In Valencia

Today was spent travelling. About 12 hours before finally landing at the Valencia airport. I figured my air time so far in this adventure is about 22 hours. Total travel time including airports, taxis, etc. is probably closer to 35.

Something I forgot to talk about yesterday in Luxor. Much of the area we ran in is farm country, growing sugar cane, clover, and other various crops. People would be piling clover onto donkey-drawn carts to feed their animals. Other carts were loaded with sugar cane. On my third of the four loops, near the end, two older men were sitting beside the road keeping an eye on a couple piles of onions. By the time I was in the fourth loop, the pile had grown to enormous, with younger people down in the field bringing them up an armload at a time to add to the pile. Life in the area is simple, but everyone along the way was nice to us.

I finally checked into my hotel tonight, then took a taxi to the race HQ to pick up my race number and packet. Met my contact, Paco Borao, and he helped me out with directions and times, so I can get to the race on time tomorrow. My legs are feeling great, like I hadn´t even done a marathon yesterday. Don´t know why, but I´m not complaining.

Love to everybody back home. I never did see any scorpions or quicksand. The worst thing that happened to me in Egypt is that my shower didn´t work quite right and I had to take a bath instead. Oh well--maybe it will get more exciting later.