Long story: I did go running once. Our second day in Cuzco, I went running in our neighborhood, up and down the narrow, steep, cobblestone streets. It was definitely difficult, mostly because I was trying to avoid slipping and falling to my death or being mowed down by a 2011 Hyundai (an oddly common car in Cuzco). I had to get an early start on our Sacred Valley tour, so the run was only 30 minutes; that was enough, though, given the steep streets and the altitude. Going from 32 feet below sea level to 12000 above certainly challenges your lungs. At the top of some of the steeper hills, I could really feel the blood hammering in my head as my heart tried to deliver was little oxygen I'd taken in to my body.
Here's a little video of the streets outside our hotel, where I was running. And yeah, I flip the camera half-way through. Sorry about that. I've actually never used the video on my phone before.
I planned to run again, but - didn't happen. It never really does on vacation. You can only pack a small bag to bring to Aguas Calientes (our next stop), and running clothes wouldn't fit. That's fine, because Machu Picchu was actually a pretty exercise-heavy visit, if you count tromping up and down steep mountainsides and stone stairways for two days. Then I wanted to run again in Cuzco or in Lima, but (spoiler) I got sick while in Aguas Calientes and couldn't.
So I packed shoes, bra, socks, shorts, etc all for one thirty minute run. I think in the future I'll just embrace vacation for what it is and forget all that nonsense; I'm just historically terrible at getting runs in on vacation!
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I figure with all the walking that you did that it would be enough to maintain some sort of fitness level. And besides - it's a vacation. So what if you don't keep to your normal schedule.
ReplyDeleteI think when you are in altitude you burn calories without even moving, so you are good to go!
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