Let’s Rock and Roll!

I had been here for less than a month and I was already eyeing a half marathon in April. Races are so enticing when they are still months away and they almost always seem like a good idea at the time. But this was no ordinary race; no, this was Rock ‘n’ Roll Madrid. And if you’re going to rock, you’re not going to do it alone. (I’ve been the person in the club dancing alone and somehow it’s not as fun as when I dance around alone in my bedroom. Yeah, I do that and I’m not ashamed to share it with the world twenty or so people who read this blog.)  So I called on my running buddy who, fortunately for me, also thinks races are a good idea at the time. So the flights were booked, the training plans were set (and then promptly ignored), and just under two weeks ago Liz and Adam took Europe. Or at least Spain.

They landed on Saturday and Sunday morning, Liz and I woke up bright and early with the same thought, ‘this might have been a bad idea.’ Sidenote: yes, Liz landed on Saturday and ran a half marathon the next morning because she is a rock star. Anyway, we made our way over to the start line where we snapped a couple of pictures and watched the skydivers.

About 15 kilometers later, we ran into our friend from Fort Worth, TX who we met at the race expo the day before. She was running the full marathon and, at that moment, we were so grateful that we were not.

At kilometer 17, we passed the entrance to the park and the finish line. Unfortunately, we had to run all the way around the perimeter of the park. Why do they do that? If I know the finish line is near I sure as heck don’t want to circle it for four kilometers.

Finally, we made it to the finish line where Lauren and Adam were waiting for us. And in true mom fashion, Lauren had the camera ready for pictures and video.

We wore our bling for the rest of the day because that is why we run these races in the first place.

Did we do anything after the race? I don’t know…my pictures fail me. But I do believe that we went to La Mina for a couple of cervezas (because we earned those bad boys) and then ventured out into the real world again. This is the only picture I have so I know that we did in fact leave the bar and do some touristy wandering.

I mentioned before that my pictures failed me. I didn’t take a whole lot of pictures in Madrid so this post will be short and sweet. That said, I did take pictures inside and atop the Cathedral of the Almudena because it’s just so pretty.

In the next edition of Liz and Adam Take Europe, Lauren and I meet up with them in Valencia where we hit the beach and see the Holy Grail…or did we? If the suspense isn’t killing you, there will also be lots of pictures so please do come back!

PS Liz: not only did you make an appearance in the post, you’re in the featured pic!