Madrid's Marathon: I'm in...

Yes, it's done. Yesterday I sent my inscription to the Madrid's Marathon. The race will be the 30th of april. I think it's too late because in Madrid in that time it's probable to have high temperatures for running a marathon. Let's see.

From the beginning of year till now I have ran 449 km, 194 during this month.

From now on, I have to increase the km per week, beginning increasing the long distance run on Sundays.

On the runner's ambience in Madrid, everybody is complaining because now it's still a secret the race course. And that happens because Madrid is full of construction works and the organization can't maintain the old course.

I think running a marathon would be a beautiful way to know a city. The afternoon of the 30th of April I will know...

All Star Game

This week end was the All Star Game in Houston. For the first time, a spaniard player was there: Pau Gasol, the forward/center of the Memphis Grizzlies.

I think this is something to be proud of. It's not easy at all to be selected to play this game, only the best players in the world are.

I hope he will play more all star games and why not, I hope I'll be there watching the game!! Let's dream!!

As every week, I'm back in Portugal. Yesterday I went to the massagist. My legs are in a better condition today. I have already run my one hour training, and also I've swam 1,5 km as usual.

Tonight I'll go earlier at home to see a Champion's league soccer game: Real Madrid vs Arsenal. In Europe, soccer is a very popular sport, and Champion's league is the most important club's Championship. I hope Real Madrid will win, let's see.

Yeah, it's Friday!!

Today I'm flying home again. I'm happy to see my family. Every week is the same story, I have to be positive and think that this won't go longer than a few months more.

Let's be patient and see what happens. The problem is patience is not one of my principal virtues.

Yesterday I ran one hour again, with some pain in my leg, I hope it's nothing, I will see.

Today I will try to do some swimming and biking before taking the plane.

The sunset is from Esposende.

Memories from other places...

Just reading expat travel's blog, looking at the photos shown in her blog, I remembered the time spent in my destinations before, the different cultures and places visited.

This funny picture is from one trip to the desert in Tunisia, with my wife (at that time only girlfriend). I had been living on this country for a bit more than one year and a half, not in the desert but in the capital town, in Tunis. It was a really great experience, I made lots of tunisian friends, and now that all the radical violence from certain Islam sectors is increasing, I can say that there's also other type of Islam people, much more important in number, who want to live in peace, who respect different cultures, specially occidental culture. The radical ones are a minority, and at least in Tunisia, I didn't see radical people during all my stay there.

I have some more pictures of this trip, specially a very good one with my wife and I mounted in camels...I'll have to ask the permission to blog it...

12 K on the treadmill

Today I didn't have the body prepared to combat with dogs or run with sheep, so I decided to run on the treadmill.

It isn't so funny but at least you're sure that you won't have any problem during the training. I have run 12,2 K in 1:02:00 time. I ran most of the training at 4:50 min/km pace (7:50 min/mile).

The only problem running on the treadmill is the temperature of the room. It's quite hot and after running one hour I finish very dehydrated.

I ran at 1:30 pm, and after, some stretching, a good shower and a good lunch before coming back to work.

Tonight, I'll try to do some swimming. I try to swim twice a week, 1.500 m per day. I'm quite slow, but the important for me is to complement the running training with some swimming, which helps me avoiding injuries.

On the picture, my Assics Gel Cumulus.

Another Monday...

Well, another monday, another long week is beginning. This week-end was exciting. On Saturday we met with my family's brother and we got introduced to a cousin from my wife's brother. She has being living for two years in Texas in a town near Dallas, not far away from one of our next possible destinations: Austin

So we asked her everything we imagined, we tried to learn as much as possible about the Texan's way of life. She was very nice telling us her "expat" experience. During that, our kids played with their cousins and they had a wonderful time all together.On Sunday morning, I went to the "Casa de Campo" to run with the Garabitas Group. It's a very nice runner’s group, always happy to receive new runners or “circumstantial runners” like me. We ran for 1:30 long, more or less 17 km. Running in the “Casa de Campo”, one of the best green parks for runners in the whole Europe, is wonderful. I really recommend it.

After that, I went back home ( I was at home at 10:30 am), and we went all to the country-side, an hour far from home, in a beautiful place with lots of trails to walk. We spent the rest of the morning and the afternoon with our kids walking on the trails. It was very funny; we spent a very great time all together!!

And now, I’m back again, with other trails, different, but alone…Well, not alone, with the sheep… 

Viana do Castelo

The other day when I was running, I realized that the same day I was running the Getafe's half marathon in Madrid, the Viana's half marathon was taking place also.

This made me remember my two participations on Viana's race in 2004 and 2005. The first one took place one week after having a scaring car accident in a winding small road between two small towns near Viana. It was a terrible experience, similar to one I had a few years ago on our previous destination, in Chile, south america. It's a hard situation to go to a hospital in an emergency situation being abroad: another language, all different. The caotic situation gets worse in a foreign country. Those are bad memories for me. Even the accident, I could ran one week later the race, it was very important for me, and when I finished two hour's later,I had strong feelings: I had been able to surpass all this situation.

The next year it was different, I ran with some portuguese runners that I met some months before, I felt as one more runner of the portuguese group. I finished in 1h44' or something.

The 2004 edition was my debut on half marathon races after more than 8 years without running regularly.

On the picture, there's the Santa Lucia Basilic, in Viana, a beautiful church who looks like the Sacré Coeur in Paris.

Dogs and owners...

Today I would have had a perfect run if I hadn't found a "beautiful" dog in the middle of the way looking at me as if I were a big tasty bone!!

While I was running on the trail near the Lima river, in a very isolated zone, I heart some people talking, I looked in front of me and I saw a group of four or five persons, walking with their dog. The dog was some meters advanced, looking at me, quiet. As I use to do on those situations, I slowed down and crossed next to the dog walking, while the owners continued talking to each other without doing anything. On the same time, I was thinking on using the ultrasonic dog deterrent that I had with me.

But after some endless seconds, nothing happened, and I continued with my running thinking: "Look, dogs aren't so bad with runners, you're always thinking the worse!!"

Therty minutes later, on my way back, in a narrow part of the trail, I heart again the same group...and I saw again my friend!! But this time, the dog wasn't quiet, he ran towards me and tried to bite me!! I began jumping trying to avoid been bited on the feet. On the same time the owners tried to caugth the dog without success. After some seconds of "dancing running", the dog went away and the owners continued walking peacefully laughing about the situation...

After that I thought a lot what I should have done to handle in a better way the situation. Should I have used the ultrasonic dog deterrent?? Should I have kicked the dog? Should I have shouted against the owners??

I feel always bad after those situations, it's really frustrating to be bothered by dogs and the owners just looking at it like idiots without doing anything useful!! Why don't they control in a better way their dogs??

It's always the same, it's only a question of education and respect for other people, so simple!!

Ekiden Marathon Relays

This saturday I ran a relays marathon race. It was fun and it served to me as a "quality training". I ran a 10k segment in 45'23''. I was a bit tired after the entire week's training and only one week after the Getafe's half marathon race.

I ran with some friends from a runner's internet forum, some of them only internet friends untill the race.

It was a good experience.

The week end finished with an excellent meal on Sunday in my fathers-in-law home, all accompanied with an excepcional red wine: Vega Sicilia from Ribera del Duero, spanish wine.

Destination: Madrid's marathon!!

Let's do it!! Yes, it's decided!! I will prepare this marathon, my first marathon!! . I think I must begin running my home town's marathon!!Madrid's Marathon!!After near ten years abroad, this year I have the possiblity of running it, and maybe next year it wouldn't be possible. Who knows where we will be!!

I won't change too much things on my training, just I will increase slowly the long distance run on sundays, from 1h30 to 2h30 the longger run.

I'm a bit scared about it, but I have to think that's a natural step after running so many half marathon races.

Today I ran one hour again, comfortable, with good sensations.

Spiritual training

Today I ran almost one hour. I wanted to run a bit less, but at the end, thanks to Steve Runner's podcast
and the beatiful day I enjoyed so much running that I couldn't stop before.

I discovered this podcast on Dra. Lara's blog, so thank's a lot because it's a really motivational podcast.

Today while I was running on the beach, I found this beautiful shell, and I took it for my wife.

This week-end I have a Marathone Relay Race: Ekiden Race, with four more runners. After that I will be quiet for a long time, just training and been with my family!! I hope my understandable wife would forgive me running two races in two consecutive weeks!!