Fall in Kocani

The Fall in Kocani is in full swing.

Well, since my last post about a month ago, I've had a chance to settle into a new routine, along with a new home and work site in Kocani. In the process, we've seen some real Fall weather lately, not unlike a typical late October/early November back on the East Coast. Well, minus the giant freakstorm hurricane. For instance, over the last weekend we had more rain in 3 days than we probably accumulated over the course of July and August combined. While it put a damper on outdoor activities, it was a welcome sight for once. Unfortunately, on Monday the rain was borderline torrential, causing some brief local flooding and turning the north-south streets into another river running alongside the Kocanska Reka. For me, I had impeccable timing for when I decided to depart/return from my daily runs in the morning, managing to catch a break or the miss the onset of the downpour, though on Wednesday it caught me right as I turned around to head home. You can't win 'em all I suppose.

I have to admit that training for my first marathon has occupied quite a lot of my energy and focus over the past month, and now I'm sitting here one week away from hopping on a plane to Istanbul. It is hard to believe that I started training for this back in early August, and furthermore how much confidence I've gained since I first started. Now, I look back at the distances I was running in those early weeks and laugh. But at the time, I really did not know what my body could handle, since I have never been a serious long distance runner before, just someone who ran for fitness, usually no more than 5 or 6 miles, while doing other things like biking and hiking. Moreover, it had been years since I've trained for anything, much less a marathon, basically since the end of my rowing days up at end of 2004. What I've found is that whatever drive I used have when I was a rower hasn't gone away, and waking up to go running in the morning these days is no different to me now than jumping on a erg for an hour or carrying a single out of the boat shed. Even my fears related to my unique physical conditions have become a non-issue more or less right after I walk out my front door. I guess it is proof that the body can adapt, even when you think it can't after years of frustration and struggle. Ultimately, this whole experience has been a success, and it doesn't matter what happens after I cross the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul on November 11th (besides the inevitable pain of 26.2 miles). Of course, I have my specific goal time in mind and I am optimistic that I will be able to achieve it, but I will only be mildly disappointed if I fail to reach it (yes I'm a competitor at heart, moral victories aren't quite enough for me). Most important though has been the 14 week struggle itself, and I am really glad I decided to go along with a friend's idea to do this back in July while we were pick-axing away at a 4th Century archaeological site. Istanbul is just the icing on the cake. But before changing gears on this post, here are a few photos that are telling from my daily experience: becoming a MotionX GPS nut and tracking every run on my Google Doc spreadsheet:

My longest training run...you can see at the top where I stopped for 3 minutes to have my first drink of water at 20 miles in. Thank God for the water stations awaiting me in Istanbul...

Yep, I'm a bit of nerd with this one. But I must admit it was the highlight of my day to enter in my info after a successful run...

Besides the marathon training, I've been trying to get better integrated into my new community and I am looking for potential secondary projects to keep me occupied. I've decided to take over as team leader for a Model UN club here in Kocani and will be starting weekly English classes with a local beekeeper association after I get back from Istanbul. My main work is with a small youth-focused NGO called the Association of Law Students and Young Lawyers Pavel Satev Kocani. It's easier to just call it 'Pavel Satev'. I think there is a lot of potential for developing the capacity of this organization, and hopefully some of the ideas I have for helping with this will come to fruition over my next (and final) year of service here in Macedonia.

Beyond that, winter is coming...which I note with some dread, but that also means I will be going home to America on December 20th! I really can't wait to see everyone, and enjoy a wonderful trip to Santa Fe for Christmas time. I'm planning to bring plenty of gifts home, naturally including Macedonian wine, rakija, and honey. If only there wasn't a two-liter limit. But first things first, one more week to go before Istanbul, lots of carbs to consume and tapering to endure. Here are some more photos of the Fall I just took today. Also looking forward to getting a new camera when I get back to the states too...this one is on its last legs...