When George invited me to join him in Madrid he said, "There's only one catch...you have to run a full." In the weeks leading up to the trip (those weeks I'd intended to train during but then got sick, then busy....) I didn't think there'd be a problem finishing under the 6 hour cut off. But I wasn't expecting greatness either. George and I intended on enjoying Madrid to the fullest and getting me through the race in 5:15-5:30 while having fun.
We met at the airport in Dallas and flew the final leg together. We slept on most of the flight and woke up just before landing, which happened to be in the morning, so we had unwittingly adjusted our internal clocks. We made our way from the airport on the metro to the hotel with little challenges. The hotel was gorgeous and we decided to grab lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and say hello to some of George's friends prior to exploring a bit. The folks at the Cafe were all wonderful. Of all of the HRCs I've visited (quite a few), I would honestly say the Madrid cafe has the most incredible staff! After lunch and visiting we wandered around a bit and found ourselves at the
Biblioteca Nacional de España. It was just amazing. The artwork and history captivated us. We ended up spending our afternoon exploring the exhibits before goofing off in the streets a bit.
Then we made our way back to the hotel for the evening. At the last minute, when walking to our room, the draw of the bansiter was too great and I jokingly climbed on and began to slide down as George took pictures.
I'd gone down nearly an entire flight before I glanced down and remembered what floor we were on! Needless to say, I exited the banister fairly quickly! After an hour or so of administrative work, we headed out to meet the folks from Competitor Group for dinner. George had planned our route before we left, however we were thrown a curve when we encountered riots in the streets. The bus was dirverted and we ended up no where near our location. We wondered around for a bit trying to find our way, but police were everywhere with many roads blocked off.
After wandering all over for over an hour, being refused access to many areas by the police, and several sets of bad directions I walked up to one last policeman and asked in my broken spanish if he spoke English. Of course he didn't, so I told him that I spoke a little Spanish, but not very well (the main thing I repeated in Spanish time and again during the trip & came to say quite well!). Then I asked him how to get to our destination given that he had the road blocked. He took a step back, looked me up and down a few times, turned to George and gave him a good once over, shrugged and stepped aside to let us pass. For the last few blocks we alternating laughed at the fact that we were obviously NOT a threat to him and worried about whether we were walking towards the trouble or away from it!
A few blocks later we found the restaurant and our party; and after a few laughs about the hassle to get there, enjoyed a wonderful evening with some amazing food and even more amazing people!
Finally back at our hotel, after a FULL day, we slept soundly.
Friday morning we enjoyed a breakfast fit for a king before meeting up with Hyalker for a tour of the city. Hyalker had lived in Madrid for a year and graciously agreed to be our tour guide. In the months leading up to the trip, George had been clear he wanted to go to the
Royal Palace of Madrid; but we had no other clear destination or points of interest in mind. Given that, Hyalker took the reigns and ensured we fully experienced Madrid as best one can in a day.
We indeed began at the Palace, then found our way to a variety of landmarks such as the Don Quixote statue in the
Plaza de España (Madrid),
Plaza Mayor, Gran Via, past the Puerto de Toledo,
through the city streets,
to the oldest restaurant in the world (
Sobrino de Botín - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
to Plaza Puerta del Sol
Along the way we became better acquainted with Hyalker, whom we met through a mutual friend and became fast friends. We finished off the day at his favorite tappas restaurant (BTW the food kept getting better as the trip went on!) and stopped in a shopping mall on the way back to the hotel were I grabbed a few pastries for myself and some chocolate to take the boys. As we fell into bed that night I was amazed at how full our day had been - and worried about all of the hills we'd encountered in Madrid and how they would affect my ability to finish the full under the cut off time!
Saturday we enjoyed another stellar breakfast before meeting up with Hyalker and Shauna and heading to the expo. George had a media appointment first thing, afterwards we straightened out a little confusion regarding his registration. During this time we were fortunate enough to meet the race director and his son, and later many of the wonderful people who assisted in making the event a success. Among those folks were the great people who put together the pasta dinner...
I've NEVER seen so much pasta in my life!
After the expo, we headed outside and were STUNNED by the line of people waiting to get in! If you plan to run this race, get to the expo early! They literally had to rope off the entry and allow one in/one out for safety reason/crowd control; and by mid day on Saturday the line stretched beyond our belief.
While the expo sits in the distance and I point to the line of people in this picture, even it doesn't do the line justice as it still stretched several yards in front of me before turning a corner and heading down that street a ways! It was unreal!
Saturday I was a bit tired and we had had a full day. After the expo and a tour of Museo del Prada - with Hyalker ensuring we both saw every Master we wanted, we headed back to HRC. It was a bit early for dinner but a bit late for lunch and as we talked through option I decided I was going to have my pre race meal, knowing I wouldn't eat it all, and then snack on my leftovers later before calling it an early night. George met up with another friend and as he wasn't hungry, he sat catching up with him while Hyalker and I enjoyed our dinner and conversation. George also took in another museum as we finished up. With our bellies full and our bodies tired, we headed to our hotels for the night. A little anxious about the Full I wanted to make sure I was as completely rested as possible; and I feel asleep EARLY.
Race morning was relaxed by chilly. We got ready and headed to the start. The weather report was grim, but we were lucky that the rain was holding off - though it was expected to hit within the first hour of the race and just get worse from there. After dropping our gear at baggage check we headed to the HRC for George's group photo. Given how cold it was outside and the fact that there were limited porta-potties, we enjoyed the comfort of the cafe until just before time to head to the start line.
On the way to the startline I realized I'd forgotten my heart rate monitor and was bummed about the lack of data, but didn't think I'd have enough time to grab it. We headed to the corrals, where along with the other runners we paid tribute to those lost and injured at the Boston Marathon just weeks before.
Before long we were off! What an experience! This was NOTHING like a US race...these folks meant business! There was no staying to the side if you were slow, you just got elbowed to death! There was no 'excuse me' if someone bumped you or cut you off...chances are they did it to gain ground! I'd intended to run about a 12 minute mile, but I'd gone out under 10 minute miles. I kept consciously trying to reel myself in, afraid I'd hit the wall later, but I felt good.
I warmed up quickly and it wasn't long before the sleeves were off. The singlet followed shortly thereafter. Thought I'd managed to slow my first mile to just under a 10 minute mile and the next three to just at 10 minute miles, I felt good and picked up the pace without even realizing it. One thing I found amusing (once I realized what was going on) were the medical crew folks! Rather than traditional medical tents at particular mile markers there were folks roller blading throughout the entire course tending to runners as needed.
I continued to feel good and enjoy the run, occassionally recognizing places from our tour with Hyalker on Friday
and soon enough found myself running past the palace.
As we passed the split for the half and full I suddenly realized this was the first time I'd ever gone with the folks running the full!
It wasn't long before we passed the halfway point and I mentally allowed myself to think my run had begun. It was time to mentally check off the miles (actually kilometers) and it was ok to do so now!
I was surprised to see my time for the first half was 2:07. I was afraid to get too excited about it, knowing that the last 6K was basically straight up hill, but I began thinking I'd definitely finish without worrying about the cut off and possibly even under 5 hours! I continued to run well, though we hit a hill from mile 16-18 that slowed me to an 11 minute mile with it's 131' elevation gain. I didn't feel bad, but I was wearing down and the hill took it's toll, leaving my pace hoovering between the 10:45-11:00 mark vs. it's previous 10 mm. But I was still enjoying the course, my time with George, and the entire experience...and more importantly, was pain free!
Once we reached the 35K point (not quite mile 22), things got interesting. We started a long, slow gradual climb - a climb that would take us all the way to 41.9K (26.05 miles) and result in an elevation gain of 339 feet. I don't mind hills, but I found myself wishing it was steeper and over with sooner. I trudged on, REFUSING to stop running. With the finish line in sight I heard George yell to me to slow down. I didn't know it at the time but he was trying to take a photo of me crossing the finish line.
I tried to slow down but quickly realized if I slowed even a step I would start walking and I wasn't going to do that now when I had not even walked a water stop through the entire race. The last 2 miles were a complete head game with myself, but I pushed through.
I typically hate the first 3-5 miles of any run, but once I get through them I speed up. Usually around mile 6 or 7 I start running well and pick up the speed quite a bit, then finish strong. I did exactly that during this race, with my best miles being miles 6 - 13. I hung on for a few more miles (until mile 17) and then my pace began to creep up. Once we hit the hill at the end I was barely hanging onto an 11 minute mile, and those last two miles - with all of the head games - I hung around an 11 1/2 minute mile.
But I pushed through the full distance and finished in 4:33:51! Nearly a full hour faster than I'd hoped!
All that was left was photos, hugs, and enjoying the moment to the fullest.
I felt strong. I had no pain, I was just out of gas. And ironically...despite the fact that I'd represented Team Refuel for the event - there was no leche de chocolate anywhere to be found!! We made our way to the VIP area and thanked everyone profusely for their hospitality while sharing our victory. While there we got our first taste of spanish tortilla (to refuel). And then we headed back to our hotel to shower and relax.
After our showers and a little time to rest, we headed over to the Hard Rock for dinner, to say our goodbyes, and for a final few s
ouvenirs. We were able to reconnect with Hyalker for a bit as well. Though while many of our friends decided to celebrate into the night, I was content to go back to our room at a decent time, pack up, and reflect on the fun we'd had in Madrid. We got a good night's sleep and after our showers in the morning enjoyed the amazing breakfast one last time (I will soooo miss that yogurt! I've never tasted anything like it!), then we headed to the airport. We slept for most of the flight, but enjoyed a little time just hanging out and chatting before and after our naps. Once we hit Chicago we all went our separate ways (Hyalker was home & George and I had connections to make to our homes). It would be several hours until I was home, but traveling has never bothered me. I spent the time reflecting on the full experience I'd been given over the last few days and was thankful to have had the opportuntity to meet such great people, see so many sites, and tackle such a challenge. I FULLY recommend the Rock n Roll Madrid Marathon to anyone that has the opportunity to run it!!
