Everyone has arrived

So finally everyone has arrived at our hotel. They seemed to be taking the security "issue" quite seriously and so they all went off together to run up the river. I think that some people were going to run up the mountain that it quite close. I decided not to until I am finished racing as it seems to be at least 400m of climb.

It has cooled down a bit today, but with the clouds overhead it is still very humid. At this time of year it doesn't rain in Cali and so although there are often clouds overhead, they usually make way for the sun sometime during the day. I ran my final track session today, just some easy strides and I am hoping to rest before the competition actually starts. I have been having a few problems with my right calf (just a knot) but my main problem has been my left foot which seems to be compensating for it. Some K tape and it seems to feel a bit better although I didn't feel it while I was running with my sprint shoes this morning.

It is rather inconvenient that we have to travel half an hour to get food for lunch and supper. It might mean that we miss the gymnastics tonight where Bianca will be competing again. She had a solid second place in the qualifier today, so she should come away with a medal.

Being part of team South Africa certainly has its perks. On friday (and saturday) I will have a physio travelling with me. The plan is just to cool down well and have an ice bath in preparation for the race on saturday. Definitely nothing that I have ever experienced before, so I am looking forward to it.


Start Lists and all other tracking etc can be found here: http://wg2013.orienteering.org/

Ultimate Frisbee between USA and Japan

Jujitsu

World games plaza

Group gymnastics [Hardcore!]

Rugby 7's, some new sports and the Finns

Today I woke up just before six to go and have a shortish run with the physio along the river. The idea was just to stretch the legs and get used to the temperature here. It isn't that hot at that time, but it's still good practice.

We waited at the hotel until around 10 o clock before setting off with the rugby guys to their training area. The management team here didn't really have a track organised for me so I decided to travel with the rugby guys in the hope that I could use the fields for my session. There was good news as there happened to be a tar track (with marked distances) right next to their training area. I warmed up by running around the entire area and happened to notice that there was a really nice tartan track just over the fence. Not wanting to damage my legs on the tar, we set off to find our way in. This didn't prove too difficult and I ended up completing a good final track session before the races on friday.

Tania and I decided to watch some of the other sports and so we took a taxi to the stadium. Some nervous moments followed as we watched the number on the taxi tick up (to 70 at one point), we thought that we might not be able to afford the trip. Turned out that this wasn't the value in Pesos :). Ultimate frisbee between USA and Japan was a really great game to watch and then we went to watch some Jujitsu. I am still not quite sure of the exact rules...

Coming back to our hotel we found Minna and Maria sitting around waiting for the bus. They needed to go to the catering center which is 15 minutes away. We have spoken to Jean and she said that we may be allowed to just have our meals at the hotel with the rest of the SA team. It doesn't make sense to rely on the official bus system here and travel so far away for food.

Minna didn't have any idea of the terrain or even where the sprint will be held so I am certainly at an advantage. Most of the athletes should arrive tomorrow and wednesday. I'm fast and over any remnants of jet lag that may have remained after the long flights.

Bring on friday and saturday!

Colombian Coffee

Sevens training session

Pulling for bronze and a touch of the good life

This morning started off with the entire SA team colour coordinating in order to support the tug of war team. Some of the management staff apparently didn't get the memo. The seven's guys seem to control much of what goes on here [although their manager actually seems to have all of the power].

We travelled to the local university and then popped out just after the tug of war started to do some running on some google maps on the area just next to where the sprint was held [right outside the embargoed area]. I have a very good idea of what to expect now. I will probably try and run another session there later this week.

This afternoon we went to the local market with Dayron (our new local friend). He is a really great guy. He runs his own language school here so his english is amazing and he is very keen to show us around the city. We walked back to our hotel and stopped for some good Columbian coffee along the way. An artist stopped us along the way and did a "raffle", which was free, to give away some of his books (which detail his work). I managed to "win" one, which was awesome! Tania also "won" one, so the orienteers seemed to have one up on the aerosport guys. Wallets now much lighter we chatted as we walked along the boulevard and stopped (frequently) for photos with the locals. The people here are amazing and very friendly. They stop to say hi and are always there to help you.

I've had an amazing two days in Cali and still have a week left!

Watching the medal ceremony for the lifesavers after they won two bronze medals.

The South African ladies pulling their way to a bronze medal in the tug of war.

Colombia beating Switzerland in the inline roller hockey.

The artist that stopped us to look at his work.

Walking to the hotel along the boulevard.

Arrived in Cali

The long trip to Cali started on Thursday evening at around 16:00. Tania and I met the sevens and Chris (and his wife) from Aerosport and we checked in together. The efficiency of the sevens' managers was absolutely amazing, definitely showing how many times they had done this before. A list had all of our luggage on it (with the luggage barcodes) just in case things were misplaced. They also helped to boost moral with the regular fist bump in the airport after each flight.

Accreditation was rather uneventful with the odd person smoking in the courtyard but we received some awesome free stuff (although at that point we were in dire need of sleep). The rugby guys posed for a few photos and then we were off to our hotel. I'm staying with the aerosport guy and Tania is staying with his wife next door.

Today we met a really nice Colombian volunteer. The Admin staff here have found a few locals that are driving us around and showing us different places. It is really great because you get to see parts of the city that you wouldn't otherwise get to see. Today we went to look at some of the residential areas and park areas to try and get an idea of what the sprint and middle distance will be like. On our way we went to Saint Antonio which is an old colonial part of the city where the original houses from the 1600s still stand.

Now we are off to watch the life savers compete and hopefully we will get a medal!

San Antonio

The Stadium where the opening and closing ceremony will be held.

Ju jitsu (right next to the stadium)

Accreditation [Spot the rugby players :P]