Monday, 7 December 2009

Having a four-day long holiday weekend we took the opportunity to travel to Madrid. This morning I was able to run in the magnificent Parc del Buen Retiro. It is a classic 19^th century urban park with lots of fussy landscaping with numerous paths and roadways but nevertheless it is well treed. We had walked through the park the previous day and we had been able to appreciate the park’s majesty. Unfortunately, when I ran there this morning it was raining heavily and it was cold. Packing lightly for our trip I had brought the minimum of running clothing and I suffered. It has been long time since I have run in such miserable conditions. To start off, I was quite stiff in the hips due to the hard bed in the hotel. It made my back very stiff. And with the cold I did not really warm during the run. As I had not brought a hat my glasses were soon covered in rain drops and mist so visibility was a problem. I had to frequently wipe the lenses with my bare fingers something that I hate doing.

Anyway it was a slow effort. I just grimaced and plodded along. There are miles of paths in the park and I ran about more or less aimlessly until I had had enough. The last part of the run back to the hotel along some city streets was particularly miserable. Total time was about 55 minutes. Glad that I had done it so that I could feel like a martyr. It is now three months to the Barcelona Marathon.