorcycles was overwhelming.  I did notice a car with an inspection sticker from 2009.  Not sure what they inspected but I am pretty sure if was not on the emissions.

We did some touring of “Old Havana” which looks a lot like “Havana” since not much has happened here in 60 years.  They are starting to rehabilitate the buildings but the whole city needs a lot of work.  They are lucky they are not located in an earthquake prone area because a good shake would pretty much flatten the city.  The buildings are mostly brick and lack reinforcement.  You can determine the lack of stability because many of the buildings have walls or roofs that have at least partially collapsed.  An interesting thing we learned was that the churches are no longer churches, they are museums.

The schools and education are a priority.  The children at a young age are directed towards a potential career and then are given a basic education and then specialize in a trade (doctor, engineer, ballerina or athlete).  There is a lot of pride in Cuba on the education.

Speaking of education, I met a young lady while in line to get my number for the marathon that is spending a semester abroad and is running on Sunday (yes, the ½ marathon) with two other friends.   She will be back at Harvard in January, but her view on studying with Cuban students was fascinating and would take another blog to explain.

The communication is better than thought – both Internet and telephone – but very expensive.  I will be able to send my blogs out daily and some pictures but will hold a bunch back until I get back to the states and can send them all for “free”.