San Martino 2013
The Rundown:
Running makes me feel at home

I ran a free 10k in Ourense

I enjoyed a delicious post-run meal

I am registering for a half marathon in Madrid.

 

            A common theme in my blogs lately has been running. As I’ve said previously, I have found that running gives me a sense of being at home no matter where I am.  When I have my music playing and my body moving, it doesn’t matter what is around me, what I feel inside is familiar. Because of this, I have gotten into running a bit more since my move to Spain. Of course it started out small, maybe a 20-minute run, maybe just a long walk, but over time my endurance has picked up. I told my little sister, about this and she decided that we should run our first marathon together with our brother. And because I was feeling really good about my running at this point, I agreed. However, now that the weather is getting colder and eating and drinking inside all day sounds much more appealing, I’m starting to regret this decision. But as my favorite Spanish phrase goes “poco a poco”…little by little.

            So I decided a good way to try to stay on track was to run a few races to hold me accountable. The first one I registered for was a 10k. It was free and you got a free t-shirt out of the deal so it was hard to say no. The weekend before I met another America, Nithin, who was registered and we decided to go together. The race started at 11 am and it was a pretty chilly morning. There were around 9,000 runners participating. The race started at the millennium bridge, across the bridge to the other side of the city, back across the roman bridge, through streets and alleyways, up and down hills, back to the other side of the river and ending again near the millennium bridge.

            The race wasn’t the worst thing in the world, although it could have been better. I wasn’t overly pleased with my time, but I did tell myself I wasn’t going for a time, only to run the whole thing…in which case, mission accomplished. It is really difficult for me to get into a groove when there are so many people around, which is one thing I really fear about running the marathon, because for the entire hour of the 10k I felt uneasy and tense. It also didn’t help that for about one kilometer I was running with my head pointed at the sky trying to get my bloody nose to stop while not stopping my run. But, all in all, it was a fun race, it was free, and I was able to train a bit for the marathon.

 

            The race also had a kid’s division that ran a shorter race afterwards. One of the boys in my host family, Samuel, ran in this race with his friend. Afterwards the family invited me back to their house for lunch. I was looking forward to some nice, healthy food after my race. Instead I was given wine, liquor café, and cake, fresh bread, empanada, and cheese stuffed pasta. The food may not have had the most nutrition but it was nourishing nonetheless.

 

            Since the race, I have not run as much as I would like to. However, Nithin informed me he will be running a marathon in Madrid in April and I will be signing up for the half. We have a planned to “really” starting to train after Christmas break, I’ll keep you posted if this actually follows through. Until then, run along my dears.