J2911: February 2012

This past weekend was one of the best experiences I've had in Spain! Four of us, including my roomies, rented a car for the first time and took the 5 hour route to Adra, Almeria. Our destination was on the southeast part of Spain and led us along the coast leading up to the bright blue Meditteranean Sea. We were going to meet up with Tracy, one of the girls I went to Belgium with for Christmas, and run the city's scheduled 9K race. Did I mention I'm NOT a long distance runner?

"YOU DON'T FAIL UNTIL YOU STOP TRYING"

On Friday, my roomies and I walked to our city's salt mines for another classic Spanish lunch around 3 pm. Itincluded red wine, spinach and bechamel cheese croquetas, Iberic ham, fries, fish they were breeding in that very farm (as a donkey walked past us at the window to the herb garden so it could meet up with the cow), and fresh baked wheat bread. We then made last minute plans at the piso (recipe for a great adventure if you have the right people & we def did!) and got Pedro, a friend in Cadiz, to meet us in his city the next morning to pick up our rental.

The car ride started off with American music (thank you Rota military base radio station) and a HEATER blasting! Needless to say, we were off to a great start, especially with a "cold front" going through Andalusia. As we left Cadiz that Saturday morning, "Highway to Hell" by ACDC played on the radio and Jackie led Abbi, our great driver (and the only one that could drive manual *note to self on finally learning) with handwritten directions & a map from the Europcar Co.

The drive was gorgeous, but this trip wouldn't have been complete without a little deviation from the route: JUZCAR. We turned off into a giant mountain, pretty much drove in circles around a few, and stumbled upon our first goal - Smurf City. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/8964129/Spanish-village-painted-blue-for-Smurfs-film-votes-on-keeping-theme.html

Two hours into our trip, we were at a Smurf-blue-themed restaurant and walking through what used to be a Pueblo Blanco with a population of about 250 locals. Now the town has gotten up to 80,000 visitors since the movie premiered last summer. RANDOM :-)

We got back on course, and saw many more Pueblos Blancos, true to their color this time, along the way to Adra (Tracy's city).

SNOW CAPPED MOUNTAINS IN THE SIERRA NEVADA!

after another turn in the road, we made a necessary pit stop at the beach for the playground

Chinese food was on the menu for dinner that night and I wouldn't have had it any other way. Soy sauce! Giant egg rolls! Hot & sour soup! I've now had it twice since I got to Spain haha.

That night, Abbi taught us all how to play Hearts, ummm something about a river, something about clubs...or 4 leaf clovers, and Blackjack. It was nice of her; I really miss Vegas now.

The next morning, we woke up at 8-ish and got ready for the race. We walked out to a crisp cool morning and headed to the site. At this point, I was nervous/confident/excited/anxious all at once - like arriving to Spain again and in complete disbelief. So there I was, decked out in my pretty highlighter pink long sleeve (thank you Cody's mom!) and old pants from an Alpha Gamma Delta camp retreat. There were about 300 participants and I feel like my novice status made me stick out like a sore thumb. That’s the thing though, this experience, with iPod sitting back in Chiclana, gave me a lot to think about. One hour and 4 minutes to be exact. So I thought about life and the way we tend to deal with things:

1. We all get to participate. Every person got their individual number pinned on their shirt for the run. I was #221! Life’s waiting – and ready – for you. If it was easy, everyone would do it. Go on and at least give it a try.

2. Learn to breathe. That’s a song from Switchfoot and it’s close to my heart. In this case, I walked in too all over the place with my emotions. As a result, I lost control of my breathing within the first 20 minutes and had to go with what I knew: intervals. So I should have trained more. Also, I should have trusted in what I was confident in because the latter strategy is what successfully got me to finish the race.

3. Don’t give up. It’s possible. The race wrapped around, from the starting point down to the beach and back up along the main city street. There was red and white tape dividing the track so that at one point you would inevitably pass by the people who were ahead of you. So…when something gets really hard and you’ve certainly given it your all, look at the people who’ve accomplished it. More than likely, they’re cheering you on. One of the girls up ahead who was decked out in professional gear (?!) even cheered me on, clapping, as she confidently galloped by...smiling… all with ease ;-)

4. Accept help. Listen. There were Spanish men, the typical 80 or 130 year old age group cluster with newsboy hats & suspenders out Sunday afternoons, watching that day. Some just called me guapa, others said a few encouraging words, others heartily pointed out that there were still a few people lagging behind me. As I mentioned earlier, some runners ahead even took the part of coaches out there…they were just running to inspire you with kind words from someone who really understood your situation. So if you won’t take the advice, at least listen.

5. Appreciate your friends and the people in your life. Pedro, Tracy, her friend and I ran the race, starting at 11 am. My Chiclana roomies stayed in and would join us later. They happened to stop by to watch the race around the middle marker, just when I needed their smiles and support. I can’t stress how much I didn’t belong there haha. I was so proud to have them there with me and my friends who were running. It made me even more proud of myself for taking on this personal challenge. Right then and there I regained my faith. Half of the 5.6 miles to go…

6. If you fall, because you may just actually fall…Get back up. Seriously, don’t even give it a second thought, get up. Even if it’s shocking, and you do it slowly, with help from many who are willing to (with good intentions! In this case, the runners who had already easily finished it in 20 minutes), your knees and right hand are scraped, and tears are spontaneously bursting out. Yeah, I fell. Tripped over a metal part in the road when I had about 5 minutes left. The last two people ran past me. Adrenaline rushed in as I thanked Spaniards in English and continued.

7. There’s a certain kind of independence. As a result, I got a view of the race from the very back. I observed the last two women who passed me. One had clearly given up from the beginning and kept saying how she wanted to quit. However, the friend who was with her didn’t let her give up. I was already at the end, so I took a picture. She held her hand and encouraged her. She even turned around and asked my name so that she could cheer me on too.

8. There are no excuses. When I finished the race last, no one was going to listen to my story about falling. In that moment, the crowd & runners that had gathered to celebrate our completed goal as a whole, was just focused on living in the moment. In fact, I couldn’t explain myself to the race administrators along the way at several checkpoints. Obviously, I passed them way too “fast” to stop and tell them why I was at the very end. The other racers were caught up in their own success, my friends were just glad I finished it with them and happy for me. It’s that simple.