Sunday, March 7, 2010

Marató de BCN

Despite having to work Friday night and Saturday evening, I had a great weekend, thanks, of course, to running. I walked home from work sobbing on Friday night. No need to go into the gory details, but let's just say the art world is full of assholes. I'm sure most workplaces are though. Anyway after my breakdown, Charles and I went out for Asian tapas at a new place in Sant Pere: Doble Zero www.doblezeroo.com. We shared a vegetarian sushi platter and I had two, much needed, glasses of wine.

Saturday I woke late, and got ready for a long run. I had coffee, an apple and lots of water. Next time I think I should probably drink less coffee and eat a little more. I ran for an hour and 40 minutes and have no real idea how far I went, but I'm hoping it was almost 15 km. During the run I felt great, slow but strong. The weather was perfect for running: sunny with some wind, probably in the mid-fifties. My goal of going I-podless? I don't see it happening. It's one thing for a race, but on a longer solo run, the music carries me through.

When I got home I was starving and before showering or even stretching I ripped open a bag of Special K and went hogwild. I'm thinking I should have eaten some cereal an hour or so before the run. Once showered and still famished, I headed to our neighbors' terrace for a lovely, sunny, and very healthy, lunch (chicken breast, hummus, three different salads, pesto pasta and an amazing homemade flan for dessert). I had some wine too, in order to prepare for work at 5 pm. Work we'll skip and I'll just say that by 9 pm I was at home watching The Wire with Charles.

This morning I was up by 8 am and on the street by 9:45 to see the first runners of the Barcelona marathon fly by my house. Those guys were amazing to watch, km 37 and they were going all out. Oh but how I love watching all the participants!
Everyone had their name on their number, so it was fun to call out in people’s native language. Vinga Joan! Come on, Patrick! Allons-y, Pierre! I cheered like a crazy woman. As I've mentioned previously, Catalans are not very eager running fans, but I think my enthusiasm made up for their coldness. In fact, I think I scared a few grouchy natives, but I hope I brightened a few lonely runners' day. My wonderful neighbors (hostesses of Saturday's lunch) were looking great when they came by and they finished strong: 4:04 and 4:14. Very impressive.

I must say the Barcelona Marathon needs some better organizers and better advertising. A beautiful city with excellent weather and they can’t even get 10,000 people signed up? Maybe that should be my new job!

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