After a few years of limited availability and motivation to run, I have gotten the 'bug' again. Thanks to my friends Conchi and Lidia - who have encouraged me, included me in their running group 'Murgiverde' and entered me in every race going :-) First race was Adra, which Branko told you about and two weeks later - Ohanes, a white town in the mountains.
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| View of Ohanes from the road |
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| Street in Ohanes |
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| Murgiverde runners |
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| Joanne and Jose (Lidia's brother} |
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| View from Ohanes |
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| Ohanes |
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| Joanne, winning first prize, again. |
I trained with Lidia by doing long distance runs (Conchi was in Madrid, so missed out) and strength training - which did little for the 10K Ohanes race. The first 4K was uphill, every time you reached the top of one hill you thought ' good, its over' until you turned the corner and ugh, more steep hill...and so it went for 4K. We ran to a small town called Tices, which sits on a hill overlooking a beautiful valley full of almond trees, in bloom - pink, fragrant flowers - both pleasing to smell and see. The last 400 meters to Tices was a steep climb - just to make sure you knew you were alive. The bonus of this race was that there was 4K, totally downhill - so where you lost time on your uphill you got it back on the down. Unfortunately for Lidia and I, we were last, with 3 young boys on bikes zigzagging behind us trying not to run us over and trying to keep themselves amused; behind them was the emergency vehicle. We felt special! So much attention for being last, almost as good as being first - except that the only people at the finish line were Branko and Lidia's dad. Not the same kind of welcome, but wonderful none the less. I did
not win a prize this time, even though I was the oldest woman running, but I did get a sandwich and a wonderful shirt. The run, shirt, views and a sandwich only 5 Euros :-) What a fantastic deal!
Mag
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