I have only run one major race in my life, and it was a half marathon in Nashville with my sister. My entire time in Spain I enjoyed running in the afternoons and the once-a-week brutal stairs at the top of the one hill in Huelva.
My roommate Sarah and I decided early on to run the 10K race in Madrid and take it head on! My half marathon in Nashville was sponsored by Rock n' Roll and this was their first international race. What an awesome thing to be apart of!
Sarah and I loaded the dreaded overnight bus from Huelva to Madrid. (10pm-6am) We arrived to the heart of the city and were overwhelmed by the metro system, of course. I think being half asleep also didn't help! We navigated our way and probably an hour later we made it to our hostel, Albergue Juvenil. It was huge and the people were very welcoming. During breakfast we met someone running the race, too from France. Another travel we met was a passer through our age that was just seeing the world. People we met always had the most interesting stories about their travels. It's cool to say I have stories to bring to the table now.
Sarah and I walked all over Madrid... but not before stopping by Starbucks and indulging. I think our entire time in Europe we didn't pass up one opportunity to get some sweet overpriced American coffee. Our approach to site seeing was fantastic: Start walking and when something looks important, pull out the map and figure out just what you're looking at.
We also had to find where to pick up our numbers and tags. The place was on the edge of town quite far from where we were staying. We hauled butt and finally made it to the Expo. It was nothing special at all but wow there were so many people from all over. We then treated ourselves to their pasta lunch with all you can drink beer. Why yes, thank you! A few hours later and our happy feet walked the rest of the city to indulge in the views.
The next morning, Sunday, was the race. We were pretty close to the start so we didn't rush to get there early. The only problem was we couldn't for the life of us find where to drop off our things for them to hold while we ran. We finally found an English speaker, and she informed us that we had to leave it at the finish... oh just a mile away... 15 minutes before the race started. You've GOT to be kidding me. So we ran all the way to the finish, ran all the way back, to realize we were one of the last people to start the race.
We took off and we were on our way. There weren't many fans watching, but maybe there was at the start and we just missed it all (??) It was so cool to run down the middle of major roads in MADRID, SPAiN and know you were kicking butt! There were 18,000 participants including 900 Americans running through the center of Madrid while seeing amazing places starting at Plaza Colon, passing the Real Madrid Stadium, the Alcala Arch and Gran Via, and ending in the beautiful Retiro Park. We finished in an hour and were soooo proud of ourselves... WE DID IT!!
After the race we decided to take a paddle boat out on a lake in the Retiro Park. The park was absolutely gorgeous and one of my favorite places to spend time. We then had lunch at Cien Chupitos accompanied by a large celebratory Cruzcampo! We toured the city and even got lost looking for... Victoria's Secret? I can't remember but my oh my where were we?!
This was one of the most unique and exciting things I did in Spain. Not many people can say they've done what I have. I had a great time with Sarah, she always pushed me to my best. I appreciate her helping me run and I loved sharing this experience with her. I know we have some in our future!
My roommate Sarah and I decided early on to run the 10K race in Madrid and take it head on! My half marathon in Nashville was sponsored by Rock n' Roll and this was their first international race. What an awesome thing to be apart of!
Sarah and I loaded the dreaded overnight bus from Huelva to Madrid. (10pm-6am) We arrived to the heart of the city and were overwhelmed by the metro system, of course. I think being half asleep also didn't help! We navigated our way and probably an hour later we made it to our hostel, Albergue Juvenil. It was huge and the people were very welcoming. During breakfast we met someone running the race, too from France. Another travel we met was a passer through our age that was just seeing the world. People we met always had the most interesting stories about their travels. It's cool to say I have stories to bring to the table now.
Sarah and I walked all over Madrid... but not before stopping by Starbucks and indulging. I think our entire time in Europe we didn't pass up one opportunity to get some sweet overpriced American coffee. Our approach to site seeing was fantastic: Start walking and when something looks important, pull out the map and figure out just what you're looking at.
We also had to find where to pick up our numbers and tags. The place was on the edge of town quite far from where we were staying. We hauled butt and finally made it to the Expo. It was nothing special at all but wow there were so many people from all over. We then treated ourselves to their pasta lunch with all you can drink beer. Why yes, thank you! A few hours later and our happy feet walked the rest of the city to indulge in the views.
The next morning, Sunday, was the race. We were pretty close to the start so we didn't rush to get there early. The only problem was we couldn't for the life of us find where to drop off our things for them to hold while we ran. We finally found an English speaker, and she informed us that we had to leave it at the finish... oh just a mile away... 15 minutes before the race started. You've GOT to be kidding me. So we ran all the way to the finish, ran all the way back, to realize we were one of the last people to start the race.
We took off and we were on our way. There weren't many fans watching, but maybe there was at the start and we just missed it all (??) It was so cool to run down the middle of major roads in MADRID, SPAiN and know you were kicking butt! There were 18,000 participants including 900 Americans running through the center of Madrid while seeing amazing places starting at Plaza Colon, passing the Real Madrid Stadium, the Alcala Arch and Gran Via, and ending in the beautiful Retiro Park. We finished in an hour and were soooo proud of ourselves... WE DID IT!!
After the race we decided to take a paddle boat out on a lake in the Retiro Park. The park was absolutely gorgeous and one of my favorite places to spend time. We then had lunch at Cien Chupitos accompanied by a large celebratory Cruzcampo! We toured the city and even got lost looking for... Victoria's Secret? I can't remember but my oh my where were we?!
This was one of the most unique and exciting things I did in Spain. Not many people can say they've done what I have. I had a great time with Sarah, she always pushed me to my best. I appreciate her helping me run and I loved sharing this experience with her. I know we have some in our future!
Post a Comment