Racers, runners, striders, joggers, walkers, waddlers and even a few on wheels joined forces this morning for the El Corte Inglés 10k on the streets of Barcelona and Montjuic.
Feeling ace being together with other runners for the first time since Beachy Head
This is by far the highest race number I ever recieved, over 70 000 were registered for the race which was hosted by a popular company and entries were free of charge. This appealed to me, since we pretty much live off dust at the moment and it’s no wonder that it also attracted many that are not runners of habit. It was pretty much like running in a colourful snake for the whole race, dodging walkers who, against all common sense, had started at the front, passing families walking hand-in-hand and children on scooters and in prams. Jolly good fun despite the obstacles.
Taking off! So cool to run on these big avenues completely sealed off from traffic.
One of the highlights was running a lap on the Camp Nou stadium, now the second stadium I’ve run in, not bad. As for the time, I wasn’t expecting a PB today and, all in all, I must say that I’m pleased with my 1h10min – considering both my overall fitness and the challenges of running in such a populated field, which never thinned out during the race.
Time flies past in a stressful life where nothing really happens. I started my new job and quit again within a week – lesson learned, if it seems too good, it usually is. Now I have a new job coming up for the month of April, just a short gig but an interesting opportunity to teach in a Swedish environment. I was hoping to pick up something for March as well, but it seems like a dead run now despite ongoing attempts.
There haven’t been many opportunities for riding but my running is coming along nicely. It feels great to be back again, it has been rather a struggle after a longer period of fatigue and now I pace myself to not exhaust my energy levels but instead enjoy a shorter run – quality instead of quantity. Our new accommodation has a rather nice city run down along Passeig de Sant Joan, past Arc de Triumf and down to Parc de la Ciutadella. There are always lots of things going on in the park, practising acrobats or spontaneous dancing, so it makes for a nice loop and then I head back up again. Best of all, running is for free. Hopefully, I can make it down to the beach for a run soon as well. Poco a poco as we say in Spanish – a bit at a time.
On one of our rare excurcions we went to Esglesia del Sagrat Cor, with the intention to enjoy the view over Barcelona and the sea. Surprisingly enough, we enjoyed the church more than the view, partly because it sky clouded over while en route, but also because it was the first church on top of a church that we have ever seen.
Overall, life has been very much about being an immigrant since arrival, trying to fix accommodation and job while taking on the paperwork. It often feels like a task from Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, it is difficult to know where to start. Now at least we have accommodation where we can register, which will make things easier, a bank account has been organised and lost papers have been retrieved. Immigrating is hard work at the best of times. I came here because I wanted to, nothing forced me to, nevertheless, sometimes it feels like a struggle to understand the order of things, but that is the essence of culture clash. They are often daunting, like when my director of studies tells me to buy sweets for the students as a way of motivating them to behave in class – a perfectly acceptable way of classroom management in Spain it seems, however, it clashes with my culture where sweets are for the weekend and to give sweets to someone else’s children is just pure wrong (for health reasons among other things), especially in the role of a teacher. A more pleasant side of a culture clash is being woken up by the sound of firecrackers outside the balcony and finding out that it is the saint’s day of this particular district of Barcelona. Later the same day, we enjoyed a parade with riders and horses, drums and trumpets, and showers of hard boiled sweets which made the children and elderly alike crawl on the ground in pursuit of them. Sweets that made the streets sticky and caused my shoes to squeak all the way back home.
Quite a different awakening and a very exciting start of the day.
This autumn has been a bit slow on the running side. After my 40th birthday-charity run for Pikilily I’ve struggled to maintain consistency in running, nothing left to motivate me and often short runs seems useless to me. I long for the long runs but at the same time I don’t want to put too much pressure on my foot and risk breaking up the stress fracture, again. Being injured is just plain -boooring – and I needed to find a remedy, not only for my foot but also for my mind. I needed to mix and mingle with runners again so I made myself an excuse to go to London and run with lovely Sudbury Court RC, a burst around the streets of Wembley paired with a post-run drink at the club house gave me an opportunity to catch up with friends and get an update of who is running what this spring. This, in turn, motivated me to look for some races for myself, and since the silly season was coming up – Chase the Pudding Santa Race on Weymouth beach was a strong candidate, it doesn’t get sillier than that. 300 Santas chasing a pudding along the beach 🙂 I recommend it!
Super happy to have been able to inspire Sheonagh to join me for Chase the Pudding Santa race on Weymouth beach. Photo courtesy Frances Underwood
As I was going to Brighton for Christmas, I fancied doing a Christmas Eve parkrun as well. Running on this particular day is a family tradition that dad and I cherish and although we ran in different parts of Europe running is still something that connects us. Another parkrun was accomplished on New Year’s Eve, this time on the Hove Promenade. In addition, if I’m being really good, I might treat myself to a New Year’s Day parkrun as well, in which case I can tick off Hove park.
Preston parkrun on Christmas Eve, Julia sports her Vegan Runners club vest while I go all out in a Santa suit. Support by Georgina and Sue.
As the new year begins and our plans for our future become clearer, with ferry booked to Spain and job applications sent off to schools and academies, I look forward to more running in the sun. Hopefully, I’ll be fit for a half-marathon soon, aiming for the Barcelona half in February. I’m slowly lengthening my distances now, trying not to overdo it, starting with a 10k along the Brighton seafront. I’m very much back to square one, like 3 years ago, when I trained for my first half marathon and just wanted to be able to complete it. It doesn’t matter, time is an illusion, as long as I can run, I’ll be happy!
What are your plans and your new targets? – please share your thought with me!
