Fair warning! This is going to be a looooooooong post! So sit back, relax and grab some coffee ¡El que avisa no es traidor! Esta entrada es muy larrrrrga. Siéntense, relájense y disfruten :-) Tuesday, November 14th - 11:40pm
After a 17-hour flight from San Diego to London to Madrid, everyone was tired but happy to be back in Spain. I was suddenly feeling grateful for the opportunity to run my second marathon in my country. Unfortunately, we arrived in Spain at turbulent times. There was a General Strike scheduled on Wednesday and there was little we could do or see before our trip to Valencia. At least we got to have some quality time with family and friends. Después de
un vuelo de 17 horas desde San Diego a Madrid, pasando por Londres, llegamos
todos cansados pero muy felices de estar de vuelta en España. Siento mucha alegría y un
profundo agradecimiento por la oportunidad de volver a correr otra maratón en la
madre patria. Desafortunadamente, llegamos a España en tiempos turbulentos. Hay
Huelga General y apenas podemos salir a la calle con los peques antes de
nuestro viaje a Valencia. Por lo menos compartirnos unas tardes maravillosas con la
familia y amigos.
Friday, November 16
We left from Atocha Train Station to Valencia Sorolla on the early morning AVE high-speed train. The trip was very short and pleasant. It took approximately 1:30 hr and my kids were asleep all the way. Salimos de
la estación de Atocha a Valencia Sorrilla a primera hora, en el tren de alta
velocidad AVE. El viaje es corto y placentero. Dura unos 1 hr 38 min y los
peques se han quedado dormidos.
Once we arrived in Valencia, we took a taxi to Hotel Primus, which is located just a few steps from Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias. This is where the start and finish line of the race takes place. Our room was nicely decorated with pictures of the city. Una
vez en Valencia cogemos el taxi al hotel Primus, localizado a un par
de manzanas de la Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias en donde se encuentra la feria del corredor, al igual que la salida y la meta de la maratón. El hotel esta decorado con mucho gusto y unas
fotos preciosas de la ciudad.
Soon after, we unpacked and headed to the running Expo. I was excited to see Santiago Calatrava's Masterpiece. I am familiar with his Auditorio de Tenerife (Canary Islands) as well as his Ground Zero in NY but I have never been to Valencia. It was truly breathtaking.
Tras
la llegada al hotel, desempaquetamos maletas, nos ponemos cómodos y nos dirigimos a la feria del corredor. Me hace muchísima ilusión ver la obra maestra de Santiago Calatrava. Conozco su Auditorio de
Tenerife así como su edificación en la Zona Cero de Nueva York, pero nunca he estado en Valencia. Como todas sus obras me parece realmente impresionante.
This is where we picked up our running bibs
This is where we picked up our running shirts
My husband and I spent 30 minutes at the expo while my grandparents were watching the kids. Everyone was still experiencing jet lag, including me. My kids were having serious stomach problems too. Right after the expo, I headed to the pharmacy to get some medication and learned that they were are on strike too. "Nooo, it can't be" I thought. I took a taxi to the city center where I found a pharmacy opened with a very loooooong line, 32 people in front of me. I told myself "It is what it is and there is nothing you can do about it".
Mi marido y
yo estamos en la feria unos 30 minutos mientras mis abuelos cuidan a los niños.
La familia entera padece del famoso "jet lag", en definitiva tenemos los horarios
trastocados y es que son 9 horas de diferencia entre San Diego y Valencia. Por otra
parte, mis hijos empiezan a sentir molestias estomacales. Nada mas salir de la
feria me dirijo una farmacia cercana para comprar medicamentos. Una vez allí me
entero que las farmacias de la Comunidad Valenciana también están en huelga
porque la Generalitat no les pagan. ¡Que fuerte! Cojo un taxi al centro de la ciudad en donde
encuentro tan solo una farmacia de guardia abierta. Las colas impresionantes.
Cojo turno como en el mercado, el 32. Yo que suelo vivir con positivismo pienso "nada, esto son 10 minutillos" pero que va, ahí estoy mas de una hora esperando la cola. Que se le va a hacer.
Saturday, November 17 - The Day Before The Race
We spent the day visiting the city. We saw the Miguelete, the Lonja de la Seda and las Torres de Serrano. Nos pasamos el día recorriendo el casco antiguo de la ciudad. Visitamos el Miguelete, la Lonja de la Seda y las Torres de Serrano.
Fallera doll
We did some serious carb-loading too. Starting with Valencian horchatas and fartones for breakfast, delicious paella for lunch and bocadillos for dinner. Ole! Hacemos
la famosa carga de carbos. Empezando con unas horchatas valencianas para desayunar, paella para almorzar y bocatas para cenar. Ole!
The new restaurant of well-known chef Tomas Arias
The BEST paella I've ever had
There was also a FREE paella-party available to all runners at the Expo location or some park nearby but we didn't make it back on time. También hay "paella-party" GRATIS para los participates de la carrera cerca del recinto ferial pero a esa no llegamos a tiempo. Late in the afternoon, we met my friend Lynne ( Beginners Run Marathons Too) at the hotel. She had come from Copenhagen to run a few miles with me. What an honor! We had a blast in Madrid and wanted to repeat the experience. Lynne was familiar with the race course since she ran it last year. She gave me some great tips and told me to look for her after some bridge around km 30. I was overjoyed to see her again. What a friend! A última hora
de la tarde nos encontramos con mi amiga Lynne en el hotel. Ha venido desde Copenhague
para correr unos cuantos kilómetros conmigo. ¡Que honores! La verdad es que nos
los pasamos genial en la maratón de Madrid y queríamos repetir experiencias. Lynne participó en la Maratón de Valencia el año
pasado por lo que se conoce muy bien el recorrido. Me dió un par de consejos y
quedamos en vernos al día siguiente después de un puente a la altura del kilómetro
30. ¡Que ilusión!
What I was not too happy about was with the weather outside. It was pouring. You could hear thunderstorms all night long. Between this, my sick family and the worse case of jet lag EVER, I thought "I am in BIG trouble tomorrow!". De lo que no estoy muy contenta es del tiempo. Está lloviendo a cántaros y se pueden oír grandes truenos. Entre las lluvias, mi familia pochita y el peor caso de
"jet lag" jamás habido y por haber, no hago mas que pensar: ¡Agüita! como dicen en mi tierra. ¡Lo que me queda!. Yo con tal de que no cancelen la carrera por inundaciones soy feliz.
Sunday, November 18 - Race Day I "woke up" at 6:30am after sleeping for only 2 hours. I left the hotel an hour and a half later. I decided not to take my iPhone with me because of the weather. I regretted this decision. I wish I could have taken pictures at the starting line. The rain had completely stopped and left us with incredible levels of humidity, around 95%. At least, the temperatures were mild, for now. Me
"despierto" a las 6:30am después de dormir tan solo 2 horas. Una hora
y media mas tarde salgo del hotel. Decido no llevar mi iPhone por si acaso se
me moja. Cuando llego a la salida me arrepiento de la decisión. La lluvia
ha cesado por completo. Eso si, los niveles de humedad entorno al 95%. Hoy no se bate el récord. Por
lo menos las temperaturas a la hora de la salida son buenas, ni mucho frío ni mucho
calor.
At almost 9:00am, the famous Valencia "mascletas" or fireworks went on. Unfortunately, some elite runners confused them with the sound of the official starter's gun and proceeded to run. This resulted in a false start for all of us and consequently some delays. It was all very confusing since we didn't know what was going on at that moment. A eso
de las 9:00am las famosa mascletá valenciana empieza a estallar. Los corredores africanos desconociendo los sonidos falleros los confunden con los pistoletazos de salida y salen
embalados. Salida falsa. Tenemos que empezar de nuevo. ¿En serio? ¡Vale!
Mientras tantos los corredores de las 10K continúan. Hay mucha confusión en el aire. Volvemos a nuestros cajones de salida y esperamos instrucciones. Cinco minutos mas tarde salimos. Esta vez de verdad.
The roads were wet with big water paddles, found especially on the right side of the road. There was hardly any wind. The humidity, again, was sky rocketing and the temps were getting hotter and hotter, reaching 24 degrees by 11:00am. The course was fast and flat as promised. There were drinking stations every 2.5 which was nice too. Las
calles están mojadas y hay grandes charcos de agua por todos sitios. Apenas hace viento. Eso si, la humedad por las nubes y las temperaturas cada vez mas
altas, alcanzando los 24 grados a las 11:00am. La carrera es rápida y plana, como
habían prometido. Hay avituallamientos cada 2.5 km. Mucha agua, bebidas isotónicas pero poca fruta.
The first half was interesting. We ran near Playa de La Malvarrosa y Las Arenas and headed towards the center. At km 12-13 , we passed the Catedral and the Miguelete, which I visited the day before. I was in familiar territory once again. At km 14, we ran by the Plaza de Toros and later by the Torres de Quart.La
primera mitad de la maratón es interesante. Corremos cerca de la Playa de La
Malvarrosa y Las Arenas dirección centro ciudad. En el Km. 12-13, pasamos por
la Catedral y el Miguelete los cuales visitamos el día anterior. Estoy en territorio conocido. En el
Km. 14, pasamos por la Plaza de Toros y mas adelante por las Torres de Quart.
At km 16, I joined a group of local runners. We ran side-by-side for about 8 km and then we lost each other. We reunited once again right before the two tunnels (around km 29). By the way, this was the only hilly part of the course. The first tunnel was fun. The music was blasting inside the tunnel. Everyone was singing. The second tunnel was claustrophobic. Thank goodness it was short. Soon after, I met Lynne. We ran together for 10 km. She had fresh legs. She was taking pictures, making police smile and most important helping me out with the last push. En el
Km. 16, me incorporo a un grupo de corredores locales. Hacemos juntos unos 8 Km. y nos volvemos a encontrar a la entrada de los túneles, por
el Km. 29. Por cierto, esta son las únicas subidas del recorrido. El primer túnel
me resulta divertido. Música a toda mecha, todo el mundo cantando. El segundo túnel
es mas cerrado y un tanto claustrofóbico. Menos mal que es corto. Acto seguido me encuentro con Lynne.
Corremos juntas unos 10 Km. Lynne va fresca. Se acaba de incorporar a la carrera. Saca un montón de fotos, se pone a bromear
con los policías y lo mas importante me ayuda a seguir adelante en esa recta
final.
I, on the contrary, was dying slowly. Don't believe the picture above ;) It was too hot and humid, like a Bikram Yoga room. I can't recall being this tired in a race before except in the New York Marathon. Yo por otro lado me siento fatal. No se crean la sonrisa de la foto de arriba
;) Hay tanto calor y humedad como en un estudio de Bikram Yoga. No me acuerdo de
sentir tanto cansancio en ninguna maratón anterior, quizás en la de Nueva York.
At km 31-32, a car almost ran over me. The police was not paying attention and didn't stop traffic. At km 37, I almost hit the wall. If it wasn't for Lynne, I would have walked. Thank you, rubiales! At km 40, we said to each other hasta luego. I turned the music on and used every single inch of energy left in my body. The last 3 km were the longest EVER. As we entered the last stretch I heard my husband screaming. He was at the 42km sign with my grandparents and kids. I screamed back. "YES, only 195 meters to go!". The finishing line was amazing. We all got to run over water.
En el
Km. 31-32 un coche casi me atropella. El policía iba despistado sin prestar atención
al trafico. En el Km. 37, flirteo con el señor del mazo. Si no fuese
por Lynne acabo caminando. Gracias, rubiales! Pero no, sigo adelante. En el Km.
40, nos decimos adiós. Me enchufo los auriculares, subo el volumen y hago un
pacto conmigo misma. A por todas. Hoy corro hasta la meta. Los últimos
3 kilómetros se me hacen larguísimos. Cuando llego al tramo final oigo a mi
marido gritando desde el póster que señala los 42 km, junto a JT se encuentran mis
abuelos e hijos. ¡Solo quedan 195 metros! No me lo puedo creer. La llegada fue simplemente espectacular.
My finishing time was 4:36:09. It's not what I anticipated but I was happy considering all the factors. By the way, this is my 4th marathon in the last 7 months!! My 5th since last November. Mi
tiempo final: 4:36:09. Un poco más lento que lo que esperaba, pero no está mal considerando todo los factores. Así concluye mi última maratón del
2012. 4 maratones en 7 meses, 5
maratones desde el noviembre pasado. No está mal, ¿no?
After the race, we received a bag full of oranges, some pastries, a blue towel and a SUPER awesome massage. Después de la carrera recibimos una bolsa de naranjas, unos pasteles, una toalla azul y un SUPER masaje.
Race Summary Pros - Beautiful city - Well organized expo - Amazing start & finish - FREE paella-party for all runners - Lots of water stations - It's not freezing cold in the month of Nov - Post-race snack, massages, etc.. Cons - Not enough food during the race - It can be hot and humid. - It would be nice to run next to the beach on the Promenade, instead of the side streets. Sending a ENORMOUS hug to my friend Lynne! Un abrazo muuuuy fuerte a mi amiga Lynne.
Sending a BIG thank you to my husband for all the support! I love you! Las mil y una gracias a mi esposo por todo el apoyo!
Sending lots of love to the rest of my family and friends for their support
I signed up for this race in the last minute. I just wanted to complete one last long run before the Valencia Marathon ( Nov 18th) and since my friend May was running it I told myself "Why not?". I heard it was flat and fast but a tad boring. Honestly, I didn't care about my finishing time. I was doing it for fun.
At the starting line with my friends
This is a point to point race, from Coronado to Imperial Beach via Silver Strand Beach. I've never been to this part of town and I didn't have any expectations. It was a pretty day. It started cold but soon it was hot and windy.
The first 8 miles were on the highway. Nothing too spectacular. There was no view of the coast from there but we could see the bay on the left side. Soon, we arrived at mile 9 and some residential areas. The next 2 miles felt like an eternity. On the horizon, I could see a small hill. On the other side, I could see the 12-mile sign. Mile 11 was my least favorite part of the race course. The area was fenced and against the highway. It looked like a concentration camp. A thought invaded me "Are we running for our lives here? If that is the case, I better go faster". Soon after, a fast 70-year old passed me. "Whaat? No frigging way" I thought. "I'll keep up with him or I'll die today". And that is what I did. I ran side-by-side with my new running mate and a BIG smile on my face until the finish line. I crossed it at 2:06:23. Not bad for a training run.
Imperial Beach
Minutes later, I met my friend May and learned that she has ran a sub-2. BIG congrats!!
Rule #1 - All participants are welcome ... fast, slow, runner, walker, old and young.
Rule #2 - White shirt dress code at the official start line and ready to roll.
Rule #3 - Completely colored Willy Wonka goodness at the finish.
Location: Qualcomm Stadium ( 2 loops)
How does it work? I think this video explains it all.
This was my 7 year old daughter's first 5k. She was very excited about the event. We even had matching running outfits.
Like Mother Like Daughter
We arrived at 8:15am to beat the traffic. It was easy to park. We walked around and took some pictures before heading to the starting line where thousands of people were wearing white tops, per official rules.
The white scenery was about to be changed.
Beautiful explosion of colors
This is how we looked before the race
This is how we look after the race
As for my daughter, she truly enjoyed running this race. She's already asked me to sign her up for another 5K. I think we have a runner in the family!
Packet Pickup: Road Runner Sports at Carlsbad. 2 miles from my work, conveniently located.
Race Summary
This was a FUN 10k at the worse possible location, Fiesta Island. The race was scheduled to start at 7:00am. Unfortunately, I was sitting on the highway right across the starting line from 6:25- 6:55 am. I could hear Michael Jackson in the background. I thought "There is no way I am going to make it". I ended up finding parking near Seaworld, 1.5 miles away. It was 7:02 and the race had started already. I tried to stay positive and ran my fastest mile EVER to the starting line where a couple of friends were waiting for me. Phew, I made it by a hair!
Since I was one of the last ones to cross the starting line, I decided to change my race strategy. My goal was to pass as many people as possible. It was hard since there were dozens of walkers at the back. I felt like I was playing Frogger.
This was my first 10k. As you probably know, I usually run longer distances. This was also my first time running around Fiesta Island. My husband already told me how much he "liked" running there during the last RnR San Diego Marathon. It's just a BIG loop and you can't really see ahead. For the Awesome 80s 10k run, we ran Fiesta Island twice. The temperatures were nice, on the cooler side and I was having fun passing people in funky neon costumes. At the end of the second loop, we made a right turn and a quarter of a mile later, the road stopped. What? Yes, we had to wait in line to take some stairs and run back to the finish line. I even had time to snap a picture. If I were the organizers, I would eliminate the stairs.
Awesome 80s 10K Run with stairs
I arrived to the finish line in 59:40, including a mandatory stop and lots of zig-zagging.
The finisher's medal, a casette tape
The post-race 80s party was the best. Ghostbusters, Blues Brothers, Madonnas, Cindy Laupers, Gumby and Pokey, Hello Kitties, Karate Kids (shower included) were all there. Nice dance performances including the Thriller choreography and some breakdance. Only in the US, I love it!
HH, 'Mua', Tessa,May
80's Roller Skating Disco Diva and Pop Star
Don Johnson, Chip and Hulk Hogan
Posing with 2 human Rubix cubes
80s pop singers with Ghostbuster's Marshmallow Man
Overall, I had a blast. Not bad for an inaugural neither. There is only one thing I would change: location. As promised by the organizers, these were some of the event highlights:
*Coolest Costume Contest
*Totally Awesome T-shirt
*Custom '80s medal for all finishers
*Live '80s Cover Band, Dance Crews and Entertainment
*Rad '80s photo props including a Back To The Future DeLorean
Date: Sunday, November 11th
