Day 638 – South America – Chile [Rest Day in Pichilemu]

19/01/22

 Rest day in Pichilemu (Chile, South America)

A day in wind-swept Pichilemu, walking around and taking in the holiday atmosphere

The delicate art of barbecuing with a glass of Rose in one hand

Yesterday’s run was concluded by a fine barbecue in the garden of the little cabana we are staying in. We had tried the night before to go and eat out, but it appeared that all the restaurants down near the seafront were exclusively outdoor sitting. A covid measure? The city is swept by the wind (hence a great surfing spot) but it gets really cold. My Garmin measurements lately show that I start running in 10 Celsius (approx) and by the time I finish it reaches 30+ Celsius. The point is that it really gets cold at night!

Sunny blue skies

Today we went around town, half hoping we would be able to enjoy a little bit of body-surfing. But the water was very cold, we did not have wetsuits and we watched the action from the shore instead. It’s quite a touristic little spot. And we reflected that we haven’t seen any foreign tourists since our crossing started (to the exception of a few cyclists heading down to Patagonia).

The local rides

A word about my current mileage, over a month into the crossing. One effect of having support is that I am no longer bound by geography for distances. I can choose to stop the run where I want, and we commute from finish/ re-start point with the campervan. Where the US crossing counted several 50km+ per week, I am now able to stick closer to 40km every day. My average for the EU crossing was 40.3k/day, that of the US was 41.7k/day. I am now averaging close to 39.5k/day for the South American crossing (I am hoping by the time I reach Buenos Aires it will be around 40k/day).

I am glad to no longer have to run much longer distances. Meanwhile I really am looking forward to reaching Valparaiso next week… and turning East towards the Andes!!