Rockin' & Rollin' in Madrid

Have you ever run so much that you threw up? Ya, me either, but that was just one of the horrific images of race day going through my mind as I went to bed last night. I've had plenty of friends - soccer playing athletes who basically run for a living - who have told me of grueling workouts that ended with a reappearance of their breakfast.

You see, today I ran my first race ever: the Rock & Roll Madrid 10K. I knew I was being completely melodramatic, envisioning myself getting dead last behind all the 80 yr old runners (who actually rocked it out there), or worse- passing out somewhere along the course and having to get picked up by a race truck and getting carted to the finish line. I know it was just 10 km, which is just about 6.25 miles and not a big deal to most people, but I couldn't help feeling a little guilty for not training/taking care of myself the way I should in the days leading up to the race.

My family back home has jumped on the running bandwagon over the past year or so, and I have to admit that running a race has always been something I have wanted to do. It was one of those things I have never seriously tried - back when I ran track I always did sprints and as a cheerleader you need more stamina for intense bursts rather than running endurance - but I felt it would be a good thing to try at least once.

Back on March 9 I decided to sign up for a race in Madrid. I realized quickly that I do not like city running. All the people, the traffic, starting and stopping - it's hard enough for me to remain interested in it without all the distractions. That meant that whenever I didn't have my cozy little athletic park with a neatly marked track, I hardly did any running. I also decided to start celebrating my 21st birthday earlier this week, so by the time Saturday night rolled around, I feared I might not actually make it to the end of the 10 km.

I loved the energy at the race expo and lining up at the corrals in the morning was absolutely surreal. The first half of the course was uphill - which was just wonderful - right at the 4 km we turn a corner and start heading downhill (hallelujah!), and just as I was telling myself that the race-makers are merciful, I faced the hill of death.

It doesn't seem as awful on GoogleMaps as it did in person...

Finished off the rest of the course, thankful for the relative lack of hills and doing my best to not look like death in my race photos. I was pleasantly surprised to realize I felt pretty good throughout the race, and in the end, none of the terrible outcomes I had envisioned for myself came true - #winning! Now I have even more to celebrate this Tuesday ;)